Haha I’m totally not doing this just to find and play a great underrated indie game. ^^

  • Vida_E_Bela@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    1 year ago

    Hollow Knight and Vampire Survivors are the ones that managed got me hooked in the last few months

  • thegiddystitcher@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    1 year ago

    If anyone reading this thread hasn’t played it, imma give no further information but just…go play Outer Wilds, ok?

  • Zuse@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Factorio. The factory must grow
    And Deep Rock Galactic. For Rock and Stone

  • knokelmaat@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    A Short Hike is simply delightful. I just started playing it and it feels so genuine and kind, just a cute and happy little game!

    • frogmouse@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Stardew Valley is fantastic! (I’ve put almost 1,000 hours into it according to steam) Was always a great escape from life when i was feeling overwhelmed.

  • Demondice@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is a weird one, because I think the title of the game is putting people off as it’s nowhere near as popular as it should be. However, please give me a chance here to convince you to try it.

    Intergalactic Fishing.

    You don’t actually need to be into fishing games to enjoy it. The fishing, although about as addictive as most good fishing minigames, is only a small portion of the game.

    It also revolves around a similar style of exploration to some space games, such as No Man’s Sky and Elite Dangerous. While progressing through the storyline you will gain access to undiscovered lakes with their own unique species of fish, and information collected about these lakes can be sold.

    Catching fish gives you information about that fish’s likes in terms of lure, along with a few other attributes. You can then use this information to design a lure to suit it. This becomes a puzzle game, as lures are designed by arranging squares on a grid. Factors such as “shininess” and “noise” are infkuenced by putting more blocks near the edges, or leaving more holes and forming irregular shapes.

    It’s primarily a sandbox game, but there is a short storyline. Once finished though, the game opens up into an addictive endgame that I don’t want to spoil. Tournaments and contracts are a nice diversion throughout the game and can also net you (sorry for the pun, but fish puns are hard to avoid) a decent amount of cash.

    It’s quickly become one of my favourite games of all time.

    • ErisShrugged@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I looked at this thoughtfully a while ago and decided that my baseline level of interest in fishing qua fishing was too low. I’ve at least thrown it on the wishlist now, thanks for the info.

    • HarvesterOfEyes@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I have no interest in fishing but your description sold me on the game. Especially the exploration part and comparison with space exploration games like No Man’s Sky and Elite Dangerous.

      In short: wishlisted :).

  • Pigeon@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    I can’t give favorites out of everything - too many to choose from, all too different from each other! But some I really like include:

    The My Time at Portia / Sandrock games. Super chill crafting life sims for relaxing. Critically, you can increase the length of the day for more chill (in sandrock at least, can’t remember if portia has this too).

    Hollow Night

    The Sea Will Claim Everything. Left of center folks, especially if you fondly remember Freddie Fish and Putt-putt, in particular should play this. It’s like an indie, wordily philosophical version of those types of games but for adults. It has so much whimsy, and you can click on everything and anything and get a unique little bit of description or animation. I love it so much but don’t recommend it often enough.

  • RedEagle@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    Jalopy is such a neat game! Steam recommended it to me after playing my summer car.

    My current favorite is project zomboid. It’s become my default suggestion when someone asks for a good survival/zombie game just because of how intricate the in game mechanics are. Not only that, it has a massive community of players and modders who are constantly adding to and updating workshop content.

    Multiplayer with friends is a blast also.

    • wagesof@links.wageoffsite.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      I know it’s an unpopular opinion but I think multiplayer kills a lot of what makes zomboid good. Half of why I love the game is that you’re alone in the apocalypse.

      • RedEagle@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        Totally understandable! I generally keep a single player save that I take more seriously and host a multiplayer server when I’m wanting something more entertaining. I’m looking forward to the npc update for the game. I think it’ll add considerably more depth to my RP saves.

  • Gyrotoxism@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you like open source gaming, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.

    Turn based zombie (and other creatures) survival game with very intricate crafting mechanics. It plays in the same style as a classic roguelike (think stuff like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon) when it comes to movement.

    Anything in the game can be broken down into components, and most things can be built back up from those components. The vehicle building system is also very solid, you can make a fully customized hybrid car with remote turrets, a horse-pulled shopping cart, or anything in-between.

    The game has a pretty big focus on realism, there’s concepts such as sound and smell which determine how you are detected by creatures. I remember reading about a user on the community discord server who researched the properties of bug chitin because they wanted to change the giant bugs you can fight in the game.

