Game suggestions: Downvote any game you've heard of before
With the Steam sale running, this seems like a good time to try this thread again. We don't often use the downvote button much in Lemmy, but the idea is this: Do your best to present game suggestions that no one has heard of before. If, in reading other people's suggestions, you spot one that you're familiar with, then put a downvote on it. Ideally, if the game is past a year old, it may have a discounted price during the Steam sale, and others will be able to check it out.
I've made this thread once before and it generated some good suggestions, but the rate of indie publishing on Steam has only accelerated with time, so it seems to be worth trying again.
245 replies
Mega Knockdown a turn-based fighting game that successfully adapts the best part of fighting games: throwing rock four times in a row because you've gotten in their head well enough to know they're gonna throw scissors four times in a row.
(note the above is an old clip, the placeholder frames have since been filled in)
Looks like a slower-paced YOMI
What a wild concept mashup! Great recommendation.
I'm glad to see these threads again! They're fun.
Ash & Adam’s GOBSMACKED (37 Steam reviews)
This is a single-player arcade FPS. You battle robots in a series of arenas with a set of wacky weapons, with shops in between. At the start of each run, you have to buy yourself a starting loadout using the money you got from previous runs, but you can’t choose the same items as your last run. Buying an item for the first time at a shop unlocks it so you can choose it as a starter in a future run.
WORMHOLE (51 Steam reviews)
WORMHOLE is next-level Snake. I've written about it before! There are powerups, wormholes (obviously), and increasingly complex and cramped levels. The game's graphics and music get more intense over time and it becomes an oddly hypnotic action game.
Reassembly, a fantastic and beautiful simple shipbuilder with a great modding scene. My go-to game when I'm high and just want to chill with some pretty particle explosions....
(should we be upvoting the games we haven't heard of? Or just downvote only?)
I would humbly suggest you upvote quality games you're interested in. I'm sure I could go find a dozen AI asset-flip games no one's ever heard of, but that doesn't mean they are worth sharing!
I liked that game until I realized that the enemies were just spawning random attacks rather than playing against a peer level opponent, which meant there wasn't any strategy involved in taking the enemy positions. It's just whack a mole on the attacks on you while you take their bases (also defended by random fleet spawns).
That's a fair criticism - there's mods out there that improve the AI situation, but I don't know of one that really changes the fundamental nature of the gameplay eventually becoming progressively moving through the map.
I have longed for years for the devs to revist the game and add something like a campaign or story mode - or to make it more focused on survival and exploration. Pretty much a total overhaul I realize, but still I dream...
Yeah, the game was exactly what I wanted prior to realizing how the enemy AI worked, but then it just took all the wind out of my sails and I didn't even want to scale up to overwhelm that increasing resistance. That momentum is what I love about strategy games, where at some point you get over the hump and things get easier because you're strategically dismantling your opponent's war machine. They should obviously push back, which then becomes a part of your strategy, where to defend to prevent a halt to that momentum as much as where to attack to continue building it.
Grabbed, thanks for bringing it up! Looks really interesting :)
This looks awesome, and its on GoG too
Elder Scrolls Skyrim, really niche indie game. Just kidding!
Nikoderiko - really fun platformer that's kind of a mix of Donkey Kong and Crash. Currently on sale on gog (linked) and steam
Do not play with my heart like that
Eh, I don't know how well the game is known, but I'll throw out A Robot Named Fight, since looking at Metacritic it seems like it never got much mainstream attention. It's also (unsurprisingly) on sale right now, only $3.24 in the US.
Anyway, the game is a metroidvainia roguelite mashup. The gameplay is more the Metroid side of "metroidvania" being very obviously inspired by Super Metroid. You traverse a randomly generated map, getting unlocks for future runs by accomplishing various things though out that run, think Binding of Issac's item progression.
Excellent game! So satisfying when you get a run that totally breaks everything! And it just got a true online coop mod! Previously you could play with one Fight and up to three players could be Orbs.
A game that holds a fantastically emotional spot in my heart is Jason Oda’s CONTINUE?9876543210. It has a mixed rating by the general public, but holds the very core of my faith.
At the start, a video game character dies, and is scheduled for deletion. Eventually, the garbage collector that filters through the computer’s RAM, deleting levels that have served their purpose, characters of memory damage and mangled speech, and reflections on what it it is to be dying, all deleted. The goal of the game is to find peace in the milliseconds of afterlife, however that happens.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/263340/Continue9876543210/
(yes! I got a downvote! Someone else knows this game!)
Any idea why "This item is currently unavailable in your region"?
Because your region isn’t my region?
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/continue9876543210?srsltid=AfmBOorPp8eUMKDfNgUilRceJFntQgW-W2Bn2Nx-uiViihU-77XhZKNq
Thanks! I just wondered what could be in the game that triggers banning it in my region.
Could be a licensing thing. E.g. there are quite a few online Steam games that are not available in Europe, but are in North America.
The game’s been dead and without updates for a decade, so I’m not sure what’s going on.
It’s something I pass through about weekly though. It’s a good game to keep my head on my shoulders with.
9€??
I should reorient myself into "game"dev
This is probably a bit cheating since it just came out, but we had A Fox Tale on our wishlist since 2021 and it apparently actually came out a couple months ago and we completely missed it!! I immediately went and grabbed it and yeah, it is good. Fox platforming, great story, really good level design and gosh the ART is just so good!
