Board 8 > [BIGE] Best Indie Game Ever - Bracket, Results, and Discussion

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to the one-stop hub for the bracket, results, and other discussion related to the Best Indie Game Ever contest!

First off, with the conclusion of the vote-in, I can now present what you've all been waiting for - the bracket! Here it is: https://challonge.com/B8BIGE

Along with the bracket, predictions are officially open! Whether you want to put in a favorites bracket, an actual prediction, or both, you have until the first two matches conclude sometime in the afternoon (PDT) of Sunday, June 9th to do so!

Speaking of matches, this contest will officially commence with the first two matches going up on the afternoon of Saturday, June 8th. From there, I will run two matches per day up until the end of the second round, followed by a single match per day from there until a winner has been decided. This schedule leaves plenty of time for anyone who wishes to submit a prediction.

Well, that's about all I have to announce. Feel free to discuss any facet of this contest you would like in this topic. Keep it civil, and enjoy!

Also, Tales of Maj'Eyal is my favorite game not to make the bracket.
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tag

edit: Wait, what? SimCity? I didn't see that nominated.
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azuarc posted...

Wait, what? SimCity? I didn't see that nominated.

Neither was Tetris. Both are still pretty notable snubs in my book, though your mileage may vary as to whether they should be considered indie.

Oh, and if you're wondering why there's so many weirdly coincidental matches and fourpacks, here's how I broke nomination ties for seeding:

ZenOfThunder posted...

how are going to base the seeding for groups with the same # of noms? metacritic scores?

My plan is to break the ties by the order in which each game with a given nomination number received its last nomination. Alternatively, if that's unfair, the other option is pure randomization.

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Something's not right about Papers, Please vs Return of the Obra Dinn as a potential R2 match.
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Octodad gets snubbed from the poll too :(
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Oh ya go my Wandersong

Honestly a masterpiece and I hope more people check it out now.
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@metaIslug how is Umineko not an indie game one guy literally brought discs to sell at conventions every year to sell the games
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Doki Doki Literature Club vs Katawa Shoujo

Oh, you.

Even though Iji is gonna get slaughtered by Cuphead (it would probably lose to most of the bracket tbh) I'm glad it got in and I hope this gets a few people to check it out.
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Bumpbeat.
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Cuphead v Undertale final.
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bump
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Wait a minute

Where's Chester
Where's The Cloister
Where's Clash Cup Turbo

Umineko is one thing but this is unusually unB8

I wanted my Outlast 2 in :(
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UF8 posted...

Wait a minute

Where's Chester

Wow you're right, everyone forgot Chester! I even forgot to put it in the snubs poll.
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Hotline Miami > Oxenfree for my (favorites) final
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great bracket!! thanks again for hosting
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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77771687

The first match is officially live! You can search for this and all future matches using the letters BIGE, within brackets in this topic's title.
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junk_funk posted...

Cuphead v Undertale final.

Cuphead vs celeste
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PixelJunk Shooter vs Ori

Ori vs Rocket League is an insane first round match.
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With the end of yesterday's matches, predictions are now closed!

The winners of day 1 are Celeste, by an 18-7 margin over Minecraft, and VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, by an 11-7 margin over Oxenfree.

Here is day 2's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77773935
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Day 2's winners are A Hat in Time, by an 18-4(!) margin over Transistor, and The Witness, by a 9-4 margin over Yume Nikki.

Here's the topic for Day 3: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77776958
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pX4iY2Vxgg" data-time="
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Day 3's winners are VVVVVV, by a 22-2 margin over Rabi-Ribi, and La-Mulana, by an 11-6 margin over Rivals of Aether. Fun fact: VVVVVV picked up the first 18 votes in its match, a record that will almost certainly stand for the rest of this contest.

Here's Day 4: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77781293
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Day 4's winners are Undertale, by a slim 13-9 margin over Divinity: Original Sin II, and Journey, by a much more commanding 13-6 margin over Fez. Suddenly, their Round 2 match looks like anyone's game.

Here's the topic for Day 5: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77784779
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I'm just about 95% of the way through Divinity 2, just the final boss and dungeon to take out.

Loving that game.
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Roller Coaster Tycoon v Doom set up for Round 2 is planned right?
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LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

Roller Coaster Tycoon v Doom set up for Round 2 is planned right?

I really wouldn't count on either, meat boy and spelunky should have strength, especially meat boy

UF8 posted...

LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

Roller Coaster Tycoon v Doom set up for Round 2 is planned right?

I really wouldn't count on either, meat boy and spelunky should have strength, especially meat boy

Prob. It's just funny both of the oldies are paired together like that
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If anyone has any poll ideas, please post them.
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Something like most underseeded/overseeded maybe?
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Shonen_Bat posted...

Something like most underseeded/overseeded maybe?

I like those ideas! If you or anyone else has any more, keep them coming!

I also have a new set of results to report. Day 5's winners are Terraria, by a lacking 11-7 margin over PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, and Stardew Valley, by a healthier 12-5 margin over Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt.

