๐ฎโจ Gamers! Discover the BEST Indie Games to Play in 2026! โจ๐ฎ
If you love creativity, fresh gameplay, and unique stories โ these indie gems are a MUST TRY ๐
Want the full list? Check out: https://www.timesofgames.com/top-picks/best-indie-games/
#IndieGames #GamingCommunity #GameRecommendations #2026Games #IndieGameDev #PlayStation #Xbox #PCGaming #SteamGames #GamerLife #GamingRecs
Looking for recommendations: favorite relaxing side scroller/Metroidvania/RPG for the original Nintendo Switch. I've already played Hollow Knight so anything other than that.
I tell ya', buddy, it's been a long day for the Owlbear. Had to play fetch with a pack of werewolves, help a almiraj that got stuck in a fence, and finally chased a human away from a dryad tree before they could cut it down to makeโฆ I dunno, I think he said a table. Anyway, I'm going to bed.
I said earlier that I was going to recommend a game that was hard to put down, so here it is: Ball X Pit isโฆ okay, it's Arkanoid. Or Breakout, if you're GenX. You throw balls at bad guys that march down from the top of the screen.
It's devilishly simple, and very easy to get into right away, but then they add in resource gathering, and an odd city management thing, and did I mention the balls have special abilities that can be merged, evolved, and upgraded?
Game's fun, simple as. And hard to put down.
Anyway, that's it for me, the Owlbear is done. Take care of each other. Be kind, spread love, play indie games.
#VideoGames #indiegames #gameRecommendations
https://www.ballxpit.com/
If you're new to Switch, start with these highly-rated games:
๐ก๏ธ Zelda: Breath of the Wild (97) - Open-world adventure
๐ Mario Odyssey (97) - 3D platformer
โ๏ธ Hades (93) - Roguelike action
๐ป Hollow Knight (90) - Metroidvania
๐๏ธ Animal Crossing (90) - Life sim
Mix of AAA and indie. Something for every mood.
All available DRM-free... oh wait, no they're not. That's the problem. ๐
Still staring at your PS5, paralyzed by choice? Engadget just dropped their 'Best PS5 Games for 2025' list to cure your gaming existential crisis. Stop scrolling, start playing! Which game are *you* diving into next?
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/best-ps5-games-144653195.html?src=rss
#PS5 #Gaming #PlayStation #GameRecommendations #NextGenGaming
I... haven't been very active on here today, have I? Well, we got like a foot an a half of snow here today (that's about 45 cm for people using a sensible measurement system), so there's been a lot of shoveling.
Also, I'm tired and grumpy. But not too grumpy to do my game recommendation early tonight!
So, the Owlbear isn't really that into #VisualNovels. I had a lot of fun with Doki Doki Literature Club of course (who didn't?) but it's an anomaly in a couple different ways, not least of which that it's an actual game.
But that doesn't stop me from absolutely loving one with adorable clean art, wonderful characters, and charming stories... which brings us to A Year of Hot Springs.
Actually a collection of three short VNs about friends spending time at a hot spring resort, these tales have charm to spare, and hold a special place in my heart.
Love 'em all. Two Paws Up from the Owlbear.
1. #OuterWilds 32h so far
Very late to the party but glad I dropped by.
A game where you are stuck in a timeloop, exploring space and sating your curiosity.
Loved the campaign and one of the few games I wish I could forget and play again.
The DLC does not do it for me so far though, gd. I'm stuuuck.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
2. #RivalsOfAether2 aka #Rivals2 Playtime:91h
The best platform fighter of all time.
The second best one being Rivals 1.
The third best one being Project M.
Everything else I'll still play but don't bother ranking.
Deal with it Melee purists.
One of the few that truly embraced and grew its competitive scene.
Butter smooth but responsive animations with pretty motion trails and Pixar reminiscing stretch and squash.
Exciting VFX, inspired pretty or funny premium skins
Same access to satisfying combos but with more defensive options than its prequel.
Proactive development with transparent patch notes outlining not only changes but philosophy behind them.
I'm excited for more modes and characters to show up. Every time a new one gets in I go lose a little more in ranked.
Miss having a playgroup for it though.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
3. #Downpour #Rainworld DLC B:First campaign so far; Playtime: 46h so far
A beautiful and brutally difficult platformer with no unlockable abilities but deep and obtuse control scheme to either look up or discover organically (or fumble with)
It is not a metroidbrainia nor a metroidvania.
You don't unlock or learn about things that magically make the game easier and I strongly recommend looking up a wiki when you get stuck or once you want to know what even is the wincon area you must find and how to reach it.
It won't hold your hand as it lets you fall in deathpits or die to the many predators out to get you and the few load screen advice that give movement tips don't cover everything.
I would hate it solo but enjoy it as a tense nailbiter 2p coop (on EASIEST difficulty because losing a day to a voidout when the other player makes it sucks balls)
Whoever died can root for the other. Also great with mods (imho the 2 must haves is Press to Meow and the nontrivial and not full recovery CPR-allowing Revivify)
Running away and avoiding combat is the better way to get where you want, but advanced/fast movement and avoiding death is nontrivial in fun ways.
Imho this is not a game to power through. Take breaks when shit sucks.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
The long awaited direct sequel to Heroes of Hammerwatch and best one in the series as a whole so far.
