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[Steam Winter Sale 2015] Indie-pendent Hidden Gem Recommendations

Amneisac

Member
Looking for a good online coop game to get for me and a friend. Something like Risk of Rain would be ideal as we liked that a lot. We also liked Shoot Many Robots. Castle Crashers was okay, but not quite what we were looking for. How about Rampage Knights or Dungeon of the Endless? Maybe one of those or is there anything else similar?
 

Corpekata

Banned
Looking for a good online coop game to get for me and a friend. Something like Risk of Rain would be ideal as we liked that a lot. We also liked Shoot Many Robots. Castle Crashers was okay, but not quite what we were looking for. How about Rampage Knights or Dungeon of the Endless? Maybe one of those or is there anything else similar?

Have you tried FORCED ? It has both online and local co-op. Great game. It's 2 bucks currently or 7 for a 4 pack.

Dungeon of the Endless is great but might be slow paced in co-op.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Looking for a good online coop game to get for me and a friend. Something like Risk of Rain would be ideal as we liked that a lot. We also liked Shoot Many Robots. Castle Crashers was okay, but not quite what we were looking for. How about Rampage Knights or Dungeon of the Endless? Maybe one of those or is there anything else similar?

Terraria? I had a ton of fun with that coop.
 

Amneisac

Member
Terraria? I had a ton of fun with that coop.

Thank you, that is a good recommendation, we have a few hundred hours played in Terraria!

As to the other recommendation we have Forced also, and Fight the Dragon, but we didn't get too into either of them. It was a long time ago that we played Forced though, maybe we should revisit. Dungeon of the Endless seems cool because of the tower defense aspects, we did enjoy Orcs Must Die 2 a lot also.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Thank you, that is a good recommendation, we have a few hundred hours played in Terraria!

As to the other recommendation we have Forced also, and Fight the Dragon, but we didn't get too into either of them. It was a long time ago that we played Forced though, maybe we should revisit. Dungeon of the Endless seems cool because of the tower defense aspects, we did enjoy Orcs Must Die 2 a lot also.

You should check out Dungeon Defenders 1/2 then.
 
Looking for a good online coop game to get for me and a friend. Something like Risk of Rain would be ideal as we liked that a lot. We also liked Shoot Many Robots. Castle Crashers was okay, but not quite what we were looking for. How about Rampage Knights or Dungeon of the Endless? Maybe one of those or is there anything else similar?

Helldivers?
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Just finished my preliminary Indie top 20 for 2015. We will have a thread up in January for our Indie thread voting results, but if anyone cares, from the games I played, these were my favourite 15 (full list here:http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190648155&postcount=44):

1. - 10.
-----------------
Infinifactory
Cities: Skylines
The Beginners Guide
Hand of Fate
Invisible Inc.

TIS-100
Mushroom 11
Prison Architect
Software Inc.
Big Pharma

11. - 15.
-----------------
Quasi (not on Steam)
Earthtongue
Towerclimb
Endless Legend
Darkest Dungeon

If you want a more elaborate explanation why I recommended/ranked a certain game this highly, let me know. Needless to say, all are highly recommended if you like the screenshots/description.
 

gabbo

Member
Just finished my preliminary Indie top 20 for 2015. We will have a thread up in January for our Indie thread voting results, but if anyone cares, from the games I played, these were my favourite 15 (full list here:http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190648155&postcount=44):

1. - 10.
-----------------
Infinifactory
Cities: Skylines
The Beginners Guide
Hand of Fate
Invisible Inc.

TIS-100
Mushroom 11
Prison Architect
Software Inc.
Big Pharma

11. - 15.
-----------------
Quasi (not on Steam)
Earthtongue
Towerclimb
Endless Legend
Darkest Dungeon

If you want a more elaborate explanation why I recommended/ranked a certain game this highly, let me know. Needless to say, all are highly recommended if you like the screenshots/description.

So that's more or less enough for me to grab Invisible Inc
 
Just finished my preliminary Indie top 20 for 2015. We will have a thread up in January for our Indie thread voting results, but if anyone cares, from the games I played, these were my favourite 15 (full list here:http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190648155&postcount=44):

1. - 10.
-----------------
Infinifactory
Cities: Skylines
The Beginners Guide
Hand of Fate
Invisible Inc.