-- Frost
Crushed In Time
A point and click in the same vein as There Is No Game by the same studio, that came out recently and that I haven't seen people talk about at all, unfortunately already past its introductory offer
it's on my wishlist, that jelly mechanic looks so silly :)
Wintermoor Tactics Club, part tactical rpg part VN. Very cute and lots of fun
EDIT: https://store.steampowered.com/app/917840/Wintermoor_Tactics_Club/
thanks, looks great :)
Ed-0: Zombie Uprising - A japanese 3rd Person Zombie Action Roguelike. It's silly, it's fun, it's pretty hard sometimes!
I got this in a bundle, but it really seemed like it was just extra junk so I haven’t played it. The curious thing is, the other bundle items were gooner bait, which made me curious about implications.
no gooning in this one. it's a bit janky, but the right kind of jank - feels like the type of game that was released in the later PS1, early PS2 era.
Angels Fall First
A large scale, sci-fi, squad based FPS that’s been in development for about 10 years. Battles scale from individual soldiers all the way to pilotable battleships that can be boarded and sabotaged from within, and everything in between.
Total labour of love by the developers. It will soon be leaving early access.
Good game, the closest thing I can describe it as is Battlefront 2(2005)+Planetside with some Battlefield 4 mixed in.
I remember when it was a UT3 mod
Great game, honestly such a pity that nobody plays it.
F2P (not gacha) but pretty good imo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/802930/The_Rainsdowne_Players/
This looks like a good time, gonna download it now
King of kings: the early years
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Kings:_The_Early_Years
A mediocre set of platformers interspersed with bible trivia. I played the crap out of them because it was the only thing other that super Mario we had.
Later we got Joshua and the battle of Jericho. A bomberman clone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_&_the_Battle_of_Jericho
What a great post idea, thanks OP!
My contribution is NeonXSZ, a 6DOF open-world ARPG by a solo dev. It's been a decade since it released, but IIRC, the dev cited Quake and Diablo as primary inspirations and the game has a native Linux version.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/296010/NeonXSZ/
I have that, I should probably play it sometime
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run By Dogs
This is a delightful little indie game where you have to talk to stock photos of dogs and complete little unhinged quests. It's been on gdq in the awful block with the dev before, but only 221 reviews as of now
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3392510/Zexion/
A neat metroidvania with a built in randomizer.
No More Mages is a very short (for now) but also very inexpensive (for now) beat-em-up platformer in early access that was made by a fellow lemming. He made it known to me in a comment a few months back, I picked it up, finished it quickly, but definitely felt it had been worth tossing a couple of dollars at a fellow Fediverse user for! I’m looking forward to what happens with it in the future.
As a separate comment: Iji
Freeware game and an awesome gem. Great soundtrack, too
Hero Core by the same author is also excellent.
I'm quite torn because I have played through Iji before, but even as the rulemaker it's hard to bring myself to downvote it. The final boss theme, Tor, still sits with me.
I always find myself wishing Iji got half as much recognition as Cave Story. It deserves it.
Ex-Zodiac - retro star fox inspired rails shooter
funnily enough I only found out about this game from listening to +TEK
Sword of the Necromancer : Resurrection.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2782880/Sword_of_the_Necromancer_Resurrection/
Best played co-op. Wonderful story with a great ending. Truly beautiful and solid game play. Short 12hr game to 100% complete.
Only like 150 reviews.
A short little puzzle platformer: Leap Year. To complete the game, collect all of the calendar pages scattered throughout the level. But beware, there’s fall damage. While your jump is two blocks high, you can only survive a one block fall. There’s more to it, but spoilers…
I've been playing Idols of Ash and Echo Point Nova.
Both are pretty nifty, don't usually see much conversation about either.
Echo point Nova is great. Like what I imagined future FPS would games would be in 2010 before they all just became military sims
Ooooh this looks fun as hell. I saw "released 2024" and expected online-only PvP nonsense, but no, it's singleplayer + coop? and the movement looks SO GOOD.
And it has a demo! This recent trend of games having demos is pretty awesome. Would be nice if the store page didn't hide it in the sidebar, though. Wonder why it did that (I saw reference to a demo in the reviews and assumed the demo had been delisted at first).
-- Frost
Idols of Ash is great! We need more grappling hooks in games.
ODDCORE (939 Steam reviews, Early Access)
Roguish boomer FPS where you travel to liminal spaces to shoot all the monsters. They're not scary if they're dead! Instead of having a map of encounters, you get 5 minutes to do as much as possible. Once you've cleaned out a space, you jump to the next world... unless your teleport gun glitches out and takes you someplace very weird. At any time, even during combat, you can jump to your home base to buy upgrades or extra time credit.
Overload
Spiritual successor to Decent 1, 2, and 3. Made by the same devs.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/448850/Overload/
Another one I feel bad downvoting! It's not got the same gritty technopunk feeling as the Descent games, but gameplay and visuals are just as good if not better.
Recursed is a very difficult puzzle game about recursion.
Downvoted as per the thread rules, but strong recommendation, and this reminds me I haven't finished it.
It's been on my wishlist, but I want to finish Patrick's Parabox before I buy this one.
Here's the link for other interested parties: https://store.steampowered.com/app/497780/Recursed/
Void Collector
It's a fast-paced fps game where your goal is to speedrun through each level. The main mechanic is that you switch weapons by flipping fingers up and down to change hand gestures. The movement and shooting are very smooth, and the soundtrack is incredible.
Also, Hylics and Hylics 2
They're jrpgs that are very surreal and trippy. They both have amazing style and presentation, and the second game has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks
Esports Godfather is one hell of a genre soup: deckbuilder/autobattler/management game/single player MOBA? But trust me, it play way better than it sounds - at least if you're into deckbuilders and management games. My only criticism was that it is a little too easy, but even given that it was easy to sink a lot of hours into it. It's just fun making combos between heroes in battle, setting up the perfect deck through your players or engaging with all the million subsystems in the management mode side.
