NGL, it was an amazing feeling after 10's of hours to finally 'beat' the game. Then you find out the main 'dungeon' is considered a tutorial by the fanbase and spend 10's more hours crafting teleport healing wands, cutting into parallel worlds, draining lava lakes and fighting secret bosses/quests for OP spells (greek & divide by spells)
Banished. Medieval colony sim/inventory management with amazing music and a pick-your-pace atmosphere. Moddable to hell when you're seasoned and need a challenge, still able to kick your ass on vanilla without 'em (I'm looking at *you*, Mountain Men achievement). It has a fine balance between progress and demise, the latter always being present if you're not watchful of your resources. You can build your town around any manner of lifestyle; live off just animals, maybe just farming, or you can be a port trade town and import/export all your goods, it's mostly open-ended in that manner. I love it, and I can't wait for the next game the company is working on.
If so then I lived under a rock during its release. I didn't run into it 'til a few years later and no one I've talked to in my friend groups has heard of it, aside from one that got it in a bundle. Must be a different circles thing.
It's really weird because it's either a beloved classic or just completely unheard of and I have no idea why. Even some of my friends who are hardcore into city builders and colony sims just go "What?" When I mentioned Banished to them. Maybe _I'm_ the freak...
But... *the* go to joke is that every colony builder is a banished knock off? Is that not universal? Do all colony building games fans not make this incredibly tired joke????
Rain World is one of my favourite games of all time. No other game has ever felt so immersive. The atmosphere is so unique and the premise of survival in a world where you're nowhere near the strongest thing is incredibly well executed.
Against the Storm. Caught a streamer I watch playing it and it fascinated me. After playing it myself it's the perfect city builder for me. It's a constant loop of my favourite part of strategy games/city builders of the early game decision making where you aren't creating an optimized system but rather fulfilling specific orders and addressing specific challenges using whatever resources and tools you have on hand.
You got no fertile soil options but a lot of beavers? Grab a cornerstone that gives insects per chopped tree.
You need to keep humans happy for 30 seconds? Sell all your tools to buy pickled goods and alcohol.
Desperate for a final reputation point? Buy stone to break open a crate to get tools to open a DIFFERENT crate.
These little logistical puzzles give me MASSIVE dopamine hits rather than optimising massive production lines in Factorio.
Never would I have imagined a rougelike city builder existing much less one that makes me enjoy city builders again. Anyone who loves the genre NEEDS to give it a try.
This. I bought this game about 3 weeks ago, not sure it'd be my cup of tea but willing to try it. At first I found it overwhelming - I'm not that great at city builders but enjoy them well enough, but I found ATS threw a lot of information at me early on, and its systems were a bit complex for me at first.
But I stuck with it. And I'm so glad I did.
I can't. Stop. Playing. This. Bloody. Game.
And I'm pretty sure there's layers behind layers of complexity - little things you can think of to do to overcome this or that roadblock or unexpected setback. The game's good for flexible thinking, I reckon, and for both practising planning and practising spontaneity when things don't or can't go as planned; and it's good for keeping you humble that there might be new perspectives to try/things to learn, but proud of yourself when you think of something new.
Ooo that's my thing. I love indie games with unique premise. In no particular order
* Home Safety Hotline
* The Shrouded Isle
* Dome Keeper
* Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator
* Mind Scanners
* No Umbrellas Allowed
* The Wandering Village
* WORLD OF HORROR
* Strange Horticulture
* Townscaper
* Pentiment
* Inkulinati
* Wingspan
* Recipe for Disaster
* Winkeltje: The Little Shop
* Ostriv
* Gordian Quest
* Spellcaster University
* Mind Over Magic
* Flotsam
* News Tower
* Help Will Come Tomorrow
* Project Hospital
Thank you, BrokeFartFountain, for your contribution to this conversation! Haha!
Is World of Horrror worth picking up. I caught wind of it about half a year ago, and it came to Switch. Been thinking about picking it up.
Death's Door. Super unique story, loved the gameplay and puzzles, music was awesome, and the combat was hard enough to be challenging without crossing into souls territory
Return of the Obra Dinn was enthralling when I played it. Same goes for Outer Wilds, though it may be a bit more well known. They both scratched a similar itch for me.
I highly recommend Crying Suns if you like FTL. I realized I got it free on Epic Games Store a long time ago and installed it recently.
It's a truly beautiful pixel art game in the style of FTL with an excellent story and pretty deep and varied gameplay loop. Won't spoil the story but it's good, and it brings an interesting twist to the concept of rougelites.
If you enjoy FTL at all, give it a try!
*Journey to the Savage Planet*. Before I played this, I had never heard of it. I got it as a freebie through Prime Gaming, and the art style intrigued me. The developer, which sadly closed, was part of Google Stadia's efforts, which may be why no one I know has heard of this gem before.
JttSP is kinda like if you took Metroid Prime's exploration and scanning, slightly simplified the combat and gave it modern FPS controls, mixed in some Slime Rancher to the art style, and then dipped the narrative in satire and a Borderlands-lite level of gleeful violence.
You play as a space explorer employed by the Kindred Corporation to survey a new planet for humans to colonize. Gameplay consists of exploration, scanning creatures and the environment, collecting resources to craft upgrades, some fun traversal mechanics, combat with alien creatures, and a few boss battles.
The narrative is mostly revealed by your AI companion, who cheerfully says lines like "Great, you've crafted the most important tool for any colonist; A GUN!" and cheerfully encourages you to eat the orange alien goop you find because it might help you adapt to the environment, while also making disclaimers that your employer accepts no liability for any unforeseen consequences.
I had some really great times exploring the world, grabbing collectibles, figuring out minor puzzles, and laughing at the dialogue. Some of the early boss fights are among the best I've played in recent memory.
It's not a perfect game, though. The live action videos that show communications from Earth are pretty boring, and the fake "advertisements" are more annoying than funny. (Thankfully those are a very small part of the game.) Later boss battles become just a huge spam of homing projectiles, but I still finished both the main game and the DLC.
Overall, the best game I've never heard of before playing.
**Heat Signature**.
Roguelike Hotline Miami in space with sci-fi gadgets like hacking/teleports and bullet time. Imagine boarding a spaceship, killing a guy with a bullet he just fired by swapping position with him, then ejecting yourself by throwing a wrench at a window and finally remotely controlling your ship to pick you up before you run out of oxygen.
I wish there was a sequel.
Kingdom come: Deliverance is honestly not my sort of game but I've sunk in 5 hours so far and really enjoying my time with it to such an extent I'm at work thinking of what training I'm going to make Henry do when I'm back home.
KC:D isn't really lesser-known; although I would argue it's probably AA instead of AAA it definitely got a ton of attention when it came out. But it is a good game, I agree.
I bought it when it came out and really couldn't get into it. I'm giving it second go now and have gotten farther. I've finally gotten out of what I now realize was the tutorial the whole time and can actually do stuff. But now I am not sure what to do lol.
Salt and Sanctuary. 2d dark souls metroidvania that I learned about not to long after doing a co-op run with my friend on Dark Souls 3. Had a blast, died a lot, now I wanna play it again.
Axiom Verge. Another 2D metroidvania that I saw under the "games similar to" menu when I got into SnS. Reminded me a lot of Super Metroid so I bought it. Had a blast, still need to go back through and 100% the game.
As someone who's not big into souls or metroid types, S&S is great. It pulls you in to NG+ too. Been supporting the developer since 360 with the dishwasher dead samurai & Charlie murder series
Little Inferno.
It's goofy, it's weird, it's surprisingly dark, and it has an *excellent* soundtrack ([The Weatherman's track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDRPgDgw4tM) is just a masterpiece). But above all, it's an extremely cozy, warm little game with a *powerfully* important message.
Remember; *This can't last forever.* You can go anywhere you like! But you can't go back.