TIS-100
Mushroom 11
Prison Architect
Software Inc.
Big Pharma

11. - 15.
-----------------
Quasi (not on Steam)
Earthtongue
Towerclimb
Endless Legend
Darkest Dungeon

If you want a more elaborate explanation why I recommended/ranked a certain game this highly, let me know. Needless to say, all are highly recommended if you like the screenshots/description.
Nice to see Mushroom 11 make it to your top ten
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Nice to see Mushroom 11 make it to your top ten

One of the few times a puzzle game actually managed to impress me lately (Except programming games). Divide by Sheep was cute, but kinda stayed at that level.
 

Shane

Member
My addition as it's in the sale:

Proteus - £2.79 (60% off)
ss_0b4aee751f698fa602d15211f95e6062364cbf12.jpg

http://store.steampowered.com/app/219680/

My game of the year it came out. Deserved championing. You walk around. You can also sit down. It tells a story without any dialogue or text. Short and perfectly packaged. Conjured a child-like feeling of joy. Does not feature the grind or rocket jumps.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
My addition as it's in the sale:

Did you try Eidolon? I liked Proteus, but Eidolon was what I wanted Proteus to be. Opinions and all, you might still prefer Proteus, but Eidolon should be up your alley then.
 
impulse buy question: Kerbal Space Program for $24 yes/no?

edit: i see it's coming to consoles so I'll just wait for a better sale or a console release
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
I don't like notes in games but will wishlist it on your recommendation.

The game really isnt much about "notes", its mostly focussed about solitude in nature, finding your way, exploring wilderness. Its less focussed on sights and sounds, and more on nature, ambience and an underlying story.
 

Shane

Member
The game really isnt much about "notes", its mostly focussed about solitude in nature, finding your way, exploring wilderness. Its less focussed on sights and sounds, and more on nature, ambience and an underlying story.

Well that's a better blurb than the store page.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Well that's a better blurb than the store page.

My OP blurb:
The Journey in Eidolon is yours to make. Rarely is a game this brave when it comes to leaving the game to be explored by the player himself. Even though there is a survival system, hunting, fishing, items that allow for more abilities, a story to follow... the strength of the game doesnt necessarily lie in that traditional kind of progress. This game makes you want to explore like rarely any other. Haunting nights, simplistic and equally beautiful day and night shifts and a sense of "belonging". This game deserves to be heralded for its efforts to deviate from open world norms, which put more and more emphasis on flashy side attractions and instead focuses on the meditative beauty of the journey... your journey.
 

titch

Member
Hope Toma's doesnt mind the blatant plug but I would recommend anyone that doesn't already to keep an eye on the Neogaf monthly indie gaming thread to do so.

Most of the games already mentioned here have already been raved about in these threads on release or well in advance and many more that slip by with not enough acclaim.

I know Toma has linked this months in the OP but i just thought it was well worth a mention

www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1151064
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Back in my days... Cubesis was a lot harder to play, lol. I just restarted Cubesis to give some gameplay hints for someone asking and noticed all the improvements the dev made based on our mail correspondence. So good, god I adore this little game.
 
Hope Toma's doesnt mind the blatant plug but I would recommend anyone that doesn't already to keep an eye on the Neogaf monthly indie gaming thread to do so.

Most of the games already mentioned here have already been raved about in these threads on release or well in advance and many more that slip by with not enough acclaim.

I know Toma has linked this months in the OP but i just thought it was well worth a mention

www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1151064
By well in advance, he means months and years. We tend to know about the most interesting indie games on the horizon before most sites do
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
By well in advance, he means months and years. We tend to know about the most interesting indie games on the horizon before most sites do

...and we are still waiting for the full version of Gorogoa, 2 years and 9 months after we talked about it.
Btw, you werent a regular of the Indie threads back then Baddy, but you should check it out if you didnt yet.
 
Is Maia still mediocre? Has anyone played it recently?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/252250/

---

Toma, how is Cities: Skylines for someone who has never played the genre before? It seems really complex and complicated from the trailers. Also where does the challenge in the gameplay come from? Is there a campaign, or just scenarios, or sandbox?
 

