As stated on the other thread, one of my favorite indy games (other than Illwinter's fine work) is
PeaceMaker.
PeaceMaker is a simulation of the Israel/Palestine conflict. You can play as either the Israeli Prime Minister
or the President of the Palestinian Authority. In both cases, your "victory condition" is the same: a two-state solution. There are good arguments about whether or not the two-state solution is the best choice for the real world, but a game needs to have a goal, and this one works well.
Gameplay is fascinating and fairly deep. You have a walk a fine line between appeasing your own people and making nice with the neighbors. You have to build up your credibility as a leader, but you also have to accept certain limitations on what you can do. Basically, the whole game is a series of balancing acts. As I have played, I have found that one of the keys to success is to ignore the extremist elements within your own nation as much as possible. Like in the real world, if you can keep the majority of people happy, then the extremists can rant & rave all they want ... but you don't have to care about them.
Final tip: Remember that the name of the game is
PeaceMaker. Any option that involves violence is usually a bad choice. No matter how tempting it might be, don't start whacking militant leaders with Apache strikes, or the game will be over before you can blink....
Re: Favorite "Indie" Games
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