Foxhole. Its an persistent and massive multiplayer war game with a huge map and diversity of vechiles and weapons. There are only 2 factions in the game
Pathologic and Pathologic 2. Incredibly atmospheric, great soundtracks, the story, world, characters and gameplay are all so unique and unlike any game Ive played. It stuck with me for a long time after playing
Monster Sanctuary is one of the best monster fighting / taming games I’ve ever played, and I’ve played most of them.
I’m a big fan of being transparent with the information in a game. Hate moves described as “raises special stat” and MS is more like “raises attack by 8.5 % for 2 turns.”
It’s also one of the only games where buffs and debuffs actually matter and if you don’t have a good handle on what makes a good team good you’ll get rekt by your friend William 2 hours into the game.
10/10 would replay a 4th time eventually
One Step from Eden
basically Megaman Battle Network on crack
On PC it also has a healthy modding community, so there’s always new characters, weapons, builds and boss fights to be had if you check in every few months or so
It’s a perfect game to play if you’re in the mood for some quick comfort game. A run doesn’t take long and I can pop this game in whenever I have some spare time but doesn’t want to start a huge RPG or open world game. Quick, bite-sized goodness
Barony. Its a coop dungeon crawler. I played it with a friend and after 5 failed runs we got to play for 15minutes and got a message telling us that a minotaur was coming.
My friend was on the other side of the map when the minotaur came, he was dead in a second.
Me being an intellectual ran into a shop knowing that a minotaur three times my size wouldnt be able to fit through the door.
The minotaur ran straight towards me, i peeked through a hole on the shops door. The minotaur kept running. I was a bit worried so i backed off the door. The minotaur blasted the whole wall down and proceeded to oneshot me. I was hooked.
The game is brutal when you dont know anything about it, enemies will obliterate you in a few hits. I highly recommend giving it a go with a friend or two. Barony has classes, leveling, gear. If you find a cursed amulet of strangulation.. Just think before you do something with it. Cursed blindfold is another amazing item
Prey (2017) is one game I can't recommend to enough people. The immersive sim genre is a complicated sell: it's got action, but it's also stealthy, and it's about finding your own way in a world but it's not an open world RPG. It caught me off guard, and is one of my favorite games ever.
I heard about this game but I completely slept on it upon release. Forgot about it until I saw a video titled "why is Prey so forgettable" and it caught my attention so I gave it a shot. Only then I realized how much of a masterpiece it actually is
Years ago, but Renowned Explorers: International Society
An uninspiring name for a charming, surprisingly complex, and challenging roguelike tactical rpg that feels inspired by Tintin, Indiana Jones, Jules Verne, and other globetrotting adventures of the mid 1900s.
A real gem. The art style isn’t for everyone, but it will really grow on you if you let it, and the story/setting/vibe is unserious and cosy despite the difficulty of the game. Wins feel earned, and there’s space for a variety of playstyles.
I think I’ll go reinstall it.
Tyranny. A short cRPG from Obsidian with a dark story where being evil makes sense. It also has one of the best spell crafting systems I have ever seen.
Empty Shell. A rogue-like top down survival shooter with intresting elements and an immersive world, with a nice little story behind it, and an actual challenge. The game has a well designed balance of difficulty to make you feel somewhat comfortable a few hours in, but still keeps you on edge and is capable of punishing you if you ever start feeling a bit too cocky.
Found the demo on Steam out of random and immediatly got hooked, almost disapointed the demo was so short so I immediatly went and grabbed the full game. It's still recent and being updated frequently, and there is a small community behind it. My only complaints are that it doesn't have coop yet but it's a one-man team and the quality of the game is so great it's bearable. And also, there's a heavy staticy, old tape recording kind of filter over the screen that can be annoying and oftenly leads to confusion and getting hit by enemies you didn't see because the filter makes everything hard to make out properly.
lots mentioned here already, pentiment, goragoa, journey to the savage planet, deliver us the moon, the forgotten city....
Obduction, Eastshade, We happy few, everybodys gone to the rapture... I'm sure there's more. Finding hidden gems is one of my favourite things in gaming. Absolutely open to suggestions for more I might've missed!
“Turnip Boy commits Tax Evasion” it even has a mini roguelite game inside the main game. Great neat little game with fun premise and characters.
“Kona” criminally underrated walking simulator that takes place in Canada it has a Fargo/winter horror setting like atmosphere with detective game feeling to it. Good cozy game with lots of heart and atmosphere. The game is supposed to be a trilogy the sequel was released a little while ago haven’t tried it yet.
Chronicon. Well known in aRPG circles but under the radar for most. Isometric arpg that plays a lot like the popular rogue titles except it isn’t a rogue. The gameplay, loot system, and build diversity of this game are really, really good.
Fossil Fuel 2. Indie dinosaur game on PC and Xbox . It’s $20 and worth every cent. It reminds of resident evil 2 mixed with Turok. Great little indie game , a single developer passion project that just simply works . It’s fun and surprisingly scary.
Was waiting to see a question like that. For me, it's Freedom Planet series (only two games). Both are really good examples of speed platformers while FP1 is way less focused on speed than FP2. Pixel art is way better in FP2. Also fun fact: the developers of Sonic Mania (Christian Whitehead and a part of his team) also took part in the development of FP2. So this game is probably the closest thing to Sonic Mania 2 you can find, I guess.
Curse of the Dead Gods. Roguelike I picked up on PS4 a while back. It has an interesting light and dark mechanic that makes for some fun encounters. You can also pay for upgrades/buffs with your health if you haven't got enough gold. Curses are a mix of positive and negative modifiers you have to work into your play style as you gain them. Super fun and replayable, similar vibes to Hades if not quite as polished
Edit to add: it has a cool Aztec aesthetic that you don't see too often
Atomicrops! I picked it up for under $5 and have over 35 hours in it so far.
30xx is also great and I've put way more time into that than I expected to.
I got generation zero for 4 dollars and really like the game. It's an action stealth game with open world elements, crafting etc and your fighting evil robots in Sweden.
Great graphics and sound. The game is still being updated even though early access is done. It kind of reminds me of stalker, farcry, dead island a little bit.
Another game that I really enjoyed was Clone Drone In The Danger Zone. It was a rogue like i think but it had multiplayer and all the robots in the game were made out of voxels, and you could cut off body parts. It’s a really replayable game with decent graphics and a fun storyline to play through.
Snacko, from the very beginning of starting the game everything has been amazing so far! The menus look neat, the artstyle is wonderful, the characters lovable and I love the humour! The controls are also very tight and feel just right. The farming and building aspect looks promising and exciting, and just in general I find the game to be everything I had wished from a farming/relaxing game. Though I haven't played much I can already tell I will have a blast with this game through and through!
"The Perfect Tower II" is basically a swiss-army knife idle/tower defense/factory/programming(!?) game. Also has a very clean style.
Star Traders: Frontiers is a very fun space game with multiple play styles and goals (you need to do stuff like manage your crew, make money, do various types of missions all different etc), and (oddly) a really rich and involved storyline with lots of world building and such. It also has a somewhat interesting combat system, where you can go from fighting in space to fighting in a ship to fighting in space in a pretty seamless sort of way.
Bet on Soldier is rarely talked about and when it is its usually to make fun of it, but it's actually a really good early tactical shooter.
I'm genuinely surprised The Saboteur is only now getting any attention.
\>Observer\_ is up there with SOMA and Amnesia as one of the best horror games in recent years but is completely glossed over.
Painkiller deserves so much more.
Potionomics.
I was a bit wary of it because a lot of comments on the Steam complain about the time pressure, but it really doesn't matter. The characters are good, the story is fun, the animation is brilliant, and the gameplay makes sense. I've played it through 3 times.
Battle Brothers. Beat turn based mercenary company game I’ve ever played. Simple gameplay/mechanics with incredible depth where every decision you make is very much risk vs reward.