They did use AI art (supposedly trained on their own work) for the player portraits, so do with that what you will.
Just bought Cleared Hot, it's a fun little indie helicopter game ala the old Strike games.
Me too.
Slipways
Space-themed strategy puzzle game.
Voin is a first person hack and slash with very satisfying combat and movement. It has some nice build variety and huge, detailed levels. The game is still in early access, but as it's being made by a solo developer, that's the only way to make a project like this feasible.
Weirdlands
zero-k is very nice, opensource too. I think it started as mod for total annihilation or supreme commander and developed into its own thing.
I'm always curious what the differences are between this and balanced annihilation, they both seem very similar but BA feels a bit more polished
zero-k has terrain modification, which i havent seen on any other similar games. The units also have quite advanced ai, so less micromanagement. Though sometimes they get themselves in trouble but you can also setup retreat points for them.
Bionic dues
I have it in my Steam library from some ancient bundle, but haven't played it yet 😅 one day...
Bound by Flame is an old, rather difficult, action RPG with an interesting premise: you’re transforming into a demon and the player’s actions determine how much you change.
Edit: messed up the name, it’s flame not blood.
Bound by Flame I think. I remember really liking the concept but being hugely frustrated towards the end and giving up before finishing it
Oh yeah that’s it, I messed up the name!
for others: it's on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/243930/Bound_By_Flame/
Maybe Ten Bells
Solo dev who was pretty sad that it had slow traction on release because he put so much work into the game. I can see it now has over 500 reviews, so perhaps he got the reaction he wanted!
I'm not familiar with anomaly horror as a genre, but it sounds like a very well-made game. I'm scared that I'd be too scared though
After reading a good review I tested it with my horror-loving gf, but we found it kind of mid.
I'll throw in another one, why not. Withering Rooms is one of my absolute favorite games I've played this year. It's an action/light horror roguelike that ends up being a very unique experience despite clear inspiration from games like Silent Hill and Dark Souls. For a solo developer game (who even wrote the wonderful music himself) it's a seriously impressive game, especially with the amount of small QOL touches. I thought the puzzles were intuitive personally, but I loved and appreciated that there is both an in-game "Puzzle Oracle" consumable if you are stuck, and a tiered hint section on the website if you need a nudge.
There's a ton of builds you can do, from various magic builds to melee and ranged and traps and more. The story is also very interesting, the world building is excellent and I enjoyed the writing. It really nails a certain vibe that very few games get right. For me, exploring this unique and interesting but dangerous world filled with a cast of weird and strange characters gave me similar emotions as playing Dark Souls 1 the first time. And it's hard to give higher marks than that.
Amazing game.
I downvoted this per the thread rules, but I only just heard about it and played it a month ago. Unbelievably good. Withering Realms is a follow-up coming out later this year as well!
One of the downvotes I'm happiest about getting ever, I think. I'm glad this gem isn't completely unknown!
Withering Realms looks incredible but I might wait until full release, which is hopefully next year. September is so stacked. That being said, I'm not sure there are any of the other upcoming games I look forward to as much as this anyway...
That's what I was shocked by honestly. I think it's a solo dev? And it feels a little indie in that way, but the entire package is so tightly done and the story is actually fascinating - the game quickly became one of the best I'll play this year over many AAA games and Realms is now top of my list too. Really an insane achievement from a solo dev; they have a lot to be proud of. And their Early Access plan is to have Realms complete from start to finish and use it as a refinement process? Lot of respect for that.
Solo dev game, yeah. Also his debut game! Wild. They actually revised the plan. It was supposed to enter Early Access in May, and then have NG+ added later on. Instead they pushed it to September but supposedly feature complete. We'll see if it's a wise choice - September is a rough month to compete in.
But yeah, absolutely agreed on how good the game is. Good balance, nice build variety, the systems all work so well, the NG+ implementation is super cool and the game just has so many little surprises to throw at you. And it's much bigger than you might think at first.
I still think Titanium Court edges it for me in terms of my number one favourite game I've played this year, but those are the top two for sure. And they're both solo dev games! Madness.
Oh, Titanium Court looks a little familiar; may have heard about it when it first came out. I'll have to check it out then!
It had a big buzz around it during the next fest this spring and also some around when it launched. It's not going to be for everyone, but you'll probably know if you vibe with it within the Steam refund window. It's one of the hardest games to describe I've ever played, especially since you really want to play it completely blind. It's a little like if David Foster Wallace made a modern interpretation of A Midsummer Nights Dream as a pseudo match-3 game? It's a little like Undertale but for adults?
I don't know, I recommend just giving it a shot.
Haha that's a wild description. I recently told a friend who doesn't play games that some of the best stories being told in media are happening in video games (and you also have a lot of B-level TV quality). I'll go with your suggestion and just dive into it - I like Match-3 games, so worst case scenario I just enjoy that.
Plain Sight - These flying ninja robots fight each other in small maps you can kind of orbit around. Fast paced and fun.
This game is a fantastic time with friends. It's always well loved when I host a LAN night.
And my last post since I could recommend games for days xD.
Demonstar: Original Missions (1999 re-released in 2024 with some fine upgrades) not on sale but only 3 euros.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2577180/DemonStar/
Hyperrogue
I do not like downvoting you, because Hyperrogue is awesome, but them's the rules I guess!
It's also open source, and actually open source enough that it's in the Debian repos!
Great game, too.
-- Frost
Curse Crackers: For Who the Bell Toils is a GBC-styled platformer based around a throwable partner, fun movement tech, and a lite story around an acrobat in a mask.
