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Video game recommendations
Hey everyone. The Steam summer sale should go live in a few hours, I thought it would be fun for us to have a topic dedicated to game recommendations. Rather than having an typical review post, I think we can do something different. Think about the games you've played in the last year and pick one that is meaningful to you, then post a comment with it and why you think others should try it.
If you like story-driven games, Outer Wilds is a must have. If you haven't played it, DO NOT look anything up about the game. It is such a unique and rewarding experience, and the story is wonderful and impactful. I cannot recommend this game enough.
It's been on my wish list for a while now but I never really felt like I had the time. Perhaps this is the time I finally pull the trigger, in time for summer now that I'll have all my "reddit" free time back.
I would highly recommend it. It isn't very long, took me about 15 hours and I just finished it last night. It's a very unique experience with extremely memorable music. I really loved it.
I can't help but think of Obsidian's Outer Worlds when I read this game's title. It's unfortunate both games were released months apart, so there's this confusion.
For anyone interested in a spoiler free description, the premise of the game is that you are an alien astronaut in your first journey to explore your solar system. As you explore space, you discover and learn more about an ancient alien species that came before yours, and piece together multiple mysteries that you start to uncover.
The game is 100% knowledge based, which is to say there are no skills, unloackables, collectables, etc. Progress is made entirely based on what you learn through your exploration. There is almost zero hand-holding or guidance; your only objective being to satisfy your own curiosity and follow the bread crumbs laid out before you. There is a computer on your ship that keeps track of useful information you learn, but it's up to you to figure out what to do with it. In fact, even a lot of the tutorial information is missable if you don't seek out and interact with the NPCs on your home planet.
Outer Wilds handles exploration and discovery better than any game I have ever played, hands down. The game is truly special and unlike almost anything else. The closest I can think of is like if you mixed Myst with Kerbal Space Program. For the most part, it's not too hard to figure out where to go and what to do, but the joy of the game comes from the satisfaction of its discovery. The game has almost zero replay value once you've learned everything (you could beat the game from a new save within several minutes if you know what to do), which is why everyone says not to look ANYTHING up about it.
Anyway, highly, highly recommend.
I’ve been looking at this game since it came out, the name and art style on the cover really caught my attention. You might’ve just pushed me over the edge :)
Do it! I wish I could go back and play it for the first time again. If you do end up getting it, enjoy!
Just bought it on PC, looking forward to it. Thanks for the recommendation. Had heard of the game before, but your comment (and others) made me finally pull the trigger. Decent deal with a steam key ~10 USD
Slay the Spire. It's a rogue-like card game that's easy to learn but hard to master. Each run can feel quite different from each other with the number of various cards and ability-granting relics that you pick up. What I love the most about this game is how polished it is, especially given that it's indie. The game mechanics are clearly explained, gameplay is smooth and everything just clicks.
I think I'm 400 hours in or something. No clone has yet surpassed the original.
I can do the lvl 20s only when I get lucky. Trying to get to the stage where I can do them unless I get unlucky.
For anyone that likes Slay the Spire, I really recommend Rogue Adventure for your phone. Basically the same game. Completely free, basically no ads and just really well put together.
+1 to Slay the Spire, amazing game with tons of replayability. Easy to just play a game and then put it down after 20mins-1hour.
I'll just add another recommendation here in the same vein: Monster Train. Both are extremely polished deck-building roguelikes with tons of content. If you like one you'll probably like the other.
When I don't have enough time to play something longer at the end of a long day, I'll usually just do the daily challenge for each of these two games. Usually takes me like an hour and it's always something different and random.
This Steam review sold me on TUNIC and says it better than I can:
I've been unknowingly craving a game like this that's chock full of secrets and makes you figure things out in a neat organic way. It feels like playing Zelda as a kid all over again, without being a mere "zelda clone".
I went in blind, literally knowing only the title and the image used for the game in the Steam store, just as I did for Outer Wilds. The game may be good for its target audience, but it is not a game for me.
From my extremely limited exposure to it, I would say that there are two things I would have liked to know before trying it, both of which would have turned me away from it. These are not narrative spoilers, but I take "go in blind" as meaning knowing nothing of the game itself, and I would not recommend that for Tunic (something I have thoroughly enjoyed for two other games).
Categories
Interface
The game seems entirely based on playing with a controller. It is possible to play on a keyboard, but it feels not well suited for it, to me. I would only recommend it with a controller.
Gameplay
The gameplay isn't bad, it's just not something I enjoy.
