Indie recommendations Hub

[Deleted member 7989]

You all should check out Bonesaw: The Game by Kyle Pulver. It's freeware off of his portfolio site. It's a NES style beat em up platformer where you play as an unnamed member of the Clarkson University Golden Knights Hockey team, and your team gets put into an "Interdimensional Penalty Box" and you have to save them. Has been one of my favorite indie games since I was a kid. It's tough but fun, and the music kicks ass. The Bonesaw thing comes from the first Raimi Spider-Man film, where Randy Savage played as Bonesaw McGraw, and the people who went to this guy's school and people in the town did some tribute to it as their sports call sign.

Post automatically merged: Apr 17, 2025

You all should check out Bonesaw: The Game by Kyle Pulver. It's freeware off of his portfolio site.

I actually did a bit more research, and I guess this guy went on to help with Super Meat Boy Forever, dope.

 

[nobitakun]

Machinarium.

If you want something more recent, Chantelise or Recettear.

 

[MrPanda61]

I find Stoneshard quite enjoyable. If you're ok with an early access title. It reminds me of games like Diablo 1, Sacred, and Baldur's Gate.

Another interesting game is SKALD. If you fell Ultima V could be released today.

Last but not least, Unmetal is a great throwback to the old 2D metal gear games

 

[Blamhammer]

I'm gonna throw ZeroRanger into the indie list. A vertical shmup with excellent music and a bit of a twist at the end.

ZeroRanger by system_erasure

May you attain enlightenment.

system-erasure.itch.io

 

[bjork]

It's the flavor of the moment in some circles, but is anyone playing Blue Prince? It's reminiscent of Myst or The Witness in the "here's an area to explore in first person and it's got lots of puzzles" way, but it also has a roguelike element to it? I've got about 30 hours into it, and it's really fun aside from some minor frustrations involving rng. Either way, worth checking out!

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I'm gonna throw ZeroRanger into the indie list. A vertical shmup with excellent music and a bit of a twist at the end.

ZeroRanger by system_erasure

May you attain enlightenment.

system-erasure.itch.io

I really, definitely play it.

 

[ATenderLad]

It's the flavor of the moment in some circles, but is anyone playing Blue Prince? It's reminiscent of Myst or The Witness in the "here's an area to explore in first person and it's got lots of puzzles" way, but it also has a roguelike element to it? I've got about 30 hours into it, and it's really fun aside from some minor frustrations involving rng. Either way, worth checking out!

Just did a couple runs, and I can already see this will be a small obsession.

 

[bjork]

Just did a couple runs, and I can already see this will be a small obsession.

I've done my best to avoid spoilers and whatnot, but I feel like it goes pretty deep with the later puzzles. I will likely cave and go "how would anyone ever figure this out?"

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2025

Neon White is like a small fuzzy kitten, you can’t put it down

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2025

You WON’T put it down

 

[LastValsion]

Time to give out some more of my recommendations.

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Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia - If you remember the SNES era of Shin Megami Tensei games, then you will like this, as it takes that and combines it with Touhou. Plenty of gimmicks in dungeons along with F.O.E.-like (you know the ones from Etrian Odyssey) enemies in later dungeons that make navigating a challenge. There are plenty of references and quality of life

Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2248430?snr=5000_5100__

False Skies - A 2D RPG that has graphics similar to a Game Boy Color game. There is character customization, and the classes you choose can have your skills from your very first to your very last class, creating layers. There are no equipment restrictions, which means your mage can wield a sword if they wish. Your older skills also get replaced if they are higher in that skill family, so you don't need to worry about outdated skills bogging you down

Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1830040/False_Skies/

 

[fake-kun]

I can't believe nobody mentioned Gravity Circuit. This is an excellent game that you should play, especially if you're into Mega Man.

 

[bjork]

I can't believe nobody mentioned Gravity Circuit. This is an excellent game that you should play, especially if you're into Mega Man

Never heard of it, but it looks pretty solid. It's kinda hard to stand out in a world where so many games of a given type come out so frequently.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Time to recommend Library of Ruina for whateverth time.

 

[koutameoshifan27]

 

[Kremiso]

a couple of hours into the last WadjetEye point n click adventure, Old Skies
already grabbed me totally into the story, like the previous Unavowed

i like the new way, doable and without the grab everything mechanic

Old Skies - Wadjet Eye Games

oldskiesgame.com

 

[gekiganwing]

The first time I saw an indie game was at a fan convention, when someone brought Queen of Heart '98 to ACen during the 2000s. I suppose it qualifies as doujin soft, since it's a 2D fighting game based on the To Heart IP. (At the time, the To Heart anime TV series had been localized. Years later, the To Heart 2 TV series would show up on Region 1 DVD. It's taken this long to get a version or a remake of the To Heart 1 visual novel localized.)