Arminsc

Member
Looking for a good online coop game to get for me and a friend. Something like Risk of Rain would be ideal as we liked that a lot. We also liked Shoot Many Robots. Castle Crashers was okay, but not quite what we were looking for. How about Rampage Knights or Dungeon of the Endless? Maybe one of those or is there anything else similar?

Take a look at Hammerwatch too! It's a little H&S/Roguelite with RPG elements and it's dirty cheap right now (2,24€ here).
 

Waxwing

Member
Endless Legend completely deserves its position- has more or less replaced Civ for me in the near-mid future thanks to better differentiated factions and a slew of interesting game mechanics.



As for Darkest Dungeon, I'm hearing that the game was great but is turning into an RNG fest. True? Should I give it a pass?
 
Can you sell me on Big Pharma Toma?
Toma posted some detailed impressions in the Indie threads a few months back
Played through the tutorials of Big Pharma. It scratches the SpaceChem itch, while adding some new elements to the formula, which is very, very interesting. The actual processing mechanic doesnt seem as deep, but the game makes up for it with an economic touch that I didnt anticipate to be as enthralling as it turned out to be.

I'll play some more to see how the challenges hold up, but this gets a thumbs up from me.

Another huge bonus point: the missions actually present themselves hugely replayable. I was a bit sad about the omission of leaderboards at first, but it actually makes sense considering the individual values, effects and solutions need to be figured out and researched from scratch every time. This game is really intriguing and has much more going for it than the cutesy look implies.

First actual mission:
BqWV0pP.jpg


BEHOLD THE POWER OF MY SUPERDRUG.

It sooths rash and treats bronchitis at the expense of a little bit higher blood pressure and its raking in the MONEY$.

I am playing it now for... 4 hours straight? Addicting. I wonder if I can make an addiction cure :p

There are multiple elements that effect the price of your products. If other rival companies buy more of the same ingredients, those ingredients will become more expensive. If rival companies make a similar product, people will buy less of yours. On top of that, there are some random events, which can change the demand for products. It all works pretty logical too. I found an ingredient, which basically printed money for me as I could use it for several things. In the beginning it cost me 20$ per unit, after 2 years the cost was at 35$ per unit because my rival also bought more and more of that resource. I still made money with it, but I did notice how some of my production chains became less feasible as time went on due to some economic changes.

However, the money you get for an individual drug does not only depend on these external factors, but also on your own production cycle. You can spend more resources trying to figure out the most optimal concentration of a drug, which raises your rating and in turn the price people are willing to pay. Additionally, you can combine multiple drugs or try to work out negative effects from your drugs, which in turn would raise the value of the drug. This in turn becomes a question of feasibility, as negating effects also costs you money, so you need to carefully evaluate what might be more advantageous for you.

You need to spend money on researchers and explorers, who will allow you to build better tech and find more ingredients.

There's also this great thread that a GAFfer made on another forum, good details about the game:
http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.ph...ne-cure-erectile-dysfunction-1995-big-pharma/
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Can you sell me on Big Pharma Toma?

See my impressions that More_Badass posted above. Its very much a programming game, and if it werent for the programming game mastermind behind Zachtronics, I might have ranked it higher in my GOTY list as well. Its a very original twistThe economic angle is a very original and polished twist on the usual formula and even though it might not turn out to be your favourite in the genre (as spacechem still is the genre king of course), it really offers something none of the others do. Fantastic game.

Is Maia still mediocre? Has anyone played it recently?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/252250/

Just... don't. Ignore that game ever existed. I have no trust in the devs ever working it out and regret paying money for it and dont want to waste any more thought about it. Here is a recent Steam review that describes pretty aptly why:
Instead of fixing bugs and major playability issues (which are boring to do), the developer has focused on adding features (which are fun to do, but pointless if the game core is broken). The only thing this "game" will provide you with is frustration. It isn't even a beta quality project yet/

Watch your colonits wander around inside your base and suffocate because they never bothered to take their space suits off. Have your colonists starve to death because they're too busy walking in circiles or standing still to eat. Watch your base equipment catch fire and burn because colonits are too busy fixing a door they just fixed a minute ago than to maintain equipment--and watch equpment filair up far more often than is fun. And come on? A work lamp becoming atorch and burning an entire room of hydroponics? That's just stupid-- no light would explode and start a fire because nobody had touched it for hours.

