Off Topic- Favorite Indie Games

Johnny Legacy's Off Topic Deep Thoughts

My Favorite Indie Games

Yes, yes, I know. Not wrestling. That's why it's called OFF TOPIC (thanks to Cody Kahne for the title idea). Gaming is another passion of mine, and I've been on the indie game train pretty much since it first left the station. This is an article I've been wanting to write for a long time, and now I have the platform, here it is. If people enjoy it I might sprinkle some more gaming thoughts in between the classic wrestling reviews. So here it is, my favorite games from the little guys, indexed into four distinct game styles.

1. Classic-Style Point and Click Adventure Games

• The Entire Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (2006-present)- If, like me, you grew up playing the point and click classics in the '90s (my teenage years), especially Lucasarts, it doesn't get any better than this. Wadjet Eye, led by Dave Gilbert, both develops games in-house and publishes outside titles, and for my money they might be the best collection of adventure games under one company's banner ever made. At least the best since the aforementioned Lucasarts classics.
• Dreamfall Chapters (episodic 2014-2017)- The sequel to 2006's Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, which was itself the sequel to what, even more than Monkey Island, is probably my single favorite point and click game of all time, 1999's The Longest Journey, Chapters is a satisfying conclusion to the saga. It's also quite graphically ambitious for a game developed by a small studio, almost rivaling some AAA games in visual quality. Though it does bring a good amount of closure, I would still really like the proposed The Longest Journey Home to be made and more closure given to April Ryan's story. Hell, I just want more from that game universe period.
• To the Moon series (To the Moon/Sigmund Corp Holiday Specials 1 & 2/A Bird Story/Finding Paradise, 2011-present)- Kind of borderline in the point and click category as there's not much in the way of gameplay in these games, but that doesn't matter when you have this much wit, character richness and warmth shining through. Eva and Neil are one of the best double acts in gaming history, and subsequent games in the series have also fleshed out other entertaining employees of Sigmund as well as included some very interesting big picture worldbuilding. The next game in the series, Imposter Factory, is currently in development.
• Thimbleweed Park (2017)- The triumphant return of Ron Gilbert to the genre that made his name. There's even on screen verbs! This is a game dripping with creativity and charm, as well as some very devious old school puzzles. The final act is a total mindfuck in the vein of cerebral sci-fi films of the '60s and '70s and I will under no circumstances spoil any of it here. You have to play it.
• Telltale's Golden Years (all 3 seasons of Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future, 2006-2011)- I might be stretching the definition of indie a bit, but in their early years Telltale was indie before there was really a such thing as indie games. Not to mention they were at the forefront of bringing back the point and click genre. The first season of Sam & Max is a little up and down from a gameplay perspective, but they get better as they go on and the character interaction is on point from the start. They're the wittiest games of all time, in my opinion. Tales is a worthy successor to one of the most legendary series in gaming and features the entire original voice cast. Back to the Future is a bit rougher gameplay wise, but the story (assisted by original movie writer Bob Gale) is worthy of a Back to the Future IV and several actors from the films return.

2. First Person Adventures/"Walking Simulators"

• Draugen (2019)- A new IP from Longest Journey saga creators Ragnar Tornquist and Red Thread Games, a peaceful exploration of a beautiful Norwegian village quickly turns into a surprisingly dark psychological horror. My biggest complaint is it's too short.
  
• Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (2015)- This one also pegs the creepy atmosphere meter, wandering around abandoned English villages with radios still playing emergency broadcasts, all leading to a very ambiguous ending.
  
• Firewatch (2016)- An interesting little personal narrative told well and in a unique way, framed by some absolutely gorgeous wandering scenery.
  
• Obduction (2016)- It's not really fair to put this in with the "walking simulators" (a term I generally dislike anyway). It's a Myst-style first person adventure from Cyan, the people who made....Myst. And most of the games in the Myst series, another series I played a ton of in the '90s and aughts. This is their first game since Myst ended with Myst V in 2005 and is a completely new universe not connected to Myst's story, but gameplay wise it's a worthy spiritual successor. With just as evil puzzles. Confession: I've never gotten through a Myst game without a walkthrough. But it's all about the story anyway, right?
  

