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 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. store.steampowered.com/app/…/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. store.steampowered.com/app/1154810/Going_Under/
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.
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)
Honestly just a really high quality experience that can be finished in around six or so hours. One of my favorite games of all time by many accounts: aesthetic, gameplay, atmosphere, and storytelling.
Clan Lord. An MMO that’s been running since the 90s and still gets regular updates. It’s long past the point of a monthly subscription, only costing $15 to get a character.
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.
Fantastic Fist is a platforming game focused on simultaneous keyboard and mouse controls. While the character can be moved around with the keyboard, the mouse can be used to interact with the environment by punching with a giant fist.
A puzzle platformer with tight controls and true pixel art, much like Celeste. Makes very good use of the controls available on a PC. Low system requirements (100 MB storage). Solo dev spent years perfecting the gameplay.
I don’t play platformers but I’d like to support the dev (not affiliated). I will gift it to you on Steam if you’re the first to ask for it via DM CLAIMED. As for games I have played, I enjoy little itch.io VNs by npckc, I just wish my devices were fast enough to run Ren’Py decently…
Also lol at “worse graphics” for Rainworld. An amazing looking game. Though it probably doesn’t actually mean worse graphics, just less realistic graphics
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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Aktywne