The UI also leaves much to be desired. The UI is both keyboard and mouse based, and the keyboard element isn't well explained,. There also is no scrolling through messages, so if the text doesn't fit all on the screen (such the case with stored research), then you won't be able to read it at all.

Finally do yourself the favour and learn Dwarf Fortress instead. I'd gladly guide you through some of the basics on steam for the first few hours. We can just make a time for the weekend (saturday preferably) or a week day night and I'll give you some starter tips. You should be able to dig into it deep enough to understand how to proceed on your own after a 3-4 hours session.
 

nbraun80

Member
hmm found another interesting one in my discovery que, anyone ever play Just Get Through? Looks like a fun little platformer, no story or anything, more of a see how long you can go/leaderboard chaser. Seems like a decent pickup for a buck.

*edit Another one from this year I haven't seen Tomb of Tyrants, looks like a pretty interesting combination of clearing out tiles(through a bejeweled style puzzle) to make room for floors in your dungeon you are buffing up to stop oncoming heroes.

**edit Damn another one that looks good Blackhole. Looks like a nice puzzle/platformer with an interesting story and what sounds like good voice acting and soundtrack.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Toma, how is Cities: Skylines for someone who has never played the genre before? It seems really complex and complicated from the trailers. Also where does the challenge in the gameplay come from? Is there a campaign, or just scenarios, or sandbox?
It looks overwhelming with all its menues, but I'd actually argue it might be one of the best games to dive into the genre, as its not only the most complex, but also the one with the clearest overview over its features. The game will always tell you why something went to shit and give you an easy overview over problematic areas. Besides that, the best sim games let you go at your own pace. In the beginning its enough to plop down a few roads, buildings and let things build up. Oh wait, citizens are asking for a police station? Lets build that too. Hm, I apparently need more energy, so lets put a generator back there. Oh shit, that generator really decreases air quality, so maybe I should put it more far away from residential areas the next time! And so on and so forth. You dont need to know everything about the game to get started, a healthy dose of curiosity is enough.

The challenge comes from balancing all those different systems that the game gradually introduces you to. Some have more impact than others. While for example police stations only require that you have enough of them in any given neighbourhood, the street design impacts EVERYTHING. How wide are your streets, should you destroy a neighbourhood to widen a street and in turn risk waiting for repopulation, which leaves you with a serious money deficit? How do you connect a worker area with a residential area? Should you add another main connection with another highway on the other side? A smaller road network connecting areas of your town? Or how about a overhead pathway to incentivize people to walk to their work place? You could also do all of the above, which in turn decreases the money you get as you use your space less efficiently. If fiddling with mechanics to optimize your own creation is fun to you, this game is heaven. It is easily the best game in the genre, which is not something you could say about many 2015 games.

No campaign, basically just sandbox mode, but the sandbox mode does give you certain "goals", which work as "campaign goals" on your first playthrough. Doesnt matter though, your "scenarios" are basically the achievements, which offer plenty of incentives to try different playstyles.

As for Darkest Dungeon, I'm hearing that the game was great but is turning into an RNG fest. True? Should I give it a pass?

Okay, so. I read that a few times now. Since I havent played the game in a while, I started up a new session and play a few hours yesterday. Anecdotal evidence, but I am still alive and kicking. Is the game hard? Certainly, its probably the most unrelenting of any of the "roguelite" games, which is also very fitting due to its despair theme. Does the game reward you with proper planning and knowledge of game mechanics and content? Definitely, starts with tactical decisions in combat to planning the proper group formation for the long term.

Its a tough game, its also an unpleasant game and one of the few games where I am actively considering retreating from fights and dungeons just to save my skin. However, not even failing and losing all of your adventurers might be a an immediate failure, as you always have 12 or more heroes (4 per party/run) that you switch out regularly.

Might the game still throw you something that seems unsurmountable? Sure, might happen. But I cant think of any roguelike, which doesnt throw something super randomly hard at you from time to time. Also, you can turn off some of the more annoying things via the option menu if you really cant deal with it (which makes the game a ton easier to survive in).

