From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!
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Everything - a zen game about everything, very chill
The Sexy Brutale - weird name, actually a fantastic time travelling LucasArts adventure style game
Neo Scavenger - ignore the graphics, this is a really in-depth turn based post-apocalyptic mini rpg where you will come to love plastic bags
I'd personally recommend Rain World, although it has a reputation for being hard, and you'll probably die a lot so this game has to be approached with patience
Firewatch - recommend you wait for a sale but its a great story game that is on steam and gog and even native Linux
tabletop simulator - tons of card and board games that you can play with your friends if it exists it might be ported has native Linux
golf with your friends - great mini golf game to play with your friends similar to tower unite golf but better has native port
american/europe truck simulator - trucking game that real truckers say is the most realistic trucking game and they try to help with all issues and is even native Linux
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1641020/my_brother_lives_in_a_canyon - my brother lives in a canyon - great story game that is made by one person and it does not take long
Bloons tower defence 6 - tower defence game where you pop the bloons to defend your base
I'll pick the two that I think are the most criminally overlooked:
Vagante is a co-op roguelike platformer that combines Spelunky and Dark Souls. The Spelunky influence is obvious right down to a few of the biomes, and the combat is committal in the way that Dark Souls combat is. Really, you could replace Dark Souls with a lot of different RPGs inspired by D&D, but Dark Souls also captures the combat and the way the difficulty is tuned, as well a slight nod to the series with a bonfire between levels. Due to the way loot drops over the course of a run, it actually scales remarkably well between 1-4 players, as the loot is finite, and you're finding ways to split it among your party or, as a solo player, stack yourself with the best stuff so that you stand the best chance alone.
Cannon Brawl is a side-perspective RTS that combines StarCraft and Worms. Everyone has a buildable area that you expand with balloons sort of like expanding the creep as Zerg, but like Worms, you can destroy the ground beneath your opponent's feet. Each player controls a blimp that moves at a set speed, and that blimp needs to manually move to the structure that you want to use, such as the titular cannons. This keeps the game from being dominated by fast RPM while still allowing for controller-friendliness and plenty of depth. It's got same-screen and online multiplayer, and every time I break this game out, we're glued to the screen for hours, swapping loadouts and commanders for different strategies.
Don't sure if it's exactly hidden but for me Dungeons III (and 2) has been unexpectedly fun. It takes everything that made Dungeon Keeper and it takes a level higher. Pretty fun game.
I think 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel fits the criteria, and it's completely insane to boot
Really engaging game with a short, easy to understand mechanic. It's fun just to put on and fly around for a bit every now and then.
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!
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!
Owlboy was better than I expected it to be.
OneShot is a simple and flawed game but the game it'll leave a strong impact if you let it. Highly recommend going into it FULLY blind.
Duskers, command line remote control of science drones exploring anf salvaging from procedurally generated space hulks.
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.
Seconding slipways. It is peerless.
Sounds like fun, added to my wishlist, partly waiting for a sale, partly waiting for time to play it
This looks really good, great recommendation. I would love to see this on a handheld device.
I came here to recommend this one. Fantastic game, very unique.
Tape to Tape. It's a new indie roguelike hockey game. I don't play many indies but the devs are attentive and I have been loving it.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is an absolute gem. Perhaps not "hidden" since it did get a full physical release, but I don't see people talk about it. Game is like an hour long but it's absolutely worth playing. The portal of music games really.
Also shoutout to selfy collection. idk if it counts as indie but it's low budget for sure, digital-only release, and filled with engrish, but it's a lovely game and easily the best dress up game on switch.
Was hoping someone else would mention Sayonara Wild Hearts! Great game with a great soundtrack. I don't exactly feel the need to go back to it so much but it left an impression on me and I still listen to that OST a lot.
Yup. Not a game with a lot of playtime but it's a wonderful gem of a game.
I can't really recommend this because its more or less a dead multiplayer beta that's not even legitimately available anymore but Shattered Horizons was a microgravity first person shooter that was really cool. So, uh, if there are any indie devs in this chat, uh, please steal this dead idea!
It's admittedly gotten a lot of shout outs with Diablo's release, but Grim Dawn. Just a super great old school ARPG with a fun multi class system. I think I made a mistake by letting it be one of the first in the genre I really got into, so it's kinda tough to find another one that competes.
The soundtrack slaps too.
Thanks for the great, great, great answers and recommendations everyone! Hope that all of you found a new game to enjoy, I sure have.
Kenshi - a brutal, and sometimes janky squad free roaming game. I have far too many hours in that.
Pulsar - Lost Colony - Fun game if you have a few friends around. Pretend to be Captain Kirk - except chaos.
Rimworld -- Dwarf Fortress lite
Dwarf Fortress - Grand daddy inspiration for most other games
Torchlight - Diablo
Project Zomboid - All your top down zombie hunting dreams come true
Carrier Command - Drone carrier warfare
Nebulous Fleet Command - The Expanse.
Does X4 count as Indie?
Lost Pig And Place Under Ground
An old-fashioned text adventure, one of the best ones I've played.
Pig lost! Boss say that it Grunk fault. Say Grunk forget about closing gate. Maybe boss right. Grunk not remember forgetting, but maybe Grunk just forget. Boss say Grunk go find pig, bring it back. Him say, if Grunk not bring back pig, not bring back Grunk either. Grunk like working at pig farm, so now Grunk need find pig.
Gunpoint
S.P.A.Z.
Eufloria
Astroneer
Manifold Garden
Massive Chalice
The Pedestrian
Solar 2
Snakepass
Stacking
Ooh, I love finding obscure indies. There are an awful lot of games on Steam and Itch and other platforms that are amazing experiences, but that almost no one has ever played or even heard of for one reason or another.
One of my recent favourite zero-budget indies is Sally Can't Sleep, a strange first person platformer with a lot of focus on fun, versatile, and exploitable movement mechanics. The dev sacrificed visual polish for quantity and style, so the game has a lot of interconnected levels with a big variety of different mechanics and visual styles - it's a really good example of how much a solo developer can accomplish.
Another one is Worlds, which is a 3D stealth-shooter-platformer-adventure? I like it for the same reason as Sally Can't Sleep, it's ambitious and creative, and you can really feel the developer pushing against their limitations to release something that punches far above its own weight.
Also, both these games are very cheap, even at full price!
eastward: topdown-zelda like. gameplay wise, though it's quite easy. the story is charming, with all the quirkiness from earthbound, although the main plot is actually more akin to the last of us 1, for some reason, or at least it kinda felt like that to me. the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, as is the soundtrack.
phoenotopia awakening: an action rpg-metroidvania mishmash, and a surprisingly large one at that. if you're into challenging and backtrack heavy games, this one does the job very well.
crosscode: this one's been mentioned a bunch on this thread, and there's also been a post here about it a day or two ago, but i'll still mention it because it's just that good. another topdown-zelda like, but keep in mind that i've seen it described as a puzzle game masquerading as an rpg, which may be a more apt description.
Hyper Light Drifter is a really pretty game with tight controls, fair difficulty, excellent music, and some of the best atmosphere of any game I've played.