Yellow Taxi goes Vroom is a 3D Mario collectathon platformer...where you can't jump. It manages an energetic atmosphere where many objects are bouncing in place, so even at its small filesize it has a lot of visual appeal to it.
I realize I didn't set a rule for if you've only heard of one game in someone's list; I guess use your judgment. If you'd like, forgive one if another presented an interesting suggestion.
I've heard of the latter but not the former. No vote for you.
I saw that Yellow Taxi some time ago and loved the retro 3D aesthethics
Qbeh-1 The Atlas Cube: If you like puzzels, chill floating islands and minecraft (-90%).
The Council: An episodic narrative adventure in 18th century high society. (-90%)
Oh, thought of another one to list here: Micro Mages. It's not just NES styled game, but an actual NES game with a emulation wrapper around it for Steam. You actually get a NES ROM when you buy the game that's playable in all the emulators I've thrown it into. I've actually got a copy of the rom on my 3DS.
The real interesting thing that the devs put out a video about the challenges of fitting their game onto a NES cart (which is actually how I found out about the game). While the game is kinda small, (I think... I haven't actually beaten it) it's well worth the current sale price 99 cents.
Hated downvoting Micro Mages, but rules are rules...
Hey, it's only a dollar too!
This one was on my wishlist for a while, picked it up a few days ago. Just remembered I need to put it on my 3DS now!
Huzzah!
Endless Ages - you won't find it on steam
Is it even running anymore? Aside from a link to a Discord group I can’t find anything active.
The Silent Age
I hope I get downvoted because it means this game got more attention than I thought, which it greatly deserves. I used to play it on iOS many years ago now. I haven’t played it in several years and probably still have all the puzzles memorized. It’s not filled with super obscure puzzles, but it’s the right amount of challenge with a fantastic atmosphere and vibe. Seriously, if you don’t completely hate point and clicks, give it a shot. It’s truly an excellent game.
I remember that one, and played a demo on iOS. I'll have to buy it now.
Message Quest - a silly little medieval PnC adventure with a stained-glass art style and a lazy squire as protagonist
I discovered totally by accident Proverbs.
Proverbs is a picross/minesweeper hybrid featuring a single ENORMOUS puzzle, inspired by Bruegel the Elder's 1559 painting "Netherlandish Proverbs".
In short, it's minesweeper with a twist. It's pretty relaxing, you can do it while listening to podcasts or YouTube. Also, what I like is that you never have to make hypotheses. Everything is solvable just by looking.
I just spent a few hours in this. Tremendously addicting.
Never quite thought of having a variant of Minesweeper where the numbers are arbitrarily exposed, and there are no actual mines to give a game over (just like picross, finding the correct way to color it in)
Nantucket. You're Ishmael and you're finishing the job, no matter how many whales you need to butcher. With cards and dice. And sea shanties.
Supercow originally released in 2005 or something.
Re released: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1883570/Supercow/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHd657azVEI
eternam
Aero GPX - Really fast SciFi themed racing game. Very much inspire by the F-Zero series.
Echo an rough diamond with a unique sci-fi story. A nice thrilling puzzle-ish game. It can become abit repetetive. But the story is nice and mysterious enough to keep you engaged and the mechanics are cool enough to keep you on your toes. And for GoT fans the main character is voiced by Leslie Rose. EDIT: dumb typos
I bought this game on GOG years ago but I still have to try it.
I know of a game called echo, but it was a PSP Mini title not this
Great game but I have to down vote you :(
Street Uni X is a really good action sports game of the Tony Hawk variety, but this time on a unicycle.
Wow in this thread I don't know a single game
Let me try with this game that I bought a decade ago for 1€: Pizza Express - very nice chiptune music that matches the gameplay that is a mix between a visual novel and a simulation
It isn't unknown and almost 10 years old but it's mostly overlooked. A great card game >> Faeria
Couldn't find another game like this.
Please Fix The Road
I'm recommending it solely for level transitions. 🤷♂️
The Sea Will Claim Everything / The Lands of Dream - a very crusty "window" into another world, made by one of the writers for The Talos Principle. Quite personal, too, as you'll find out if you stick with it.
Thanks! The vibe of the graphics and UI reminds me of an early 2000s Hungarian browser MMORPG, Larkinor.
::: spoiler screenshots
:::
I think the only really obscure game I've played where I have significant playing time is: Nation Red.
It's an enjoyable little zombie twin-stick shooter / bullet hell game.
Another decent one is Deathtrap. It's a tower defense game with a gothic/dark soulsy aesthetic.
Can I suggest a game that isnt even on steam?
Handkerchief
The Dweller - you are the eldritch monster hidden in the ruins, hunting down archaeologists, mechanically a puzzle-platformer (may have served as the inspiration for Carrion)
If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers - left my favourite for last, a free pixel art PnC horror adventure with beautiful graphics and great writing. I was so blown away that a game of such high quality was free, that I ended up buying the supporter pack :)
Let's see how many people know about Bloodthief.
Insanely unique concept. You gather blood and use it to fuel hyper fast parkour movement and combat. Everything is a one hit kill, everything is insanely slick. It feels really good to play, and I don't even normally like this style of game.
It's made in Godot and runs at 120 FPS on potato computers from a decade ago. It's the first game I played that was a movement game (never heard of the genre before this) and it's designed to flow, where if you get really good at it it starts feeling like a rhythm game.
If you like that kind of game, also check out SEUM and Neon White.
