Non-Violent

Most games aspire either to thud-and-blunder or cuteness -- or, as with Zelda, sometimes both at once. It's exceedingly rare to find a game you might legitimately characterize as, well -- a tone poem.

In The Crossing, the screen is filled with a beautifully lit forest crossing. Deer spring nobly from left to right across the screen, but at screen middle is a chasm. Left to their own devices, they will plunge, sadly, to their deaths.

Knytt Stories is, as you can probably guess, a pseudo-sequel to the original Knytt. While the gameplay and atmosphere of the game are very similar to their predecessor, there are numerous refinements that put this a step above the original. Rather than starting out with all your abilities at once, you’re forced to acquire them as the game progresses. There are several entirely new abilities, too, including an umbrella, which will slow descent, and a double jump.

Dune II, WarCraft, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, and Empire Earth--real-time strategy games have always been about warfare and conquest, right? How could you possibly do a peaceful RTS?

That's the challenge a team at Michigan State University set themselves... and quickly found that their inspiration outgrew their dreams, attracting contributors beyond the university, becoming an Independent Games Festival finalist in 2006--and expanding from a freeware student project with a handful of levels into today's commercial game with 45.