Twenty indie games worth your time, from Hollow Knight to Baba Is You, curated by ArcStow.
Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania-type game developed by an indie studio named Team Cherry. Most of the game's story is told through the in-world items, tablets, and thoughts of other characters. Many plot aspects are told to the player indirectly or through the secret areas that provide a bit of lore in addition to an upgrade. At the beginning of the game, the player visits a town of Dirtmouth. A town built above the ruins of Hallownest. The players descend down into the ruins to find some answers to his questions. The game revolves mainly around the exploration of the in-game world, whic
Celeste is a platformer about climbing a mountain, from the creators of TowerFall. Explore a sprawling mountain with over 500 levels bursting with secrets, across 8 unique areas. Unlock a hardcore Remix for each area, with completely new levels that will push your climbing skills to the limit. Madeline can air-dash and climb any surface to gain ground. Controls are simple and accessible, but super tight and expressive with layers of depth to master. Deaths are sudden and respawns are fast. You'll die a lot, but you'll learn something every time. Meet peculiar characters and climb through a per
The hero (in the beginning you can choose gender, name and appearance) - an office worker who inherited an abandoned farm. The landscape of the farm can also be selected. For example, you can decide whether there will be a river nearby for fishing. The farm area needs to be cleared, and it will take time. The hero has many different activities: plant and care for plants, raise livestock, practice crafts, extract ore, and also enter into relationships with residents of the neighbouring town to earn game money. Relationships with characters include communication, performing tasks for money, exch
Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler that combines the best aspects of Supergiant's critically acclaimed titles, including the fast-paced action of Bastion, the rich atmosphere and depth of Transistor, and the character-driven storytelling of Pyre. BATTLE OUT OF HELL As the immortal Prince of the Underworld, you'll wield the powers and mythic weapons of Olympus to break free from the clutches of the god of the dead himself, while growing stronger and unraveling more of the story with each unique escape attempt. UNLEASH THE FURY OF OLYMPUS The Olympians have your back! Meet Zeus, Athena, Pos
Undertale is an independent role-playing game developed by Toby Fox. Once upon a time, there were two races on Earth: monsters and humans, but a war broke out between them and the latter won. Seven greatest mages sealed the monsters underground and left one entrance through a hole in the Ebott mountain. A lot of time passed since the war, but a human child accidentally falls down the mountain. Its goal is to get back out. Undertale uses pixelated graphics and traditional mechanics of RPGs such as earning experience points, having an open world, and so on. As the game goes on, the player has
Braid is a traditional platform game with puzzle solving. The story follows the main character Tim on his way through twisted 2D levels. According to the storyline, Tim’s aim is to rescue the princess from a monster. In the course of the completion, players will be able to get some additional information about the protagonist’s relationship with the princess. Players control the protagonist as he climbs platforms, jumps on the enemies to defeat them and to collect keys to hidden quests and mosaic parts. Players have to lead Tim through 6 worlds, each based on an intriguing time mechanic, as Ti
This popular 2D puzzle-platformer creates the atmosphere of isolation, where the player alone can guide the nameless protagonist to his destination. Hostile environments and one-hit deaths may seem difficult, but the game implements a fair amount of checkpoints. The monochrome color palette showcases cartoony proportions of every living thing while making lack of details threatening. Limbo shows you exactly what you encounter, but never how it looks. Limbo uses the atmosphere and sound design of the horror genre while avoiding tropes of the modern horror games. The overarching theme and uniqu
INSIDE is a platform adventure game that transfers the atmosphere of a dystopic world. Players assume the role of a lonely boy, who walks through the monochromatic 2.5D environment and solves various puzzles. By the time main antagonists of the character pursue him throughout the whole world. The main storyline follows the unnamed boy through the in-game world locations including a forest, a farm, and a fictional laboratory, where experiments on bodies are held. The gameplay is divided into levels tied to each location. While completing them, the boy, controlled by players, has to swim, run, c
After the Calamity, most of the world was destroyed and seemingly everyone was turned to stone, except the Kid. As the Kid, players will have to flee collapsing city, in order to reach the Bastion, where the game’s narrator Rucks, will instruct players to collect the Cores. Most of the story will be told through the narration and music. Bastion is an action role-playing game with an isometric overview of the map. As players progress across the levels they will find and unlock collectible items and weapons. After completing said levels the Kid will find Cores, that are used to upgrade the Hub
The creator of the game often travelled through Asia and made the observation that the work of an immigration officer checking documents for entry is simultaneously very monotonous and very responsible. The game reproduces this work - but scammers and unusual situations occur in it much more often than in reality. The task of the player-officer is not to make a mistake, not to let an unwanted guest into the country. He has power, directories, translucent devices, etc., but experienced masters of deception and fraud act against him. The task of the player is complicated by the fact that his cou
Dead Cells is a roguelike adventure title developed by Motion Twin. ###Story Not much story is present in the game, as only bits of any information are given out to the players. The game takes place at a remote island, where the players take place of the Prisoner. The Prisoner does not speak, yet he can express confusion and frustration using his body language. The Prisoner is basically immortal, as, in case of death, his head disconnects itself from the Prisoner's body, and gets back to the game's starting area. ###Gameplay The game's heavily inspired by The Binding of Isaac, as stated by
Meet the next generation of treasure hunters in Spelunky 2! Follow Ana Spelunky and her friends on an exciting new adventure as they journey deeper than they could have ever imagined...
