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For the past few years, Microsoft has been encouraging independent developers to utilize its free-to-download game creation toolset, XNA Game Studio. It's why we got excellent games like The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai on Xbox Live Arcade. The Dishwasher is a past Dream Build Play winner. These days, Xbox Live has its own homegrown games channel, Indie Games (former Community Games), and Microsoft has continued the Dream Build Play contest. The 2009 winner will be announced at PAX this weekend, but G4tv.com has the exclusive reveal of the six finalists.

Here are your Dream Build Play finalists for 2009, readers. The first place winner will receive 40,000 and a chance to become an Xbox Live Arcade game, second prize nets $20,000, third prize gets $10,000 and fourth nabs $5,000. All will be playable at the PAX this weekend in Seattle!

Dust: An Elysian Tail

You will not believe that Dust: An Elysian Tail is an independent production. Dust is like…well, it's like a furrier version of Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The choice of art is sure to throw some people off, but for a moment, look past it. Everything in the world of Dust is beautifully animated. It's as though someone looked at an old 16-bit action side-scroller and decided "man, I'd like that quality of 2D in HD." Dust is that dream made reality, combined with a really solid, hyper-kinetic combat system, complete with leveling up, item management and side-kicks with powers of their own. Dust an unbelievably impressive independent production. Keep an eye on it.

Kaleidoscope

I'm a huge fan of games that play with color. It's why de Blob was one of my favorite games from last year (even if none of you played it!). Kaleidoscope is a traditional platformer with player toolset derived from painting. You tromp around as what can only be described as a tiny, ugly, black dust ball whose sole purpose is collecting a missing color palette and returning it to the dull world around you. In order to spread more color, however, you have to collect paint balls hidden throughout the world. The more you collect, the more color. The twist? Your special powers -- Kirby-like floating, a shield, running -- are powered by the same collected paint.

Max Blastronaut

There are no easy comparisons for Max Blastronaut. It's like Super Stardust HD with a focus on melee. You're a miner whose primary objective is to hack 'n slash various enemy miners dedicated to taking over the planets you've landed on for themselves. Most of your weapons are acquired from your dead enemies, but you also have the option to hover over the planet and blast baddies from orbit with a powerful laser. It only lasts a few moments, but removes you from the action and makes you feel like a space bad ass. Max Blastronaut even supports up to four players simultaneously via drop-in drop-out co-op (which I didn't have a chance to try, unfortunately).

Hurricane 2X Evolution

One of the finalists in last year's Dream Build Pay contest was the cel-shaded arena fighter Coliseum. Microsoft must love these kinds of games; Hurricane 2X Evolution falls into the same category, albeit a game with a much more ambitious fighting engine behind it and a heck of a lot more time for overall polish. Hurricane 2X Evolution keeps its fighting system simple -- you can only tap X to attack -- but provides needed variety with an emphasis on learning to block properly and executing specialized attacks when enemies are in "rage" modes. It looks fantastic, plays well and like many other finalists, makes you question what indie means.

Sol Survivor

The most technically impressive of the bunch, Sol Survivor is a fully-functioning 3D tower defense game made using Microsoft's games development toolset. I'm honestly a little burnt out on the genre, but Sol Survivor's inclusion as a Dream Build Play finalist feels like a tribute to the variety of gameplay possible with the tools. Sol Survivor shares a look not unlike Defense Grid, a popular tower defense game available via Steam and recently released on Xbox Live Arcade. That's a good thing.

Rotorscope - The Secret of the Endless Energy

Just being a puzzle game these days isn't enough. You need to be more. Rotorscope: The Secret of the Endless Energy is. Not only is Rotorscope a science fiction adventure wrapped up in a series of mini puzzles, it's got the extra features you expect from large, established download-focused studios. Rotorscope includes both a puzzle editor and the ability to share your puzzle solutions with your friends through Facebook. It's not as seamless as the upcoming Facebook Connect functionality coming to Xbox Live, but still, connecting through Facebook? That's ambitious -- and smart.