    The biggest downside is that it’s pretty obtuse to get into if you have no experience with similar games. Movement is most efficiently done using the numpad, as the 1,3,7,9 keys work as diagonals. Most keys on your keyboard perform a separate action (e.g. ‘e’ to examine, ‘t’ to throw, uppercase ‘E’ to eat etc.). You’ll find yourself checking the controls often. Similarly, there’s basically no tutorial. Or more specifically, there’s no way to make a good tutorial for how much you can do in the game. The mechanics are all so diverse and so deep that the only realistic way to learn about them is either trial and error, or asking questions on the community discord server.

    That being said, it’s one of the best sandbox games out there. And it’s free, so why not try it?

  • Ethereal87@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Alright, not much to go off of but I’ll try based on my playtimes and exclude some very popular games.

    • Cook Serve Delicious (1, 2, or 3, my wife and I have probably 400h between the two of us). A fast moving cooking game that tests your dexterity. If you want to understand the flow of the game, I personally recommend trying CSD1 on an iPad if at all possible since the touch controls help you understand the flow of the game, then once you know the flow, you add in a keyboard or controller in CSD2 or 3. 3 is my personal favorite.

    • Cassette Beasts (51h). Pokemon always has a special place in my heart and I’ve bounced off other games that try to emulate it. Cassette Beasts hooked me with their creature designs and awesome soundtrack.

    • Zero Sievert (33h, Early Access). I haven’t messed around with the big name extraction shooters like Tarkov or Hunt, but the appeal of a single player third person top down extraction shooter with a pretty cool style surprised me at how much I enjoyed it. The only reason I put it down was to save up for whenever it eventually releases.

    • Heat Signature (31h). Very run based, but the whole idea is you have to infiltrate ships all over the galaxy and accomplish your assigned objective on that ship. Maybe you need to hijack it, maybe you need to capture/kill someone, there’s a lot of options. The fun really came with weird scenarios where you’d have to find unusual answers like breaking a window to launch yourself into space with your target and get scooped up by your ship, or hack the turrets and lure the enemies into a kill box.

    • Griftlands (18h). Card game similar to Slay The Spire where you build up your deck and get progressively more powerful against more dangerous enemies. The part I thought was cool is you can try to negotiate with your enemies just as easily as fighting them. Negotiation has it’s own separate deck you can boost up over time.

    • Everhood (12h). A weird exploration and rhythm game with some good humor injected. I can’t even really tell you what exactly happened since it’s been a minute since I played it, but all I know is it got really philosophical and after it ended, I felt almost hollowed out at how beautiful/profound it was.

    • Antichamber (11h). A portal-like game that plays with spatial puzzles and navigating an ever shifting labrynth.

    I could list out a ton more, I love these smaller and weirder types of games, but hopefully something sounds good!

    • icanmakesound@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Antichamber was fantastic. Can’t speak highly enough of that game. Scratched the portal itch perfectly, just wish there was more of it.

      • Ethereal87@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        I know! I tried re-playing it on my Steam Deck recently and I just struggled to make the controls feel good, but I have debated re-installing it on my PC and diving back into it!

    • ErisShrugged@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I despise stealth in video games, and Heat Signature is the only game with stealth elements I have ever unequivocally enjoyed. Very glad to see it getting some attention here.

  • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    A couple I haven’t seen mentioned:

    -Satisfactory: A first person factory builder and exploration game that scratches an itch no other game can. Made by Coffee Stain Studios, great all around. Prepare your Excel (LibreOffice Calc?) spreadsheets.

    -The Witness: A first person puzzle game by Jonathan Blow (creator of Braid, great game too). Many people think it is boring, or that it takes itself too seriously and that it’s not that smart. But if it clicks with you, it’s an amazing experience start to end, can’t recommend enough.

    • Jacob@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Hopping on your post to proselytize on behalf of The Looker. It’s free and it’s wonderful. It is also a spoof of sorts of The Witness.

    • lajian@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I loved The Witness and would add The Talos Principle. Immersing yourself in these worlds and their puzzles is just something very special.

      • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I thought about including Talos here but I don’t know if croteam counts as an indie dev :) Very excited for Talos 2 though!

        • lajian@beehaw.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Good point, I’ve always thought if it as an Indie due to it being published via Devolver Digital. Didn’t know much about croteam and that they’ve developed Serious Sam etc. :O

    • Maerman@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      Sir Brante is fantastic. 10 out of 10, would get beaten to death by my grandpa again.