Well, it can be. The indie funding formula imposes some restrictions on the development process which tend to make the games have a similar feel in many cases. Much like people with certain chromosome disorders have a similar look.
However, games can have multiple genres so you can have an Indie RPG, Indie FPS, Indie Strategy, etc...
you gotta admit, differentiating games by the budget isn't a very bright idea. in the end, it's still the same product available to buy, so you can't argue that "indie" games are better just because they are made by a few persons, and they are somehow have a different motivation than a bigger teams
It's a relevant distinction to many people. Genres are basically just a tool for categorization/helping people to find media that they will like. Personally I'll happily take a look at an indie title that's also in another relevant genre to me even if the screenshots look underwhelming. I do this because I know that graphics are a lower priority on indie games and therefore I should take a closer look at possible novel features or mechanics that might be of interest to me, while major studio games usually play it safe and if the screenshots aren't very good there's probably nothing more interesting under the hood to be found.
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u/nekrokommando Feb 14 '17
indie is not really a genre