Best Indie Game of 2012

*Note, don't let the posted name fool you, IrishPride wrote this one*

This award may not provoke heated debates amongst peer groups, but this year, we had a strong showing of downloadable games.  In fact, a lot of other video games industry websites have been picking a downloadable games as their game of the year.  Downloadable games have come a long way which is great for gamers.  I would be remiss not to mention our honorable mentions, because in their own right, they are damn good games.

Faster Than Light
Mark of the Ninja
Shank 2
Skullgirls

However, the one downloadable game that stood above the rest for me is Mark of the Ninja. Mark of the Ninja is the definitive stealth/assassin game of 2012.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for a game with great stealth play and if you're an assassin on top of it, I'm all in.  The mechanics of Mark of the Ninja is actually quite simple, but it is executed (excuse the pun) to perfection.  The ambiance and atmosphere is spot on and you truly feel like a ninja trying you darnedest not to be spotted.  In other stealth games, if you get spotted, it's not the end of the world.  You can go guns ablazing and finish the job.  Personally, I don't want this in a stealth game.  Call me a masochist, but I want to be punished for being spotted.  I want to curse under my breath for leaving the shadows too soon and be killed my a guard on patrol.  While Mark of the Ninja isn't that unforgiving, you can tell it was the developers intention to remain unseen for your missions.  If you're a fan of stealth games and haven't tried Mark of the Ninja yet, you are doing a disservice to yourself.  For an eight to ten hour campaign with a ton of unlockables to obtain, Mark of the Ninja is definitely worth your time.  *Vanish*