“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
Posters Suggestions Below!
frog: My recommendations for indie games:
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
You play a turnip and you get to commit crimes. The characters are cute, the humour is silly, there are puzzles and bosses. It plays a bit like a Zelda game, I guess, except everyone is a vegetable. It’s pretty short - I completed it in about 5 hours, including all the achievements. I should play this again actually.
Spirit of the North
This is such a beautiful game. The best way I can describe this game is Abzu but you’re a fox. No dialogue or narration, just you, your spirit companion, and some really gorgeous music. This is also a pretty short game - I was fully complete with all achievements in about 6 hours. I’ve played this 5 times since I bought it 9 months ago because I love it so much.
Terra Nil
A reverse city-builder, where your goal is to clean up all the pollution on the map, restore plants and wildlife, and then get rid of any traces of your presence. You can play the whole campaign in a few hours, but it took me about 20 hours before I got all the achievements. I’ve put in almost 50 hours in total, because it is just so chill to play.
DUSK
Gatekeeper
CrossCode
GeneForge 1: Mutagen
BackPack Hero
thisisbutaname: I find myself playing more and more Backpack Hero
Going Medieval
Arctic Eggs
ramirezmike: Arctic Eggs is a short but neat game about frying eggs
Animal Well
New Super Lucky’s Tale
Kissaki: New Super Lucky’s Tale is a great action platformer. My review on Steam.
RainWorld
AI War
AI War 2
Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal
Creeper World is a series of tower defense games with a unique twist: the enemy is a liquid! You’ll have to use a variety of weapons and tools to fight back against the literal tide of creeper. The third game is my personal favourite, though they’re all awesome.
Mosa Lina
Mosa Lina is self described as “a hostile interpretation of the immersive sim”. This game is chaos incarnate. Every level you are given a random set of tools and must touch or destroy all fruit and make it to the goal. Some levels will not be possible. Failure is expected. You can do some prettt cool things with a spear and a phaser though.
Siralim Ultimate
WindowKill
Lumu: The most clever bullet hell I’ve ever played, best experienced on mouse and keyboard.
Windosill
More of an interactive art piece. Very short but I still think about it years later. (Some of their other stuff is available online for free and is similarly enjoyable)
Magic Wand
Like a surreal, jumbled mess that seems to parody a badly translated JRPG. Another short and sweet experience.
Like a nightmarish fever dream. If you like old school FPS mechanics like rocket jumping and bunnyhopping you’ll feel right at home. This one is a little difficult to show people gameplay of because it looks impossible to decipher, but when you’re actually playing it and really start to get entranced, it’s an experience like nothing else. The way it gives you a 360 fov is an incredible mechanic.
My favorite game of all time. Adorable puzzle game where you paint the world, with a story about what makes someone an artist. One thing I really like about this is the open ended way it lets you approach creative tasks; It’s up to you to decide how much you want to invest, there’s no scoring system to gamify the art portions, which is very in-line with the story to me. Edit: Oh, and a great soundtrack by Lena Raine!
We Who Are About To Die
Dinkum
The other game that I’ve been playing a lot is Dinkum, which is somewhat like a mix of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, with heavy Australian Outback overtones. It’s a nice game to play with friends and significant others, since there’s plenty to do with a good mix of action and cosy gameplay.
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.
Corn Kidz 64
Ardor
Ardor: free to play deck builder. Hasn’t been updated much since launch, I’m pretty sure. Play as a hexagon fighting other hexagons on a board of hexagons. Last I checked it currently has attack cards, movement cards, and cards that allow you to infect enemies. After each round you get to use the in game currency to upgrade things like how far an attack can reach, damage, how far you can move, etcetera. All numbers can go up for the right price. Currently $0.00USD on Steam. Has a $5.99USD support the developer DLC that, as far as I’m aware, doesn’t actually do anything.
Brok the InvestiGator
Brok the InvestiGator: describes itself as the very first punch and click, having a point and click mode and a character control mode. Has multiple endings depending on how you play and what you do. Currently $19.99USD on Steam and has for $4.99 and $3.99 respectively a soundtrack and artbook DLC. Base game includes unlockable fan art and official character sheets. Also has a demo that contains all of chapter 1 of the full game, so you can see if it’s a game for you.
