The best indie games on Steam/PSN/XBLA

[LookingGlass]

I'm sure that we've had many "best indie games" threads before, but:
1) The search doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me
2) I went back 20 pages in this forum and no thread titles had the word "indie", so we must be due for another one

So... what are you all-time favourite indie games? Which platform(s) is it on? What makes it so great?


I went on a bit of an indie game hunt recently and downloaded a bunch of demos on Steam. The latest I got around to playing was Trine, a "buy the second the demo ends" game for me. It's also available on the PSN store.

The best way i can describe Trine, at least to those of you who were playing games back in 1992, is that it's like a modern version of The Lost Vikings, in a fantasy setting with proper physics. You have a Wizard, a Knight, and a Thief and you solve puzzles and do some platforming and fight some bad guys -- all the good stuff. In addition to that, it happens to be beautiful.

As a bonus: they didn't dick us around with the demo. It took me 45 mins to get through. I strongly suggest that everyone who hasn't already gives this a go, especially if you loved The Lost Vikings back in the day.

Now you get to tell me what games I should try.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Technically, it's not on Steam, but if you really love indie games, you can't get better value than 'free'. On that note: Cave Story.

If you seriously only ever play games if they're on a download network like Steam, though, then Super Meat Boy is worth the cost, not to mention VVVVVV or Bastion (Bastion and Super Meat Boy are also on XBLA). If you don't mind going slightly less 'indie' then there's several very good games for very small amounts of money, like Sands of Time ($9.99), Fallout 3 ($19.99!) or all of Valve's games (ranging from 10 to 30 dollars.) You lose the satisfaction of a physical copy, but the price and ease of access offset that for me.

As for the other networks, the only game for any of them that I've actually played is the Castle Crashers demo, and if you like arcade brawlers, definitely check it out. Its slightly less indie cousin, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World The Game (Ubisoft), is also good (so I've heard.)

So anyway, if you want reasons as to why they're all good:

-Cave Story. One of the best game plots I've seen in a while, and while it's more linear than most Metroidvania-style games, the gameplay is good too. The PC version is free, but has the least bonus features and you need a translation patch to understand the story.
-Super Meat Boy. A platformer made by one of the few independent platformer level designers who knows that Kaizo Mario World will never be surpassed in terms of difficulty. Tough, but never insurmountable.
-VVVVVV. Platforming without jumping? Brilliant. Instead, you use a very well thought-out gravity switching mechanic with enough changes to stay interesting for its short-but-sweet campaign. And now it has a level editor. Still not convinced? Here's the online demo.
-Bastion. To be honest, I've only played the demo so far, but as soon as I got to the end (in about 15 minutes) I knew I'd be buying that as soon as I beat Deus Ex 3. Yahtzee's review goes into more detail, so watch it.
-All the non-indie stuff I brought up shouldn't need justifying. Particularly Valve's works.
-Castle Crashers. A cute-looking aesthetic (despite all the blood and deer poo and such) and it's fun to massacre hordes of enemies with a friend or two (and all that based on a demo!) Scott Pilgrim has almost the same gameplay, but the art style and story are based on the Scott Pilgrim books (except more pixelated) and there's a stat-building system based on River City Ransom.

 

[42]

Terraria is pretty good. i'd make that my top pick

 

[LookingGlass]

Technically, it's not on Steam, but if you really love indie games, you can't get better value than 'free'. On that note: Cave Story.

If you seriously only ever play games if they're on a download network like Steam, though, then Super Meat Boy is amazing (and despite what the game says, the keyboard controls are just as good), and if you don't mind going slightly less 'indie' then there's several very good games for very small amounts of money, like Sands of Time ($9.99), Fallout 3 ($19.99!) or all of Valve's games (ranging from 10 to 30 dollars.) As for the other networks, the only one I really know anything about is Castle Crashers.

To be clear, I don't care about the price or platform... I'm interested in "indie" games rather than just cheap games because of their tendancy to do things differently and provide more unique or throwback game experiences.


I've heard some good things about Super Meat Boy. I've also heard it's hard as hell... but that's fine. My problem is that it's $15 and they don't have a demo. No demo for a (presumably) level-based platformer? Inexcusable, if you ask me. I'd need to hear some pretty hearty recommendations to go ahead with that one.

 

[LookingGlass]

Terraria is pretty good. i'd make that my top pick

The only thing that's stopped me from buying this so far has been the question of fun. Is it really a fun game to play, or does it often feel like a grind?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

My problem is that it's $15 and they don't have a demo. No demo for a (presumably) level-based platformer? Inexcusable, if you ask me. I'd need to hear some pretty hearty recommendations to go ahead with that one.

Okay, here's a hearty recommendation. And another one. And another one. And a pseudo-demo with different levels and it's slightly less polished, but much the same as the finished version.

And to be honest? Although Valve isn't really 'indie', a lot of their stuff is certainly different from the norm. I mean, they have a multiplayer FPS with an art style that doesn't revolve around gritty, brown realism! And humour! And a multiplayer FPS that revolves around co-operation instead of teabagging every corpse in sight! And more humour!

 

[LookingGlass]

My problem is that it's $15 and they don't have a demo. No demo for a (presumably) level-based platformer? Inexcusable, if you ask me. I'd need to hear some pretty hearty recommendations to go ahead with that one.

Okay, here's a hearty recommendation. And another one. And another one. And a pseudo-demo with different levels and it's slightly less polished, but much the same as the finished version.

I think you've sold me. That flash demo is pretty damned good itself.

 

[Telperion]

- deleted -

 

[Takuanuva]

Avaible on Steam, Wii and iPad.
Now go and give 2D Boy all the money he deserves.
[sub]...well, you propably don't have THAT much money...[/sub]

 

[42]

Terraria is pretty good. i'd make that my top pick

The only thing that's stopped me from buying this so far has been the question of fun. Is it really a fun game to play, or does it often feel like a grind?

It's fun to play, It starts off feeling like Minecraft, but then as you progress it starts going down Metriod/castlevania. the reviews have pretty much said the same thing, but it's one that encourages exploring rather than grind.

 

[deathspa202]

-Bastion
-Cthulhu Saves the World
-Cave Story
-The World Ends With You (Not indie but very different)
-Frozen Synapse
-Amnesia the Dark Descent
-World of Goo

 

[luckypyjamas]

i may be kind of late to the party but i have a few things to add:

-Limbo
-Braid (i feel like everybody should know about these two but they are two of my favorite games ever)
-Waves http://store.steampowered.com/app/107600/ (pretty simple but incredibly fun/addicting)
-I second cave story, just got it recently and i love it
-Orcs Must Die, also incredibly fun

I got Botanicula, I haven't had a chance to play it yet but I have heard nothing but great things about it.

 

[luckypyjamas]

I'm really intrigued by the game And Yet It Moves, but I haven't felt like spending the $10 on it yet. Also like everybody else said, Valve makes some of the best games there are, Portal and Portal 2 are fun as hell, funny, and have incredibly good stories as icing on the cake.

 

[hazabaza1]

I agree with Trine.
Also, go check out Recettear, Dungeon Defenders, Bastion, and Legend of Grimrock (I think).