Terry Cavanagh

I'm concerned.

Well, ok, there's two aspects of this really - first, the $100 fee, which is unequivocally bullshit. Jonas wrote a very interesting essay on why that is, which I agree with completely.

The other aspect is whether or not Greenlight is itself a good solution to discovering new games for steam, and I'm sceptical. I recognise that valve have a problem that needs to be solved; I just don't know if greenlight is a good solution to that problem. My two main problems with it:

• It has the same problem all rating systems like this have - it disproportionately benefits already popular games, and makes it harder for niche, experimental stuff to get noticed. Ideally, I'd love to see steam highlight amazing games that really need the exposure instead of just becoming a popularity contest.

• It forces indie devs to become PR people, whether they like it or not. If you want to get your game on steam as it currently stands, you no longer just have to convince Valve your game is worthwhile, which is hard enough - you have to convince the public. Which may mean, for example, giving away lots of cool details about your game that you might prefer to let people discover on their own.

I think there are a lot of cool indie games on steam that would not be there if they had to go through greenlight - hell, I'm pretty sure VVVVVV would never have gotten on steam through greenlight.

It's pronounced VVVVVV!

They're real - honestly, I've gotten kinda numb to the difficulty! To be fair, I've been playing it incessantly for months, so I have kind of a headstart.

Ohh, good question! OK, it's hard to single out favourites, but here are some indie games I love that I'd like more people to play:

Phenomenon 32 by Jonas Kyratzes - Ambitious, broken, and beautiful; this game is the reason I started working with Jonas.

Deadly Rooms of Death: The City Beneath by Caravel Games - The best designed puzzle game I've ever played. Absolutely mindblowing, had a huge impact on how I think about level design.

Mirror Stage by Stephen Lavelle - A mesmerising, idiosyncratic game.

The LaLaLand series by Biggt - Everyone who wants to make games should play these at some point.

The Sense of Connectedness by Michael Brog - A really wonderful space to explore; it's hard to think of other games that feel anything like this.

I could go on all day when it comes to game recommendations.

Jesus, that's ridiculous. I remember playing the original version of Love long before I even thought up VVVVVV. Feel free to quote me on that for your page (and good luck with getting onto steam).

Haha, I don't really see myself making a sequel to VVVVVV. That game feels pretty complete to me.

The bundle was great for VVVVVV! And sales stayed more or less the same afterwards, which really surprised me. Very happy and glad to have been a part of it.

Depends on the player.

Left a comment on your greenlight page. Hope that helps!

Yep, absolutely!