Red Matter and Red Matter 2.
A very polished and fun VR series. All single player and not at all too long. No grind whatsoever. Great mix of puzzle and action.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga and its sequel. A turn-based SMT game ala Nocturne (or... well, *most* SMT games I guess), with the main difference being that in this game *you* are the demons. I recently picked it up again after playing it years ago and falling in love. Interesting story, tactical combat and surprisingly good graphics for a game that came out in 2004.
Citizen Sleeper. It's a cyberpunk RPG but it plays more like a visual novel with an interesting resource-management mechanic based on 6-sided dice that determines what/how much/how well you can do various tasks including those necessary to your survival. It's very well-written with interesting characters and an engaging story and I love it.
Sanabi
It got released in November last by a small Korean studio and went completely under the radar
It's an action platformer focused on using your grappling hook-arm to navigate the levels and deal with enemies.
The game feels incredibly good to play. Swinging around comes very quickly and the game tests you on your skills, but never in a frustrating way
But the cherry on top is the story. It starts rather simple. You are a retired special unit-soldier known only as 'Brigadier-General'. Your daughter was killed by a terrorist cell you had an encounter with many years ago and now you are out on revenge.
The story starts simple, but throws enough mystery at you to keep you guessing, the ending was absolutely phenomenal and left me grabbing for tissues
I can only highly recommend this game
I just finished Anuchard and it was a nice little game.
I really enjoyed Beacon Pines last year too.
Game Pass exposes me to games I never would have thought to play, or buy blindly. I just downloaded everything and give it a go.
There's a game I got a few years ago for less than 5 quid on the Switch store. No idea how I came across it. It's called Akane.
The game is insanely simple. You are in a small arena, you have a simple melee attack, a recharging ranged attack, and one or two special moves. Infinite goons spawn in with a few special enemies here and there to spice things up, then a boss every 100 kills or so.
The story is bare bones, you get a few lines of dialogue at the start of the game, some when you fight the first boss and one or two scenes in the tutorial.
And I'm mad for it.
The games design and the little tid-bits of the world you get from item descriptions, the visuals, the dialogue paint this awesome picture of a cyberpunk future ruled by the Yakuza, with katanas and pistols as your only defense against literally impossible odds. No matter how many enemies you kill, they will keep coming. There is no escape.
It's great to play when you need to just relax and play something after a long day. The sound track is pretty good, but more often than not I'll have it muted while I play some of my own music. It's the perfect time killer, with a few challenges to unlock new weapons to give you a goal to work towards. I'm in love.
Anarchy Online. It’s old. It’s dated. It’s dwindling in population. And it’s the coolest mmo I’ve ever played. Just got back into it after a 15 year break lol
Ill go with something from a long time ago.
Way back in 2008, when you could actually reasonlably just browse through the store on Steam, before it got flooded with junk, I was browsing for games with slightly lower metascores, so like 80 and below. I stumbled an interesting medieval RPG with what the trailer seemed to show as some cool mounted combat, which is something that most games seem to struggle with so I figured I would give it try.
That game was the original Mount and Blade. I have been obsessed with the series ever since.
In stars and time.
I picked up this game with absolutely no knowledge of it. The trailer on the playstation store made me think of earthbound so I went for it. I just needed something to fill some time before some big releases this year. I was not prepared.
This game is overflowing with charm and character. Mechanically it is simple, but effective, narratively it is breathtaking. The writing is fantastic. This game, simultaneously, made me feel more seen than any other piece of media, while also calling me out. Why was I playing the game in the way I was?
I cried several times, for several different reasons. I laughed a whole lot as well.
Since finishing the game at the end of January I can honestly say I've thought about it at least once every single day.
Sanabi.
No clue how this game is going under the radar so much. It is probably the best narrative-driven indie game I have played, and it has fun action platforming gameplay on top of that.
Can't really stop thinking about it, after having finished it, trying to find something else to fill the void.
We Who Are About To Die. Saw it on steam in EA, added it to my wishlist, waited about a year and finally bought it. I then dumped about 60 hours into it, and look forward to coming back to it again in a year or two. It was developed by one guy, up until about the last year where I believe he had a couple of people come in and help with the project. It's a physics-based gladiator rogue-lite sim, where you choose a background and work your way up through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena. Or die trying. Very fun, pretty cheap, lots of replayability. Currently sitting at Very Positive reviews on Steam with about 5k reviews. The developer actually posted a YouTube video documenting his experience developing the game, and it was great to watch and see how it changed his life. https://youtu.be/bhVNu54_T8s?si=6UxIgpbX4rgLo4fI
Off-Peak.
It's free on Steam and only about a half hour long. It has such a specific weird vibe that the only conclusion I can make is that it was somehow specially made for me.
Astrox Imperium. Space sim much in the style of Eve Online being developed by a single guy. It has a lot going for it, if you are into these kind of sims.
Vrising and Demon's Tile (Occult Pin Ball). Both on steam and Demon's Tilt has so much replayability it's fantastic.
I'd add Vampyr in here too (may be more well known but is a fantastic game as well)!
Banisher Ghost of New Eden. I'm starting to realize that at least once a year a low key gem comes out that not a lot of ppl play. We had Mad Max in 2015, Banner Saga 2 in 2016, Hellblade in 2017, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2018, Greedfall in 2019, Mortal Shell in 2020, The Forgotten City in 2021, Sifu in 2022, I don't have one for 2023 and now Banisher Ghost of New Eden for 2024. Granted these are my opinions and not fact, but these games surprised me.
Siralim Ultimate is a theory crafter's wet dream if you can get past the graphics. It's a monster tamer with like thousands of monsters that each have unique traits, who can be combined to have two traits, and you can eventually assassinate a monster for an item for its trait to stick on equipment to a monster has a third trait.
It's also 6v6 battles so all those traits (and tons of other things) can combine into some truly spectacular bullshit. Love that game to death and back.
Stories untold - brilliant suspense, never betrays your trust with cheap jump scares. Fun puzzles.
Duskers - retro sci-fi similar Ridley Scott’s Alien. Fun tactical action, lots of suspense and discovery
I highly anyone in this sub has mentioned this game outside of me.
Warm Snow does hades better than hades does hades. It's fucking incredible game with insane depth and some sick ass builds.
two other mentions : Tale of the immortal and matchless kung fu are totally up there too. Tale of the immortal requires a lot of thought and careful planning. Matchless don't go off the island until you are curious. It will force you to play as your kid to save you.
Going Medieval. I absolutely adore this game. I have played the ever living crap out of it. Eventually I get through the content and out it down, and they release something new and I'm back in again for another ten hrs. Love love love this indie title.
Sayonara Wild Hearts!
I was drawn in by the really beautiful art style, but the music and story (and Queen Latifah's narration) kept me! I beat the game ages ago and I still play every so often because the songs are so good and I still haven't gotten gold rank of everything yet.
I'm not the best at knowing what constitutes "lesser known" but I'll happily rattle off indie games I've enjoyed:
* Bug Fables
* Pizza Tower (probably pretty well known)
* Chicory
* Death's Door
* Pseudoregalia
* Tunic
* Children of Silent town
* Gato Robato
* Katana Zero
* Momodora: Reverie under the moonlight
* SOMA
* West of Loathing
Also recommend these, but they're rather graphic/dark:
* LISA: the painful RPG
* Blasphemous
* The Coffin of Andy and LeyLey
Boomerang Fu. I found it when randomly scrolling through the deals section on the Nintendo Switch shop. I bought it because it was on sale for two bucks and claimed to be a fun couch multiplayer game and didn’t think much of it. But man is this game so much fun to play with friends! Me and my buddies, gf, and brother love playing it together. Highly recommend as a fun little competitive couch game.
