This thread is for recommending hidden indie games that you think other people should play.
The game that brought me to make this thread is very on-brand for this forum. It’s 1420MHz, a game about decoding alien signals. I’m a fan of investigation games, and this one seems like a totally unique take on that genre, so it went right onto my radar (pun not intended).
So, an odd caveat for this recommendation is that it’s not out yet, but there is a link to sign up for the playtest. Despite that, I didn’t want to pass up the chance to mention it, because it seemed very cool (and relevant to the forum).
An indie gem I feel a lot of people miss is Yoku’s Island Express. It’s a cute, open-world pinball metroidvania game. It was Villa Gorilla’s debut work and it got picked up for publishing by Team 17. Actually, I think it’s the only game that Villa Gorilla has made to date.
I feel like it does a great job with the metroidvania formula, and it’s the only metroidvania game I’ve played that I really enjoyed. Also, it’s pinball??? Incredible. It’s on my short list of favorite games.
Don’t know how much of a ‘hidden’ gem it is, but one that comes to mind is Patrick’s Parabox. Really well made puzzle game with some cool recursion/inception-ish mechanics. Sticking to the puzzle genre, another option would be Block Shop by our friend Foolbox. It still bugs me that I can’t figure out some of the later extra levels on this one, but its really satisfying to play.
If you enjoy games with a strong narrative focus, I couldn’t recommend Pentiment enough.
You play as a painter in the 16th century, working towards the title of Master. It takes place in a little town where you really get to know the people who live there. You have to solve a murder mystery, and your choices have a lot of impact.
A friend recommended it to me, and I’m really grateful, because it’s one of my favourite games now.
Forgot about it initially, but the mention of languages reminds me of Chants of Sennaar, which is a language decoding game based on the Myth of Babel. You have to use context clues to decode several languages and its really interesting because of how each one uses different grammatical structures and word orders. This was one of those games that I just couldn’t stop playing until I beat it over the course of a weekend.
From the games I’ve beaten in the last few years, two stand out as extra good.
Dread Delusion has great world building and vibe. I had tons of fun just wandering around in the world, talking to NPCs and checking what’s over the next hill.
Echo Point Nova is just about shooting, going fast and having fun.
Oh boy… I have so many bouncing around in my head that I have to limit myself to only a few, but before that I do need to especially +1 Yoku’s Island and Patrick’s Parabox, I love metroidvania and puzzle games and both of them scratched some great itches.
Chariot is a dexterity puzzle platformer that is certainly not for everyone, and for the record I played it alone so you don’t need another person, but there was something uniquely challenging and enticing about the controls and level design. I’m not really a challenge seeker (I don’t play soulsborne games, I will grind a bit to become overpowered in RPGs) but something about this one really got me.
Have you ever wanted a puzzle game that used programming concepts like recursion, instantiation, and static allocation to craft uniquely challenging levels? Look no further than Recursed! If you enjoyed Patrick’s Parabox or it’s ilk then you will almost certainly also enjoy this game!
I know, I know.. another puzzle game? Yes. 100% yes. The Signal State is just so much fun, a programming puzzle game but built around analogue looking hardware that you literally wire up. It’s the best parts of the Zach-like genre with a fresh spin and a nice little story going on in the background.
Alright, I’ll stop there, but I could go on and on. I tried to pick the games I thought had the least recognition that I think deserve more eyes on em.