As for the market, you’re right. Indies can fill needs beyond what the mainstream developers create. When you’re in high school, maybe you can dedicate hours per day to games, but when you’re out of college with a full-time job and a family, you can’t always grind away at a game. At the same time, maybe games like Bejeweled don’t appeal to you. You still want the games you used to play.

So that’s where Oasis and Stange Adventures in Infinite Space come in. You can play these games very quickly compared to games such as Civilization. There is an untapped market for involving yet easy-to-play games that take minutes rather than days to play. For people with a life beyond video games, minutes might be all they have to offer.

Being able to make and distribute these games has never been easier. There is no lack of shelf-space on the world wide web. Make something and get it out there! Give it away! Charge a fee! You can do these things without a publisher, without getting a distribution deal with Wal-mart or Best Buy, and without permission or approval.

Good luck to you, too!

I think ‘casual’ games really can make a big impact. There are more and more articles (something on BBC site I recall recently) saying that there is a huge market for games which dont require the latest geforce card, and dont require hours of playing (and often frustration) to get a buzz from. I think its an untapped market. So many unoriginal — and expensive — games filling the shelves these days. Everyone seems to have a PC or laptop — they *could* all be your customer. I am sure the majority of those people dont want the next 3rd person shooter, WWII shooter, or incarnation of Need for Speed.

Since I now find myself with some time on my hands (dont ask), I am picking up an idea for a game I had last year, and am actually going to make it. Coincidentally, I use Kyra, and love it. Ok, the lack of sprite rotation is gonna be a pain, but the API is so nice, and the results fantastic.
I have thought very carefully about the gameplay mechanics. As you say, no lone programmer can realistically make HL2 — you simply cant produce that quantity of content (art, levels, blah etc), even if you had a 3d engine to begin with. So, I must concentrate on some interesting game mechanic and original ideas. What graphics I will have I will make sure are good quality (possibly using Blender, or some other 3d app to make sprites). I think that what makes an indie game stand out are original touches in gameplay, and nice graphics. A lone programmer *can* do those things.

And, with the internet, they can get their work directly to the public, bypass those shelves. My hope is make something cool, release a demo, and perhaps charge $5 for the game. Anyway, enough dreaming, back to coding…
Good luck!