When I get a recommendation to go in blind in a game to me that is an indication that the game is primarily about discovery. While discovery certainly seems to be a key part (I have looked up some brief information up after trying the game and deciding it is not for me), it is not the gameplay itself.
Had the gameplay been something I enjoyed, I probably would have loved the game.
This is something that bugs me for the exact opposite reason - I like playing games with a controller sometimes, but Steam only tells you when you can play it with a controller and not whether you should. For instance, FPSes commonly support controllers but they're almost always better to play with a mouse.
Tunic was great because not only did it support controller use, it was actually designed around it.
I liked the gameplay but the story is kinda meh. Discussing story is obviously spoiler territory, so...
#Spoilers:
Speaking of untranslated: Apparently in order to read anything you need to go manually decode everything. No, thank you. The 'light puzzles' were alright and made you really look at the environment (I do like the "realizing there's a holy-cross puzzle at all is the puzzle" thing, it makes re-exploring environments and overanalyzing your surroundings rewarding because it's not just "look for an interactable object that denotes there's a puzzle"), but frankly the story only had one event, and it's "purple miasma is evil and so is everything associated with it".
I really wish they'd done more with the crown - like, the only boss you use it on is the final boss, which I didn't do because it was very blatantly flagged as "COME HERE FOR A MISERABLE BAD END".
I liked the happy 'true ending', I guess.
I fully agree, even if I'm firmly on the mouse and keyboard side of the spectrum.
A controller, and mouse and keyboard, have fundamental differences in how they work. Designing the interface for a game with a specific device in mind can make it much better when using that device. Trying to appease multiple different types of devices can either end up being very poorly implemented for one of them, or lead to having to make concessions so both of them suffer for it.
The fact that we can't see the difference between these easily on Steam, and just have the "full controller support" descriptor, is a shame, because everyone considering the game could benefit from that information.
I'm curious how much time you spent with it? It's absolutely fair to say a game isn't for you based on the criteria you laid out, but I would say aside from the puzzles and the (lackluster) combat, discovery is indeed the primary driver of gameplay (which is why everyone says to go in blind -- the enjoyment comes from discovering these things for yourself)
Roughly an hour. I didn't get very far. More details in spoilers below.
I would like to clarify that I am not saying that discovery isn't the driver of the desire to play the game. That certainly seemed to be the case from even my short trial of it!
I am saying that the actual gameplay, what you do as you play the game, is what I did not enjoy, and that this was enough to make me stop when I did.
To wit, I was happily taking screenshots and notes, and making cross references within this period of play. In part because I expected there to be substance to the mystery (which I understand there most certainly is), but also in part because it was in fact intriguing me. That part of the game was very much an attraction.
For some specifics (definite spoiler territory)
I noticed that the runic script had in some shared structure and components to it. Since the game came recommended in the way it did, I felt making an effort to try to understand the pattern might not be wasted. I took screenshots, started noting common parts between them, and I was intrigued in the prospect of figuring it out, even if only in part.When I did look up some information after my play session, I learned that there is indeed a translation method available and that it is possible (though possibly complex) to figure it out. It makes me glad knowing that that effort might not have been wasted if I chose to continue.
I also don't know how the translation works, so if I at some point choose to try the game again, with changed expectations on gameplay going in, and maybe with a controller at the ready, I would happily delve into this.
I did also run out of health a handful(?) of times. I went through the sequence the first time I died. I feel safe in assuming there's more to that. Seeing where the game takes that, discovering or figuring out the ramifications of it, that also intrigues me.
What I couldn't get past is the gameplay. The Zelda-like part I have nothing against (unless I have changed a lot and fail to realize it), but the difficulty of it combined with what I felt like a clunky keyboard interface tipped it over for me.
I got to the first boss(?), the guard captain(?), and failed to kill him over some attempts. I am not certain now if there were any other avenues forward I hadn't explored, but my impression was that that fight should be beatable at that point.
While I was intrigued in the setting, I felt no motivation to hone my skills or reactions enough to be able to progress through the combat, which unless I am very mistaken, gates further progression.
If you have played wither Outer Wilds or The Return of the Obra Dinn, I could compare Tunic to those to highlight why they were games that clicked more with me.
If not, I will try to give an analogy.
Imagine you are unraveling a juicy mystery, discovering a carefully crafted world, internally consistent and with both substance and meaning. But every once in a while, to progress, you must throw three darts on a dartboard and hit them all in the bullseye
It isn't in and of itself progress on the discovery you want to make, or at most maybe tangential, and you can't see so yet.
You've thrown some darts before, and you've been okay at it. Maybe you've even played casually with some friends and you win more often than anyone else in your group. But hitting the bullseye three out of three isn't where you are currently at.
