GDC 2013: 18 indie games in 50 words

Fract OSC

FRACT OSC

This is a first-person abstract exploration game inspired by synthesizers. Yeah. You wander the world, rebuilding and creating in a way that looked absolutely amazing and completely incomprehensible on-screen. Could be the next Proteus .

Mushroom 11

Mushroom 11

A strange game where you cut and regrow a giant fungus across a landscape. As you erode part of the mushroom, it grows back elsewhere. The mushroom can be completely split in two by your actions, leading to a range of physics puzzles. A good effort but doesn't really put the fun into fungus.

Tengami

Tengami

A exceptionally beautiful and original papercraft world which folds up like origami and blossoms open like a pop-up book. I'm not so convinced by the storytelling, which seems slightly plodding, but I love the design of this. Up there with Apotheon in terms of appearance.

Cannon Brawl

Cannon Brawl

An extremely cutesy, polished and colorful 2D artillery game with RTS elements. Huge explosions, destructible terrain and a range of gadgets to deploy (and blow up). Made by a former Spore developer.

Storyteller

Storyteller

The ingenious Storyteller hands you a scenario ("Adam rejects his former lover," for instance), and in order to solve the puzzle you must rearrange different characters in comic strip-like panels in order to produce that outcome. It's whimsical, vexing, morbid, and hilarious—often all at once.

Aztez

Aztez

It's a combination of a turn-based top strategy layer and a strange beat-'em up, and it's all in black and white, for the colorblind like yours truly. From Team Colorblind, purveyors of Off-Road Velocriraptor Safari .