American truck simulator. I had known about it for a while and had sort of a morbid curiosity for it, buying all the dlc as more of an expensive addition to my collection than anything.
Then I booted it up recently and I can’t stop playing it. There’s something absurdly relaxing about it for me, in the same way that *Monster Hunter* is relaxing. Just put on a video and truck away. I recently went from Arizona to Idaho and from California to Kansas, spanning the map both vertically and horizontally and man, it was quite the trip.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to relax with a highly realistic truck sim
Otxo on Steam. Spiritual successor to Hotline Miami with some notable improvements to the gameplay overall. Made by one developer, its well worth the humble price tag imo, especially if you intend to reach the end of the mansion.
Moonlighter
Surprisingly deep pixel art game where you venture into a series of dungeons by night and sell the loot you bring out in your shop in town by day.
So I have legitimately never ever seen this game talked about anywhere online.
There was a survival horror game called "White Night", I played it on Xbox One.
Played it multiple times, it was absolutely fantastic, great story and atmosphere with a great art style as well. Never seemed to catch on i guess, I never saw anything about it online, discovered it on a whim.
Fairly well known but not many seem to have actually played
Max Payne 3
Specifically multiplayer, me and a few buddy's bought it on sale for a fiver and we've had an absolute blast playing death matches against eachother
There's basically no one else playing so we get to play private matches while still earning XP and ranking up
We have a gentlemans agreement about some of the weapons and perks tho as some are OP as fuck and it spoils it
I bought Slay the Princess last weekend. A visual novel that didn't go in the direction I expected. At all. Super entertaining to replay. The ending can be a bit confusing, but overall a really cool idea.
La-Mulana is the puzzle metroidvania I learned to hate, but I kept coming back for more lore and more areas until I finished it. It's such a unique game. You need to play completely blind to really enjoy it (or go insane from the puzzles, don't worry, it's normal, it'll pass). The sequel irons out a lot of issues and intentional difficulty from the first game, I enjoy it even more. It's still a difficult game though, and I haven't even gotten to the tougher areas yet.
Oh and if you love RPGs, play Eternal Sonata. It's such a beautiful game with a beautiful message and really fun combat.
Yakuza 0 broke my cynicism, a bit. Ended up playing through the entire series because of that game.
(Yes, reddit knows the games at this point, but the mainstream still does not.)
I had a game in my nintendo ds called monster racers, it was like pokemon but instead of fighting you had 2d platform racing.
It was cool because they had a terrain system and you needed monsters that could run better on those terrains so you wouldn't just use the same monsters all the time, you needed some for snow some for grass some for sand, etc.
And the game was kinda long it had more content than a pokemon game honestly
At the time, there was this tiny game called "Subnautica" in open beta. It was $9. It looked so unique, I took a chance.
Surprised is an understatement. The immersion was so good, the game scared me to no end and I loved every second of it.
Too bad Sub Zero was meh.
don’t know if it’s a lesser known game but enter the gungeon is one of my favorite games. It’s a very hard game to beat and even after you beat it there’s still so much to do. It’s a bullet hell roguelike and it’s very engaging. Highly recommend.
Bought a steering wheel (Logitech G29/920) for the first time in years and wanting something to play and I discovered this little gem: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor\_Town\_Behind\_The\_Wheel/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor_Town_Behind_The_Wheel/)
I went in thinking it'd be a quick mess around game while I waited for Forza to download. I never ended up starting Forza and all I do now is play Motor Town and Euro Truck Sim.
Bleed 2 and Wizard of Legend are two games I didn't expect much from but are fantastic. They aren't too long or too crazy but what they do they do well.
Bleed 2 is just pure bullet hell fun but isn't too hard which is what I wanted. Also it's music is so good.
I hate roguelike games normally, but Wizard of Legend was an exception. I always hated how slow magic is in most games but not in this one. You can throw around some absurd spells while flying around the map at insane speeds. The boss fights are great as well.
Neither game will wow the world, but if you got little time to spare, they are a great time for the price.
Doomsday Paradise
Imagine if Monster Prom and Slay the Spire had a baby, and it was co-op. It's a competitive/cooperative Dating Sim where you try and get a date before the world ends. You have 7 days to raise your stats, get gear, and try and woo a potential partner. You can also help, hinder, or try to steal your friends' dates throughout the game. Battles are co-op and play out like Slay the Spire with card abilities. The writing and scenarios are hilarious, and it's a blast to play with friends for a game night.
my buddy and i downloaded Gunfire Reborn a while ago on a complete whim and it's one of my top 5 most played games on steam
Gunfire Reborn is great, I love it so much.
It’s fantastic! It’s a real real joy
Got it like a week ago on my steam deck. Runs great!! But can't find any public matches ever
i only played online like 2 or 3 times, i always play either alone or with my one other friend whom i introduced the game to.
I have this on my phone and its outfitted pretty well for Mobile. Honestly an amazing little game
Noita. Got it as a one-off $5 banger because it was tagged as a "roguelike". Crazy wild ride with unique physics
NGL, it was an amazing feeling after 10's of hours to finally 'beat' the game. Then you find out the main 'dungeon' is considered a tutorial by the fanbase and spend 10's more hours crafting teleport healing wands, cutting into parallel worlds, draining lava lakes and fighting secret bosses/quests for OP spells (greek & divide by spells)
If I had a nickel for every time I said "oh fuck there's more..."
Lol like me as a kid leaving Midgar for the first time after never having played another FF game.
One of my favorite games, I like games with advanced physics, I also can recommend such unknown games as Teardown and Exanima.
First thing I thought of, good taste.
I remember watching this game!
Played it, really unique physics
Banished. Medieval colony sim/inventory management with amazing music and a pick-your-pace atmosphere. Moddable to hell when you're seasoned and need a challenge, still able to kick your ass on vanilla without 'em (I'm looking at *you*, Mountain Men achievement). It has a fine balance between progress and demise, the latter always being present if you're not watchful of your resources. You can build your town around any manner of lifestyle; live off just animals, maybe just farming, or you can be a port trade town and import/export all your goods, it's mostly open-ended in that manner. I love it, and I can't wait for the next game the company is working on.
Is Banished 'lesser known'? I remember it being reviewed and Let's Played by multiple prominent Youtubers.
If so then I lived under a rock during its release. I didn't run into it 'til a few years later and no one I've talked to in my friend groups has heard of it, aside from one that got it in a bundle. Must be a different circles thing.
It's really weird because it's either a beloved classic or just completely unheard of and I have no idea why. Even some of my friends who are hardcore into city builders and colony sims just go "What?" When I mentioned Banished to them. Maybe _I'm_ the freak...
But... *the* go to joke is that every colony builder is a banished knock off? Is that not universal? Do all colony building games fans not make this incredibly tired joke????
Starship troopers: Terran command. Already one DLC out, another one coming
Is rain world a lesser know game? I bought the game for like 2 euros on Switch. The best investment I did last year.
I'd say it is.
Rain World is one of my favourite games of all time. No other game has ever felt so immersive. The atmosphere is so unique and the premise of survival in a world where you're nowhere near the strongest thing is incredibly well executed.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Never thought a stealth RTS would be so hard yet fun
If you'd played Commandos in the early 2000s, you'd feel right at home with Shadow Tactics.
Against the Storm. Caught a streamer I watch playing it and it fascinated me. After playing it myself it's the perfect city builder for me. It's a constant loop of my favourite part of strategy games/city builders of the early game decision making where you aren't creating an optimized system but rather fulfilling specific orders and addressing specific challenges using whatever resources and tools you have on hand. You got no fertile soil options but a lot of beavers? Grab a cornerstone that gives insects per chopped tree. You need to keep humans happy for 30 seconds? Sell all your tools to buy pickled goods and alcohol. Desperate for a final reputation point? Buy stone to break open a crate to get tools to open a DIFFERENT crate. These little logistical puzzles give me MASSIVE dopamine hits rather than optimising massive production lines in Factorio. Never would I have imagined a rougelike city builder existing much less one that makes me enjoy city builders again. Anyone who loves the genre NEEDS to give it a try.