Interestingly, both matches paced similarly for most of their voting duration, with the upper seeds getting off to commanding early leads, only for the lower seeds to start coming back in the middle. However, Stardew only consolidated its lead with the last few votes, whereas Terraria kept struggling with its opposition.

Here is Day 6's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77787837
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More people need to play PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate
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You can just do "which 6 seed game have you spent the most time with" or something simple like that
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do you wanna do a "biggest snub" poll or is that going too far off the beaten path?
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ZenOfThunder posted...

do you wanna do a "biggest snub" poll or is that going too far off the beaten path?

This topic has a "favorite snub" poll already. "Biggest snub" is a bit too similar and too easily solvable for my tastes. Also, polls based on explicit seed numbers don't work, given that I've chosen to use Challonge for this bracket. Thank you for the ideas, though.
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Another day is in the books. The latest winners are Bastion, by an 11-5 margin over Hypnospace Outlaw, and What Remains of Edith Finch, by a 10-4 margin over Guacamelee! I have to say, I was surprised by Guacamelee rolling over and dying after the first hour, especially given that people seemed to think Edith Finch was overseeded. Perhaps the low vote totals for both matches had something to do with it; I'm hoping that the marquee names in potentially contentious matches today can boost them.

Also, as I said in yesterday's match topic, I would appreciate some bumping assistance for match topics, particularly for the AM hours (in PDT).

Here is Day 7's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77790838
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You can make polls that are less directly related to the contest too, like "which E3 indie game are you most excited for"
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The latest winners are Shovel Knight, by a 15-10 margin over The Stanley Parable, and Cave Story, by a 13-8 margin over Pyre.

Some thoughts:
- I'm glad to see votals rebounded after Day 6's low! If I'm not mistaken, Day 7 was the most popular to date.
- Stanley Parable looked so great in its loss that it diminished Shovel Knight's standing; if you predicted the latter to win the contest like I did, I would say you should be worried right about now.
- All in all, a subpar showing for Supergiant. Transistor got demolished by A Hat in Time, Bastion failed to draw voters in a lackluster win over Hypnospace Outlaw, and now Pyre dropped the ball in a winnable match.

Here's Day 8's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77793211
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Good showing by Stanley Parable. Waaay underseeded.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

You can make polls that are less directly related to the contest too, like "which E3 indie game are you most excited for"

Or bitsummit

the one where you use a plastic bag as a controller would win but still

Stanley Parable bottom two game in the contest
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bumping this to the top of my AMP since I keep forgetting about the contest
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MetalmindStats posted...

and now Pyre dropped the ball in a winnable match.

Pyre was the underdog going into that match.
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Zigzagoon posted...

MetalmindStats posted...

and now Pyre dropped the ball in a winnable match.

Pyre was the underdog going into that match.

Sure, that's fair. At the same time, the match was still entirely winnable, and yet Pyre couldn't even keep it close.

Anyways, our latest winners are Doki Doki Literature Club!, by a 13-11 margin over Katawa Shoujo, and INSIDE, by an 11-3 margin over Hexcells Infinite.

Some thoughts:
- DDLC winning its match was expected; that Katawa Shoujo made it our first genuinely close match, maybe not so much.
- All of our days to date have had at least some voters who only voted in one match, but yesterday took it to an extreme. DDLC's match was one vote off from our peak to date, whereas Inside's match had just one vote more than our minimum so far.
- With both big kahunas disappointing in their initial showings, the probable Shovel Knight v DDLC match should be interesting.

Here is Day 9's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77795590
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This time, the winners are Hollow Knight, by a 16-4 margin over Iconoclasts, and To the Moon, by a 10-6 margin over Freedom Planet.

Some thoughts:
- Hollow Knight looks like a real contender as expected, between its margin of victory and the solid amount of votes for its day.
- Will Shonen_Bat manage a perfect bracket through Round 1? Obra Dinn v Deltarune tomorrow should be the first real test.

Here is Day 10's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77798163
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Our latest winners are Braid, by an 11-4 margin over Furi, and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, by a 10-8 margin over Antichamber.

Braid dispatched its opposition exactly as expected, whereas Isaac struggled against Antichamber. It looks like the technical seeding upset won't happen next round.

Here is Day 11's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77800837
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Read 'em and weep! Papers, Please won 14-1 over Wandersong, and Return of the Obra Dinn triumphed 13-2 over Deltarune. Now, these two Lucas Pope titans must fight in a bloody duel to the death the next round.

But really, 'surprised' doesn't quite cut it about my feelings regarding Deltarune's sheer margin of demise. I actually took the upset in my predictions, thinking among other things that Obra Dinn would have a low playrate, and at least expected that the match would be close. In retrospect, a poorly-worded rules clarification may have turned away people who thought they should only vote if they had played both games, because I would have expected yesterday's matches to be more than two votes ahead of our minimum to date. Also, another bad sign for Undertale after its Round 1 struggle.

Here is Day 12's topic: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77803582
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For what it's worth, I played both Delta Rune and Obra Dinn and Obra Dinn is infinitely superior

Lucas Pope is a fuckin genius
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I feel like people voted against Deltarune because it literally is not finished yet.
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