Amorous
Amorous: NSFW furry dating sim visual novel game. Free to play. Can’t get a real date? Have fun trying to get into the pants of virtual people instead! Warning! Contains nudity and visible genitals! Currently $0.00USD on Steam. Must be logged in to look at Steam page, but no such requirement for the itchio page.
One of my students has been begging me to buy Ultrakill since last year, and I keep saying no just to spite him. Maybe I’ll finally give it a try!
please do, it’s amazing
It is a great game but not for everyone I’d say, the game is pretty difficult at least for me and as I grew older I noticed that I enjoy an easier game with a good story to tell to a challenging game.
Cassette Beasts not Beats ;)
stupid brain, thanks for pointing it out
My recommendations for indie games:
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion: You play a turnip and you get to commit crimes. The characters are cute, the humour is silly, there are puzzles and bosses. It plays a bit like a Zelda game, I guess, except everyone is a vegetable. It’s pretty short - I completed it in about 5 hours, including all the achievements. I should play this again actually.
Spirit of the North: This is such a beautiful game. The best way I can describe this game is Abzu but you’re a fox. No dialogue or narration, just you, your spirit companion, and some really gorgeous music. This is also a pretty short game - I was fully complete with all achievements in about 6 hours. I’ve played this 5 times since I bought it 9 months ago because I love it so much.
Terra Nil: A reverse city-builder, where your goal is to clean up all the pollution on the map, restore plants and wildlife, and then get rid of any traces of your presence. You can play the whole campaign in a few hours, but it took me about 20 hours before I got all the achievements. I’ve put in almost 50 hours in total, because it is just so chill to play.
The one game I will never stop gushing praise for is crosscode. Not a short game by any means but it’s taken my number 1 spot handedly.
As an aside, pseudoregalia is an excellent game and I’m glad it made it onto this list or yours.
Nice touch adding people’s comments in the original post. Doing gods work here
Thanks, I thought of putting a little extra effort, though I think I’ll definitely stop now because the OP is getting cluttered
Warning! First three games feature anthro animals!
• Corn Kidz 64: if you like games that play like they were made for older consoles (n64 in this case) and directly ported to modern PC (requires controller and has no mouse and keyboard support). Currently $6.99USD on Steam. Long enough to leave me satisfied but short enough to make me want more.
• Brok the InvestiGator: describes itself as the very first punch and click, having a point and click mode and a character control mode. Has multiple endings depending on how you play and what you do. Currently $19.99USD on Steam and has for $4.99 and $3.99 respectively a soundtrack and artbook DLC. Base game includes unlockable fan art and official character sheets. Also has a demo that contains all of chapter 1 of the full game, so you can see if it’s a game for you.
• Amorous: NSFW furry dating sim visual novel game. Free to play. Can’t get a real date? Have fun trying to get into the pants of virtual people instead! Warning! Contains nudity and visible genitals! Currently $0.00USD on Steam. Must be logged in to look at Steam page, but no such requirement for the itchio page.
• Ardor: free to play deck builder. Hasn’t been updated much since launch, I’m pretty sure. Play as a hexagon fighting other hexagons on a board of hexagons. Last I checked it currently has attack cards, movement cards, and cards that allow you to infect enemies. After each round you get to use the in game currency to upgrade things like how far an attack can reach, damage, how far you can move, etcetera. All numbers can go up for the right price. Currently $0.00USD on Steam. Has a $5.99USD support the developer DLC that, as far as I’m aware, doesn’t actually do anything.
I have played all these games, so I can vouch for them in various ways. I also tried not going over $25USD before tax to be a little more accessible to people who don’t have a lot of extra funds for games and tried not to go super well known and popular (even though I’m pretty sure Markiplier did a video on Amorous if I remember correctly)
We’re online, I don’t think you need to apologize for showing off some furries :P
Oh no, furries, the most apology worthy state of existence- Wait a minute…
I love this thread! I’ve been definitely shying away from AAA games towards Indies with lots of love. Here’s my contribution:
Venineth: One of the best entries in the niche “marble rolling” genre. You explore beautiful alien worlds, solving puzzles, and going very fast. Each world is incredibly unique, and has its own set of challenges to conquer. There is no dialogue and all text is in an alien language, which does an amazing job of immersing you into it’s landscapes https://store.steampowered.com/app/976500/Venineth/
Hypnospace Outlaw (Just above 3,000 reviews): Late 90s Internet simulator with a lot more to it than meets the eye. The game weaves a complex tale of people’s lives brought together by their community found on the Internet, and the havoc wreaked by a company in pursuit of profit above their users. The soundtrack is amazing, and I was genuinely surprised at how attached I got to the quirky Internet pages by the end. https://store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw/
Going Under: A rogue-lite adventure about unpaid intern Jackie treading through her startup’s basement to fight the monsters of former companies. The game’s tone and humor is amazing, and the “corporate marketing” art style works so well. The gameplay incorporates a lot of Breath of the Wild elements such as weapon durability, locking onto a single enemy, and throwing weapons. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1154810/Going_Under/
Going Under is so much fun!
