Just like the indie movie scene offers an alternative to Hollywood, the independent game scene offers an alternative to anyone who's burnt out on the offerings of the "mainstream" gaming world. Indie games are quirky, personal, innovative and usually have loftier ambitions than selling a lot of copies. But no matter how well intentioned their creators may be, most indie games -- like most low budget movies -- are kind of sucky. That's where the Independent Games Festival comes in. For the past 11 years, the Festival has celebrated the best in independent games by giving out coveted awards. The 2009 Independent Games Festival Finalists are all good enough for the IGF seal of approval, and they are as follows:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

• Blueberry Garden
• CarneyVale Showtime
• Dyson
• Night Game
• Osmos

Excellence in Visual Art:

• Cletus Clay
• FEIST
• Machinarium
• PixelJunk Eden
• Zeno Clash

Excellence in Audio:

• Blueberry Garden
• BrainPipe
• Musaic Box
• PixelJunk Eden
• Retro/Grade

Excellence in Design:

• Musaic Box
• Night Game
• Osmos
• Retro/Grade
• Snapshot

Innovation Award:

• Between
• Coil
• The Graveyard
• Mightier
• You Have To Burn The Rope

Technical Excellence:

• Cortex Command
• IncrediBots
• The Maw
• Osmos
• PixelJunk Eden

The awards will be given out at the Independent Games Festival held in San Francisco between March 23 and 27th. Check out the official site for more info on these games and the festival.

I'm a huge fan of The Maw, The Graveyard, You Have to Burn the Rope and PixelJunk Eden, but, admittedly I haven't played a bunch of these. How about you? Are you into the indie?