Thanks for the link and so forth. Maybe I'll give it a go sometime. =)

So, I didn't see you ever tell us what you got your brother for sure, and if he liked it or not? Inquiring minds want to know! ;D

Terraria, there are lots of good ones but this was something that people are still playing
did you play the dmods made by fans? they are great many are as good as the main game
http://www.dinknetwork.com/files/category_dmod/sort_score-desc/

Terraria. Indie games are games I usually look for small doses of entertainment and some really cool ideas (some get old quick like and yet it moves and some are fun throughout like World of Goo).

Terraria takes the idea of combining Metroid and Minecraft and makes something that is built to last. Instead of a sandbox with no reason to explore and laughable combat it makes the game fun to play and explore. The progression is just enough to keep me playing and never feels like a grind while being so much fun for an explorer type like me.

I can see myself playing the game for a long time to come, especially with the developers adding so much stuff when the base game was already enough to be called a full game given the price point.

I ended up with Miner wars (since he loved Descent :) and MaB Warband.

Hohohoho, good one.

They are independently funded and are not owned by a larger company. Sounds pretty independent to me.

Do you or your brother like RPGs? I know of several indie RPGs if you are interested.

EA are indie too.

Recettear: An item shops Tale.

Hello,

I want to mention Starflight The Last Colony. It is not indie but freeware open source and quite good so far. And it is in beta state. http://code.google.com/p/starflighttlc/. It does recreate the feeling of the old starflight games quite well.

Have a nice game.

Well www.spiderwebsoftware.com has tons of them. I prefer the Geneforge series myself. Lots of demos that are quite long so he would definitely get a feel for the games.

Eschalon Book 1 and 2 from Basilisk Games. Crisp clean graphics with an easy-to-use interface. The game plays sort of like a roguelike in that if you don't move the enemies don't move either. Make your class how you wish. Isometric view.

Knights of the Chalice. See my "Knights of the Chalice Appreciation Station" thread on these forums for a good description of the game. Made by Heroic Fantasy Games.

For me, the best indie game is BRAID. Great platformer, with many clever ideas for gameplay, and touching and inspiring story.

Yeah... i don't like it. Spelunky is better platformer :)