2008 Indie Game of the Year Winners feature

Everyday, ModDB's front page fills with news of recent development updates for projects on every platfrom. Many mods have recognized ModDB as the #1 contributor to the well-being of the community around their mod. The gathering of both gamers and developers that make up our audience and the easy accessibility to them have been the main tenets behind ModDB's success.

The indie games presented here are ones chosen by the player's in both the released and unreleased categories. Although the field was too thin to yield separate categories this year, the first few months of 2009 have seen a recent increase of indie activity. If this pace keeps up, we'll be able to expand the indie category for next year's MOTY.

5.Overgrowth
^{Custom Built Engine}

Wolfire_Games wrote: Overgrowth is a 3d action-adventure game for Mac, Windows, and Linux, coming soon from the independent game studio, Wolfire Games. We're five guys working more than full time on this until it's done. While Overgrowth will be inheriting the spirit of Lugaru’s tried and true combat system, it will also benefit from every cutting edge feature that our new Phoenix Engine has to offer. Fans can expect better graphics, better physics, more characters, more moves, great mod support, and co-operative multiplay.

4.Iron Grip: Warlord
^{ID Tech 3 Engine}

Isotx wrote: In IRON GRIP: WARLORD, the first commercial game from Isotx, the player plays as an Atelian warrior from Warlord Sahrab's army. The nomadic state of Atelia is being invaded by the imperialistic Confederation and everything from their religion to their independence is being threatened. Due to its own internal weakness and fractured city-states, Atelia has struggled and largely failed to fight the movement. It is now up to you and a close-knit of rebels--either AI controlled or fellow players--to repel the invader and save Atelia. As a Warlord, you must use all of your skill to defend the city against the Confederate attacks. In an innovative blend of RTS and FPS gameplay, you will employ urban guerrilla tactics to fight off the hordes of soldiers. You must protect your city at all costs, by building defense structures, setting traps, and taking the enemy on yourself. Based on the Quake 3 engine, this project is the latest offering in the Iron Grip Universe.

3.Red Alert 2: Apocalypse Rising
^{SAGE Engine}

Bluehell_Productions wrote: Command & Conquer Red Alert 2: Apocalypse Rising, brings Westwood Studios' popular real time strategy game, C&C: Red Alert 2 into the FPS pespective, using the w3d engine. You will be able to experience, first hand, what it feels like to fill the boots of an Allied GI battling the communist might of the Soviet Union, or a Soviet Conscript vowing to take back what was lost to the Allies during the first great war. Classic units return such as the versatile Allied IFV to the mighty Soviet Apocalypse Assualt Tank to the gargantuan Allied Aircraft Carrier to the mad Giant Squids. This game features all of the units and structures for the Allied and Soviet sides from both RA2 and the Yuri's Revenge Expansion. The Apocalypse is Rising Commander. Are you prepared for it?

2.Infinity: The Quest for Earth
^{I-Novae Engine}

Infinity_Dev_Team wrote: Infinity is an open-ended game in which you control a spaceship throughought the entire galaxy, trying to make a name for yourself. You connect to an online server on which thousands of people are playing, 24/7. The game does not stop when you log off, but continues to evolve: it is a persistent universe. The game mechanics do not emphasize any particular gameplay style. Combat, trade, exploration, social relationships.. you are free to choose your own carrier path and goals. The only limit is your own imagination! Infinity is not a traditional role playing game. Although all players are expected to act in concordance with their avatar's motivations, there are no classes or skills to restrict your choices. Combat between spaceships is in true real-time, and the outcome is determined by your own intelligence and reflexes. Forget turn-based action and experience the great excitement of a first person experience! Using procedural techniques, the game universe has been designed to be huge and realistic. There are billions of solar systems and planets, each unique and awaiting to be discovered by a player. Coherent scales and distances are used, orbits of celestial bodies are correctly modeled and change continuously, allowing you to attend a sunrise on the moon of a giant planet, for instance.

1.Mount and Blade
^{Custom Built Engine}

Taleworlds wrote: Mount&Blade is a 3D, open-ended, single-player, third- or first-person, computer role-playing game in beta stage of development, created and distributed by the Turkish development house TaleWorlds. Mount&Blade has a medieval setting, without any fantasy elements. Mount&Blade is notable for its emphasis on realistic cavalry combat, which was common in the era, but is largely absent in most RPG titles.
The player can directly control only one player character, which is created when a new game starts. A character class only serves as a template for future character development. Each "class" differs only in its starting attributes, skill points and equipment. There are no in-game restrictions on equipment or skill use based on class and gender. The maximum level of a skill and the use of certain equipment is linked to a related attribute. The player character's facial features are customizable. The face and hair can be changed at any time, should the player wish to do so. The player character may take sides with any one or none of the factions present in Calradia: The Swadian, Rhodok, Vaegir, Khergit, and Nord armies, or hunt down the various bandits and rogues that plague the region.
The gameplay is open, similar to games such as Elite or Darklands. The game currently has a skeleton plot and the player is free to do as he wishes. While combat is the main draw of the game, it is for the most part optional.