Distance is a criminally underrated racing platformer cyberpunk horror game. Worth it for the campaign alone IMO but there’s also multiplayer, a level editor with workshop support, two bonus campaigns, car customization, and a track generator.
I don’t have time to read all this just yet because I’m at work lol. But I LOVE this topic. I’ve always been so torn on indie games. Some can be awful, but others are genuinely the best thing ever.
I will have to write out a list of my favorites in a bit
The Ultrakill Dev(s) get paid? Here I figured it was a Terry A. Davis/Templeos situation
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
I am playing Geneforge 1: Mutagen right now. You are a wizard that csn shape monsters into life to fight for you. Very oldschool-ish isometric rpg. It’s a lot of fun and very indie.
SpiderWeb games are really good! I’m particularly fond of Queen’s Wish where you deal with political factions and base building while attempting to reclaim (or liberate) an abandoned colony.
They look like they’d be bullshit hard games, but they tend to be actually quite smooth and well made, while still being simplistic
Have you played avernum? And if so, did you like it?
I have played some of the Avernum games. In my opinion it’s peak Jeff Vogel. If you’re fine with the graphics, you’re in for excellent writing, nicely done non linear exploration and original world building.
I have played very little of both Avernum and Avadon, not enough to have an opinion. They’re both on my “One Day” play list
Just saw some of them are on sale… but I also need to sleep at some point.
Ah what the hell, sleep is for the dead!
Really fun GDC talk by spiderweb games https://youtu.be/stxVBJem3Rs?si=mZdu6eyyWD4OEWGw
Thanks, that was fantastic! What a guy :D
WindowKill - $4.99
The most clever bullet hell I’ve ever played, best experienced on mouse and keyboard.
Windosill - $2.99
More of an interactive art piece. Very short but I still think about it years later. (Some of their other stuff is available online for free and is similarly enjoyable)
Magic Wand - $3.99
Like a surreal, jumbled mess that seems to parody a badly translated JRPG. Another short and sweet experience.
HYPER DEMON - $14.99*
Like a nightmarish fever dream. If you like old school FPS mechanics like rocket jumping and bunnyhopping you’ll feel right at home. This one is a little difficult to show people gameplay of because it looks impossible to decipher, but when you’re actually playing it and really start to get entranced, it’s an experience like nothing else. The way it gives you a 360 fov is an incredible mechanic.
*(It’s also 40% off for ~40 hours as of this comment, making it $8.99)Chicory: A Colorful Tale - $19.99
My favorite game of all time. Adorable puzzle game where you paint the world, with a story about what makes someone an artist. One thing I really like about this is the open ended way it lets you approach creative tasks; It’s up to you to decide how much you want to invest, there’s no scoring system to gamify the art portions, which is very in-line with the story to me.
Edit: Oh, and a great soundtrack by Lena Raine!I find myself playing more and more Backpack Hero
It’s such a fun game, but I kinda dropped it after I accidentally glitched my game and got my story mode save wiped in an old update.
I mostly play quick games, trying to come up with new combos and strategies
That’s usually what I do every once in a while whenever I decide to play. The amount of cool strategies you can do is fun. Especially if you aren’t like me and refuse to learn how to play toad mage or animal companion person.
Are we the same person?
I basically only play with the mouse and bird characters
I personally like playing the bird and robot the most.
I keep trying to find ways to evangelize Going Medieval. The devs have been so communicative and consistent with updates. It’s not everyones kind of game, but I’ve definitely spent more time than I should have playing it.
