Now more than ever, bigwig developers/publishers and gamers alike should be aware of the smaller guys out there dedicated to making games in their own style. I'm talking about the indies, and 2013 was a big year for them. Even Microsoft acknowledged the small time developers by changing the publishing policy for the Xbox One. Just like its done in years past, IndieDB has asked players to vote on their choice for the indie game of the year. After the votes were tallied, Chucklefish's Starbound has emerged as the clear winner.
Starbound's achievement is an interesting one, as it's not officially out yet, though it has been in beta since early this month. With this award, it's no surprise that the game also managed to be declared as the "Most Anticipated Game of 2013" by Indie Magazine.
There's a good chance you've seen shots of this game popping up around the 'net, usually of beta players showing off some pretty impressive spaceships. Given Starbound's 2D aesthetic and emphasis on exploration, it's hard to avoid comparing it to another indie darling, Terraria (especially when you consider that Terraria's lead artist and Starbound's lead developer are actually the same person), but the fans will tell you different. No matter if you think the game is a rip-off, the numbers don't lie that there is an insatiable demand for this game.
Development on the game began through a psuedo-crowd funding pre-order campaign back in April. In a little over two weeks, the game had hit all of its goals, and raised over a million dollars thanks to the support of thousands of interested fans. Those supporters and more showed up to this year's vote for the "Players Choice 2013 Indie of the Year" vote. According to a press release, close to 100,000 votes were cast for other well knowns like The Stanley Parable and Outlast, but it was Starbound that took home the honors. You can see the other nominated games and their respective positions in the top 10 list below. We've provided links to each game's IndieDB page if you want to bone up on any of the games.
10. Rogue Legacy
9. Outlast
8. Tales of Maj'Eyal
7. Path of Exile
6. Into the Dark
5. The Stanley Parable
4. Space Engineers
3. Kerbal Space Program
2. Contagion
1. Starbound
Obviously, Starbound is still in a beta phase (on PC only), but once it's done, you'll be able to find the game pn PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PS Vita sometime in 2014.
