The 'Indie' Games Thread.

[korifugi]

No, this isn't a thread for games about Indiana Jones (unless some do, indeed fall in the category!), but a thread about the little games we find on PSN / XBL / Steam etc.

 

The oft missed gems, lost in the sea of blocky pixel based games (personal pet hate of intentionally cashing in on the "retro" feel).

 

What 'little' games have people found to be brilliant?

 

 

 

 

I found Guacamelee! to be brilliant, humerous and full of in-jokes and memes. I've already mentioned Transistor in another thread.

[sted]

i enjoyed party hard on both pc and xbox one (after they patched the xbox version) its good to stab strangers and hide the bodies in the trash lol

[DMcGuigan]

I'll second both of those! Actually won a free copy of Party Hard at EGX last year, I felt sorry for the stand staff, they were dancing all day every day...

 

Rogue Legacy was a brilliant little game, lost a fair few hours to that when I found it.

Octodad has to be in there simply for the fun when played in local co-op, especially with limb swap enabled after every objective.

Round off with the Zeno Clash games, didn't think much the first time I played them on the 360, but I picked them up on PC a few years ago and found myself playing through the pair in a single sitting, interesting aesthetic and the combat was enjoyable.

 

Probably have to stop there, Steam library of 1000+ games, many indie.. I could probably go on for quite a while.

[Duranis]

Factorio - Awesome umm building/crafting game I guess

Kerbal Space Program - Run a space program, build rockets and send your little green men into space. Can have quite a steep learning curve but a hell of a lot of fun and brilliant modding community.

Keep talking and nobody explodes - Me and my boy have been playing this for the last few days. Brilliant multiplayer game and could work well as a party game.

 

Stellar Tactics is one I'm debating on buying and was released in early access in the last week. Looks amazing, deep old school style rpg but with added space elements. I really want it now but trying to hold off until it is a bit more finished.

 

Aven Colony - Another one I'm trying to resist buying until it is more finished but looks like it could end up being a really fun game (city building/management game)

[LincolnE]

I still go back to Bastion every now and again, Keep talking and nobody explodes is good for a laugh.

Gang Beasts and SuperHot are also good to add to the list

[korifugi]

I was also really impressed by Limbo - minimalistic to the extreme, but a really good couple of hours spent.

 

For those of you that like the works of Tim Schaefer and Double Fine Studios - I can also recommend The Cave, a humerous, wonderfully macabre puzzler.

[sonofsanta]

Indie games are the majority of my playtime now, because I'd rather have something short and self contained than a AAA game that will end up spread over 6 months of minimal playtime. I have my own Christmas holiday tradition of taking a bottle of red wine into my man cave and playing through an entire 3-4 hour indie game in one sitting. Very satisfying

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is always my number one recommendation. It will make you cry. If it doesn't then you are a heartless monster. To The Moon is similarly emotional.

 

I'm a fan of the old walking simulators, because I'm happy to play a game for its ambience and setting, so Dear Esther, Gone Home, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and MIND: Path to Thalamus get my vote for all the pretties. Play the last one with the sound muted, though, and your own music over the top; the story is absolute bobbins, and the narration even worse, so you're better off drifting through inventing your own explanation for WTH is going on. Stanley Parable is hilarious; if you liked Portal, you'll like that.

 

+1 Limbo, and Bastion is amazing. Such a beautifully balanced game. If you liked Guacamelee, check out Shank and Mark of the Ninja (same developer) and Gunpoint.

 

Orcs Must Die! is lotsa fun. Super Meat Boy is the most insane platformer you will ever see and Hotline Miami is just insane.

 

Nidhogg is amazing multiplayer fun. I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise, it is some of the best fun you can have with two players. And you all know Rocket League already, yeah?

 

On my playlist in the near future (whenever I have time around the writing i.e. not often): 35mm; Her Story; Kentucky Route Zero; Never Alone; That Dragon, Cancer; Transistor; Year Walk.

[LeMarchand]

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is always my number one recommendation. It will make you cry. If it doesn't then you are a heartless monster.

 

I wasn't sure if this was sufficiently Indie, but as it seems to be I'd recommend it too.

 

On a similar may-not-quite-be-indie tack Valiant Hearts: The Great War is also emotional (lulls you into a false sense of security!).

 

Wouldn't recommend Richard & Alice, which I felt was very over-rated.

[korifugi]

I wasn't sure if this was sufficiently Indie,

 

Hence the quote marks - it's more about the games that generally fit into that kind of category. Certainly as Grow home seems to have been classed as an indie game, regardless of the fact it was published by Ubisoft!

 

Valiant Hearts, I have installed - but yet to play fully. It appears to be a damned good history lesson too, though.

[LeMarchand]

Hence the quote marks - it's more about the games that generally fit into that kind of category. Certainly as Grow home seems to have been classed as an indie game, regardless of the fact it was published by Ubisoft!

 

Ah! Makes sense now!

[sonofsanta]

Yeah, "indie games" is about as related to independence as "indie music" these days. It's the aesthetic and style, innit.

 

Just remember what my Christmas red wine game is going to be this year: Firewatch.

[LeMarchand]

Valiant Hearts currently £3 on Steam: Save 75% on Valiant Hearts: The Great War? / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre? on Steam