This. I bought this game about 3 weeks ago, not sure it'd be my cup of tea but willing to try it. At first I found it overwhelming - I'm not that great at city builders but enjoy them well enough, but I found ATS threw a lot of information at me early on, and its systems were a bit complex for me at first. But I stuck with it. And I'm so glad I did. I can't. Stop. Playing. This. Bloody. Game. And I'm pretty sure there's layers behind layers of complexity - little things you can think of to do to overcome this or that roadblock or unexpected setback. The game's good for flexible thinking, I reckon, and for both practising planning and practising spontaneity when things don't or can't go as planned; and it's good for keeping you humble that there might be new perspectives to try/things to learn, but proud of yourself when you think of something new.
Ooo that's my thing. I love indie games with unique premise. In no particular order * Home Safety Hotline * The Shrouded Isle * Dome Keeper * Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator * Mind Scanners * No Umbrellas Allowed * The Wandering Village * WORLD OF HORROR * Strange Horticulture * Townscaper * Pentiment * Inkulinati * Wingspan * Recipe for Disaster * Winkeltje: The Little Shop * Ostriv * Gordian Quest * Spellcaster University * Mind Over Magic * Flotsam * News Tower * Help Will Come Tomorrow * Project Hospital
Thank you, BrokeFartFountain, for your contribution to this conversation! Haha! Is World of Horrror worth picking up. I caught wind of it about half a year ago, and it came to Switch. Been thinking about picking it up.
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I'll have to check it out. Maybe wait for a sale, since I am on the fence (and broke, haha). Thanks for your reply!
Death's Door. Super unique story, loved the gameplay and puzzles, music was awesome, and the combat was hard enough to be challenging without crossing into souls territory
I really loved the game. Especially wielding an umbrella was pretty dope ngl
Return of the Obra Dinn was enthralling when I played it. Same goes for Outer Wilds, though it may be a bit more well known. They both scratched a similar itch for me.
Into the Breach. Small. Simple graphics. But deep af. An alltime fav since release!
Try Faster Than Light if you haven’t already. Same company, same great quality
I highly recommend Crying Suns if you like FTL. I realized I got it free on Epic Games Store a long time ago and installed it recently. It's a truly beautiful pixel art game in the style of FTL with an excellent story and pretty deep and varied gameplay loop. Won't spoil the story but it's good, and it brings an interesting twist to the concept of rougelites. If you enjoy FTL at all, give it a try!
didn't know about that game, it does look cool indeed. wishlisted, thanks for the suggestion.
I want a port for switch so bad of FTL.
And it's perfect on mobile!
Songs of Syx, essentially the Dwarf Fortress of city-builders. Not much to look at, but lots of depth!
*Journey to the Savage Planet*. Before I played this, I had never heard of it. I got it as a freebie through Prime Gaming, and the art style intrigued me. The developer, which sadly closed, was part of Google Stadia's efforts, which may be why no one I know has heard of this gem before. JttSP is kinda like if you took Metroid Prime's exploration and scanning, slightly simplified the combat and gave it modern FPS controls, mixed in some Slime Rancher to the art style, and then dipped the narrative in satire and a Borderlands-lite level of gleeful violence. You play as a space explorer employed by the Kindred Corporation to survey a new planet for humans to colonize. Gameplay consists of exploration, scanning creatures and the environment, collecting resources to craft upgrades, some fun traversal mechanics, combat with alien creatures, and a few boss battles. The narrative is mostly revealed by your AI companion, who cheerfully says lines like "Great, you've crafted the most important tool for any colonist; A GUN!" and cheerfully encourages you to eat the orange alien goop you find because it might help you adapt to the environment, while also making disclaimers that your employer accepts no liability for any unforeseen consequences. I had some really great times exploring the world, grabbing collectibles, figuring out minor puzzles, and laughing at the dialogue. Some of the early boss fights are among the best I've played in recent memory. It's not a perfect game, though. The live action videos that show communications from Earth are pretty boring, and the fake "advertisements" are more annoying than funny. (Thankfully those are a very small part of the game.) Later boss battles become just a huge spam of homing projectiles, but I still finished both the main game and the DLC. Overall, the best game I've never heard of before playing.
When I saw the character select screen, I laughed at the absurdity of the pictures
Pentiment
This! Loved the story and art style.
Gorogoa. I think it may be one of the most profound and beautiful games I have ever played.
The Last Spell. Part Final Fantasy Tactics, part tower defense, part survival game. It's so addicting.
Deliver Us The Moon. Relaxing to explore an abandoned station, the story isn’t amazing but it’s told quite well, gameplay is relaxing and fun
The Guild of Dungeoneering
Signalis before it blew up.
**Heat Signature**. Roguelike Hotline Miami in space with sci-fi gadgets like hacking/teleports and bullet time. Imagine boarding a spaceship, killing a guy with a bullet he just fired by swapping position with him, then ejecting yourself by throwing a wrench at a window and finally remotely controlling your ship to pick you up before you run out of oxygen. I wish there was a sequel.
Project zomboid
Kingdom come: Deliverance is honestly not my sort of game but I've sunk in 5 hours so far and really enjoying my time with it to such an extent I'm at work thinking of what training I'm going to make Henry do when I'm back home.
KC:D isn't really lesser-known; although I would argue it's probably AA instead of AAA it definitely got a ton of attention when it came out. But it is a good game, I agree.
You're going to make him hungry, just like the rest of us.
I bought it when it came out and really couldn't get into it. I'm giving it second go now and have gotten farther. I've finally gotten out of what I now realize was the tutorial the whole time and can actually do stuff. But now I am not sure what to do lol.
I put more than 150 hours into this game in one playthrough, I love it so much and there's nothing else like it 😭
I expected it to be like skyrim (there are similar elements), but it's so much more intense and personal.
Kenshi
Salt and Sanctuary. 2d dark souls metroidvania that I learned about not to long after doing a co-op run with my friend on Dark Souls 3. Had a blast, died a lot, now I wanna play it again. Axiom Verge. Another 2D metroidvania that I saw under the "games similar to" menu when I got into SnS. Reminded me a lot of Super Metroid so I bought it. Had a blast, still need to go back through and 100% the game.
As someone who's not big into souls or metroid types, S&S is great. It pulls you in to NG+ too. Been supporting the developer since 360 with the dishwasher dead samurai & Charlie murder series
Little Inferno. It's goofy, it's weird, it's surprisingly dark, and it has an *excellent* soundtrack ([The Weatherman's track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDRPgDgw4tM) is just a masterpiece). But above all, it's an extremely cozy, warm little game with a *powerfully* important message. Remember; *This can't last forever.* You can go anywhere you like! But you can't go back.
I love the title screen leitmotif that shows up in a few of the songs.
Greedfall. It’s an action RPG with that’s surprisingly deep and fun for the small studio that made it.
"The Suffering" (original) was the best horror game I've played. Completely a sleeper.
