Top 5 Indie Games You've Ever Played

[PhantomFear94]

Liking these Top 5 threads, so I'm going to keep going.  All positive, there is enough negativity on here! What are the top 5 Indie games you've ever played? 

 

Defining indie can be somewhat tricky, so we don't need to be super definitive with scope.  Lets just say "small - mid" titles without AAA backing.

 

My top 5 (spoiler free, in no particular order.  For trophy hunters, all are extremely straightforward 100%'s, but this is co-incidience, not design):

 

1) INSIDE:  I adore this games predecessor Limbo; I actually think the puzzles are slightly better in that game.  However, INSIDE nails everything it tries to do, and for the experience it is, I'd say its as close to perfect as anything else.   It's art direction is mind blowing, every scene seems intricatly created and the story is ambigous without being down right confusing.  The gameplay and controls are tight too.   I feel that most people will at least have some idea of what themes and topics the game is trying to convey, even if a lot of the nuances are missed through just one playthrough. 

 

Not a caveat on this beautiful experience, but as a trophy side note I do have a negative comment; namely, I hate it when you can earn 100% in a game without having to actually finish it.    Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about an easy list, I just feel that the placing of the last trophy in INSIDE is RIGHT before the major twist in the game.  A lot of people who were just trophy hunting may not experience the impact of a player playing for the whole experience.  Playdead, y u no think of this?!

 

2) What Remains of Edith Finch: This game is pretty special too.  I knew this game would be good from the reviews, but they didn't exagerate at all.  The overall narrative is beautiful, tragic, wacky and throughtful at the same time.  Knowing what's going to happen at the end of each story, this game might seem predictable before playing it, but that is far from the case.  The tension and unexpectedness comes in other tenets; namely, from its varied gameplay loops both thematically and mechanically.  It feels woven together but different, and makes complete sense even if its grandeur is hyperbolised to the max i most cases.  Lewis' story, in particular, stays with me.  I'd go as far to say that it is one of the most original and clever gaming moments I've ever experienced.  Although only 2 hours, I recommend this game to the ends of the earth.

 

3) Oxenfree:  This game is a blast, and I've seen a lot of the same responses - I wasn't expecting this game to be so good!  I on't like the supernatural, and am very sensitive to unusual camera angles.  For a game that does both, I was anxious it would detract from my enjoyment; alas, I thought it helped excacerbate its art style and was a pretty good way of showcasing a very interesting tale that was funny, relevant and well written.  Gameplay is a bit simplistic, but overall the characters are empathetic and is a great experience with some replay value re: its trophies.

 

Again, doesn't impact the enjoyment of the game itself, but I thought the trophies were "meh".  Some were funny or made sense, others were stupid (like remaning silent the entire game).  

 

4) Virginia:  Probably the most polarising one here.  I LOVE Virigina, its one of the best indie games I've ever played.  This, for me, is the definition of a "marmite" game.  I think you will love or hate it, and I think very few people will fall between these two binary points.  It's very sparce, and isn't even a game really, more a "controllable film".  I still think the video game medium is important to its identity though, as it allows you to complete immerse itself in this twin peaks-style adventure.  I think its narrative is interesting and very well put together, masterfully so.  The game requires 2 playthroughs to platinum, and with fun trophies it also is one of the few games that makes you see something completely differently the second time now you have hindsight of what that even on screen means.   Play this with an open-mind.

 

5) AER:  Changed this one after posting...this game got mixed reviews, but for someone who loves the beauty of pure art this game cannot be missed.  The game's word design and pure beauty is breathtaking, utterly breathtaking.  There is some clunkyness, I would say, but it's not a walking similator either; it has fun puzzles and moderate length.   It has a nice amount of lore if not fully contrived in the game's "story", and is something I think is essential to play if you enjoy Journey, Abzu, RiME.  I wish more games like this existed.

 

Honorable mentions:  Celeste, Abzu, SOMA, Firewatch, The Vaninishing of Ethan Carter, Journey, Flower

 

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by phantomfear9494

[Dragon-Archon]

Unsure if these are all indie games, but my top 5 would be:

1. Salt & Sanctuary: a perfect Soulsborne clone, but in 2D
2. Trine 1: I like the fairy tale approach, levels were diverse, and switching between characters on the fly was nice.
3. Severed: very good usage of touchscreen mechanic and a fun 1st-person metroidvania game. Wish the story was better, but the gameplay more than made up for it.
4. Dungeon Punks: the humour is great and gameplay is fun, though NG+ is a bit too grindy in comparison to the first playthrough.
5. Super Time Force Ultra: it reminds me of oldschool Mario games, but with guns and time-travelling. The humour was great in this game too, though some of the helladeck challenges were a pain to do.