A Family of Gravediggers
KeeperFX: an opensource Dungeon Keeper remake and fan expansion. It's a '97 retro game with a 3D map and 2D sprites where you manage a dungeon and kill the good guys.
https://keeperfx.net/
I also mod a community about all Dungeon Keeper like games here Lemmy: ![email protected]
Until Then - a beautiful adventure game/visual novel that’s a great coming of age story with inter dimensional time travel later on.
for others: it's on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574820/Until_Then/
looks lovely, it's on my wishlist :)
I thought of another one. This is an odd one, because I think the dev is actually quite well known: it's Yahtzee Croshaw, formerly of Zero Punctuation and now of Fully Ramblomatic. He's made a number of games over the years, but one that almost nobody ever mentions anymore is Poacher. (Note: link is to Archive.org rather than Steam; I don't think the game is available on Steam.) I didn't actually beat this one, as it ramps up quite a bit in difficulty as it goes on, but the basic controls and whatnot are very nice, and the humor is great. Here's Wot Rock, Paper, Shotgun Thought about it, since it's a bit of a faff to actually install at this point and Archive doesn't offer reviews and whatnot.
Man, I played all the way through the 5 Days a Stranger trilogy but never heard of that one.
Lost Skies
It’s a co-op exploration, base-building, and survival game set among floating islands in the clouds. Unlike most base building games, you take your base with you, in the form on your airship, which you have a lot of freedom to design how you like.
The main gameplay loop involves exploring new islands, solving puzzles and fighting enemies to gather loot, and using that loot to upgrade your ship. When you feel strong enough, you challenge the region’s boss, which drops loot that will help you progress to a region of a higher difficulty tier. There are 4 tiers of region difficulty and many regions of each difficulty.
The game has had some drama regarding leaving early access well before it was ready, but the devs are continuing to put significant work into the game, and it’s in a good state now, but with a fairly small community.
Currently on sale 50% off (
$25$12.50)https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931180/Lost_Skies/
I've been playing this game. It's enjoyable, but it took way too long to get started. I was already several hours in before I was able to build my first base/ship and get moving to new islands. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I spent a lot of time just wandering and exploring. I still feel that way, several hours into the gameplay.
And even then, it just feels very slow paced. Like it takes forever to do anything in the game. On that note, flying between islands is also very slow. I don't know if it'll pick up with later advancements to ship engines or something, but it's kind of mind-numbingly slow where I'm currently at. It could use some fast-travel options so I'm not just leaving to make a sandwich while my ship flies to the next island over.
I tried to get my friends into it so we could all base-build together, but none of them had the patience to get a character started. So I've been playing it solo and hoping it'll get better in the later game.
It's actually been a while since I played it. I should probably pick it up again and see if the game has improved.
Did you forget to unfurl your sails? I did that my first time… It’s definitely slow traveling between islands but “go make a sandwich” slow sounds like something is wrong.
Once you beat the first boss you can start putting engines on your ship, which make it faster and not dependent on wind direction. Also making your ship lighter helps too.
Ah, I haven't even met any bosses yet. That's probably why it's so slow. I don't even have engines yet.
A game I like and I never see mentioned anywhere is Out of Space it's similar to Overcooked except a lot less chaotic.
Downvoting per the rules but this game is great
Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages - I remember enjoying the writing in this one, as well as quite detailed ship customization. A weird lil shmup RPG, not even sure what to compare it with. A slow burner for sure though, give it some time to open up. Also on Steam, but seems like it's restricted in some regions there.
Not sure if this qualifies for the thread but on my phone, I've been playing Afterplace. It's a Zelda-like designed for portrait playing. Great little time sink.
So, is this the same Afterplace?
Ah, yes! Thanks for posting a link 👍
Rakuen was a great game I bought on a whim last year and it was a great random purchase. Kind of similar to old school Zelda but without the fighting, just trying to collect items to progress the story.
Reminds me a lot of To the Moon which is another fantastic game but I think that one is a lot more well known.
Definitely recommend both of them if you prefer games that focus on story rather than action!
I feel bad about down voting this one, but that's the thread.. Rakuen is great! I've watched a bunch of the developer's twitch streams, too... She's fantastic.
All good. Downvotes don't mean it's a bad game, just that it's more popular than I thought which is actually a good thing haha
Free Stars: the Ur-Quan Masters. 391 reviews on Steam although anyone olders than 45 might have heard of it as Star Control 2.
Totally free and a great (retro) game that holds up well. Sci-fi, exploration (make sure you have something to take notes on) and great lore.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2645580/Free_Stars_The_UrQuan_Masters/
Ugh, another one that I hate that I'm supposed to downvote... A truly fantastic game.
Seems to be the same software as the freely available Ur-Quan Masters off-steam, no?
There's also a HD remaster, which doesn't seem to be on steam.
Correct! Somehow I thought this thread was about games available on Steam. The HD Remaster is great.
Hellkind free short artsy horror themed top down walking sim
Levelhead is a Mario Maker-esque platformer with a huge emphasis on user-made levels and a very powerful level editor. It's not too active right now but there's thousands of awesome levels already made that you can play. The game is dirt cheap, too.
Cinders - a low-fantasy exploration of the story of Cinderella, as a non-anime visual novel with many decisions and endings
The Dream Machine - point and click quest made of clay and cardboard.
Little Rocket Lab - fun factory builder with Stardew valley vibes
I've recommended this before, so it's possible people will have heard of this from me, but Gateways by Smudged Cat Games is pretty great. It's a puzzle platformer but it gets very, very complicated as you go on, especially once you unlock the ability to use all the different mechanics at once. It's a pretty smooth learning curve up to that point, though.