You enjoy darts, and you're pretty sure that if you spent some time with it, you could get good enough to pass the test fairly quickly when needed. But one of the darts has a damaged wing, and the time spent practicing is not spent doing what you are here for - for the mystery and discovery.
Is it worth your time to practice your skills so you could continue with what you really wanted to do?
For me, in Tunic, my instinct tells me no. Not that the discovery wouldn't be great, but that the effort I would have to put in is too cumbersome.
I may have misjudged, but such is the nature of uncertainty.
That makes perfect sense! Thanks for clarifying. For what it's worth, I agree that the combat in particular is not very enjoyable and overly difficult. I ended up going into the accessibility settings and turning on "reduced combat difficulty" for pretty much the entire game, which I understand they added in a patch after release. Even with that setting on, I often also used the "no-fail mode" (prevents you from taking any damage), which you can turn on or off at any time. I used this pretty much any time I could not get past a boss after 2 or 3 tries.
It is a shame that those settings were necessary for me to have a good experience, but I am glad they are there and I was able to have a great experience and focus on the discovery by using them liberally. That said, even in "no-fail mode" enemies will follow you forever until you kill them. Also, the combat controls are simply unresponsive and clunky. This made things still feel tedious at times even though they were no longer difficult. It's a real shame, because the rest of the game contains some of the coolest stuff I've ever experienced.
I very much appreciate your perspective and I'm glad anyone else who comes across this thread will be able to use your experience to help them decide whether to play. If you are ever curious what the game has in store for you along the lines of Outer Wilds or Obra Dinn, you may have a better experience if you try out the accessibility settings.
Have you come across any other games like these that focus on the thrill of discovery and knowledge-based progression? I can't get enough of them.
Thank you for mentioning these. I did not have a proper look through the options, so I did not notice them. It may be enough for me to give it another try at some point in the future.
None that are as purely focused on it as I think Outer Wilds and The Return of the Obra Dinn are. In particular, while many games may provide you with a desire to learn about the narrative or greater context, that knowledge is seldom something which directly connects back to the progression in the game.
I started writing a more in-depth list, but found it hard to organize my thoughts and grew increasingly verbose, so below is an abbreviated list and descriptions. Note that the only criteria I place here is that either
There is a significant component of progression in the game which requires learning in the game about the game. This may or may not be necessary to "finish" the game, as some games may have endings you can reach while ignoring these components; or
The narrative or greater context is integrated throughout the game (as opposed to, say, not being relevant during gameplay and shown in cutscenes) and I consider it likely that the primary motivation to play the game would be to discover or learn about the narrative or greater context of the game. That is, the narrative or greater context is discovered through play, and it is a much more substantial component than the actual gameplay.
Expanding this will show the list of games and some short notes. These contain only brief notes. They do not contain any spoilers as to what the narrative or greater context may concern.
The Talos Principle (Steam store)
Short gameplay description (no narrative/context spoilers)
It is a level-based 3D first-person puzzle game, where in each level you try to figure out how to reach the goal. From my memory, the difficulty lies more in understanding the solution to a level rather than executing it, but the difficulty in execution is not entirely absent. As you complete levels, you unlock new ones, generally making it more complex.The Stanley Parable (Steam store)
The Witness (Steam store)
Thank you for the recommendations!
I played the original Stanley Parable and loved it, and I've been meaning to check out Ultra Deluxe (I hear it is more than a remake and contains commentary on the original game). This may be the push I needed to pick it up.
I also played The Witness and thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles but was frustrated by the same things you outlined here. Side-note: if you haven't heard of it, there is a game called The Looker that is a direct parody of The Witness and also a clever game in its own right. It is free on Steam.
I hadn't heard anything about The Talos Principle! I will have to check that out!
That sounds right up my alley. Portal and Portal 2 are two of my favorite games.
Thanks again for another thoughtful reply. The quality of the discourse on Tildes continues to surprise me compared to Reddit.
Played this on Game Pass when it came out. It was my GOTY last year to be honest (admittedly I haven't played Elden Ring).
I got this on switch late last year to play in the airport while I was traveling for work. I have a pretty big catalog of games on it unfinished for the same reason. This was the first one I completed after I got home because it was so good. It’s definitely obtuse at times but I highly recommend it.
Death Stranding.