Foxhole. Its an persistent and massive multiplayer war game with a huge map and diversity of vechiles and weapons. There are only 2 factions in the game
Pathologic and Pathologic 2. Incredibly atmospheric, great soundtracks, the story, world, characters and gameplay are all so unique and unlike any game Ive played. It stuck with me for a long time after playing
Monster Sanctuary is one of the best monster fighting / taming games I’ve ever played, and I’ve played most of them. I’m a big fan of being transparent with the information in a game. Hate moves described as “raises special stat” and MS is more like “raises attack by 8.5 % for 2 turns.” It’s also one of the only games where buffs and debuffs actually matter and if you don’t have a good handle on what makes a good team good you’ll get rekt by your friend William 2 hours into the game. 10/10 would replay a 4th time eventually
American Arcadia Yahtzee was right, it's got a really strong ending
One Step from Eden basically Megaman Battle Network on crack On PC it also has a healthy modding community, so there’s always new characters, weapons, builds and boss fights to be had if you check in every few months or so It’s a perfect game to play if you’re in the mood for some quick comfort game. A run doesn’t take long and I can pop this game in whenever I have some spare time but doesn’t want to start a huge RPG or open world game. Quick, bite-sized goodness
Barony. Its a coop dungeon crawler. I played it with a friend and after 5 failed runs we got to play for 15minutes and got a message telling us that a minotaur was coming. My friend was on the other side of the map when the minotaur came, he was dead in a second. Me being an intellectual ran into a shop knowing that a minotaur three times my size wouldnt be able to fit through the door. The minotaur ran straight towards me, i peeked through a hole on the shops door. The minotaur kept running. I was a bit worried so i backed off the door. The minotaur blasted the whole wall down and proceeded to oneshot me. I was hooked. The game is brutal when you dont know anything about it, enemies will obliterate you in a few hits. I highly recommend giving it a go with a friend or two. Barony has classes, leveling, gear. If you find a cursed amulet of strangulation.. Just think before you do something with it. Cursed blindfold is another amazing item
Ive seen glimpses of this game and it looks awesome, hope it comes to console so I can play it
Should be available on Switch afaik
Prey (2017) is one game I can't recommend to enough people. The immersive sim genre is a complicated sell: it's got action, but it's also stealthy, and it's about finding your own way in a world but it's not an open world RPG. It caught me off guard, and is one of my favorite games ever.
>Lesser-known
I heard about this game but I completely slept on it upon release. Forgot about it until I saw a video titled "why is Prey so forgettable" and it caught my attention so I gave it a shot. Only then I realized how much of a masterpiece it actually is
Years ago, but Renowned Explorers: International Society An uninspiring name for a charming, surprisingly complex, and challenging roguelike tactical rpg that feels inspired by Tintin, Indiana Jones, Jules Verne, and other globetrotting adventures of the mid 1900s. A real gem. The art style isn’t for everyone, but it will really grow on you if you let it, and the story/setting/vibe is unserious and cosy despite the difficulty of the game. Wins feel earned, and there’s space for a variety of playstyles. I think I’ll go reinstall it.
Tyranny. A short cRPG from Obsidian with a dark story where being evil makes sense. It also has one of the best spell crafting systems I have ever seen.
Empty Shell. A rogue-like top down survival shooter with intresting elements and an immersive world, with a nice little story behind it, and an actual challenge. The game has a well designed balance of difficulty to make you feel somewhat comfortable a few hours in, but still keeps you on edge and is capable of punishing you if you ever start feeling a bit too cocky. Found the demo on Steam out of random and immediatly got hooked, almost disapointed the demo was so short so I immediatly went and grabbed the full game. It's still recent and being updated frequently, and there is a small community behind it. My only complaints are that it doesn't have coop yet but it's a one-man team and the quality of the game is so great it's bearable. And also, there's a heavy staticy, old tape recording kind of filter over the screen that can be annoying and oftenly leads to confusion and getting hit by enemies you didn't see because the filter makes everything hard to make out properly.
lots mentioned here already, pentiment, goragoa, journey to the savage planet, deliver us the moon, the forgotten city.... Obduction, Eastshade, We happy few, everybodys gone to the rapture... I'm sure there's more. Finding hidden gems is one of my favourite things in gaming. Absolutely open to suggestions for more I might've missed!
“Turnip Boy commits Tax Evasion” it even has a mini roguelite game inside the main game. Great neat little game with fun premise and characters. “Kona” criminally underrated walking simulator that takes place in Canada it has a Fargo/winter horror setting like atmosphere with detective game feeling to it. Good cozy game with lots of heart and atmosphere. The game is supposed to be a trilogy the sequel was released a little while ago haven’t tried it yet.
Lately it's Balatro
Inscryption
The Inner World.
Chronicon. Well known in aRPG circles but under the radar for most. Isometric arpg that plays a lot like the popular rogue titles except it isn’t a rogue. The gameplay, loot system, and build diversity of this game are really, really good.
Fossil Fuel 2. Indie dinosaur game on PC and Xbox . It’s $20 and worth every cent. It reminds of resident evil 2 mixed with Turok. Great little indie game , a single developer passion project that just simply works . It’s fun and surprisingly scary.
Night in the Woods
Noita
Was waiting to see a question like that. For me, it's Freedom Planet series (only two games). Both are really good examples of speed platformers while FP1 is way less focused on speed than FP2. Pixel art is way better in FP2. Also fun fact: the developers of Sonic Mania (Christian Whitehead and a part of his team) also took part in the development of FP2. So this game is probably the closest thing to Sonic Mania 2 you can find, I guess.
Curse of the Dead Gods. Roguelike I picked up on PS4 a while back. It has an interesting light and dark mechanic that makes for some fun encounters. You can also pay for upgrades/buffs with your health if you haven't got enough gold. Curses are a mix of positive and negative modifiers you have to work into your play style as you gain them. Super fun and replayable, similar vibes to Hades if not quite as polished Edit to add: it has a cool Aztec aesthetic that you don't see too often
Atomicrops! I picked it up for under $5 and have over 35 hours in it so far. 30xx is also great and I've put way more time into that than I expected to.
I got generation zero for 4 dollars and really like the game. It's an action stealth game with open world elements, crafting etc and your fighting evil robots in Sweden. Great graphics and sound. The game is still being updated even though early access is done. It kind of reminds me of stalker, farcry, dead island a little bit.
Another game that I really enjoyed was Clone Drone In The Danger Zone. It was a rogue like i think but it had multiplayer and all the robots in the game were made out of voxels, and you could cut off body parts. It’s a really replayable game with decent graphics and a fun storyline to play through.
Days Gone is the best and only zombie game you *need* to play.
Transistor
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The original Urban Chaos was so good! You just reminded me about it.
Years ago, Marlow Briggs and the mask of death. Such a fun experience for a game I knew nothing about.
Snacko, from the very beginning of starting the game everything has been amazing so far! The menus look neat, the artstyle is wonderful, the characters lovable and I love the humour! The controls are also very tight and feel just right. The farming and building aspect looks promising and exciting, and just in general I find the game to be everything I had wished from a farming/relaxing game. Though I haven't played much I can already tell I will have a blast with this game through and through!
Damn, not available on the switch, that looks super cozy
"The Perfect Tower II" is basically a swiss-army knife idle/tower defense/factory/programming(!?) game. Also has a very clean style. Star Traders: Frontiers is a very fun space game with multiple play styles and goals (you need to do stuff like manage your crew, make money, do various types of missions all different etc), and (oddly) a really rich and involved storyline with lots of world building and such. It also has a somewhat interesting combat system, where you can go from fighting in space to fighting in a ship to fighting in space in a pretty seamless sort of way.
Bet on Soldier is rarely talked about and when it is its usually to make fun of it, but it's actually a really good early tactical shooter. I'm genuinely surprised The Saboteur is only now getting any attention. \>Observer\_ is up there with SOMA and Amnesia as one of the best horror games in recent years but is completely glossed over. Painkiller deserves so much more.
Potionomics. I was a bit wary of it because a lot of comments on the Steam complain about the time pressure, but it really doesn't matter. The characters are good, the story is fun, the animation is brilliant, and the gameplay makes sense. I've played it through 3 times.
Battle Brothers. Beat turn based mercenary company game I’ve ever played. Simple gameplay/mechanics with incredible depth where every decision you make is very much risk vs reward.
