Over at the Mentisworks blog, there's a v.good countdown listing the best 27 (!) 'indie art' games around - all of which are freely downloadable, and many of which are among the most abstract and intriguing games out there.

It's explained in the intro: "When I think of art that has influenced me most, it is generally work done by individuals. I can't recall the last time a corporation created a brilliant painting. I find that this also tends to be true in the emerging area of art games. Individuals are not generally driven to create purely for profit, and have more leeway to experiment and create according to their own artistic vision... I thought it was time to compile a "best of" list for art games."

There's just a whole bunch of good stuff in here, and in passing, I was reminded that Jon Blow has posted both Raspberry and Oracle Billiards, both extremely interesting experimental titles, as demonstrated at the 2007 Independent Games Summit (his lecture video coming soon!) on his website. I was also introduced to abstract games practitioners I was unaware of, like the Iteration Games titles, of which it's commented:

"All of Iteration Games' offerings share a similar artistic style, and all are similarly well done. Gameplay is always solid, taking cues from familiar mechanics and putting a unique spin on them. The biggest common denominator in these games is the strong techno-style art and sound which complement each title, and make for an excitingly ephemeral encounter." Awesome stuff. [Via XII Games.]