Ive been trying some indie developed games this past year, more than ever and I’m in awe what lone devs or small teams can accomplish.
So, what are some games that you think don’t have the recognition they deserve, need a bigger audience or you would like the community to try.
I myself for example have played Monster Sanctuary, which at this point I think is not that hidden anymore and played a rougelike game called Elona, haven’t played RimWorld or Dwarf Fortress but I might in the future.
Sorry if a similar post already exists haven’t checked.
A bunch of my favorites have already been listed, so I’ll just mention the one that wasn’t: Antichamber, a first person puzzle game that’s probably somewhat like Portal in terms of how it requires you to rethink your assumptions about how space works, but it’s a very different game, both mechanically and in tone. I don’t want to give away too much, but it’s a mix of weirdly unsettling elements (although it is by no means a horror game), a design that’s actively trolling you in ways that will make you laugh, and mechanics revelations that will have you scream “Wait, I could have done that this whole time?!” It’s one of those games that I wish I could delete from my memory and play for the first time again.
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor is one of my favorite indie games of all time. The city design really captures the feeling of wandering around an unfamiliar, large, bustling place. The diary mechanic at the end of the day is a great way to get in character, and I like that you can decorate the apartment. I did some light data-mining (mostly item info and dialogue strings), and I even have fridge magnets of some of the pixel art!
Depanneur Nocturne is also a great evening’s worth of exploration and vibes, but I mention it because I has a reference to Spaceport Janitor and it made me SO happy when I realized that. :)
If you’re into deck building Roguelites, Griftlands is an incredible game. It’s developed by Klei who also made Don’t Starve.
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Road 96 was really fun and the soundtrack was great.
undefined> e the recognition they deserve, need a bigger audience or you would like the community to try.
felt like a roguelike telltale game
I don’t know what’s considered a “hidden gem” so I’m just going to shout out all the indie games that I think are at least 8/10 and recommend:
Rimworld
Dead Cells
Dredge
Inscryption
7 Days to Die
Mount and Blade: Warband
Factorio
Mordhau
FTL: Faster than Light
Raft
Gunfire Reborn
Into the Breach
Hollow Knight
Dome Keeper
DUSK
Golden Light
Vampire Survivors
Void Bastards
Second Vampire Survivors. One of my favorite games ever.
CrossCode! Incredible game, probably my favorite game of all time.
It’s so much more than it looks. The music is awesome, and in some powerful scenes, the story is driven forward with musical motifs that make the scenes hit that much harder.
The story is just… really good. I teared up a few times.
The characters are beautifully written and extremely memorable. By the end of the game, you really feel like you’ve been living with them.
People say they don’t like the puzzles, but the game comes with difficulty sliders and you can turn down things you don’t like.
You can get it on consoles, or, on Steam, and even GOG!
There is a DLC to this game. If you enjoy the game, DON’T SKIP THE DLC!!! It is THE ending to the game! Some might scoff at “oh wow they locked the story behind the DLC,” but no, trust me, it is well worth it. It adds a TON of content and is an extremely well put together finale to the epic story told in the game.
Crosscode is my favorite game of all time. It takes the best elements of retro games and creates an incredible experience from a beautiful combination. I said “eh, why not?” and got it on sale after seeing so many positive reviews and convincing recommendation videos and absolutely lived in it from beginning to end.
Gameplay: The gameplay is clean, the combat is fast and intuitive using both melee and ranged attacks that are extremely responsive, the special moves are insanely cool and I love figuring out the best ones to strengthen and set, I love switching elements on the fly with the push of a button to add things like fire and ice damage and how it all feels like second nature on a controller.
The puzzles get really clever and I was a big fan, mostly because figuring out the puzzles in the dungeons is simultaneously showing you ways to use new powers to manipulate your environment or attack your foes. Incredibly smart way to teach you the versatility of your powers by solving a dungeon puzzle instead of a boring tutorial. I will say that the first dungeon can start to drag, and the later dungeons can get really challenging, but that anytime I felt like I was spending too much time on something I’d just look up the Wyvern (he was one of the backers for the game and has been playing it since early versions) videos on Youtube to see how to solve what I couldn’t. No shame in asking for help, keep things fun before they just get frustrating if you’re like me, plus I needed to not waste too much time stuck on something because I was addicted to the story and needed to see what happened next! Which brings me to…
Story: The story pulled me in and just floored me. There were points where I had to pause just sobbing in tears, other times I had to pause to run around the room with joy. Go into it blind, it will pull you in!
A Unique Strength: It’s crazy how real your companions feel, completely sells the feeling and idea of being in an MMORPG. Part of this is because of how effectively written your friends are, and part of it is the fact that they are capable of acting on their own and in no way require you to control or protect them. In that way it reminded me a lot of Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite where you have a companion that, not only takes care of herself, but actually helps you and improves the gameplay in a way that it feels real lonely when they’re not around. I was emotionally invested in these people for sure.