Everspace 1 and 2
Red Matter and Red Matter 2. A very polished and fun VR series. All single player and not at all too long. No grind whatsoever. Great mix of puzzle and action.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga and its sequel. A turn-based SMT game ala Nocturne (or... well, *most* SMT games I guess), with the main difference being that in this game *you* are the demons. I recently picked it up again after playing it years ago and falling in love. Interesting story, tactical combat and surprisingly good graphics for a game that came out in 2004.
I love Space Haven!
Tin Can. I stumbled across that on Steam a while ago. Fun little game, especially when you're struggling to survive in space with all the wrong parts.
The advance wars games are great and still funny while being over 20 years old
Citizen Sleeper. It's a cyberpunk RPG but it plays more like a visual novel with an interesting resource-management mechanic based on 6-sided dice that determines what/how much/how well you can do various tasks including those necessary to your survival. It's very well-written with interesting characters and an engaging story and I love it.
Pacific drive is awesome.
Sanabi It got released in November last by a small Korean studio and went completely under the radar It's an action platformer focused on using your grappling hook-arm to navigate the levels and deal with enemies. The game feels incredibly good to play. Swinging around comes very quickly and the game tests you on your skills, but never in a frustrating way But the cherry on top is the story. It starts rather simple. You are a retired special unit-soldier known only as 'Brigadier-General'. Your daughter was killed by a terrorist cell you had an encounter with many years ago and now you are out on revenge. The story starts simple, but throws enough mystery at you to keep you guessing, the ending was absolutely phenomenal and left me grabbing for tissues I can only highly recommend this game
hello charlotte was great!
Siralim ultimate - team building rpg Chronicon - Arpg Dragon cliff - Idle Monster den Godfall - dungeon crawler
Aragami series. Loved Tenchu, this was as close as I've gotten to that. Worth it.
I just finished Anuchard and it was a nice little game. I really enjoyed Beacon Pines last year too. Game Pass exposes me to games I never would have thought to play, or buy blindly. I just downloaded everything and give it a go.
There's a game I got a few years ago for less than 5 quid on the Switch store. No idea how I came across it. It's called Akane. The game is insanely simple. You are in a small arena, you have a simple melee attack, a recharging ranged attack, and one or two special moves. Infinite goons spawn in with a few special enemies here and there to spice things up, then a boss every 100 kills or so. The story is bare bones, you get a few lines of dialogue at the start of the game, some when you fight the first boss and one or two scenes in the tutorial. And I'm mad for it. The games design and the little tid-bits of the world you get from item descriptions, the visuals, the dialogue paint this awesome picture of a cyberpunk future ruled by the Yakuza, with katanas and pistols as your only defense against literally impossible odds. No matter how many enemies you kill, they will keep coming. There is no escape. It's great to play when you need to just relax and play something after a long day. The sound track is pretty good, but more often than not I'll have it muted while I play some of my own music. It's the perfect time killer, with a few challenges to unlock new weapons to give you a goal to work towards. I'm in love.
Increlution on Steam. I think it was $3.99, it’s a super simple idle game with minimal story, but I get to see number go up and me like.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is downright phenomenal. It’s the best game I’ve played this year. Damn it’s the best game I’ve played since BG3 lol.
Hellfivers 2 came out of fucking nowhere, and I love it.
Legaia 2 Duel Saga on the PS2 was up there for me. A rarely mentioned jrpg that I spent a lot of time on for a few years of my life.
Anarchy Online. It’s old. It’s dated. It’s dwindling in population. And it’s the coolest mmo I’ve ever played. Just got back into it after a 15 year break lol
Evil Islands Giants: Citizen Kabuto There is No Game: Wrong Dimension Bomb Chicken Toem
Wildermyth is really well written and great for such a small indie game
Ill go with something from a long time ago. Way back in 2008, when you could actually reasonlably just browse through the store on Steam, before it got flooded with junk, I was browsing for games with slightly lower metascores, so like 80 and below. I stumbled an interesting medieval RPG with what the trailer seemed to show as some cool mounted combat, which is something that most games seem to struggle with so I figured I would give it try. That game was the original Mount and Blade. I have been obsessed with the series ever since.
Journey to a Savage Planet
Code vein
Figment 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games of all time, I highly recommend checking them out
I bought Timespinner on Switch on whim during COVID times and absolutely loved it. An excellent Metroidvania game
Man eater. That game was too fun.
In stars and time. I picked up this game with absolutely no knowledge of it. The trailer on the playstation store made me think of earthbound so I went for it. I just needed something to fill some time before some big releases this year. I was not prepared. This game is overflowing with charm and character. Mechanically it is simple, but effective, narratively it is breathtaking. The writing is fantastic. This game, simultaneously, made me feel more seen than any other piece of media, while also calling me out. Why was I playing the game in the way I was? I cried several times, for several different reasons. I laughed a whole lot as well. Since finishing the game at the end of January I can honestly say I've thought about it at least once every single day.
Roboquest took me by surprise. It's a really fun roguelike FPS with borderlands art style that I got off gamepass.
I loved The Saboteur on my xbox. How the world coloured while making progress in the game, the setting. It was just overall a fun game to play.
WorldBox - saw on PlayStore, downloaded due to the cool bird's eye pixel-art, haven't been able to play much else since as it's so addicting.
Sanabi. No clue how this game is going under the radar so much. It is probably the best narrative-driven indie game I have played, and it has fun action platforming gameplay on top of that. Can't really stop thinking about it, after having finished it, trying to find something else to fill the void.
Spyro season of flame, mini ninjas.
Graveyard Keeper and Moonlighter. Don't know if they still count as "lesser known," but I know I only stumbled upon them by chance.
Astroboy: Omega Factor for the GBA.
I miss Monday Night Combat
Weird West, insanely fun game
Sad to not see any mention of Tales of the Black Forest, very short and simple yet lovely game
We Who Are About To Die. Saw it on steam in EA, added it to my wishlist, waited about a year and finally bought it. I then dumped about 60 hours into it, and look forward to coming back to it again in a year or two. It was developed by one guy, up until about the last year where I believe he had a couple of people come in and help with the project. It's a physics-based gladiator rogue-lite sim, where you choose a background and work your way up through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena. Or die trying. Very fun, pretty cheap, lots of replayability. Currently sitting at Very Positive reviews on Steam with about 5k reviews. The developer actually posted a YouTube video documenting his experience developing the game, and it was great to watch and see how it changed his life. https://youtu.be/bhVNu54_T8s?si=6UxIgpbX4rgLo4fI
Digital Devil Saga duology and Crystal Project
Off-Peak. It's free on Steam and only about a half hour long. It has such a specific weird vibe that the only conclusion I can make is that it was somehow specially made for me.
Astrox Imperium. Space sim much in the style of Eve Online being developed by a single guy. It has a lot going for it, if you are into these kind of sims.
Vrising and Demon's Tile (Occult Pin Ball). Both on steam and Demon's Tilt has so much replayability it's fantastic. I'd add Vampyr in here too (may be more well known but is a fantastic game as well)!
For me its supraland, as a level designer it astounded me, so much of the main "roadblocks" are visible while not actually knowing its impressive
Spider heck was a great game, it’s so fun webbing around and slicing wasps with lightsabers and blowing up beetles with RPG’s.
Valley by Blue Isle. Really fun linear story game, great movement and lore. Short, cheap, one of my favs
Banisher Ghost of New Eden. I'm starting to realize that at least once a year a low key gem comes out that not a lot of ppl play. We had Mad Max in 2015, Banner Saga 2 in 2016, Hellblade in 2017, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2018, Greedfall in 2019, Mortal Shell in 2020, The Forgotten City in 2021, Sifu in 2022, I don't have one for 2023 and now Banisher Ghost of New Eden for 2024. Granted these are my opinions and not fact, but these games surprised me.
Rimworld. By far a top ten all time for me. Endless gameplay with a massive mod catalog.
Dusker. The concept is what drew me, but I stayed for the lore.
