Summary
Indie games are quite possibly more popular than they’ve ever been, not to mention in abundance. However, many of these games offer small, focused experiences that scratch very particular and short-lived itches.
Other indie titles, however, have begun to provideexperiences that punch above their weight, exceeding the expectations of their budget and team size. These titles do more with less, offering everything from extreme replayability to high production value in a way that would seem outside their means.
Although the immersive-sim is an old-school and relatively niche genre, those that implement its ideas in new and refreshing ways often find success. Games such asDishonored, for example, champion player agency by allowing them to tackle obstacles in their own way, andStreets of Roguecombines this approach with the wildly popular roguelite genre to great effect.
Despite its small scale,Streets of Rogueis able to punch above its weight with its immersive-sim inspirations, offeringbuckets of emergent gameplaythat elevate the overall experience. Supporting this is the game’s open-ended levels, which provide chaotic sandboxes for players to roam. Furthermore, the game features a diverse roster of playable characters that add endless replay value.
Kenshiis an open-world sandbox RPG that tasks players with absolutely nothing. Instead, players are given the opportunity to set their own goals, carving a path through the game’s harsh and hostile environments in whatever way they see fit.
Supporting this is a living, breathing world that provides dynamic encounters and emergent gameplay via wandering mobs, NPCs, and a variety of factions. The game takes some getting used to, andsome won’t be able to look past its visual style, but those who stick it out are likely to find a rewarding loop beneath its surface.
Kentucky Route Zerois a one-of-a-kind gem that won’t be for everyone; it’s an experiment, serving as a great argument for games as an art form. Gameplay is almost nonexistent, insteadproviding a surrealist and emotional journeythat excels with its melancholic atmosphere.
It’s the game’s writing, music, and overall presentation that elevatesKentucky Route Zero, providing a synergistic whole painted in painstaking detail. Each and every vignette, character moment, emotional beat, vista, and needle drop work in tandem.It asks a little patience of the player, rarely clawing for attention, but once the premise has been bought into, it becomes easy to forget thatKentucky Route Zerois an indie game.
Lethal Companyis a co-operative horror game that exceeds expectations with its innovative design. The gameplay is rather simple, tasking players with delving into dark and dangerous facilities packed with deadly monsters, salvaging what they can in order to meet an ever-increasing quota.
However,Lethal Company’s asymmetric creatures and immersive sound design allow it to punch well above its weight. Its visual style may be simple, and its scope may be limited, but the emergent gameplay that it generates makes foran immersive and highly replayable experience.
Disco Elysiumis a point-and-click adventure/RPG that stands out as a shining example of what good writing and presentation can bring to a project. Supporting the overall package is a tremendously simple and yet rather unique design thatborrows from tabletop RPGs, providing players with an intuitive, expressive, and meaningful set of systems.
As a result of its simplicity and reliance on evocative writing,Disco Elysiumis able to do a whole lot with very little. The world, for example, is limited in areas for the player to explore. However,Disco Elysiumillustrates a larger scope via creative world-building, making the player feel lost in its strange and storied landscape at all times.
Gloomwoodis an old-school immersive-sim with a focus on stealth and an added survival-horror twist. This mash-up of game mechanics provides a crunchy bite to the experience, but what elevatesGloomwoodabove its indie scale is its dynamic andwholly immersive interconnected world.
Gloomwoodtakes place in a unique and utterly dark Victorian setting, populated by unhinged denizens and horrifying creatures. This free-form exploration and the implied scale of its environments allows the imagination to run wild, squeezing value out of every nook, cranny, and vista within each space.
Despite its old-school roguelike visuals (minimalist to the first degree),Caves Of Qudis able to paint a larger picture via its evocative writing and world-building. The design of the world is also able to appear larger than life thanks to an innovative combination of procedural and hand-crafted content, allowing players to experience moments of discovery both scripted and emergent.
The game’s writing helps to fill in the gaps inQud’s world, steeping players in its exotic, alien environments and effortlessly bringing to life its characters and culture. The game’s ambient soundscape supports this further, providing a foreign aura that sparks the imagination and allows the player to see beyondQud’s simple pixels.
Hollow Knightis a deeply atmospheric Metroidvania that, while simple in its design, is elevated by the attention to detail of its interconnected underground world. The quirky, charming characters are also able to leap from the screen despite a complete lack of voice acting, thanks in large part to creative visuals and sound design.
The world itselfpaints a larger picture through subtle world-buildingand environmental storytelling, supported by those wonderful characters who never fail to show up in all the right places. The narrative is simple and vague, but the detail ofHollow Knight’s world grounds the experience and piques curiosity, making for a constant sense of discovery in spite of its 2D environments.