Underhero
I found the game through a review recommending it to "Paper Mario" fans, but that video was so obscure I failed to ever find it again. The platforming is jank, the story compares unfavorably to another game with the same first 2 syllables, and the switch port is terrible with its load times. But I like the combat system, and while it starts fairly generic, each area becomes more and more visually intersting. Also we play as a silent protagonist, but they still gave them so much personality in the form of a hint system notebook, most devs would do hint systems as generically as possible to not confuse anyone, but I love them for not doing that.
A true flawed 7/10 game.
Knytt Underground - lovely little metroidvania by Nifflas. I expect some people to know this one, but it does have only 226 reviews on Steam and deserves more. Bundling this one with Ynglet - another game by him (and some other devs)
Eh, I guess I toss out one of my favorite DS games as a break from my previous Steam recommendations, so Retro Game Challenge 2, the fan translation of GameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō 2. This actually may get downvoted a fair bit, because the Game Center CX show that inspired the game has a dedicated cult following in the United States and Retro Game Challenge 2 has been played by some fairly big streamers.
Anyway on to the game itself. Retro Game Challenge 2 is a collection of NES and SNES styled mini games loosely bound together by a fairly non-nonsensical meta plot and a ton of nostalgia. You're assigned "challenges" for the various games that you have to beat, think NES Remix if you've played that, it's actually from the same developer. But not only that there's a ton of nostalgic little touches, all the mini-games have in game "manuals" to read, there are also in game "gaming magazines" that offer tips and tricks for the games you play, as well as hinting about "up-coming" games. There's also a "daily challenge" which is a... well challenge that is issued daily, with difficulty that ramps up as you beat them.
The best part of the whole game/micro games is that you can freely play them after they've been unlocked. None of the NES Remix's "We've got the whole game here, but you can't do anything but the challenges" bullshit. You want to play though the entirety of the ten-ish hour NES styled JRPG? Go for it. Indieszero also included some "challenge mode" versions of games from the first Retro Game Challenge game.
Anyway, as the wall of text may have clued you in, I really like this game.
Project Gorgon or, as I like to call it, Project Gorgonzola. Its an indie MMO, but its possibly my favorite MMO and I play a lot of them. Its very unique feeling. Has a lot of jank, but also a lot of charm. Come play with me :3
Cyber Hook. 1st person grappling hook 3D platforming speed runner with an 80s retro futurism aesthetic.
Skator Gator 3D:
While looking for the link, I found out it's a sequel... but it's game where you play as a gator going through short-ish 3D levels in order to get your stolen swamp deed back.
Rad Venture ( just a demo ):
For a demo, it requires a LOT of storage ( ~13GB ). It's a demo with a ton of exoloration to be had in an open environment. But basically you play as a green Rayman like lizardy dude named Rad and go around finding collectable mcguffins. The start to the demo was a little constricting because it puts you in a tutorial-esque situation with a lot of invisible walls, but after that section, there's quite a bit to explore. Good idea to turn settings down on a normal LCD Steam Deck. Figured that ine out real quick.
Kila Flow:
It's a fast paced 3D platformer. You play as some sort of antivirus program cresture and you can jump on enemies to disinfect or do something like a standard spin attack. There's rewards for beating a level quick, not taking damage, and for defecting and leaving all enemies alone. Pretty fun platforner, IMO.
I learned a shitload about geography and culture from an old board game called "Globetrotters".
Monster Loves You! - monster-raiser CYOA RPG with meaningful decisions
Quadrilateral cowboy.
first person cyberpunk logic puzzle game that tells a story without any words. Absolutely a blast and I wholeheartedly recommend it
Total Distortion is a point-and-click adventure that combines music video creation, business simulation, and surreal humor. Players build music videos, battle guitar monsters, and navigate a strange dimension, all in pursuit of earning $1 million.
Ah, I knew I've seen the title before. The game over music is perhaps more famous than the game.
But does just knowing the game over screen actually account for knowing the game?
Home - an atmospheric horror walking simulator with pixel graphics. I remember the story blew my mind when I played it a decade ago.
Cogmind! https://store.steampowered.com/app/722730/Cogmind/
Too bad for you, I'm a fan of DoshDoshington.
This is a great one! I'm terrible at it but I love trying out all the different equipment.
Unfortunately I can't downvote and upvote at the same time, but this is rally a good game and a work of love.
similar game play to goose game, but your a penguin, trying to break into the research station and act like you belong for as long as possible. as you always wanted to be an academic.
your penguin might do things like choose recordings from a tape recorder to convince your "colleuges" in a conversation (they sound like the peanuts teacher though) that you are one of them. wearing cute costumes to blend in (lab coat, twead sweater, glasses, etc). if you are caught doing penguin things (waddling, eating raw fish, etc) you are kicked out as the lab has a strict no penguins policy.
if your duration in the lab exceeds the top x % on a weekly leader board you get accepted in to a school and the game moves to a school setting. except your penguin is competing with a mix of other penguins (other players) and actual students (npcs) to stay in the program. you can collect recordings in your recorder and change costumes. you can understand other peguins, but the actual students again sound garbled. if your likeability score gets low enough it is discovered youre a penguin and you get thrown out, as the school has a strict no peguin policy. you are released in the icy wasteland and you have to start your academic career over. if you last long enough in school you graduate the game gives you an nft which can be submitted on a website to verify, which you can brag about in the real world! you have an nft!
if you log in after this your Penguin is stuck in an office with students saying garbled things, you play your recorder, they always accept what you say as you have tenure. you can look out the windows at children playing. raising the question did your penguin really want to get in to academia, to be accepted, or something else...
In Other Waters - a fairly unique exploration adventure with timed-puzzle elements and survival mechanics. The graphics are very stylised, so the experience is more like reading a book. I played about 5 hours and mostly enjoyed it, but did not finish it because the survival/timing pressure got too stressful as I progressed through the story.