Outer Wilds is an open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Welcome to the Space Program! You're the newest recruit of Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program searching for answers in a strange, constantly evolving solar system. Mysteries of the Solar System... What lurks in the heart of the ominous Dark Bramble? Who built the alien ruins on the Moon? Can the endless time loop be stopped? Answers await you in the most dangerous reaches of space. A World That Changes Over Time The planets of Outer Wilds are packed with hidden locations that change with t
Hand-drawn 2D platformer in the style of 30s cartoons. 2D Dark Souls as the fans refer to the difficulty of this one. It took developers 6 years to create and polish their magnum opus. Cuphead is a classic run and gun adventure that heavily emphasizes on boss battles. Play as Cuphead or his brother Mugman that signed a deal with the devil and know needs to bring the master souls of its debtors. Players can go through the campaign single-handedly or with a friend using built-in co-op capabilities. The backgrounds, characters and other miscellaneous staff were painstakingly created using
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is the full and complete edition of Shovel Knight, a sweeping classic action adventure game series with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic! Become Shovel Knight, wielder of the Shovel Blade, as he runs, jumps, and battles in a quest for his lost beloved. Take down the nefarious knights of the Order of No Quarter and their menacing leader, The Enchantress. But that’s not everything! Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove will feature three additional campaigns that are games all unto themselves! Take control of Plague Knight, and Specter Kn
Terraria is a 2D action adventure sandbox game, where players create a character and gather resources in order to gradually craft stronger weapons and armor. Players create randomly generated maps that contain different locations within it, and by gathering specific resources and triggering special events, players will fight one of the many in-game bosses. Created characters can be played on different maps. The game introduces hundreds of unique items that can be found across the entirety of the map, some of which may not even be encountered. Terraria have many different Biomes and areas wi
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire! Features: - Dynamic Deck Building: Choose your cards wisely! Discover hundreds of cards to add to your deck with each attempt at climbing the Spire. Select cards that work together to efficiently dispatch foes and reach the top. - An Ever-changing Spire: Whenever you embark on a journey up the Spire, the layout differs each time. - Choose a risky or safe path, face different enemies, choose d
The remnants of human civilization are threatened by gigantic creatures breeding beneath the earth. You must control powerful mechs from the future to hold off this alien threat. Each attempt to save the world presents a new randomly generated challenge in this turn-based strategy game from the makers of FTL. ### Key Features: Defend the Cities: Civilian buildings power your mechs. Defend them from the Vek and watch your fire! Perfect Your Strategy: All enemy attacks are telegraphed in minimalistic, turn-based combat. Analyze your opponent's attack and come up with the perfect counter e
Baba Is You is a puzzle game where you can change the rules by which you play. In every level, the rules themselves are lying as blocks you can interact with; by manipulating them, you can change how the level works and cause surprising, unexpected interactions! With some simple block-pushing you can turn yourself into a rock, turn patches of grass into dangerously hot obstacles, and even change the goal you need to reach to something entirely different. The game has over 100 levels that experiment with the game's mechanics in a multitude of ways, requiring the player to understand and manipul
RimWorld is a sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Inspired by Dwarf Fortress, Firefly, and Dune. You begin with three survivors of a shipwreck on a distant world. Manage colonists' moods, needs, wounds, and illnesses. Fashion structures, weapons, and apparel from metal, wood, stone, cloth, or futuristic materials. Tame and train cute pets, productive farm animals, and deadly attack beasts. Watch colonists develop and break relationships with family members, lovers, and spouses. Fight pirate raiders, hostile tribes, rampaging animals, giant tunnelling insects and ancient
