There's definitely amazing indie games, but there's also hundreds of shitty and terrible indie games for every decent one.
this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2026
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And thats the natural way of the world. Without shitty artists there would be no good artists, because every good artist was once a shitty artist.
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I can respect a shitty indie game that has passion. You can tell a lot of people are ALMOST there on itch.io sometimes. And its just so close. Or just something that doesnt click with you. But thats ok.
"Or just something that doesn't click with you. But that's ok." You're going to rile up the rage addicts with this calm logic.
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I don't think the intended message is that all indie games are great. The message is that if you're frustrated with AAA-games and haven't considered indie games, you should.
there’s also hundreds of shitty and terrible indie games for every decent one.
I would skip those and play the good ones
Yes.
Ratings systems and reviews aren't perfect, but they are a good starting point.
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I mean… if you only have a console (or even worse: only a Smartphone) I get why it looks like that to people. Some people apparently don't even have a PC or laptop anymore.
I'm genuinely upset at how miserable the mobile scene is compared to the rest.
I've got a phone that's orders of magnitude above a TurboGrafx or a Game Gear, but 95% of the games are GACHA crap or so ad bloated as to be unplayable.
Yeah, it's abysmal. I still rock a OnePlus 7 Pro from 2019 with /e/OS, that damn thing can run Crysis (I tried, works with Winlator - lots of compatibility bugs though). The SoCs are so powerful Valve designs a whole stand-alone VR system around it able to play full-blown PC titles. Modern phones got crazy performance.
Good games without all the extorsion money simply can't compete in the attention game though and people won't pay money for something worthwhile if there's a storm of crap "for free". The internet and digital spaces in general got utterly broken by surveillanve capitalism. But, you see… it's for ✨the economy✨.
people won’t pay money for something worthwhile if there’s a storm of crap “for free”.
I've got the first six FFs, which were remastered and released on Mobile. Got me through lockdown, when I was just trapped in a socially distanced office with nothing to do.
Like, it's definitely possible to make - and sell - a good game that works well on a phone.
The internet and digital spaces in general got utterly broken by surveillanve capitalism.
Ain't that the fucking truth.
Personally a big thing that holds me back from even seriously considering mobile gaming as an extension to normal gaming instead of "the best you can do when you don't have access to better devices" is the input side. I hate touchscreen controls for anything with real time action because touching the screen obscures it from view, plus you don't get the tactile feedback of buttons that makes it trivial to play without needing to readjust your finger positions constantly.
And I know there are external controllers you can use with phones, but if I'm making space (and remembering to bring) one of those, I might as well just bring my steam deck or even the switch instead.
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Unfortunately a large percentage of the population (subconsciously) believe that if a product isn't marketed to them, they shouldn't touch it.
To put it more accurately, they don't look. They don't seek. They wait for it to get served to them via an algorithmic feed.
I think this is a core issue with all of civilization, right now.
We will mock this, but we all use Product X in industry Y, which is the more well-known brand of that industry. We don’t know that if we explore Z Niche Store, we can find excellent replacements for Product X that can take a little more effort to use and appreciate but are valued more for it.
You can fill in that mad lib in several ways; it’s very much down to which industries you pay close attention to.
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Same thing for movies, music, etc. The people that piss and moan about their media being terrible are the ones that can't be bothered to lift a finger to seek out something better. They only bother with media that falls into their lap, and that's petty much all determined by studios that care more about profits than quality.
I think it's still a bit of a fair critique.
There were always sequels and garbage 30 years ago but someone who maybe only saw a movie a year the chance that it would be a new IP were higher. Studios are allergic to risk so they would prefer a mediocre known quality.
That said you're right there's more media than ever and tones of interesting options in niche areas. That said discoverability is not free. You have to put in a decent amount of effort and even still you might end up watching a niche indie darling that was never for you and come out disappointed.
For someone who only periodically dips into a form of media I think the current landscape is undeniably worse than it was and I understand when they complain about it.
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Ultrakill, Deltarune and Celeste are my favorite video games, all indie I think.
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So true! If you ignore big corpo and their slop, we actually live in a golden age of gaming.
We always have and I've often ignored big corp.
Games that I have enjoyed that are indie:
Its a wild ride I recommend!
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1296610/Peglin/
If you like peggle its a fun little game. -
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1218210/Coromon/
Its like pokemon and amazing pixel art. -
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082710/Bug_Fables_The_Everlasting_Sapling/
If you liked Mario RPG titles this is a fun one.