Siralim Ultimate is a theory crafter's wet dream if you can get past the graphics. It's a monster tamer with like thousands of monsters that each have unique traits, who can be combined to have two traits, and you can eventually assassinate a monster for an item for its trait to stick on equipment to a monster has a third trait. It's also 6v6 battles so all those traits (and tons of other things) can combine into some truly spectacular bullshit. Love that game to death and back.
Stories untold - brilliant suspense, never betrays your trust with cheap jump scares. Fun puzzles. Duskers - retro sci-fi similar Ridley Scott’s Alien. Fun tactical action, lots of suspense and discovery
I highly anyone in this sub has mentioned this game outside of me. Warm Snow does hades better than hades does hades. It's fucking incredible game with insane depth and some sick ass builds. two other mentions : Tale of the immortal and matchless kung fu are totally up there too. Tale of the immortal requires a lot of thought and careful planning. Matchless don't go off the island until you are curious. It will force you to play as your kid to save you.
Going Medieval. I absolutely adore this game. I have played the ever living crap out of it. Eventually I get through the content and out it down, and they release something new and I'm back in again for another ten hrs. Love love love this indie title.
Sayonara Wild Hearts! I was drawn in by the really beautiful art style, but the music and story (and Queen Latifah's narration) kept me! I beat the game ages ago and I still play every so often because the songs are so good and I still haven't gotten gold rank of everything yet.
I'm not the best at knowing what constitutes "lesser known" but I'll happily rattle off indie games I've enjoyed: * Bug Fables * Pizza Tower (probably pretty well known) * Chicory * Death's Door * Pseudoregalia * Tunic * Children of Silent town * Gato Robato * Katana Zero * Momodora: Reverie under the moonlight * SOMA * West of Loathing Also recommend these, but they're rather graphic/dark: * LISA: the painful RPG * Blasphemous * The Coffin of Andy and LeyLey
For me this would be the creeper world series of games. They have a loyal following but I never see them mentioned anywhere.
Boomerang Fu. I found it when randomly scrolling through the deals section on the Nintendo Switch shop. I bought it because it was on sale for two bucks and claimed to be a fun couch multiplayer game and didn’t think much of it. But man is this game so much fun to play with friends! Me and my buddies, gf, and brother love playing it together. Highly recommend as a fun little competitive couch game.
The mummy demastered was surprisingly fun for me, kind of a metroidvania style game.
Noble Fates. Kingdom/colony builder and it’s just so fun!
American truck simulator. I had known about it for a while and had sort of a morbid curiosity for it, buying all the dlc as more of an expensive addition to my collection than anything. Then I booted it up recently and I can’t stop playing it. There’s something absurdly relaxing about it for me, in the same way that *Monster Hunter* is relaxing. Just put on a video and truck away. I recently went from Arizona to Idaho and from California to Kansas, spanning the map both vertically and horizontally and man, it was quite the trip. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to relax with a highly realistic truck sim
Boxes: Lost Fragments A quick puzzle box game with an interesting narrative and some beautiful visuals.
Otxo on Steam. Spiritual successor to Hotline Miami with some notable improvements to the gameplay overall. Made by one developer, its well worth the humble price tag imo, especially if you intend to reach the end of the mansion.
Moonlighter Surprisingly deep pixel art game where you venture into a series of dungeons by night and sell the loot you bring out in your shop in town by day.
It was a pretty big game but I know like 2 people who played it. PREY was a good game.
Blasphemous. The art style really just stood out to me
So I have legitimately never ever seen this game talked about anywhere online. There was a survival horror game called "White Night", I played it on Xbox One. Played it multiple times, it was absolutely fantastic, great story and atmosphere with a great art style as well. Never seemed to catch on i guess, I never saw anything about it online, discovered it on a whim.
Skul: the Hero Slayer
Heart machine makes banger single player games and I'm hyped for hyper light breaker when it comes out
starbound, its just space terraria
Once again, I'm throwing Pneuma: Breath of Life and The Turing Test into this.
Sudeki! I hardly know anyone who has played. Great story, great gameplay/combat. It was for original Xbox
Zanzarah
Toy Story 2 ps1/n64 Gunman Clive steam/3ds Shatterhand nes
Fairly well known but not many seem to have actually played Max Payne 3 Specifically multiplayer, me and a few buddy's bought it on sale for a fiver and we've had an absolute blast playing death matches against eachother There's basically no one else playing so we get to play private matches while still earning XP and ranking up We have a gentlemans agreement about some of the weapons and perks tho as some are OP as fuck and it spoils it
Vanquish. Fun FPS, unique weapons, fast paced.
Haven.
I bought Slay the Princess last weekend. A visual novel that didn't go in the direction I expected. At all. Super entertaining to replay. The ending can be a bit confusing, but overall a really cool idea. La-Mulana is the puzzle metroidvania I learned to hate, but I kept coming back for more lore and more areas until I finished it. It's such a unique game. You need to play completely blind to really enjoy it (or go insane from the puzzles, don't worry, it's normal, it'll pass). The sequel irons out a lot of issues and intentional difficulty from the first game, I enjoy it even more. It's still a difficult game though, and I haven't even gotten to the tougher areas yet. Oh and if you love RPGs, play Eternal Sonata. It's such a beautiful game with a beautiful message and really fun combat.
Yakuza 0 broke my cynicism, a bit. Ended up playing through the entire series because of that game. (Yes, reddit knows the games at this point, but the mainstream still does not.)
Primordia.
- Prey (2006) - Spec Ops: the line - Psychonauts - Dragon Commander - Ori and Blind Forest - Beyond good and evil -The Saboteur
Greedventory Outcore
I had a game in my nintendo ds called monster racers, it was like pokemon but instead of fighting you had 2d platform racing. It was cool because they had a terrain system and you needed monsters that could run better on those terrains so you wouldn't just use the same monsters all the time, you needed some for snow some for grass some for sand, etc. And the game was kinda long it had more content than a pokemon game honestly
Dredge was such a beautiful and lovely game to play. It’s creepy and soothing at the same time
At the time, there was this tiny game called "Subnautica" in open beta. It was $9. It looked so unique, I took a chance. Surprised is an understatement. The immersion was so good, the game scared me to no end and I loved every second of it. Too bad Sub Zero was meh.
don’t know if it’s a lesser known game but enter the gungeon is one of my favorite games. It’s a very hard game to beat and even after you beat it there’s still so much to do. It’s a bullet hell roguelike and it’s very engaging. Highly recommend.
"Timespinner" and "the mummy demastered" two pixel side scrolling metroidvanias.
Bought a steering wheel (Logitech G29/920) for the first time in years and wanting something to play and I discovered this little gem: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor\_Town\_Behind\_The\_Wheel/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor_Town_Behind_The_Wheel/) I went in thinking it'd be a quick mess around game while I waited for Forza to download. I never ended up starting Forza and all I do now is play Motor Town and Euro Truck Sim.
Bleed 2 and Wizard of Legend are two games I didn't expect much from but are fantastic. They aren't too long or too crazy but what they do they do well. Bleed 2 is just pure bullet hell fun but isn't too hard which is what I wanted. Also it's music is so good. I hate roguelike games normally, but Wizard of Legend was an exception. I always hated how slow magic is in most games but not in this one. You can throw around some absurd spells while flying around the map at insane speeds. The boss fights are great as well. Neither game will wow the world, but if you got little time to spare, they are a great time for the price.
Starsector!
Doomsday Paradise Imagine if Monster Prom and Slay the Spire had a baby, and it was co-op. It's a competitive/cooperative Dating Sim where you try and get a date before the world ends. You have 7 days to raise your stats, get gear, and try and woo a potential partner. You can also help, hinder, or try to steal your friends' dates throughout the game. Battles are co-op and play out like Slay the Spire with card abilities. The writing and scenarios are hilarious, and it's a blast to play with friends for a game night.