Jason’s Top 5 Best Indie Games List

I’ll be the first person to say I am not the biggest fan of Indie video games. Many brands have solely made their name covering Indie titles from various Youtube channels to a plethora of Indie gaming websites. I respect that. But that’s not me. I’ve always been a neophiliac gamer.

I always want to see tech boundaries being pushed along with new fresh gameplay ideas. As a kid, I played so many video games during the 80’s that when I see a recent Indie game with 16-bit pixels I turn my head…nope!

It’s nothing against the hard working devs or any person because those 16-bit pixel styled games can and do have novel gameplay mechanics. For the record, personally, I respect the little Indie game devs more than the huge AAA devs.

I will also say this, I do love a few Indies and my list below are of my favorites. Be warned. More than likely your favorite Indies will probably not be on my list…just sayin. So without further adieu here are my Top 5 favorite Indie video games that I genuinely love.

5. Prodeus

I know what I just wrote. Hating pixelated Indie games and all that. I lied because Prodeus looks amazingly beautiful as a pixelated DOOM-esque first person shooter. Prodeus features sharp, fast-twitch gameplay mechanics, gore, demons with bits of lore scattered across maps.

Prodeus totally caught me by surprise when I played it on Gamepass last year. To me, it’s a pixelated DOOM 2016. I wasn’t expecting Prodeus to be as fun with such a high-quality presentation but it did.

I’m not surprised I am starting to see more pixelated modern first person shooters popping up. I wrote a Prodeus Review if you want to read more of my thoughts on this game.

4. The Witness

The Witness is a Indie puzzle video game that uses one’s ability to generate, on occasion, the occasional epiphany in order to solve a puzzle. The Witness went like this for me. It’s a bad example but bare with me.

I see a connect the dot puzzle in front of me that needs solving. To solve the puzzle I need two of something. I look up and see two clouds above me. So I connect two “C’s” as in “two clouds”. Which solves the dot puzzle. That’s what The Witness is sorta like.

I know some of the memes and jokes surrounding The Witness. It’s just fun. As for my opinion I really enjoyed figuring out simplistic yet confusing puzzles. It’s a great Indie and one I shall not forget.

3. Journey

Journey is a beautiful adventure game centered around exploring ruins and gliding on vast desert landscapes. Gameplay was fresh as was it’s story. I remember Journey for it being a tranquil, relaxing, beautiful adventure video game.

Journey was a Playstation 3 exclusive back in 2012. Not sure if it still is. Although Journey was only like two hours long to complete, it just felt different, special, back when gaming was all about being loud and shooter bang bang!

#2 Bastion

Bastion was the Indie game that opened my mind to how cool, stylish and fun Indie games could be. To this day you will be hard pressed to find a video game as smooth as Bastion. And I’m not talking about frame rate either. Bastion is a adventure action RPG of sorts.

From the art design, the music to it’s slick in-game narrator Bastion exudes coolness. The game itself was amazing from a gameplay and story perspective as well. The isometric angle fit Bastion to a T. This game just doesn’t have any real faults. Bastion was an amazing Indie game all around in my opinion.

#1 Inside and Stray (Tie)

Inside and Stray are a tie for me and two of the best Indie video games I have ever played. Inside is a 2D black and white puzzle platformer featuring a Lovecraftian-esque outcome that will leave players stunned at it’s ending.

Stray is a beautiful story told through playing a stray cat in cyberpunk city. The Cat gets separated from his friends. Lost, the Cat befriends a charming robot who helps Cat return to his friends.

Both Inside and Stray will bring out emotion in the player. They are both very special games and I am proud to say they are both my favorite Indie games I have played to date. If you are up for more reading check out my Stray Review. Thanks for reading – Jason