There are so many amazing indie games out there, but some of them stand out as must-play experiences. What are your favorite indie games of all time?
Gone Home.
Celeste.
Most of Pokemon fan games (my boyfriend loves fangames)
Subnautica. One of the best experiences I’ve had in gaming.
Outer Wilds. One of the most creative and thought-provoking games I’ve played. Definitely go into this one knowing as little as possible about it.
Hollow Knight also deserves a spot here, but personally I preferred Salt and Sanctuary.
Gris. Gorgeous visuals and stress-free gameplay
Not incredibly long either
Celeste took much of my time, even though I’m usually not a big fan of this genre. Stray was pretty interesting for me as a fan of cyberpunk culture. Plague Tale was a breath of fresh air
I would say Hades.
The gameplay loop, the art direction and the story are all very good.The games that stuck with me are (in no special order) Paradise Killer, Sable, Disco Elysium, Gris and of course What remains of Edith Finch.
There is this little hidden gem called The Witcher 3.
Ok, real answer: To the Moon and Doki Doki Literature Club are two indies that really left a mark on me, specially the former. Both games are fantastic.
Shovel Knight + DLC, what a fantastic MegaMan clone!!!
Superhot, Katana Zero, Hotline Miami, Celeste
Factorio has been my crack-torio for many years. Satisfactory may have better graphics, but I prefer the simplicity and depth of Factorio.
Oh disco elysium for sure. Fantastic crpg.
It’s such a shame what happened to the creators. They’ve even encouraged people to pirate it.
Risk of Rain!
First, second, or both?
First. Second is nice, but it’s 3D, makes it a little harder. Also they are releasing a new revamped version of the first.
Subnautica
Tunic
The Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 (I’ve convinced 0 people to try these)
Subnautica is horror in its most subtle form.
"Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?”
I usually only play the large bombast blockbuster titles, but Actual Sunshine did leave me speechless.
We will need a topic for the AAAs as well. 🙂
Do you mean Actual Sunlight?
Yes. My bad on the name. It’s been a couple of years.
There are a lot I’d recommend, but I think the only must-play for me is Cave Story.
When I was growing up, Cave Story was like the paragon of games as art, and was a major inspiration behind me making games as a hobby and getting into software development professionally. Cave Story was made by a single talented auteur, not for profit, and released for free. And it was as good as Metroid and Mario, or maybe even better. It proved to everyone that such a thing was even possible.
I think the only indie game that could possibly compete with Cave Story for the title of “most influential” would be Minecraft. Though Minecraft should probably be disqualified from that title for having sold out to Microsoft as soon as it started to get big…
The original Cave Story is truly a piece of art. I could not believe back then how good this game is that was created by a single person. He did everything. In an Interview Pixel(?) said that he learned composing music while creating the game. He had no knowledge in that field and just tried and stocked to what sounded nice to him. He created one of the most memorable soundtracks I ever heard! What an unbelievable talented and creative person. So inspiring!