The big blockbuster games are slowly being announced, but there's a remarkable world of independent games out there vying for your screen time.
Beautiful minmal games like Thomas Was Alone give a completely different gaming experience to the gory first person shooter stylings found in Resident Evil 6 or Halo.
These artful games deliver an aesthetic, and a gameplay, that make for an ideal starting point for "I don't play computer games" gamers.
If you like lush digital art, then it is hard to resist Botanicula or Wonderputt. These games are beautiful to look at, with ne'er a splatter of blood between them.
Dear Esther is one for the Tim Burton and Japanese ghost folk tale fans, bringing a ghost story to digital life with painterly, subtle rendering.
Iaian Simons, director of the Game City event says independent games are what he's most excited about in 2012. "I'd love to see someone independent create a Lego game. That would be amazing. Now that doesn't exist yet, but I do love Fez, Botanicula and Thomas Was Alone."
Simons, says independent games designer Adam Saltsman is one to watch in 2012: "I love to see the independent studios building up a body of work that really makes a mark, and Adam Saltsman is doing that at the moment. It's so exciting to see all this emerging talent, it feels like the early eighties out there."
Saltsman contributed to Fez, one of Simons' top ten independent games to look out for in 2012.
Season three of GameCityNights starts up on January 26. The nights are a way for gamers and non-gamers to explore videogames culture. Season 3, Episode 1 will take place on January 26 at Antenna, Beck Street, NG1 1EQ. Entry is strictly 18+.