Putting that aside, if you want an indie game that both defies categories and can be described through a few references, then you might like Bloomtown: A Different Story. It's kind of a light, fluffy MegaTen game. It's kind of a cozy game with a vague twentieth century setting. It asks the player to roll dice for success, plant crops, and accept sidequests. It's definitely something!

 

[legsrjust4show]

ASTLIBRA Revision - A 2D action RPG that could be considered Metroidvania-like in its design. Gameplay features learning abilities from weapons/armor, skill upgrading, summoning, stat grinding, and plenty of large enemy boss fights with an interesting postgame. Movement and attacking feel very smooth, with them being affected by weight, as you can get slowed down depending on what you are using or wearing

I wanted to shoutout this one as well because it's got such a strange vibe. Highly recommend if you like things like Ys.

 

[Deleted member 257420]

Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda and Super Lesbian Animal RPG.

 

[LastValsion]

Starsector - It is an open-world, single-player space-combat, role-playing, exploration, and economic game. You can side with various factions who have their own unique ships and weapons to use, but expect to fight their enemies if you enter their territory or if they are in the same star system. Starsector's space stations and planets need imported items to survive (usually), and depending on what industries they have, such as mining, they need drugs to keep going. You can run your own planets with space stations along with your own faction later in the game and if you feel like it have Artificial Intelligence run everything for you to make you incredibly rich. This isn't everything that is in the game, and it has its own modding community, so you can spice up the game as much as you want. Would recommend watching Ssethtzeentach's Starsector video to get a better idea of how the game functions

Game link: https://fractalsoftworks.com/

 

[Retro Doomer]

End Roll

I think this is a Indie Game and its a hidden gem in my Opinion quite surreal and Mature.
And as far is a I know its a Free Game and here is the Link to the Official site https://vgperson.com/games/endroll.htm as it is a Free Game its not Pirated or Illegal so don't worry so you can give it a try oh and This game is rated R-15. You should be at minimum 15 years old, but probably older.

 

[carb0n0x]

Can I recommend Chrono Ark? I almost dropped it at the start since roguelike deckbuilder+it looked like a cheap mobile phone game, and now I have 300+ hours in it. Very fun to play and you can always learn some new sick card combos, great music and very strong story (yeah, you read that right) make for one of the few games I consider 10/10.

 

[legsrjust4show]

It's the flavor of the moment in some circles, but is anyone playing Blue Prince? It's reminiscent of Myst or The Witness in the "here's an area to explore in first person and it's got lots of puzzles" way, but it also has a roguelike element to it? I've got about 30 hours into it, and it's really fun aside from some minor frustrations involving rng. Either way, worth checking out!

This is such a good one to play with friends by streaming it over Discord

There's so many things that really require out of the box ways of thinking that I just had a blast discovering things my buddy was missing when he was playing it

 

[YuriSukiSan]

There's far too many to name but I wanted to add these!

Potato Flowers in Full Bloom, Hedon Bloodrite, UFO 50, Fear and Hunger series, Yume Nikki, WORLD OF HORROR just because I've been enjoying them lately.

 

[Blamhammer]

Deconstructeam is a Spanish game development team of indie games that mainly focus on a narrative experience. I've played The Red Strings Club, and it has it's moments and is worth checking out if cheap. Ending scene is quite brilliant imo.
Their other games are quite short, so if you don't want to spend more than a few hours on a single game you could check out their Essays on Empathy pack.

 

[bigstinkie]

crow country. crow countryu crow country crow country crow country
it is without one doubtzors the only example i can think of for this scenario: a new game coming out in a genre and immediately standing toe to toes with its truly classic old world peers
crow country is a survival horror game that to me is such a complete blitz of style and presentation it comes across as beautifully as resident evil 1 and 2 or silent hill 1 and 2 or any of those viewtiful joes
it is so unbelievably unhinged in the silence of what it does not that say that i do not even want to post the final boss theme, as perfect to me as it is - the insanity of the implications of the narrative as it ends is too good to even slightly hint at, musically or otherwise
if you like ps1 era horror games you really should play crow country (without looking into it too much to spoil how delightful all the little things are)