I've had this game kicking around for a while, never gotten into it until I got a Steam Deck this year, and haven't been able to put it down since. The game really resonated with me, especially after having been through the pandemic and surviving the same isolation and longing for connection that fundamentally underpins plot of the game. The characters are amazing (great cast - Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen are just stellar in their roles), the world is vast, cinematic and often scary, and the gameplay mechanics are so deep that I'm still learning new things after 50+ hours into the game. So much to unpack. There is also a fair bit of weirdness, humor and cheese mixed in that is signature Kojima, that cracks me up once in a while.
It is truly an unique game and one of a kind experience. Nothing really like it.
Second this. The game is amazing. I played it pre-pandemic and I loved it. It just had fun gameplay that I really liked, and a story that kept me interested to see how it all ends. The song at the end (“BB’s Theme”) is beautiful, and I like the credits song too (“Death Stranding”).
Needless to say, I’m excited for the sequel.
I enjoyed this walking simulator a lot more than I thought. I really enjoy story driven games. Unfortunately I realized the parts where you have to through "infested" territory were stressing me out a ton. I sucked a lot and was constantly being dragged down my those black creepy hands. Maybe I just didn't know how to avoid it, sometimes I felt like I had no way to avoid them. Just made me not want to continue; played about 10 hours maybe. Also fear of failure with the deliveries.
Sounds like you made it through the first chapter or two.
Click to view minor spoiler
You will be given ways to fight back fairly soon, so battles will become more manageable. Also once you get vehicles it'd be much easier to outrun them.I loved Pentiment. Its setting is rarely explored in games, and it's a very down-to-earth story for a game. Rather than being humanity's sole hope to save the world from an incomprehensible evil, you're just a guy who happens to get wrapped up investigating a crime that occurs while he's in town. You will accidentally learn a lot of cool things about life in the 16th century while playing this game… and it will feel awesome!
Absolutely this -- Pentiment properly made me cry and it's a super fun experience. It's made by the same developers as Fallout: New Vegas (for snyone who liked the story there) and you can just feel their love for the time period oozing out of the game. The art style is also super cool!
I’m going to jump in and second this one too. The art style is incredible gorgeous (I’m kind of a medieval art/history nerd) and I’ve been in and out of the print industry for years so that part of the game really spoke to me as well. Just overall masterfully done. I’ll probably play it again sometime soon to be honest.
I would like to start with Elite Dangerous. I went into this game not expecting much but it blew my mind. I am very interested in Astronomy and this game somehow made some of the concepts in astronomy click in my head in a way that had not happened before. I was able to explore the Milky Way, visit well known stellar objects like the TRAPPIST-1 system, Sirius and others. It's also gave me some sense of the enormity of space just because navigating the galaxy itself is a massive undertaking. I was also able to use tools to give voice commands to my ship (With the ship not only taking action but also responding) which took the immersion to another level.
It really depends on why you're playing. I love ED. I don't do much in it other than enjoy myself collecting ships. I never play open.
Deep Rock Galactic. A "PvE loot shooter where you're a dwarf who yearns for the mines" is the tl'drest description I can give, but it doesn't do it justice. If you would enjoy a PvE experience where there's really nothing to lose, where you can play at your own pace whether co-op or solo, in probably one of the most wholesome, silliest communities, with devs who really care about their players and the feedback they provide, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Rock and Stone, brother!
I had a friend trying to get me on this for over a year and I thought it sounded so dumb. Eventually downloaded it and discovered how awesome it is, then went ahead an spent six months persuading my best friend to jump on it. We live on entirely different continents now but when my best friend and I jump online to play games together, there's no question which one it will be. For Carl!
Rock and stone, brother!
I hope you two are enjoying the new season~
I don't know what I am missing with this game because on paper it checks off the right boxes
But after some time with the game, every mission feels the same so I don't have any motivation to keep playing it.
I get that! In the beginning, in the beginning it was a slog and I didn't understand why my friends loved it so much, but upping the difficulty and getting a variety of overclocks changed how I played a lot. To each their own though! Whether you're part of DRG or not, just rock and stone, brother!
Is this one those shooters that requires the reflexes of a 16 year old? :P
Nope! Anecdotally, I play just fine and I have chronic hand/wrist issues, so my reflexes are that of a tub of peanut butter.
Dave the Diver just had its full release yesterday and it's a wonderful little game.
Diving deep, catching fish and gathering materials to help you run a sushi restaurant which pays for your gear upgrades to dive deeper and explore more. It's a relatively easy-paced game with lots of minigames built in and a lot of little things to engage with. It was worth it to me for $20 CAD and if it goes on sale for any less then it's a steal.
Thanks for the rec.
Picked it up yesterday and only stopped when the Steam Deck died.
Can see the parallels to the other base building rouge likes but it's so refreshingly low stakes (apart from silly plot stuff). Exelent little title.