You can get a solid dozen hours from this and its one of the most original and athmospheric games in the genre, so I'd say to give it a shot if you want to fight your fears (and horribly fail at doing so).
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
hmm found another interesting one in my discovery que, anyone ever play Just Get Through? Looks like a fun little platformer, no story or anything, more of a see how long you can go/leaderboard chaser. Seems like a decent pickup for a buck.

*edit Another one from this year I haven't seen Tomb of Tyrants, looks like a pretty interesting combination of clearing out tiles(through a bejeweled style puzzle) to make room for floors in your dungeon you are buffing up to stop oncoming heroes.

**edit Damn another one that looks good Blackhole. Looks like a nice puzzle/platformer with an interesting story and what sounds like good voice acting and soundtrack.

Only played Just get through, which I can recommend as well. The others look fun too though.
 

Barzul

Member
Just beat Arkham Knight. Man if they didn't balls up the PC launch, would have shown up on more GOTY lists for sure.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Yes you're in luck - they're all on daily sale. Everything, all day, all week.

To be fair, it seems like this sale has "hidden" daily sales for the bigger games that are unavertised, for example Ubisoft games or some other examples.
 

titch

Member

and there's a few more games to my ever growing wish list

hmm found another interesting one in my discovery que, anyone ever play Just Get Through? Looks like a fun little platformer, no story or anything, more of a see how long you can go/leaderboard chaser. Seems like a decent pickup for a buck.

*edit Another one from this year I haven't seen Tomb of Tyrants, looks like a pretty interesting combination of clearing out tiles(through a bejeweled style puzzle) to make room for floors in your dungeon you are buffing up to stop oncoming heroes.

**edit Damn another one that looks good Blackhole. Looks like a nice puzzle/platformer with an interesting story and what sounds like good voice acting and soundtrack.

I enjoyed my time with just get through - the controls took a bit of getting used to though - although this may have been changed since i last played it.

I really wanted to get tomb but i just could get my head round the mechanics for some reason - defo going to go back to it as it was enjoyable even tho it was kicking my arse

just picked up blackhole and it's dlc in the sale - was cheaper on indiegala though but i picked up the dlc on steam.
 
I hope it's okay recommending these games in this thread, since I couldn't find any recommendations and they're all dear to my heart. They're not the most recent indie-games, but they are definitely lesser-known, even around GAF it seems, and very well worth playing, especially for the current sale prices.
If you have any questions regarding these games, feel free to ask.

The Dream Machine - $2,49 (50% off)
vFdBZvx.jpg

http://store.steampowered.com/app/94300

The Dream Machine is a point & click adventure game, which is entirely built by hand, using materials such as clay and cardboard. The game currently consists of five chapters with the sixth and last chapter being not too far off. It's like David Cronenberg made an adventure game in claymation style.

Nation Red - $1,99 (80% off)
fY4poR2.jpg

http://store.steampowered.com/app/39800

Nation Red is an arena-based top-down twin-stick shooter with zombies. Not only does it feature four character classes, dozens of weapons and power-ups and a huge amount of perks, it also features local co-op as well as online co-op for up to four players. It may look simple, but it has an astonishing amount of depth to it. It's fast, it's cheap and full of content - buy it!

Blade Kitten - $0,98 (67% off)
d69jett.jpg

http://store.steampowered.com/app/9940

A side-scrolling action-platformer in cel-shaded style with a fun-to-play character, a good chunk of humour, multiple paths through the levels and lots of hidden bonues areas. It may not have a huge replay value, but there are several unlockables (costumes, weapons, consumables) and you can grab a (very good) second episode as DLC.
 

Steel

Banned
I am here to recommend a criminally underlooked gem to all of you. It came out about a month ago. If you're a fan of RPGs, 4X games, Turn based combat systems, C&C, the best crafting system in any game for years(I've played Atelier games, mind you), and/or innovative ways to approach non-combat gameplay, this game is absolutely for you.


The game is called Thea: The Awakening. You may view more of it here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/378720/

The game is hard as nails, mind you. Every decision you make will have drastic effects on both you and your people and the world around you.

Edit:

An example of the crafting:


This is just for making any given 1-h sword. Each one of those squares has multiple types of ingredients that can fit in them for drastically different effects/weapons.

This is how dialogue/events are presented. It is also voiced a lot of the time:
 
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