[Saionji]

1. Journey: definitely the best indie game I have ever played

2. Ranko Tsukigime Longest Day: very fun 2D slasher by SUDA51

3. Retro Grade: rythmic game where time flies backwards, unque aproach to a shot them up game

4. Rogue Legacy: random dungeon crawler, I liked the old school gameplay

5. Hotline Miami 2: awesome soundtrack and old school gameplay make this game a very enjoyable experience

[SlimSanta94]

1. Crypt Of The Necrodancer - It has a bad reputation on this site for being arguably the most difficult platinum trophy on playstation. But look past that and you'll find an extremely addicting and brilliant game. To me everything about this game is perfect, and the music.. 10/10, Danny Baranowsky did an amazing job. I couldn't recommend this game enough, just do yourself a favour and play it, even if it's on a second account if you don't want that trophy list from hell on your profile.

 

2. Undertale - Stupidly charming, the influence from Earthbound shines through completely. Great story, unique mechanics and gameplay and so many funny moments. The fact that one person developed the game and composed the soundtrack still blows my mind.

 

3. Rogue Legacy - This was the first rogue like game I ever played. I felt the concept of each life you have being a different ancestor was pretty unique, I felt there were many opportunities to experiment with different gameplay styles because of the wide range of classes to choose from. I loved every second of this game.

 

4. Titan Souls - Although the game was quite short this left quite a lasting impression on me because of how much I enjoyed it. Awesome game, great challenge also.

 

5. Super Meat Boy - Very difficult but very fair at the same time. It annoys you just enough that it makes you want to keep trying and it's very fun for that but in a weird way. Although it nearly broke me to get this platinum trophy, I loved every second of it.

 

Honorable Mentions: 

Tembo The Badass Elephant

Helldivers

Olli Olli 2: Welcome To Olliwood

Minecraft

[I need more BIOSHOCK]

1. Neverend. 

This one is a very simplistic game to just jump into and is very moreish!  You need to go through room after room to defeat lots of enemies and mini bosses along the way to the main boss.  Its a good fun challenge too if you are going for the plat.

 

2. Slain back from hell. 

Very fun side scroller with some challenging trophies and truly awesome ones.  Metal music is playing in the background which makes it all the better, there are some trophies for taking no damage on bossfights which can be annoying but nothing really bad.  One of the best parts there is a trophy called 'Hail the great horned metal god' for headbanging after killing every boss.

 

3. Flame Over. 

I had alot of fun with this one.  Another one that very easy to just jump into but very challenging to plat especially on the PS4.  The vita version lets you only have to finish the last area to get the more difficult trophies but the PS4 verion you have to do the whole game in one sitting without any person or cat being affected by the fire.  That one took some patience and time alright.

 

4.  Tricky Towers.

Enjoyed this one alot more than i thought I would.  Its basically tetris with trying to balance the stack of lines as you build it up and its alot harder than it looks lol.

 

5. This war of mine the little ones. 

When I first tried it I thought I was going to hate it as its really not my type of game at all being a strategic micro management game but I was pleasantly surprised how addictive it was!  I enjoyed platting this one and found myself looking much forward to having another go pretty much every day.

[adge_uk]

1. Super Time Force Ultra

2. Inside

3. Rogue Legacy

4. Superhot

5. Velocity Ultra

[Dead Weight]

Shovel Knight

 

Guacamelee!

 

Furi

 

Super Time Force Ultra

 

Shantae: Half Genie Hero

[SnowxSakura]

Shovel Knight

 

Castle Crashers

 

Alien Hominid

 

Cel Damage

 

Helldivers

 

 

[NetEntity]

5. Nova-111. A charming, humorous turn-based puzzle game with lots of scientists to rescue and rocks to break. May feel bland at first, but becomes more complicated as more new mechanics get introduced. Is it tea time yet? I've made sandwiches!

 

4. Outland. Metroidvania meets Ikaruga. Yes, this mix actually works without falling apart. Great style, soundtrack and difficulty, but a bit on a short side if you are used to this genre.

 

3. Dust: An Elysian Tale. Cheating a bit with this one, as I own it on Steam, and not on PS4... which should be remedied soon, as it's on sale right now. A good metroidvania with fast paced combat and great music. A good pick for the lovers of the genre, even if you don't like antropomorphic animals. I personally didn't mind.

 

2. Guacamelee! Ah, look, it's my second platinum. How the time flies. Do you like metroidvanias? Do you like beat'em ups? Do you like funny games packed with references? Do you like fairly difficult platforming challenges? Do you like MEXICO and LUCHADORES and CHICKENS? Then this is the game for you! Looking forward to completing the PS4 version at some point.

