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.

  • lutesolo@midwest.social
    8·
    1 year ago

    You’ve already got a bunch of great suggestions, but I’ll throw my two cents in too. I think of these as indies or games that have a niche audience, but some of them probably have bigger teams involved.

    • Outer Wilds. It’s a quiet, contemplative game about space exploration and seems unremarkable until you really start exploring and learning about the solar system you’re in. If you play it, go in blind. IMO it’s a perfect game.
    • Pentiment. You play as a young artist visiting a Renaissance-era hamlet to work on your masterpiece. The game is gorgeous and thoughtful about the decisions the player has to make when spending time and influencing the narrative. Stayed with me long after I finished.
    • Slay the Spire. Tightly-balanced deck builder rougelike. I’ve put untold hours into this one on maybe 3 different platforms?
    • Wildermyth. Hard to describe this one–it’s like an interactive fantasy tale with characters that grow and evolve in ways you won’t expect, and dynamically told so no two stories are quite the same. Pretty solid combat mechanics, too.
    • Undertale. Does Undertale count as relatively unknown? If so, Undertale.
    • Case of the Golden Idol. Very good mystery game with a cool, novel mechanic for solving each mystery. Don’t let the aesthetic put you off.
    • Return of the Obra Dinn. Another incredible mystery game where you are determining what happened to the crew of a ship that sailed into port with no one aboard.
    • Papers Please. Simple mechanics that really make you FEEL like you’re -Spider-Man- an oppressed civilian in a fascist/totalitarian government.
    • Disco Elysium. Another great mystery game, wherein part of the mystery is: what kind of person were you, and who are you now?
    • Tunic. It’s like old-school Zelda but with more depth and some serious twists.
    • Stanley Parable. It’s funny and fun.
    • Tchia. It’s like Breath of the Wild if Hyrule was a real place and the game devs wanted you to love it as much as they do. Fun and charming in a big way.
    • Season. Hard to describe and I haven’t finished it yet, but the opening stuck with me. It’s about what we remember and what we choose to forget.
    • Hollow Knight. Does Dark Souls arguably better than Dark Souls. I was put off by the Dark Soulsness and the aesthetic, but once I got a few hours in I was fully hooked. Another perfect game.
    • Deep Rock Galactic. Great fun mining valuables and fighting alien bugs with friends.
    • 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. A time-traveling anime story game with mecha combat.
    • The Forgotten City. A time loop game where you are sent back to ancient Roman time.
    • Nonary Games / Danganronpa. Both series are anime-inspired mystery games. If you want something that tries to be more cerebral and serious, Nonary is your ticket. If you want tongue-in-cheek violence, Danganronpa is the way to go.
    • The Witness. A masterpiece puzzle game built on an incredibly simple core design. One of my favorite all time “a ha” moments came from this game.
    • Citizen Sleeper. You are a synthetic being trying to survive on a space station and evade the megacorp that “owns” you. Your body is breaking down and you don’t know anyone, so you have to take it one day at a time and do what you can to survive. Clever mechanics and a really well told narrative.

    That ended up being a lot more than I intended to share, but if this convinces anyone to give any of these games a shot, I think they’re in for a treat.

    • ABoxOfNeurons@lemmy.one
      2·
      1 year ago

      You have excellent taste (in games and youtubers)! A ton of my favorites of all time are on this list (especially Citizen Sleeper, which hit me in ways that I didn’t expect at all). As someone similar:

      Exo One: A chill game about rolling an alien space ship through insanely pretty worlds.

      Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist: A free game a lot like The Stanley Parable, by the same developer.

      Cultist Simulator: Completely defies description. A masterfully-written Lovecraftian survival exploration game, but it’s made of cards.

      Torment: Tides of Numenaria: A great top-down RPG with a unique sci-fantasy universe and de-emphasized combat.

      Forager: The methadone to Factorio’s heroin.

      Black Book: Like Slay the Spire, but story-driven and based on Russian Folklore and history in the transition to industrialization.

      Scorn: If H. R. Giger had been the art director on Amnesia, it would have looked like this.

      Inscryption: Another incredible horror game with cards as the core mechanic. More great exploration and plenty of “what the fuck” to go around.

      Uplink: On the older side, but holds up. A great light hacking game with solid mechanics and not too much excess complexity.

      Jazzpunk: Probably the hardest I’ve laughed from a game since Portal 2.

      The Last Door: A 2D point and click adventure with excellent music and atmosphere.

      Primordia: A dark point and click about a world populated by robots. Has stuck with me for a long time, mostly because of the jaw-dropping pixel art and voice acting.

      Darkside Detective: A point-and-click about investigating the supernatural. Absolutely hilarious.

      The Old City: A dark and surreal walking simulator that stands on an incredible soundtrack.

      Evergarden: A Chill match-3 puzzle in a soothing garden.

      Astroneer: No Man’s Sky-esque, but focused on base building and engineering in a finite solar system.

      Slime Rancher: The Chao garden, but a full game. A large world to explore with a diverse array of cute slimes to ranch.

      Into the Breach: Not sure if this is too mainstream, but it’s a really awesome take on a tactics game. Fight aliens, but think more chess than Xcom.

      Ascension: Made by a former MTG pro player who was frustrated that the original was pay-to-win. Imagine MTG’s complexity with Dominion’s mechanics. The digital version is amazing. The physical version is a bit clunky because the mechanics can get pretty complex.

      That got longer than I expected too lol. Thanks for these. I’ll definitely check out the ones I don’t kno.

      • lutesolo@midwest.social
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’ll have to stick these on the old to-do list! Already played and love Cultist Simulator, Forager, Inscryption, Into the Breach, and Ascension. Thanks for the recommendations!

    • ag_roberston_author@beehaw.org
      1·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know if I’d call most of these “hidden”.

      Outer Wilds, Slay the Spire, Undertale, Return of the Obra Dinn, Papers Please, Disco Elysium, Stanley Parable, Hollow Knight, Deep Rock Galactic and the The Witness are all award winning games that have massive recognition.

      The rest of the list is great though, I think I’ll check out Wildermyth.

      Thanks for the recommendations!

      • lutesolo@midwest.social
        1·
        1 year ago

        I suppose it depends how you think of “hidden”. In my mind, if you follow awards and gaming news, you’re already in a fairly small niche of well-informed gamers. To people who don’t stay on that pulse, marketing budgets and cultural moments can largely determine what’s known or not known. Most of these didn’t get much marketing, and few (like Undertale) had a cultural moment I was aware of. But I didn’t include games like Hades which I love but kinda thought got a bit of both.

        Ultimately, of course, you’re right and I just took advantage of the question to list a bunch of my favorite games. 😂