A few games I've played in the last year that I liked:
Stellaris The 4x black hole of time. I stay away from 4x games like Civ because they're a time sink, but with Stellaris I finally found one that's honestly "worth it" to pick up and play over a weekend every few months. I like to pick up the DLC when it's on sale to keep everything manageable. They also recently released a co-op mode to which my wife and I have been playing it with great success.
Factorio By far the best automation game I've played. I honestly don't think any other game will beat it in the category it made for itself. It's also got a ridiculously intense modding scene, allowing you to have goals so big, it will take you hundreds of hours to reach them. Never boring, always making me think it's one of my top games of all time and I'll always recommend it.
Voice of Cards Series A unique take on the classic JRPG scene. Interesting stories, beautiful art, unique presentation and relatively short stories allows for you to play a nice condensed, yet high quality game.
Parkitecht Ever played Roller Coaster Tycoon back in the day and wished they just made that game again? Well, they did.... and it's awesome. It's basically modern take on RCT 1 and 2 with some new and interesting features. It also has a solid co-op system that can have up to 8 players building one park together!
Timberborn Humans are gone and the beavers have ascended to take their place. In this town builder you will take control of a colony of beavers to guide them to survive against the harsh droughts of the future. It's in early access still, but has grown incredibly well and is definitely worth the purchase.
If you like Factorio check out Satisfactory. It’s a 3d version of factorio and while they’re both automation games the feel of them is different enough for both of them to exist. It’s pretty cool to add an extra dimension to your factories.
Unfortunately I can't play satisfactory without getting motion sick.
Timberborn is a wonderful relaxing experience after Factorio. War against bugs? Nah, the beavers just want to chill. Polluting coal engines? Nah, wind and water all the way (ironteeth engine is optional). Fighting for survival against a hostile alien environment? Nah, get your harvest in, store your water, and you'll be fine relaxing around a campfire swapping stories of Ol' Kazko.
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands (60% discount)
I had wanted to play Steep on my Steam Deck, but I chose the inopportune moment to install it right when the servers went down for weeks. So, instead, I played this game to scratch my winter sports itch and was pleasantly surprised.
The game is a top-down, isometric skiing/snowboarding game with several different open-world mountains, each one with different runs and challenges. It reminded me of Lonely Mountains: Downhill, though with a little less polish and charm.
One great feature is that it has a rewind function for when you're not in an event. This means that, as you're cruising the mountain and discovering areas, you don't have to worry about missing something by going downhill from it, whether intentionally or by accident. Instead of having to make it down and back up the mountain to try again, you can simply rewind so that you're uphill again, and adjust your movement from there. It doesn't work in events though, so you can't cheese your way to gold medals.
Another satisfying thing about the game is that you slalom to gain speed. It takes some getting used to, but waggling the joystick back and forth is how you get around and make yourself go faster, which makes movement really satisfying when you get used to it. It also raises the skill ceiling considerably -- the later challenges get quite difficult.
You can still play plenty of the game without hitting a lot of challenge though. I didn't grind on the difficult stuff and instead enjoyed the game as a calm, chill (pun acknowledged), easygoing game.
Also, on a meta note, I'm glad you made this thread. I'm also planning on making a Hidden Gems thread once the sale starts. It's one of my favorite topics from /r/gamedealsmeta every sale, but July 1 is right around the corner so I figured I'd see if I couldn't get some traction on the same concept here instead.
Yakuza 0 (or just the Yakuza bundle if that goes on sale). That franchise mixes the deadly serious intrigue of a yakuza flick with the absurd, lighthearted, and sometimes wholesome array of side missions and minigames. Go from fighting for your honor and your life to competing against small children in a surprisingly deep toy car racing tournament. And explore a small chunk of Tokyo during the Japanese economic bubble of the late 80s.
For an indie, try The Case of the Golden Idol. Relatively short game that's a really fascinating take on the detective genre. I don't want to give anything away, but I really loved my time with that game.
Outer Wilds. It's an anthropological puzzle game where you explore a real-time solar system. It's not just an incredible video game stuffed to the gills with A-HAAAA moments but also IMO a fantastic reflection on the void that basically dragged me out of extreme depression during the pandemic. I laughed, I jumped out of my seat screaming, I cried. Best game I've ever played. Don't look up too much.