 

1. Axiom Verge. I love everything about this game. Yes, everything. Even the OP wasp boss, the speedrun mode and the Inexorable track that most people seem to dislike. I love it so much, that it will get stacked at some point, as another milestone. If you have written it off as a simple retro Metroid clone... or even if you didn't, and just never got the chance to check it out, you are missing out on a great experience. Go get it.

[Deluziion90]

Random order:

 

1. Inside

No story, imagination and just that creepy vibe. I love these kind of games. I picked this one over Limbo because it's 2.5D and better graphics

 

2. Cat Quest

RPG, Cats, stupid cat puns and a very unique map. This game will be a reason for me to make a japans account just for another plat. I really loved this game

 

3.

I went blind into this game with the lights of at night. And it didn't dissapoint. I almost punched something when my controller started to make static noises and all that shit. It's not ment to be horror (I think) But it sure got me on the edge of my seat. (multiple playthroughs for the platinum that killed the vibe unfortunately)

 

4. Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty

I'm not 100% if I can consider Oddworld indie. Nontheless Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus are my childhood memories. The 2 games I played with my dad over and over again is still something I do from time to time up untill this day. Ofcourse I had to add the remaster as this platinum has a very special meaning for me.

5. Little Nightmares

Same as Limbo and inside. No story, dropped into the game and goodluck with finishing it! Also that vibe which kept me hooked into this game. Still got it in my backlog for ps4 as I played this on PC.

[Dragon-Archon]

1 hour ago, MIKEY-L-666 said:

3. Flame Over. 

I had alot of fun with this one.  Another one that very easy to just jump into but very challenging to plat especially on the PS4.  The vita version lets you only have to finish the last area to get the more difficult trophies but the PS4 verion you have to do the whole game in one sitting without any person or cat being affected by the fire.  That one took some patience and time alright.

I can't even finish the Vita version due to RNG giving me complex levels with NPCs dying the moment doors are opened  .

[PhantomFear94]

46 minutes ago, Deluziion90 said:

5. Little Nightmares

Same as Limbo and inside. No story, dropped into the game and goodluck with finishing it! Also that vibe which kept me hooked into this game. Still got it in my backlog for ps4 as I played this on PC.

 

Was a top 5 in 2017 for me.  For whatever reason it evaded my mind, but I loved this game.

[I need more BIOSHOCK]

13 minutes ago, Dragon-Archon said:

I can't even finish the Vita version due to RNG giving me complex levels with NPCs dying the moment doors are opened  .

It is alot luck based with the drops. 

 

Top tip though as soon as you open any door don't enter the room. Instead stay inside the room you are in and go nuts with the hose, the npcs only start to take damage once you enter. 

 

Also the super hose, heartbeat sensor, super tank and extinguisher are the best ones to get if they drop early. 

 

Definitely go for the vita one rather than the ps4 I lost count the amount of perfect runs I had only for some twat to die on the last level! 

[Dragon-Archon]

6 minutes ago, MIKEY-L-666 said:

It is alot luck based with the drops. 

 

Top tip though as soon as you open any door don't enter the room. Instead stay inside the room you are in and go nuts with the hose, the npcs only start to take damage once you enter. 

 

Also the super hose, heartbeat sensor, super tank and extinguisher are the best ones to get if they drop early. 

 

Definitely go for the vita one rather than the ps4 I lost count the amount of perfect runs I had only for some twat to die on the last level! 

IMO way too much luck-based.

 

I did that at first, but as the levels progressed, I started running out of time. The Labs are a time sink and only managed to complete it once. Completing all of Miss Ion's quests in one sitting is going to be a pain, as the one in the Labs where you have to turn off some valves is horrible.

 

Got the super hose and heartbeat sensor once, but the other 2 have yet to appear. I also like those boots that makes you run faster.

[HusKy]

I haven't played that many indie games yet so here are my top 3 so far:

 

SpeedRunners

This game has great local multiplayer. Also, it takes a while to learn the dynamics of the game and the learning curve is pretty steep if playing against seasoned players. We have this one in our office at work and it's always fun to play with others. This is also my rarest completed game with only 1.05%.

 

INSIDE

Already mentioned several times, just buy this if you have a chance. Great atmosphere and simple intuitive gameplay.

 

Unravel

Another favourite of mine. Great music, likeable character and interesting string mechanics. Bought this for 4€ and was well worth it.

[pieroV_86]

1. valiant hearts

2. white night

3. Oxenfree

4. journey

5. inside

[I need more BIOSHOCK]

35 minutes ago, Dragon-Archon said:

IMO way too much luck-based.

