I'm sorry I told you this was gonna be an essay
I really like indie games, and I have been so glad to see a lot of my favourites hitting the eShop, as well as games I've been wanting to try! I'm a little sad they always tend to be more expensive on the Switch - it's usually just a couple more bucks but still, not loving that I have to pay an extra $5-10 to play the same game on this console, but I understand it.
There's a lot of AAA franchises I like too, but over the years I have really grown to appreciate indie games that venture into new territory and do something different - AAA games tend to be very familiar and follow specific formulas, which is comforting and welcome in their own ways too, especially for older, beloved franchises, but a lot of indie games are a real breath of fresh air and do surprisingly fun and cool things.
What indie games have you played, recently?
I think most recently, I played Moonlighter - it is very reminiscent of Recettear for those who have played, (shop management + dungeon crawler) and I'm a sucker for the pixelly art style. The music is really beautiful too!
What indie games would you recommend?
Too many, just gonna pick a few big ones
Undertale - I hate to be that "I liked it before it was popular" person but I did play it when it first came out and I fell in love right away. Anyone who doesn't want to play it just because too many people liked it or they don't like the fandom is really missing out
Don't Starve/Together - I first played this in single player mode and sunk a good 40+ hours in before they released DST, and I've always had a blast playing this with friends
Papers, Please - this is one of the games I had in mind when I said "something different" earlier, it's just something I never would have thought would be made into a game, and if you just read a description of it it really sounds quite boring. You work as a border crossing immigration officer and your job is to approve or deny people based on what they tell you and the documents they have. And they have a LOT of documents for you to inspect. If you're looking for action this ain't it but it's challenging and so, so addicting in it's own funny way, with quirky characters, a steep learning curve that ramps up quickly and moral choices to make (feed your family at all costs? cut food and heat for the night to save money? let this person's wife through against your job description even though she doesn't have the right documents or send her home and let her die?) - these choices aren't outlined clearly or anything, you are told to do your job and these aren't even presented as choices but once you get into the story you'll start questioning if just "doing your job" is what you should be doing, or if you should show compassion and hear some of these people out even if it means taking a penalty yourself. And there is no right or wrong choice, I feel like every path leads to a satisfying ending (unless you are shit at your job. then you just go to jail. spoilers).
Hotline Miami - if you're looking for some action, this is a really good top-down shooter with a very compelling story. Again, I really like pixel graphics so that was another plus for me, but it has this 80s vibe to it that's really cool, and the story gets so dark and interesting. Gameplay is very fast-paced and exciting, I usually don't like this kind of game but I had so much fun with this one.
Prison Architect - I love building/micromanagement games, and this is surprisingly fun despite the lackluster graphics and minimal "art". You have free reign to build a prison, you can run it like a dictator, build a resort, focus on reform or accept only hardened criminals and gang members and watch them fight to the death. It's just really addicting and easy to get sucked into.
This War of Mine - If it's not obvious I have a soft spot for base-building, craft-and-collect survival games and this was a really good one. I don't play a lot of these that have an "ending" but it does, and it doesn't take as long as some of the endless ones to finish, but I believe the games are always randomly generated so there's a lot of replay value.
Stardew Valley - I don't think this needs introduction
Kynseed - pretty similar to Stardew Valley in what it is, but this is still in development and the twist is it's going to be generational - your original character is going to die, their children will continue your legacy, the villagers will also reproduce and have their children carry on their legacy, etc. I think it's a really cool concept and I'm excited to see how it develops.
Some good/silly multiplayer games - Ultimate Chicken Horse, Golf With Your Friends, Battleblock Theatre
What indie games have you not recommend?
There aren't a lot of games I played that I'm just like "this is straight trash" aside from one, and it was called Always Sometimes Monsters. It's a very cheap game, like 2 bucks on Steam so maybe worth trying just based on that alone and the apparently 1000+ positive reviews (I am honestly SHOCKED this is so well received, I hated it). It was supposed to be a choose your own adventure, "your choices matter"-type game, back when those were really popular, but the story was bad and ridiculous, the dialogue was bad and pretentious, the music was bad and repetitive, and the characters are bad and unlikeable. So so so shocked this has this many positive reviews.
And lastly, there are currently 2 games I have my eye on, Graveyard Keeper and VA-11 HALL-A - got a gift card from my coworkers on my birthday so I'm excited to pick these up when I have the time to try them :fufu:
