Sub for any gaming related content!
Rules:
Subnautica. One of the best experiences I've had in gaming.
Outer Wilds. One of the most creative and thought-provoking games I've played. Definitely go into this one knowing as little as possible about it.
Hollow Knight also deserves a spot here, but personally I preferred Salt and Sanctuary.
Valheim - especially if you fork out for a dedicated server. I was playing with family and friends across the Atlanic, so we'd log on the next day and find new bases and bridges built, etc.
I just wish you could modify and expand the boats!
Airships: Conquer the Skies - a great little 2D airship builder and combat game
Songs of Syx - a fun city builder even if combat is largely unfinished still
Yeah, building in Valheim is mad fun. Adding meaning and difficulty to the acquisition of resources made it so much more satisfying to make things.
Not posted here yet: Hades. Though, all of Supergiant’s games are worth playing.
FTL, Into the Breach, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Banished
Oh disco elysium for sure. Fantastic crpg.
I would say Hades.
The gameplay loop, the art direction and the story are all very good.
Factorio with a friend. (Alone is still good)
There is this little hidden gem called The Witcher 3.
Ok, real answer: To the Moon and Doki Doki Literature Club are two indies that really left a mark on me, specially the former. Both games are fantastic.
Shovel Knight + DLC, what a fantastic MegaMan clone!!!
Factorio has been my crack-torio for many years. Satisfactory may have better graphics, but I prefer the simplicity and depth of Factorio.
Gris. Gorgeous visuals and stress-free gameplay
Not incredibly long either
Not posted here yet: Hades. Though, all of Supergiant's games are worth playing.
There are a lot I'd recommend, but I think the only must-play for me is Cave Story.
When I was growing up, Cave Story was like the paragon of games as art, and was a major inspiration behind me making games as a hobby and getting into software development professionally. Cave Story was made by a single talented auteur, not for profit, and released for free. And it was as good as Metroid and Mario, or maybe even better. It proved to everyone that such a thing was even possible.
I think the only indie game that could possibly compete with Cave Story for the title of "most influential" would be Minecraft. Though Minecraft should probably be disqualified from that title for having sold out to Microsoft as soon as it started to get big...
A ton of great suggestions here already. Let me add some more.
Dead Cells: amazing 2D action rogue lite with metroid Vania elements. A game that keeps getting updates faster than I can play them. And they are good.
Battle Brothers: hex based tactics and management game where you play a band of mercenaries in a fantasy world. It's insanely deep and we'll made.
I usually only play the large bombast blockbuster titles, but Actual Sunshine did leave me speechless.
We will need a topic for the AAAs as well. 🙂
Do you mean Actual Sunlight?
Yes. My bad on the name. It’s been a couple of years.
Hades, though I don't know if it's a must-play for everyone. I like it a lot and is probably my most-played game on the Steam Deck.
Disco Elysium blew me away with the writing, absolutely a must-play.
Gone Home.
Celeste.
Most of Pokemon fan games (my boyfriend loves fangames)
Risk of Rain!
First, second, or both?
Subnautica
Tunic
The Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 (I've convinced 0 people to try these)
Subnautica is horror in its most subtle form.
"Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?”
Don't care too much about Grimrock 1... But the sequel? Fantastic. (Though I don't particularly care for the hunger mechanics)
Edit: missed that you included Tunic... That's one of my top games of recent history.