If you already played Outer Wilds and are like "well I know Outer Wilds is good already!" then please play Riven, the Sequel to Myst (, the sequel to Myst). It's not perfect - one very difficult puzzle requires a bit of guess and check - and IMO you should play the fun but dated Myst beforehand because the related world building gives better effect. But Riven takes concepts from Myst and gives them a way tighter conceptual bend, and has very clever puzzling tied directly to its world's mechanics and storytelling. I'd been looking for something that scratched the same itch as Riven for a good until I found Outer Wilds.
Unrelated gameplay, but if you like PS1 era survival horror or kitchen sink sci-fi horror worlds then I can't recommend Signalis enough. It has a lot of the same inventory juggling issues as stuff like RE1, but its setting is written so well that even the inventory problems are a byproduct of its East Berlin influenced oppression. It's poignant, sad, and ever so slightly hopeful to pull you through it. I watched its secret ending and still felt like entirely playing the game a second time to earn it for the characters.
If you need something on the go, Slice n Dice is a fun mobile roguelike for a few bucks where you steer a 5-member party through 20 encounters. Each class has its own die, and you have three rolls each turn to math, push your luck, and plot your way through not dying. It's a pay once game with no F2P mechanics, yet it's utterly addicting on its own merit and has a ton of extra modes, achievements, and customization options to push the boundaries of the gameplay.
Another game in the style of Outer Wilds is The Forgotten City. It really gives the same kind of exploration, in a beautiful roman setting.
I enjoyed this one so much, I'm really glad I stumbled on it. It wasn't a super long game, but it had an excellent story, and was - ironically, considering the whole theme - much better than most games at never making you feel like you were running in circles.
Thank-you for suggesting this. Outer Wilds is one of my favorite games. Glad to find another that scratches that itch.
I've sunk countless hours into Crusader Kings, Rimworld, and Stellaris.
I also enjoy the entire Yakuza series and Sun Haven was a surprisingly enjoyable experience.
The problem with Rimworld is that it usually has really bad deals when it does goes on sale. But besides that, Rimworld is a great game, especially in the modding scene for the game.
It's not like it's badly priced though, the expansions are expensive though.
Not every game needs to be given a 200% markup and then a 50% discount.
In order for them to do this, they have to do it 30 days prior to a sale as per Valve's policy for this type of thing. Source: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/discounts This is under the Specific Discounting Rules section.
And also, if the developers or publishers will get hurt by doing this because it will hurt the games sales. The reason for this is that people really don't like price increases for anything really.
The Witch's House MV. It's a very short horror RPG. It's got a story, discomfort, and puzzles. It packs quite a bit for a small indie game, and is refreshing in its lack of padding and bloat. I'd recommend it if it goes on sale as an "in between other large games" game
For quick games, I recommend:
Gameboy Tetris for a solo, retro puzzle experience. It's one of my absolute favorites.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has some DLC lined up for the rest of the year and you can pick a grand prix at most speeds and be done in 4 tracks. Online is relatively decent too.
Smash Bros Ultimate if you lean competitively and want to see Steve from Minecraft beat up Sephiroth. Online is ok.
Pac Man Battle Royale if you got one at your local bar or barcade. This dude makes them sound like they're very rare, but they're not in my experience. It's very fun with friends and alcohol.
Micheal Jackon's Moonwalker Arcade if you can find it. This game is just insane. Fun with or without alcohol, but it's better with alcohol for sure.
For longer sessions, I recommend:
The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. It's a perfect game and the best retro Zelda game. It's good for if you like swords and sorcery.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night started the Metroidvania format. Play this if you can find a version that doesn't have corrected voice acting. It's a Playstation classic.
Mega Man X4 also has masterful voice acting. Plus, it's an incredible game. Do recommend. Another Playstation classic.
As a fan of both, Dwarf Fortress is also a great recommendation. Suited for the same types of masochists and has a ton of deep gameplay. Plus nowadays it actually has sprites!
Going to recommend games that'll probably get steeper discounts and that I think need a bit of extra love.
Freedom Planet 1 and 2 - They basically turned their sonic OCs into it's own game before someone stole it. A lot of momentum movement mixed with a bit more involved combat and very Saturday morning cartoon writing and voice work. I think the original was a much tighter package as a whole while the second has very strong levels and bosses but also a few duds.
Valley - A walking sim where the waking is the fun part. You'll hardly notice the plot making no sense while running through stunning environments and shouting "hardcore parkour".
Hard West 2 - A tactical paranormal western with lots of good XCom vibes and some solid writing and text RPG elements. There's also a fun combo system that rewards good synergy and planning. A few finniky equipment options and mission types but a solid game overall.
