To kick off X-Play's unprecedented coverage of the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo, we've asked each of the PAX 10, the Expo's top ten highest rated indie games of the last year, to answer some questions for us.

From Strange Attractors 2, we received answers from three of the game's developers: Eric, Chris, and Bret and found out what advice they have to other independant game developers.

G4: How long was the game in development?

C: Many many nights and weekends.

E: We've spent about two years working on this game when we could find time outside of work and school.

G4: Where did you get the idea/inspiration for the game?

E: This particular game is a sequel to a One Switch game we made a few years ago, the concept for that came from a gravity game that chris and I made in high school, which itself was based on some features I added to my first attempt at a Pong clone.

G4: What's your all-time favorite game?

C: The Secret of Monkey Island. When I was young, it was the first game that really made my eyes go wide with the possibilities of gaming as a competent storytelling medium. It was funny, engrossing and like opening a children's book and imaging a reality far beyond the edges of the page.

B: The Legend of Zelda

G4: If you could have dinner with any one developer, who would it be and what would you eat?

C: Ron Gilbert - we'd spar in some insult swordfighting and game ideas over a pint at a fine Irish pub.

B: I would dine with Shigeru Miyamoto and we would eat mushrooms.

G4: With unlimited resources, what kind of game would you make?

C: A completely immersive synesthesia inducing experience.

B: You'll have to sign an NDA first.

E: One I haven't played yet.

G4: Which existing franchise would you like to work on?

C: I'd love to work on whatever Q entertainment is making right now.

B: Zelda, so I could make it great again.

E: I'd like to take a crack at the Gundam games.

G4: Where do you see indie gaming going in the future?

C: Similar to whats happens in the indie music scene. Large companies will eat up innovative projects and milk them until the the phrase "indie gaming" doesn't really mean anything anymore.. but really, until then I think it'll be a fantastically dirty cesspool of creativity and innovation.

B: As it becomes a hotter market, big publishers will corner that market and push the true indies out. We will see high volumes of cheaply made, crappy games.

E: I think the definition of what an indie game is will shift as the bigger companies start to move into that market, but I think there will always be someone trying to make something outside of the mainstream because they care enough to do so.

G4: What piece of advice would you give to someone looking to develop their own indie game?

C: The most important thing is to put the sweat into turning your ideas into real games. Everyone has ideas, but making them real is far harder. Develop your ideas and invest the blood, sweat and tears to make them them in the best way you can.

B: Communication amongst your team is key! Also, enjoy not having a life for a couple years.

E: Choose a project that you enjoy playing with, but make sure you have some kind of criteria for calling it finished.

G4: What was the biggest lesson learned from your development process?

B: It's OK to hypothesis about game ideas, but you will never know if you are correct until you implement them.

C: Deadlines are a bitch.

E: Being a team is different than just being a group of friends.

G4: Besides the obvious—making games—what are some of your hobbies?

C: Playing guitar, making artwork and music, learning.

B: Hitting the sauce and nailing hotties.

E: This is a hobbie?

G4: Favorite movie, food, sports team, video game character, and actor/actress?

C: No Country for Old Men, Hockeytown's own Detroit Redwings, Guybrush Threepwood, Anthony Hopkins (I feel like these are all very Michigan answers.. )

B: I wish I had time for those things.

E: Aliens,Thai, The Isotopes, GLaDOS, none really.