3. Retro-Style 2D Action Platformers

• Shovel Knight (2015)- A loving tribute to the 8-bit action platformers of old, just as good and just as hard. Hard, but also generous, in that checkpoints are frequent and there are no lives so you never get a game over, just unlimited attempts to progress from the last checkpoint. During the late part of the game I could spend 30-45 minutes and many deaths in between checkpoints trying to crawl along. Hard, but very, very fair, and one my most satisfying game completions.
  
• Rogue Legacy (2013)- Another classic style platformer with tight and fun but difficult gameplay (expect to die a lot), enhanced greatly by the RPG and randomization elements, and surprisingly tricky big picture strategic decisions. Do I lock this version of the castle down and accept reduced gold in order to see if there's a good item in one of those chests or to take another stab at a boss? According to Steam I pumped nearly 40 hours into this game the first year or so I had it, about the equivalent of a full Final Fantasy game, while getting all the way up to about New Game +5, where the whole castle is filled with minibosses. And there's a sequel coming!
  
• Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013)- This one's a bit more modern than others in this section, with a wonderful cartoony art style and satisfying "kill a bunch of enemies at once" gameplay. One little niggle is that it's a bit of an easy game, certainly compared to the others in this section.
  
• Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (2013)- I've been an AVGN fan since he was only up to about episode 30 or 35. I've even referenced him in a couple of reviews. This is another 8-bit style game, and you wanna talk about hard? This mother frakker is HARD. I haven't poured a ton of time into it, but off and on over the years I've only cleared one level so far. ONE. There's also a sequel I need to get.

4. Unique Experiences

• The Stanley Parable (2013)- I love love love this game. Almost creepily. It's full of dry British wit, surrealism, and perfect poking at fun video game tropes. You can play through the whole thing and get all the endings in a couple of hours, but there's more crammed into those two hours than a lot of games get in ten. My suggestion for new players: follow the narrator and do the "proper" story first before wandering off the beaten path. I think it's more satisfying that way. Also, make sure to stand in the broom cupboard. And there's a new version with more endings coming!
  
• Tacoma (2017)- Another "favorite among my favorites". Tacoma features an atmospheric setting, deep characters, and a wonderful gameplay mechanic that lets you discover the story, as well as deeper character moments, through found footage and archived chats/emails at your own pace. The only little criticism I have is that, unlike most modern games, the story is locked in and doesn't have options for player's choice. A very minor complaint when everything is this good. Fullbright's other game, Gone Home, isn't on my list but it's still worth checking out. I really like how their games respect the player's intelligence and let you put the pieces of the story together yourself rather than banging you over the head with exposition.
  
• Papers, Please (2013)- Who says tedious work has to be, well, tedious? This was one of the first big breakout indie hits and showed what kind of quirky little game experiences were possible from small developers. And as a child of the '80s I'm always a sucker for takes on Soviet/Eastern European style communism.
  
• Orwell (2016)- Now this game will make you feel just plain dirty. As the name implies, this is a biting critique on overpowered government in the form of the surveillance state. The gameplay is simple and (almost too) addictive, and succeeds in making you feel like you're messing with the lives of real people. The sequel, Ignorance is Strength, is also worth playing though it's not as good (the characters are, frankly, more despicable and you don't mind messing with them as much, and it feels less real and more like a game).
  
• The Beginner's Guide (2015)- Another game from Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden, this is another one that I tend to play through in one sitting and get done in less than two hours, but it's a packed two hours. This is one you should really go into cold, anything I might say would, in my opinion, spoil the experience.
  
• Telltale's Poker Night at the Inventory 2 (2013)- Yeah, it's just poker. But it's poker with Ash Williams (sadly not played by Bruce Campbell), Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Claptrap from Borderlands, and Sam & Max (Sam plays and Max provides his usual acerbic color commentary) with Reginald van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island hosting and f'n GLaDOS from f'n Portal dealing. Poker has never been this much fun. My favorite is after getting all the unlockable collectables to turn on the whole Aperture Science set and let GLaDOS feel right at home.
  
• Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)- Another game from Papers, Please developer Lucas Pope. This is a very interesting mystery, trying to piece together the fates of everyone aboard an early 19th century East India Company ship using a supernatural equivalent of found footage. It also features the most retro art style I've seen in a game yet, going back to classic two tone PCs from the early '80s, with a choice of colors.