ChillaArt and ZedTechnician - These are 2 solo horror game devs that make small projects about normal people in horror situations. Chilla is very japaneese inspired and borrows from dark Asian folklore and thrillers. Zed is more lighthearted schlocky horror and if you can look past the... 'robust' female characters, the stories are surprisingly wholesome and you can't help but get invested in the weird world. Edit: just remembered zeds stuff is practically free on itch anyway but still worth a look.
HiFi Rush - Remember that Forspoken thing with the plucky kid that gets magical powers and the god awful writing and dead open world. Now imagine that but amazingly stylistic, fun characters and rythum based character action combat. I know it shadow dropped with a bang I think a lot of people still missed out on it.
Haven't found any walking soon yet that I've really liked, but your description sounds fun and it's under 3 bucks - sold!
I also added Hifi Rush to my wish list - too pricy for me atm but it looks good, so I'll save it for later. Thanks for the recs!
Brotato. It's an Arena-Survival Rogue-like (-lite? I'm never sure what is what), where you are a Potato that crashed on an Alien world and has to fight off Hordes of Aliens. To do so he can carry up to 6 Weapons (on all but two characters, one can carry 12 and one can only carry 1) and has access to a Shop after each wave to buy Upgrades.
According to the Steam Page a run is doable in 30 minutes or less, although i can't confirm or deny this, since I don't stop time when doing a run. There is a Good amount of Characters, each with their own advantages and disadvantages as well as a ton of weapons ranging from Swords and Spears over Crossbows, Wands and Shotguns to Lasers, Potato-Cannons and Oblitarators.
It also left Early Access with its 1.0 Update less than a week ago and is probably the most fun I've had for only 5€.
Valheim A Norse mythology themed open world survival crafting game with co-op. The game is immense fun, especially with friends. The game is still in early-access, but there is a ton of content and the building is both easy to pickup and better done than any other game of this type I have played.
Hollow Knight This is an immensely polished and beautiful metroidvania game with an unusual theme. While difficult, I cannot think of a game in this genre that truly surpasses it.
Astlibra This is a side-scrolling action RPG (though not a metroidvania) that recently made it to Steam. I played based on internet praise, and I was still surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Demon's Tilt This is a strange combination of a pinball and shoot 'em up game that I can think of no equivalent of. I keep going back to it, especially on the Steamdeck.
Sega GT (original). Some may say it's just a Gran Turismo rip-off, but that game means something to me. I remember the sense of accomplishment I felt when I beat all the quick race leagues, which, when I look back on it really weren't that hard. But it's a really incredible game with loads of realistic feeling cars, a funky soundtrack, and truly amazing graphics for the time (the Dreamcast was a beast!)
The "pick one" rule has been broken so I'm going to forge ahead in the same vein as I had several I enjoyed! I tend to play older games, so none of these are particularly new releases.
Power Wash Simulator I honestly was kicking myself for paying as much as I did on this one because, like, there was no way holding a pretend hose washing pretend objects could be fun for more than, what, 5 minutes? But I'd watched someone else play and quickly get sucked in and I just had to see what the fuss was about.
I have sunk just over 400 hours into this game. SEND HELP!
Seriously though it's relaxing and zen and just silly enough, it's for a great variety of projects, and the maker has even released two DLC packs for no additional charge. Absolutely worth the money!
Journey - bought it a couple years ago, had some keyboard control issues I can't remember and dropped it. Tried it again when I got my Deck and was looking for compatible games to try and I LOVED it. Went in blind and had a really delightfully peaceful and relaxing (well, 95% of the time!) time with it.
Dr. Langeskov, the Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald - picked it up... sometime? Don't even remember. Was going through old games I had never touched and really enjoyed this! Took about 45 minutes from start to finish and, oh yeah, it's a free game!
Medieval Dynasty - single player survival game, start from nothing and build yourself... well, a dynasty! The dev is very communicative, releases regular hotfixes and updates, and really seems interested in continuing to grow their game for enjoyment by, if not all, than many. The settings allow you quite a bit of control over how hard or easy the game will be, there are some really interesting decisions to make, the storyline is still being developed & tweaked, I don't believe you'd have to follow it, but it does help with progress. It could very easily have been a clone/copycat of many other games, but the mechanics are unique enough that it never feels like anything other than its own entity.
Dinkum - life sim, has the same basic concept as Stardew Valley (with a touch of Minecraft in the soft block-y look) but I mean literally basic - you depart a gray world to start and, you farm, mine, build, and schmooze with the locals - but the mechanics and graphics are not at all the same, and are enjoyable. Another active dev who releases regular updates and fixes and seems dedicated to growing the game with the help of player feedback.
