As the gaming industry concludes 2016 with developers from AAA ward that made players go, "Wow," it is but proper to give equal weight to indie developers as well. These indie games might come from humble beginnings but reaped admiration from players and fellow developers. So without much ado, gamers say - fire the honor list away.

KickStarter project Heart Machine Studio tops IndieObscura list of admirable developers from off the big gun's fence. Out from this indie developer came "Hyper Light Drifter" who reaped over $640,000 support out of the said fundraising project. Not only that "Hyper Light Drifter" finally released, but it conquered PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC as well.

Here is a bonus story about indie game "Hyper Light Drifter," its project director Alex Preston suffered health decline early on. However, Preston showed the gaming world that "Hyper Light Drifter" is unstoppable and pressed on amidst his condition.

Another KickStarter funded project is "That Dragon, Cancer" which came from indie developer Numinous Games. "That Dragon, Cancer" carved its mark in the gaming world as memorial interactive game for young Joel who succumb of cancer. Joel is the son of project starter Ryan and Amy Green who thought that they can immortalize his story.

What sets apart indie "That Dragon, Cancer" is a niche that is emotion-oriented. Players have to deal with real-life feelings like faith in times of hopelessness and other deep emotions. This unique game is available in PC and iOS.

Coming next in the list is Glitchers. This indie developer is actually a group of UK-based developers who made the stunning "Sea Hero Quest." Take on enemies and discover new adventures as the player traverses "Sea Hero Quest" maps.

This last game is a free-to-play indie games is available at iOS and Android devices. What is surprising about "Sea Hero Quest" is that Glitchers is actually collecting spatial awareness data while you play. These data are then used for research study about dementia.