“Inspired” by the Square-Enix putting their foot in their mouth thread, I thought it’d be interesting to make a little thread about indie games. People always talk about wanting to try different, cheaper titles, but with how hard it is to get good gaming news and the state of advertisement/marketing, word of mouth tends to be only alternative.
I’ll list some of my recent finds, and try to avoid absurdly well known games (Hades, Hollow Knight, Sea of Stars) but not only that is a personal restriction, I also think people should request suggestions from others, if they got something they’d like to try in mind but don’t know any options;
With that said, here’s my first few entries:
Pseudoregalia
A 3D platformer, Pseudoregalia is a short adventure that doesn’t overcome its stay, and provides exactly what it aims to do: Smooth, responsive jumping and platforming as you travel across a sinister castle
Cassette Beasts
I’ve seen news sites calling this “The best non-Pokémon monster catching game”. I disagree, with the current state of both Nintendo and Gamefreak, there’s no “but” when it comes to Cassete Beasts: It is currently the best monster catching game. Amazing graphics, soundtrack, and mechanics, its what every former Pokémon fan deserves.
Rabbit and Steel
What if MMOs were good? I’m joking, but Rabbit and Steel has taken people by surprise by focusing on one aspect of the multiplayer games: You’re here to do bossfights, and only the bossfights. Team up with others in co-op or play by yourself, in a game where you’re gunning for the dungeon boss in frantic, chaotic combats. Don’t step on the wrong places, don’t get in the way of your allies spellcasting, don’t die, die, try again.
Lil’ Guardsman
What if Papers Please looked much more cute but was still distressing? Play as a 12 year old in charge of a guard outpost and decide who gets to enter the town and who gets zapped to death.
Final Profit
My personal pick and one of my favorite games of the past year. Queen Mab’s realm has been slowly been overtaken by The Bureau and their insidious machinations. In one desperate bid, she decides to go out into the world and fight capitalism by becoming a Lord of Business herself. Final Profit is a game that delivers massive serotonin doses with its shopkeeping and development mechanics at the same time that it doesn’t shy away how there’s no morally good way of shaking hands with capitalism. A satisfying and stressful experience, packed into a solid shopkeeping game.
ULTRAKILL
ULTRAKILL is one of the dopest, most high octane games published in the past few year. Parry bullets, slide across levels, eviscerate enemies with an arsenal of incredible weapons, rack up combos, feed on their blood. Not only ULTRAKILL is an amazing game by itself, however, but its also widely supported by people who know games can be hard and displays a wide range of accessibility options for tuning up your difficulty; the best games are the ones you get to enjoy and they’re well aware of it
To help give love to some games I think are underrated, here’s a list of my favorite games with 4,000 reviews or less on steam under $25 ranked by my personal play time.
Neo scavenger $15
Post apocalyptic survival sim, that reminds me a tiny bit of Oregon Trail. There’s a good chance a scratch will kill you, and finding a plastic bag so you can carry more than what you hold in your two hands makes you feel OP. I’ve put 74 hours into this game, have died and restarted countless times, and have hardly gotten anywhere in it, but it’s exactly my kind of survival game
Fae tactics $20
Turn-based grid combat reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics, with just a splash of pokemon. The mechanics and setting I found really fun, although the difficulty can fluctuate a good bit at times.
Xenonauts $25
If OG XCOM went more crunchy than streamlined, it’d be Xenonauts instead of Firaxis’s Enemy Unknown. The combat gives you a ton of control during combat, specifying how much time they should spend aiming before shooting, specific hours of overwatch, crouching, etc.
Star Renegades $25 (currently $5)
Roguelike turn based party RPG. It doesn’t do a crazy amount that’s new or novel, but it executes very well, and lining up a good combo with your build feels amazing.
Rogue Book $25
Slay the Spire with some smart additions. Instead of one hero, you play two, which gives some extra possibilities to mix and match between runs. Instead of an overmap with a couple branching paths, there’s a hex overworld where you can use resources to reveal tiles.
Wildfire $15
Avatar the Last Airbender as a 2d stealth action game. The level layouts are great, and the ability upgrades strike a good balance between being impactful and not trivializing encounters.
Don’t Escape: 4 Days to survive $15
A classic point and click adventure, except using human logic instead of insane Game Logic. Reminds me of a bunch of similar games I played at the height of Newgrounds. It’s a tight, solid experience that doesn’t over stay its welcome.
Alina of the Arena $15
What if Slay the Spire had a hex grid system? I’ve seen other games ask this question, but Alina is the best I’ve played. There are some really clever design decisions they’ve made where certain builds very intuitively form some classic archetypes.
Shardpunk $14 (currently $10)
Roguelike XCOM themed as a crystalpunk version of Vermintide. Combat is solid, but the theme of running to the exit while shooting rats on the way with crystal powered machine guns sets it apart for me.
The Case of the Golden Idol $18
This one breaks my “4,000 or less” review rule by a little bit, so I’m putting it at the bottom, but it is one of my favorite games. I understand the love for Obra Dinn, but Golden Idol is better in my opinion. Each puzzle is a scene more or less frozen in time, which you can click on things for clues as what’s happening. What sets it apart is how you really do need to solve the mystery to progress; the game doesn’t walk you into it nor really lets you brute force it. Hands down the best mystery game I’ve ever played.
Case of the Golden Idol is a must have, I avoided sharing in my OP due to being fairly well known, but if someone also shares it then I have no choice! :D