The Forgotten City - someone already mentioned this, I'm just here to back them up. I was recently informed this started life as a Skyrim mod! I'm delighted it grew into its own game because its gorgeous and very engaging.
Sable - loved this, there was a kinda-sorta storyline but mostly its just zooming around on a hoverbike exploring as you please and enjoying the beautiful art of the scenery and design.
Dungeon of the ENDLESS. I'm not even sure how to describe this accurately - it's a roguelike / tower defense game with rpg elements and a focus on exploration, resource management, strategy and a bit of luck (rng) thrown in for good measure. You have a plucky group of space faring adventurers that crash land and have to escape a dungeon. You discover new adventurers, adventurers each have their own specialties, can level up as you see fit to gain more abilities, and can acquire new abilities via rng based equipment that you find or buy if you find a merchant. You explore each floor of a 12 level dungeon while protecting your power source crystal from monsters that either want to kill your characters and/or your crystal. You can build resource nodes that your adventurers can operate and build static defenses while your other adventurers explore the dungeon looking for the exit to the current level. It's a gorgeous, rock-solid 2D pixel game that has a lot of nuance to it and most of the dlc is free or dirt cheap.
The Planet Crafter. Terraforming open world survival craft on an alien planet with very solid base building elements. Go in blind you won't be disappointed. It is still early access but worth getting on sale.
Subnautica Underwater open world survival craft with some really great vehicles and base building. Very polished and decent story, again go in blind if that sounds appealing - I never tire of hearing "Welcome aboard, captain". There is a sequel to this game as well once you finish it and feel like continuing the story in a similar fashion (the sequel focuses a bit more on land exploration with different vehicles).
In the mood for a Lovecraftian fishing-sim game with a compelling little story? Check out Dredge. It's not a long game, but it's a fun game. If you're a completionist there are some mechanics that make catching 100% of the fish not a chore.
Inscription.
It’s a deck-based game, but with an incredibly deep story and twists that completely up-end conventions in a way that will send you down a rabbit hole to investigate how the game was made and what it all means.
I would like to suggest the text-adventure Counterfeit Monkey. Made in Inform7 in 2012, it can be played for free either locally or on the browser.
I haven't played a lot of it, but what I did was very interesting and engaging. Counterfeit Monkey has an interesting puzzle mechanic that was compared to Portal, where you alter the world by removing letters from words using a letter-removal gun.
It's a wonderful, playful meta -- I'm usually not too curious about text worlds. I'm not the kind of person that will open every pot and read every slip of paper, but world manipulation is so interesting that I wanna explore it even if it doesn't advance anything. Just an example: removing the letter "r" from "pear", transforming it into a "pea" and seeing a scale respond to the sudden change in mass.
The game feels polished, professional, and accessible in a way that is not common for free text games.
That is such a great game already, I think it would shine stronger with some voice acting -- even if it is AI-based. In a world where Dysco Elysium exists, Counterfeit Monkey could achieve moderate commercial success as an indie release.
Escape Memoirs and everything else published on steam by 0 Deer Soft. These are online co-op escape rooms, and they are not easy, but usually completely fair and fun.
2021, But I didn't play many "special" new games last year.
Aokana was my first attempt to get into VNs. I've always been a gameplay>story person, but the art design of aokana got me interested in it, and I'm glad I did, it didn't turn me into a VN superfan ,but it made me know what I'd like about VNs.
It's kind of a moege so there's not a lot at stake in the plot, I wasn't totally into the sports part of it, but being a fictional sport made it fine by me, the music was pretty cool, and I liked the characters enough, though the best girl (Madoka) doesn't have her own route.
Another game I really really liked was One Step From Eden, but that one is either a 2020 or 2021 release, I forgot. It's my favorite roguelike. It's what you would get if Megaman Battle Network was a roguelike, you do lose on world exploration part, since you travel between stages like in Slay the Spire(branching paths ending at the same location), instead of the battle field being 3x3 on both player and enemy side, it is 4x4 on both sides(so 8x4 divided equally), your deck/folder regenerates once used(except for spells that get consumed), and you get 2 spells randomly drawn at a time, once you use one it gets immediately replaced by the next one in queue. There are no "turns" like in MMBN, since spell use and "selection" happens in real time, you can upgrade, obtain more or remove spells at the end of each stage or at the shopkeeper. Each character got their own initial set of passives and their own unique attack, leading to each one playing in a different one, I like Selicy, which "pops" frost stacks without getting them to 3, leading to more damage from the stacks, though sometimes I don't bother when my spells got a lot of Frost spells, and other supporting spells that makes stacking frost easier, except to regain back mana.