Great game! Can recommend
Gunz: The Duel is planning a comeback some time this year; tl;dr extremely niche 2005 korean team/solo shooter famous for the playerbase essentially creating a hyper-mobile fighting game but with guns out of the incredibly glitchy but consistently glitchy movement and animation system. If you've never played it it has a huge skill barrier to entry (that I'm sure will be tutorialized in this modern reboot) but is incredibly fun and satisfying with a huge skill ceiling.
Tricky technicality. I knew of the old game, but did not know someone was planning a remake.
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
You play as a poverty-level janitor at a bustling space port. Scrounge by while longing for a better life, seeing wonderous things that are beyond your class/wage level to experience! It sounds depressing, but this is a very charming game.
Smushi Come Home
Cozy 3D platformer with no combat and tons of chill little dudes to talk to and help out.
PictoQuest
Nonogram RPG. The story is nonexistent and the dialogue is laughably bad, but this is one of the better picross games I've played because the puzzles do actually look like stuff, and the completed puzzles even have animation! Plus the added elememt of combat gives puzzle solving a fresh twist.
Suzerain is an underappreciated, text-based, role-playing political simulator. I wish there were more games out there like it.
Rabbit and steel
coop bullethell rouguelike
unfortunately, blahaj.zone doesnt have downvotes
love this game... too bad I have to downvote it
Try out Distance, a race game where you have to dodge objects. It also features a great soundtrack.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/233610/Distance/
Slayblade! It's not out yet but I did enjoy the demo.
Grip: Combat Racing. Insanely fast. Crazy tracks. Weapons! I haven't tried it in VR yet, because YIKES!
I've tried a related game, BallisticNG, in VR. It was worth doing... once.
Stationeers. It's a game about managing a station on another planet. You have to manage things like the atmosphere composition and pressure, as well as temperature, while growing plants and mining/smelting metal. It's a really cool game, with the refrigeration cycle actually functioning so you can build your own heatpumps.
It's made by the team making Kitten Space Agency, which they want to give away for free. Last I heard, they're losing money developing Stationeers too, but they're fine with that and continuing anyway. The owner of the studio is the person who made the DayZ mod, and I guess he's got plenty of money now and just likes making games they're passionate about.
Duskers!
A sci-fi/horror game where you try to survive the vast coldness of space by controlling a group of drones through CLI or individual ones via top-down camera.
Pretty interesting, deep lore and quite atmospheric.
It's both on Steam & GOG.
I love Duskers! (therefore you're getting a downvote) But hopefully you'll be pleased to learn they've announced a sequel: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2211630/Duskers_20/
I actually don't think this one is quite as obscure as you think, since it was given away on Epic a few years ago.
I purchased this game so long ago, when it was fresh. I'm pretty confident I remember them talking about adding scripting, which seemed really obvious, but I'm pretty sure that never came.
Hmm, this is far less obscure than some of the other comments, but very much indie at the same time:
Enderal
This is technically a mod, but is in Steam as its own game (vs in the Steam Workshop) bc it's a legit full game; they broke Sktrim down to its assets and rebuilt a completely new game out of it. So, familiar mechanics and engine; brand new everything else (lore, terrain, voice acting, music, etc).
It's a passion project from an indie dev crew iirc based in Germany, called SureAI - note that they've been around since 2003, and have no connection to the the slop we're calling "AI" nowadays.
Enderal is a 90-10 slit of absolute masterpiece and absolute jank - it's Skyrim's engine, so it has all of Skyrim's problems. You WILL run into stupid shit like quest items falling through the floor, so save frequently (real save, that makes backups, not just quick) and don't be afraid to fix shit with console commands; but once you get past the Skyrim jank, you'll be treated with an absolutely incredible story that delves into philosophical and emotional topics. You know that sunken feeling you get when you finish a really good book cuz you CRAVE more, but know it's over? Enderal is the only videogame that's ever evoked that from me. Cannot overstate how damn good the writing is!
Actually playing it... it's been a while, so it might be different now, but last I played it required you to have either the original release or special edition version of Skyrim already in your Steam Library, enabling it to hijack the assets. So, whichever one you have, download the corresponding version of Enderal. The plus side is that it's completely free barring the Skyrim requirement - and like, actual free, with no ads or micros or any of that BS.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/933480/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/976620/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories_Special_Edition/
If you have both, DL the version that you don't usually play in Skyrim - this will enable you to have both installed at the same time if desired, with no fuckery from competing file use. ...if just one version, back up your Skyrim saves before installing, as it's been known to cause issues.
Anyway, remember that first playthrough of Skyrim when everything was brand new and you didn't know the game like the back of your hand? ...this is the closest you'll get to revisiting that experience. Possibly surpassing, since Skyrim's story is kinda cliche; Enderal will make you feel something new.
One pseudo spoiler: they redid combat and leveling mechanics. Don't lean too heavily on the tricks you know from Skyrim. Aka, sneaky archer will get your ass handed to you. Experiment with the different combat options! Avoid additional spoilers like the plague.
I knew this would have a shitty ratio xD
For those of you who are hearing about this for the first time, and planning to actually dive in, you're in for a treat!! Shoot me a pm pr something if you ever want to nerd out about it once you inevitably become addicted!
Monday night combat.
edit
I should have read the instructions. Though Monday night combat is still a fantastic and forgotten or unheard of game, its from a bygone era and probably unplayable in any state. Stop killing games.
As for steam games on sale that may not have hit the general water cooler talk - Kenshi.
