Smaller/Indie games!

[emmydagal]

hey yall! just wanted to make a little thread about like, smaller/indie games anyone's been playing! I've been rather enjoying Kentucky Route Zero! it's a rather great game, full of metaphors, realistic characters, and absolutely SURREAL setting. if any of yall play it, i highly, HIGHLY recommend you don't do the story beats immediately. explore every chance you get, listen to every conversation you can! it's rather good ^~^

[Pie]

oh wow, very artsy. XD The trailers I saw didn't really say much about the game at all; I'm guessing it's an adventure game? Thank you for posting this. ^_^ I'm always on the lookout for neat/interesting looking indie games. =) Sometimes it's just crazy cool what indie developers make. =D

[emmydagal]

it is an adventure game, and it super super artsty, in kinda the best way! a friend kept calling it "twin peaks-like", and tho i never seen the show i do get the comparison! its stilted and natural, and its kinda beautiful?? i ended up changing my steam icon to one of the characters because i just like it!! (ALSO BIG TIP!!! DONT SPOIL!!! the songs and song scenes are super impactful, especially if you just go in blind, its wonderful! its the kind of game to be played alone at night with soft light)

also whats nice, the final chapter of the game is releasing in a few days, which is rather nice, so excited for that! ^~^

[emmydagal]

i've been playing ANOTHER another game recently! hades, by supergiant games, the same folks behind pyre, bastion, and transistor! rather good, isometric action roguelike! ^~^

[emmydagal]

emmy here, once again, to talk about another game-o!

this time, subnautica, and subnautica below zero! both rather good survival games, that are also absolutely TERRIFYING without even trying to be!

in subnautica, the base game, you are stranded on an ocean planet, right in a giant underwater basin! in it, plenty of fish, food, a mysterious virus, and more mysterious progenitor alien race that failed to cure said virus! the game is absolutely GORGEOUS! it has vistas, ravines, colors and sights and sounds that are imaginative, while feeling absolutely immersive and realistic! and that's why it's terrifying! terrifying titanic sea creatures roam the water in deeper portions, and they WILL try and eat you! it's hard to get even close to one of them, they'll try and chase after you, and it's really, REALLY scary! but i do rather like it, it's nice!

now, subnautica below zero is the standalone expansion to subnautica base game! you don't need to have played base game, but it helps a lot, as below zero is a more compressed experience than subnautica base. in addition to being more compressed, the sea life is 10x more scary, from the squid sharks, one of the earliest REAL dangers you'll face, to the end game shadow leviathans that roam the crystal caves... i truly am scared of the shadow leviathans,they're so alien, so creepy, and VERY dangerous! but it's good too!

so those are two rather good games! if anyone else played either of em, feel free and share ^~^

[emmydagal]

got the itch.io racial justice bundle

Oxenfree... is good...

[SyD]

Regarding Subnautica, that game is so beautiful but I've never been able to progress too far in it. The deep areas where it gets pitch black terrify me. Not afraid of the dark or of swimming but deep ocean is another story entirely.

Slime rancher is super adorable and chill while still having a lot you can do (this seriously might be one of the most adorable games I've played).

Tacoma: How do I describe this one... You're an AI tech sent to an abandoned space station to recover the AI for the corporation that owns it. You can use the station's security system to "replay" important moments that happened. Think of that like a recording where the crew are displayed around you as they were using holograms and you can control playback/rewind/etc of that recording. It's not a long game but the story was really good and that mechanic worked very well for telling it in an involving way.

Deliver Us The Moon: This one's very story driven too, set in a future where Earth's resources are exhausted and humanity set up energy generation on the moon utilizing helium3. Something has happened and the moon has gone silent, now you have to find out why. I actually need to finish this one myself, when I first picked it up in early access only the first portion of the game had been completed and I played through (and loved) all that was done at the time. Now it's been completed, my backlog is just a mess. It also has its moments visually. I didn't expect a game could make the moon feel so stark and lonely but so beautiful at the same time.

FAR: Lone Sails: Basically the entire game is set on a steampunk-style tractor/vehicle/land-sailship that you need to keep running and moving as it travels (not super difficult or complicated though). As you travel you start learning the story of this world and how it got the way it is. Really enjoyed the art-style on this one and found it affected me emotionally far more than I would have expected going in.

Last one isn't a game but since the itch.io bundle was mentioned I really enjoyed the Feline Therapy short story that's included in that bundle.

[SyD]

Just picked this one up last night but I'm loving Cloudpunk so far. Just looking around at the city while driving or on foot is so cool and so far they really nailed the feel of a cyberpunk city and not just the looks. The soundtrack is really good too.



A few more screenshots I took (full size):

[emmydagal]

oo very fifth element-y

[emmydagal]

since it's october, early in the month, i felt it was time for a spooky game for a change! so, i got a game called "World Of Horror"!


set in a seaside japanese town in 1984, and framed as a retro game already, this adventure horror rogue like game is a love letter to horror author Junji Ito, and H.P lovecraft (and thankfully without the racist elements)! since the game is going for the lovecraft/ito direction, it leans more towards "evil gods and revived monsters" sorta deal, and there IS body horror, so be forewarned if don't like body horror scares, or have trypophobia.
at first, it can be hard, but it's not until you learn the rhythm of the game! it's a rather good at conveying it's horrors and scares, all without jumpscares*! (there are technically two jumpscares, but one is slow, and disable "other neighbor" in the settings to get rid of the other one) you slowly unlock more scenarios, events, and enemies, and even gods as you repeatedly play the game, giving the feeling of an expanding threat! it's rather good, and if you want some spookiness, i recommend!