 

I did that at first, but as the levels progressed, I started running out of time. The Labs are a time sink and only managed to complete it once. Completing all of Miss Ion's quests in one sitting is going to be a pain, as the one in the Labs where you have to turn off some valves is horrible.

 

Got the super hose and heartbeat sensor once, but the other 2 have yet to appear. I also like those boots that makes you run faster.

I was absolutely shite at this game at first and I didn't even bother playing it for nearly a year. 

 

Once you get into it and start getting better it really gets easier. I never thought I'd do the labs myself. When you do the first 2 areas to rack up time get everyone safe into a corridor or take them with you if you can when gathering up the others. By the time I get to the labs I have like 20 minutes of more most of the time. 

 

Yes the speed boots are great 

[Smzthy-]

1.Rocket League - One of the few games that I continue to play just for the multiplayer. The community can be extremely toxic at times, but the game is still exceptionally fun to play.

 

2.Action Henk - A very enjoyable momentum based game. Definitely one I'd recommend for those who enjoy games such as Trials Fusion.

 

3.Rogue Legacy - One of the better platformers on the PS4. I liked the idea of having different traits that can significantly influence the gameplay.

 

4.Hotline Miami - A fast paced top-down shooter that is miles better than the sequel, in my opinion. 

 

5.Velocibox - A neat little game that will really test your reflexes. Definitely a unique game. 

[DrBloodmoney]

1. The Witness

 

One of the best puzzle games ever, and a lesson in how a seemingly simple puzzle type can be mutated in a hundred different directions with clever additions.

 

2. Lone Survivor

 

A brilliant lesson in less-is-more game design and sound design.

 

3. Dust: An Elysian Tale

 

A great metriodvania with a superb art-style. It’s unbelievable that this game was made almost entierly by one guy.

 

4. Trine 2

 

Fantaatic in single player and coop, (all 3 Trine games are good, but I liked 2 the most).

Recommend the Ps4 version (Trine 2: The Complete Story).

 

5. Braid

 

Seems so simple oncthe surface, but so much hidden underneath. The twist of the final level is absolutely fantastic, and works so well.

Edited May 14, 2018 by DrBloodmoney

[merciful84]

In  no specific order:

 

1. Velocity Ultra

2. Rainbow Moon

3. Dragon Fantasy series

4. Flying Hamster HD

5. Rogue Legacy

[Baker]

1. Furi

2. Titan Souls

3. Broforce

4. Dust: An Elysian Tale

5. Transistor

 

Some honorable mentions:

Bastion

Klaus

Oxenfree

Guacamelee!

Edited May 22, 2018 by BakkerJ

[NaseemJohn]

1. Darkest dungeon - This is one of the most addictive games I’ve played. I don’t usually go for games that are very long to plat but I ended up playing this one for 220 hours in 2 weeks. That’s how hooked I was. It’s a really great game with a challenging plat. I’m a master at the game so feel free to ask for tips. 

 

2. Banner saga 1&2 - Very underrated series. Everything about them is just great. Well written characters, different choices that affect gameplay and story, great soundtrack, unique art style and the gameplay is fun. 

 

3. Furi - An amazing soundtrack, great art style, well designed bosses and a challenging platinum. This is the game that made me want to go for harder platinums whereas before I would try to avoid them.

 

4. This war of mine - The best survival game ive played. Actually made you care about your characters and the conclusions to each of them at the end is nice. 

 

5. Pyre - An original concept mixed with strategic and fun gameplay. One of the only games I wish had multiplayer. 

[zeldagate13]

1. Transistor

2. Bastion

3. Journey

4. Dust: An Elysian Tale

5. Guacamelee!

 

I hope that Pyre will be on the above list when I get the chance to play it, as I love Supergiant games.

[Undead Wolf]

Naming just five is a tough one, but I'd probably go with something like this:

1. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
2. Furi
3. Spelunky
4. Hotline Miami
5. Dust: An Elysian Tale

Honourable mentions go to Guacamelee, Rogue Legacy, and Bastion. There are a bunch of indie games I haven't played yet too that I know I'm gonna really enjoy. Stuff like Shovel Knight, Salt & Sanctuary, and Darkest Dungeon. I  indies.

[JaM]

1. The Binding of Isaac - Frustrating. Fun. Addictive. I think I have actually made a closer friendship with one of my co-worker thanks to this game. He had so much fun with the game while playing it on my Vita to the point that he bought the game when he got a PS4.
2. Salt and Sanctuary - this game made me want to ALMOST try Dark Souls
3. Rainbow Moon - I will say it again and again, I am very thankful for PS+ for introducing this game to me.
4. Guacamelee! - One of the Metroidvania game that I would not mind playing again every year.
5. Velocity Ultra - This is one of the very few shooting game that I enjoyed playing.