If you never played it, it's 60% off now and worth every penny.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/233860/Kenshi/
Monday Night Combat, and especially its successor, SMNC, had such good potential. It was a damn shame the developers bet on a different project of theirs instead. And now over a decade later, Valve picks up the formula to make Deadlock.
Yeah, it's crazy, having played SMNC, how much of it has shown up in recent years. They were way ahead of the curve with it.
I would have to downvote pretty much all of them.
Probably a bit late to the party, Reus 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1875060/Reus_2/
Lovely puzzle/god game with eco/environmental themes. Really fun to chase all the achievements as they encourage you to try different things.
Great on the steam deck too!
Huh, more known than I expected, I think I have plugged it a few times here before though.
Software Inc
I really enjoyed There is no game, fun little totally-not-a-game.
Viewfinder. 3D first person puzzle game.
Yes your grace!
Great short kings court sim /
family drama
Tales of Maj'Eyal is a roguelike with a lot of classes and races, which in my opinion offers a lot of replay value, even with no DLCs.
It's actually free and open source.
I had the impression that buying it on steam and linking your account in the official website to steam gives you enough points in the official website to purchase the Ashes of Urh'Rok DLC but I am not sure about that anymore. Direct link to FAQ for more info if anyone is interested.
Edit: Oh wow so many downvotes. Glad to know so many know about this!
I love TOME! I have all the DLC on Steam so I'm not sure about the website linking thing. The Doombringer class from Ashes of Urh'Rok is my favorite.
Guess I need a down vote then!
And also, I need to return to the game.
I sucked at it when I played so now I need to relearn everything... 😅
My favorite classes were Arcane Blade and Temporal Warden. Which from what I remember, at least the second, was quite easier to play than many others.
Enthusiastically seconded
Makes me happy to see this so downvoted. I didn't expect that.
Holy shit. so many i never heard of! I can only offer this old underrated gem: https://store.steampowered.com/app/243970/Invisible_Inc/ Invisible inc. very good stealth/strategy game in a cyberpunk setting.
Heard, played, loved it.
Not For Broadcast. Take control of editing live news (i.e. managing the broadcast) while withstanding your unscheduled rapid promotion from janitor, certainly one of the casts of characters of all time, and the devs' great Britishness (and humor!). And maybe it'll get political, who knows.
::: spoiler Spoiler It does.
You'll eventually find yourself in something a little similar to "Papers, Please".
It could be interpreted as anti-communist but that's not how I take it. :::
There's a ton of very impactful choices, both in the visual novel sections and the advertised FMV sections. Devs botched the ending and first DLC but I highly recommend the rest of it, especially the other DLC.
Not nearly as niche as the other responses but I love this game.
Reluctantly downvoted - it is indeed a fantastic game.
Very unique game
Okay, my last post, I promise!
A must-have: Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition goes on sale for 3 euros (normally 20 euros)
IYKYK: A man who downvotes this is never a whole man ;)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/307690/Sleeping_Dogs_Definitive_Edition/
damn good game. what I wish GTA was
Vamprie Crawlers the card dungeon crawler little cousin of Vampire survivor
Please vote them on GOG so we can have a DRM free version :3 https://www.gog.com/dreamlist/game/vampire-survivors
Synthetik
Song of Syx
(I'm on hard mode, so downvote if you've heard of either one :P)
I've never heard of Synthetik, so imagine my suprise when it's already in my library. lol
I had a few of those in this thread too, plus a ton on my wishlist that I had no recollection of 😅
Man how do you expect me to give half a downvote.
Bob should have stuck to farming.
Beyond All Reason is an RTS inspired by Total Annihilation.
Hundreds of units, 2 factions (+1 WIP), vehicles, bots, sea, air, amphibious units, terrain matters a lot
It's not on Steam yet, but it's free & open source. (It's on Flathub)
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
A light-novel game set in cyberpunk dystopia not unlike modern americas. You play as bartender serving drinks to people.
Still waiting for N1RV Ann-A...
Abiotic Factor is a game i hear way too little about despite it beeing one of the best survival crafting games i ever played. If valheim and Halflife had a baby it would be this.
Very good in Singleplayer but amazing in Multiplayer.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/
Caves of quid
You mean Caves of Qud, right? 'Cause if that's not a typo it's so obscure that even search engines don't know about it :)
Crosscode.
Fantastic RPG with an amazing story.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/368340/CrossCode/
Love this game so much, truly painful to have to downvote it
I knew it would be way more well known, but I had to include it for those who have not heard of it.
Take pride in the fact that this good game is well-loved, and is in my top three. It needs to be at the bottom of this list though.
It is such a good game, and I figured it would be fairly well known, but it needed to be here for those who have not heard of it.
Enshrouded
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203620/Enshrouded/
I blindly pirated this for a completely unremembered reason. I blew thru 30 hours before getting a chance to buy it. Im addicted to it.
Its early access, but it's releasing in October, so its pretty much finished. Highly recommended if you like valheim and zelda and building things and lots of fighting (but no base raids thankfully)
Name was familiar but had to look up, so I guess it counts as an upvote?
That's tough. I'm not sure how far "heard of" should be stretched
This one isn't really niche, but I enjoyed playing Prey (2017).
Edit: It appears that I have made a mistake.
I do love this game and IMO it's the best of the -shock games (system & bio), at least for gameplay.
Great game, and sold well below what it should have. Still, it's published by Bethesda and made by Arkane. It didn't do as well as it needed to, but everyone who's remotely interested in the ImSim genre knows about it.
If you want more ImSims though, check out Charlatan Wonder on YouTube. That's his big thing. He recently did a video on Retro Space, and their demo is great!
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check him out when I'm able to.