A 4P class based online coop topdown ARPG dungeon crawler with semi randomized maps where you grind levels for your character as you play and unlock town upgrades for buffs to make it further in your future runs.
Its predecessor added permanent progression to its roguelite origins and this sequel adds a lot more customization to the formula.
For example, now you can swap weapons regardless of class, essentially replacing your basic attack.
Basically, if you liked the previous Heroes of Hammerwatch, this one is more of that and even better.
If you liked HoH but not Hammerwatch 2 (which has a more campaign oriented design) you'll love this one.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
5. #Deltarune latest chapters B:To be continued; Playtime : (last 2 chapters 11h)
Each time my expectations get higher and each time I laugh more and get closer to crying than I expected
In a sea of games that aren't worth reading, Deltarune tricks me into trying to make sure I took every possible detour to trigger every possible heartfelt and funny dialogs that will stick with me for life.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
6. #Unrailed
A chaotic coop roguelike game where players must delegate eachother maintenance of an ever going train that always threatens to run out of track or hilariously explode when someone drops the ball and team coordination fails
Yet another game where I feel weirdly attracted to the task of chopping trees, but one where it's actually very actively needed (To make tracks and clear a path)
It looks a lot easier to decipher in motion, so pls go check it out, pictures don't do it justice imho
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
7. #BackpackHero B: YES; almost 100%d Playtime: 104h
A turn based addictive inventory minmaxing Roguelike RPG with a lot of unlockable content (items and 5 playable characters with pretty different playstyles) that makes the vast majority of runs have satisfying loot to latch onto and work towards the meta progression.
Really like how different characters have wildly different mechanics and only wish there was more (Found cute art of a weasel cut from KS campaign ;w;)
Strongly recommend with some warnings to set expectations:
- The game is sometimes buggy. But it autosaves on every floor so it's never a huge setback.
- When and if you get stuck unlocking the last character just cheat using the mod menu. It seems random but after an obscene amount of runs I just couldnt get the last unlock requirement to drop unlike my friend who had it ages ago.
- The green playable character is VERY hard, look up strats to beat the game once with them to unlock final chapter.
- A bug prevents 100% completion to be reachable (MFW I wanted it so bad โ ๏ธ)
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
8. #Megabonk B: No but I'm good now lol; 40h
Most likely to win and most deserving of an award at the AAA-celebration wannabeE3 thing
Megabonk takes 2 formulas I loved and combines them very cleanly without taking itself seriously
It's Vampire Survivors but in a Risk of Rain 2 3D Chests; Boss; Teleporter recipe
Fun achievements and challenges to unlock more items and characters.
Sour note is the final boss that nobody likes but only really beat for the item unlocks then never visit again.
And the game suffering from its own success by putting the leaderboard front and center while the massive playerbase solves every balance patches too quick to enjoy the theorycrafting or playing casually without chasing the scoreboard.
#indieGame #indieGames #scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
9. #Cyberpunk2077 B:No; 8h so far
The only non indie game that caught my attention this year
I had heard how disastrous the launch for this game had been but have been wanting to play an Elder Scrolls for longer than they care to release a new one (Count me out for remasters)
And a bat friend showed me there's a furry mod for it and gave me a copy
So I had to play it :3
I expected to enjoy it solely for the mod, that the story would be eyerolling uninteresting with the usual blank slate AAA game character.
I was pleasently surprised.
You do get a lot of agency as to how your character presents itself but it's a far cry from the "Be evil, mean and stupid" or "Be nice, good and blue karma'd" and the tone the character speaks in pushed me into playing an interesting kind of Chaotic Neutral asshole instead of a boring goodie two shoes for once.
Have to play it more but abio is currently eating my playtime first.
#scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #GameRecommendations
10. #AbioticFactor; Not beaten; 49h so far
The rare survival crafter I'd be interested to play even without a playgroup.
Its secret is that instead of the map being the usual randomly generated one it is handcrafted.
So instead of beelining for the best resource asap and trivializing 99% of the map you are forced and curious to unlock the map, find new enemies, resources and story progressively.
Add onto that a very clear SCP (With an ingame unlockable wiki) and Half Life inspiration and it definitely makes my top 10.
Disclaimer : I was mildly disappointed a good chunk of the game went to focus on military enemies instead of strange Alien/SCP like entities, but I'm not very far into it and just got back to a section that indicates I might like the rest a lot like the earliest part.
And for having played so much of it already and being excited to get deeper I'd be satisfied either way.
This is the kind of game that the more blind you go into the better you'll like imho
#scruffyGOTYtop10 #GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameRecommendations
Every year I like to do a top 10 games I liked this year (Regardless of when they released)
I normally wait for december in case there's last games that impress me but I figured now with Steam nominations is a fun time (And I'm too excited to post em)
Here's that #scruffyGOTYtop10 for 2025
See also previous year to see if our tastes align :)
https://meow.social/@ScruffyBrush/113675934790047143
#GameReviews #ScruffyReviews #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameRecommendations
๐ Level up your gaming with UTG! ๐ฎ Discover your next favorite game with AI-powered recommendations, track every release, get real-time news, and never miss a price drop https://tinyurl.com/4d97x6v8
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Please play Blue Revolver
https://stellarcircle.itch.io/blue-revolver
#BlueRevolver #Shmups #GameRecommendations