I also like that it’s one of the few games these days to have a free playable demo. The demo is the short prologue at the beginning of the game. It’s fun but it greatly undersells things as it shows you some of the bare basics of melee combat. Learning the ranged attack system right after the prologue and then progressing into the range of the elemental abilities is where the combat shines. And finding out how big this world actually is adds more to it then a demo has a chance at conveying.
TL;DR 10/10 for Crosscode from me!
If you like space, you should play Homeworld and its sequels. Incredible game.
If you like chill strategy, try Terra Nil, Islanders, and Terrascape – they’re all really fun and Terrascape has turn-based multiplayer!
If you like puzzle games like Myst, Cyan has Obduction and the slightly controversial Firmament, which I thought was a lot of fun. Quern - Undying Thoughts is in the same vein and feels a lot like Myst or Riven.
If you like Halo’s multiplayer with an added Portal gun, try Splitgate. The developer isn’t going to be adding more content as they are shifting focus to a new game, but it’s still really fun.
If you like boomer shooters, try Amid Evil it feels like Quake, Unreal, and Hexen/Heretic. It’ll get your heart racing for sure.
I enjoyed my time in Splitgate, but after playing games like Insurgency and CSGO I have a really hard time with shooters having long TTK (fell off of Halo Infinite really quick for the same reason). I grew up playing Quake 2 so the idea of having to drop a full magazine to kill someone is frustrating to me
Thanks for the super complete answer, gonna be checking a lot of the listed games
Also “DUSK” is really great and very similar to Amid Evil. I believe it’s from the same publisher.
Hidden indie game - Homeworld.
Back before Gearbox, Homeworld was pretty indie and niche. I dunno if it’s considered that any more, but I wanted to include it just on quality alone.
It’s not indie by any means but I agree, if he’s never played I guess old often feels like a modern indie title.
I really enjoyed Songs of Syx. It’s a city builder and economy game, but with a lot of extra detail that you don’t often see.
I’ll say CrossCode. 2D hack-and-slash set in a futuristic MMO. Way too good, way too unknown for the genre that it is.
always way too many to list without some guidance on what you’re looking for(!)
worth mentioning guacamelee 1 and 2 (notable indie metroidvania games ) are currently free on the epic store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/guacamelee-stce-7cdbc8 https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/guacamelee-2-ac4977
Here are some games I have not seen mentioned yet:
Valdis Story: Abyssal City
A 2D metroidvania, with the best combat in the genre. It has infinite combos, parrys, skill cancels, a magic system, and 4 characters that play fundamentally different. You get scores for the bosses, which really motivates me to learn the combat well beyond just finding one thing that works well. If you have any interest in sidescrollers, then this game is for you. Controller is required thou.Zero Sievert
Ever wish that tarkov had a singleplayer mode? Well look no further, Zero Sievert is a top down extraction shooter, that is still in early access. But whats already on offer is really solid and a lot of fun. It has that tense atmosphere when you find something good and want to extract, without wasting massive amounts of your time.Ollie Ollie World
A 2d skateboarding game with a unique control scheme, that has a very high skill ceiling. Its score chase, with online leaderboards, daily challanges, seasons, and so on. I like its music and artstyle a lot, bit if thats not for you, you can check out the older entries in the series, that look not as ‘out there’.Brotato is a fun, mindless game if you like bullet hell games. Omori is a funny, wacky rpg with some horror elements. Good story to boot as well!
It really feels whacky, but I’m gonna check some videos about it. The art seems really interesting
You’re talking about Omori? Without getting into it too much there is a good mix of art styles. The soundtrack is neat as well!
I played the hell out of Slipways
Their slogan “Build vast trade empires, still be done in time for lunch” is on point here. You connect planets with different resources and different industries to an interconnected network in a (turnbased) race against the clock. Easy to learn and always great fun to cram into a 30min slot in your day.
I came here to recommend this one. Fantastic game, very unique.
Sounds really interesting, reminds me of an old Star Wars game that I enjoyed years ago, thanks!
Seconding slipways. It is peerless.
Sounds like fun, added to my wishlist, partly waiting for a sale, partly waiting for time to play it
recently got completely addicted to a text-based Indie RPG called Roadwarden. The story and characters are incredibly rich and the gameplay is full of satisfying little moments of “oh, I have just the item for this!” or “another character told me this tavern keep doesn’t appreciate jokes; I better get straight to business”. I haven’t beaten it yet, but I can’t wait to see where it leads!
Heart&Slash! A simple hack 'n slash roguelike with a really good aesthetic and soundtrack
