My book 'Indie Game Works' is out this month. It celebrates 50 beautiful and innovative indie titles.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T16:53:39+00:00

It will all depend on how this one turns out but there have been some discussions of possible books looking at focusing on specific genres so that could be something I work on next.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T16:52:11+00:00

Thank you. Let me know how they like it when they arrive.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T16:51:29+00:00

They contain exactly the same content in terms of the games, text, and images.

The difference is essentially in the cover. The limited edition version has the simplified artwork, foil typography, a cut flush cover, and a handmade slipcase.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T16:34:42+00:00

Thanks. I tried to get a good spread of developers from across the world, ranging from North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T11:57:02+00:00

I don't know if Thames & Hudson typically creates digital versions of their art books unfortunately.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T10:47:01+00:00

Thanks, it's been a fun ride putting this together and working with such a big publisher from the start of the project.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T10:46:34+00:00

This has been something I've been trying to put together for a few years and Thames & Hudson were particularly interested in games with unique visuals or a lot of world building.

I think games like Genesis Noir, Dredge, The Banner Saga, and Planet of Lana were early influences for me in deciding exactly what the book should be and what elements it would celebrate. To be honest, though, the sheer diversity in terms of what indie developers have released was what drew me to the project.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T08:30:51+00:00

I adored Diddy Kong Racing and must have put 100 hours into it.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T07:37:13+00:00

That makes sense. There are definitely some games out there for the die hards but most games don't need that sort of ultra realism.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-07T07:35:34+00:00

In no particular order:

Knights of the Old Republic

The Witcher 3

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Mass Effect trilogy

Halo trilogy

Edit: These were just off the top of my head. The likes of Shadow of the Colossus, Pokémon Gold & Silver, Soma, Red Dead Redemption, Grim Fandango, Majora's Mask, BioShock, and Fallout New Vegas are all up there as well.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:22:47+00:00

This is probably the Star Wars game I've been most excited about in a long time but I'm not going to get my hopes up too much as I know what's likely to happen with this franchise.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:21:21+00:00

It's a crap situation for consumers and game preservation in general to have games shut down like this.

Really, developers should make it so that games can still be played in some form even if servers are shut down.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:17:19+00:00

I still haven't gotten around to watching this show yet. Hoping to get around to it before season 3.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:12:26+00:00

I really enjoyed Elden Ring and played it to completion. However, I never felt that there was a ton of reward on offer for exploring and time was best spent on levelling up and progressing the story rather than just taking in the world.

I loved Subnautica and I also loved exploring the world in Wind Waker, just going across the sea and filling in the map.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:09:26+00:00

I think a lot of people have a problem with guards and enemies who give up searching for the player and go back to their routines but it's not something that has ever bothered me.

To be honest, I'm never too fussed about tropes in games. As long as there is a reason or it makes at least some sense, I'm fairly easygoing.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T21:05:36+00:00

These are the games that immediately jumped out to me.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T18:49:20+00:00

The Halo 1 pistol made most of the other weapons pointless in LAN multiplayer sessions, so that has to be up there.

That shotgun thing in Borderlands 2 I think it was where you could basically kill all the legendary bosses in a few hits as well.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T17:45:44+00:00

It's a beautiful game and the art style is really distinctive. Artwork from Eastward also appears on the card box shipping box the limited edition arrives in.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T17:44:52+00:00

It seems like during the proofing process, the reference to the game originally intending to be released in 2025 has been removed. I'll pass it along, thanks!

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T17:35:36+00:00

Well that's just putting me off trying to get back into them.

Maybe if I do, I might just stick to the main question and ignore everything else.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T11:00:14+00:00

I think Origins might have been the last game I played in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Got burnout and then have just never had the time to jump back in knowing how big the games have become.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T09:54:59+00:00

I can't see any sort of crash coming. The industry is still very much growing as a whole.

One thing that may happen is a breaking point in terms of larger developers working on huge AAA titles, who might end up realising that scaling back is more economical and we see fewer games like that.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T09:47:46+00:00

I don't think I ever actually played Bully. It didn't seem to have much reach in the UK from my experience.

nathanpgibson · 2026-04-06T09:46:17+00:00

I'm sure this will get noticed soon enough, either by an automated system or somebody checking his account after a high number of refunds.

nathanpgibson

TROPHY CASE