The Indie Archive Project is an archival website that explores early 2000s indie PC games—their development, distribution, and impact on game design and internet culture.
Growing up, my sister and I bonded over various games—console games, card games, and other simple pastimes. But it was the family computer that truly opened our eyes to what the World Wide Web had to offer. We explored weird and wacky websites and a vast sea of content: Flash games, animations, music, and more. It seemed everyone wanted to create something of their own. Some even strived to match the quality of commercially released media—and some ultimately did.
With deep appreciation for these creations, I created this website to honor the creative and ambitious minds of independent developers, while inviting users to collaborate in documenting and preserving their history.
Research Guidelines
For my research, I define indie games as games with a budget of under 1 million and distributed by independent developers. I organized my research into different periods, including the Late 90s, Early 2000s, and Mid 2000s.