What are your picks?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
A fun puzzle game with lots of layers to it. There's the original, stated goal. But as you work towards it, you discover lore that points you towards other puzzles.
This game is genius until you're determined to truly finish it... Then the next level of the puzzles border on insanity.
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Jazzpunk https://store.steampowered.com/app/250260/Jazzpunk_Directors_Cut/ - Everyone should play Jazzpunk. Watch the trailer, and read no other reviews, just play it.
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Far: Lone Sails https://store.steampowered.com/app/609320/FAR_Lone_Sails/ - a gorgeous art piece, a good story that develops through the gameplay, worth your time.
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Void War https://store.steampowered.com/app/2853590/Void_War/ - Void War is FTL crossed with Warhammer 40k, but it's not just a reskin. If you ever wanted more FTL gameplay, Void War is it.
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The Red Strings Club https://store.steampowered.com/app/589780/The_Red_Strings_Club/ - a great story with beautifully written characters, everything that digital storytelling should be.
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Songs of Syx https://store.steampowered.com/app/1162750/Songs_of_Syx/ - this has been eating my brain recently. If you enjoy colony builders like Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress, Songs of Syx is potentially dangerous in that where did the last eight hours go kind of way. It's still got some rough spots, but the developer is actively working on it.
*Bonus - Fatum Betula https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281270/Fatum_Betula/ - a strange experience, like nothing else that I know of. I also recommend going into this one blind, just watch the developer's trailer.
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- Star Valor is one of my all time favourites - i always come back to this one, it never gets boring.
- Dead Cells doesn't need much introduction i think.
- Pathogenic is the newest addition to my library, and it's a really fun and innovative twin stick shooter with a great soundtrack and a very polished design.
- Look Outside Is a horror survival game. Lots of body horror, for those who like that. Great atmosphere, i love playing it at night on my steam deck.
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There are some NSFW games I've had a lot of fun with that are contenders for a space in your library:
The Flipwitch series is a fun Metroidvania that asks "what if changing gender at will was a gameplay mechanic?"
Scarlet Maiden was my first 2d platformer roguelike I've ever sunk hours into and really turned me on to the genre, pun intended.
Spirit Valley is "what if Pokemon but with sexy monster girls?" There are even shinies to hunt!
Elf Girl Pinball is a lot of fun!
Tower/Sword of Succubus are two entirely different genres. Tower is more puzzle based, Sword is essentially sexy Zelda. Even comes with the free Castlevania throwback: Succubus Hunter. The series even expands further into search-action with Midnight Castle Succubus DX and Castle in the Clouds DX. Seriously, check these out while you wait for Belmont's Curse.
Smash Girls looks fun if you can get it to run without crashing and rebooting your PC. Basically Smash Bros with Hentai.
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For real, there's so much more variety these days than there was ten or fifteen years ago. I feel like these are the golden days of gaming where everyone can find the exact niche game that they are looking for
Cozy Pixel Dating Exposition Building Pastel Farming Dog Quirky Fishing Rogue-lite Crafter
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Yeah, indie and AA-gaming are doing fine, its the AAA that is suffering. And I think they deserve it for sure: predatory practices, lack of innovation, everything looking and feeling the same... Indie and AA-games are the ones I look forward to.
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Played Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora recently, and it struck me almost immediately:
This is, without a hint of doubt, a Ubisoft game. The setting may change, the characters are swapped, but it is always the same gameplay. Like if they figured something that works with Assassin's Creed and decided to never change it, ever.
Whatever Ubisoft action RPG you start, you always play Assassin's Creed with extra decorations. Again. And again. And again. Zero creative vision, just new textures on top of the same mechanics.
you always play Assassin’s Creed with extra decorations.
Or if there are guns and vehicles, it's all Far Cry :-)
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I will happily pay full price for an indie or solo dev/small team game even if I end up not loving it. I will always wait for a sale for the big AAA games.
One sad thing for me is that even in story-rich indie games I've been seeing poor dialogues and developments. This area has been the most difficult one to find good stuff for me.
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Me playing Noita (the only game I will ever need) while everyone complains about gta6 which isn't even out yet.
(actually send help, I cannot make myself play other games)
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I kinda get it tbh, sometimes you just want the lore and gameplay of the indie title with the fidelity and scope of a AAA studio.
I have all of the big studios blocked on Steam. So any new dog shit they pump out that is inevitably built around nothing but extracting wealth, is never shown to me.
Just finished Momodora: Moonlit Farewell. Couple of years old now but that game had more passion put into it than anything I've played in years. Puts many AAA to shame.
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