The 91 ABSOLUTE BEST MUST PLAY Indie Games of 2022, Presented By Press Play Gaming
Here we are. After highlighting 260+ games across an entire month, you’re looking for the absolute best games of the bunch. While I will say that every single game that has been highlighted in all of these articles is definitely one you should be checking out, if you held me down and forced me at gunpoint to break down a list of games that you must play, well, this is it folks. Every single one of these games gets GAME OF THE YEAR endorsements from Press Play Gaming.
Presented in completely random order, please enjoy the 91 Absolute Best, Must Play Indie Games Of The Year.
Iron Lung
Horror / Atmospheric Piece / Creeping Dread
A short horror game where you pilot a tiny submarine through an ocean of blood on an alien moon.
Why MUST I play this?
The best kind of horror is the one you don’t see.
Lost Eidolons
Turn Based Tactics / Gritty / Medieval Fire Emblem
Lost Eidolons is a turn-based tactical RPG with a gripping cinematic narrative, set in a waning empire riven by civil war. Take on the role of a charming mercenary captain, Eden, and lead his band of allies through epic encounters on a classic turn-based battlefield.
Why MUST I play this?
Fire Emblem minus the anime and plus medieval fantasy.
Ignited Steel: Mech Tactics
Turn Based Tactics / Roguelike / Mechs
Ignited Steel is a mech roguelike turn-based-tactics game. Manage a team of overheating old-tech mechs, more heat means more vulnerability and damage! Unravel the galaxy’s story as you travel from node to node, improving your mechs, acquiring new pilots, and defeat the sentient A.I. overlord!
Why MUST I play this?
Old school mechs kicking AI mechs ass.
Potion Permit
Life Sim / Alchemy / Cozy
Moonbury's residents need healing, and you're the best chemist around! With your trusty tools, a brewing cauldron, and a canine companion at your side, you'll need to diagnose symptoms, gather ingredients, brew potions, and cure ailments in this open-ended sim RPG.
Why MUST I play this?
2D top down wholesome potion brewer looking to serve their community.
Beacon Pines
Whimsical / Cute & Creepy / Narrative Adventure
Beacon Pines is a cute and creepy adventure set within a mysterious book. Sneak out late, make new friends, uncover hidden truths, and collect words that will change the course of fate!
Why MUST I play this?
A cute and creepy adventure told by you through the power of words.
Core Keeper
Exploration Mining / Terraria Inspired / 1-8 players
Explore an endless cavern of creatures, relics and resources in a mining sandbox adventure for 1-8 players. Mine, build, fight, craft and farm to unravel the mystery of the ancient Core.
Why MUST I play this?
Stared Valley expanded to included building, crafting, adventuring and more.
Lunacid
Dungeon Crawler / FROMSOFT Inspired / Dark Fantasy
Lunacid is a first person dungeon crawler inspired by old FROMSOFT games like Shadow Tower and King’s Field.
Why MUST I play this?
King’s Field meets first person dungeon diver.
Wartales
Open World / Turn Based / Adventure
Wartales is an open world RPG in which you lead a group of mercenaries in their search for wealth across a massive medieval universe. Explore the world, recruit companions, collect bounties and unravel the secrets of the tombs of the ancients!
Why MUST I play this?
Take your band of mercenaries and live a challenging medieval life.
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
Roguelike / Action / Permadeath Twist
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy is a challenging roguelite RPG, with a table-top 'feel', a node-based open world & a cool twist on permadeath.
Why MUST I play this?
A roguelike unlike any other, where character death is persistent and a whole campaign contains many heroes.
The Planet Crafter
Explore-O-Craft / Open World / Terraform
A space survival open world terraforming crafting game. Transform the ecosystem of a hostile planet to make it livable for humans. Survive, collect, build your base then create oxygen, heat and pressure to make a brand new biosphere.
Why MUST I play this?
Terraform Mars into Earth by way of expanding No Man’s Sky’s building and crafting systems.
Sigil of the Magi
Turn Based Tactics / Roguelike / Deckbuilder
Sigil of the Magi blends roguelike deckbuilding with turn-based combat for a deep tactical experience. Navigate a world full of dangers and mystique as you craft your deck, obtain relics, and prepare your party of champions for any challenges ahead!
Why MUST I play this?
Roguelike deck building with tactical combat on a focused scale.
Spellbook Demonslayers
Swarmer / Spellcrafting / Tower Defense
Slay thousands of demons with powerful magic to protect the Cosmic Library! Choose new spells and upgrades every run to create overpowered builds with each character, and steal the powers of defeated enemies to destroy the demonic horde.
Why MUST I play this?
Vampire Survivors mixed with point defence and spell crafting.
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
Life Sim / Choice Based / Deckbuilding
Spend your teenage years on an alien planet in this narrative RPG with card-based battles. Explore, grow up, and fall in love. The choices you make and skills you master over ten years will determine the course of your life and the survival of your colony.
Why MUST I play this?
Deck building represents your life across a fascinating choice based story.
Wylde Flowers
Life-Farm Sim / Narrative Focused / Witches
Join Tara on a heartfelt journey to become a witch in Wylde Flowers. Farm by day, and cast spells by night as you craft your cottagecore life and bond with your coven. Come to know and love the fully voice acted characters of Fairhaven, as you unravel a local mystery.
Why MUST I play this?
Farming sim mixed with witchcraft and a wholesome story.
Crystal Project
JRPG / Exploration / Customization
Crystal Project is a non-linear JRPG where you are the maker of your own adventure. Explore the world while you find Crystals, unlock classes, learn abilities, and create a strategy capable of taking down the world's toughest bosses. Or just stick to exploring; it's up to you.
Why MUST I play this?
Old school Final Fantasy in an alternate reality where the story got backstaged, self-led discovery became the focus and the franchise stuck to 2D.
Eschaton
Walking Sim / Psychological / Surreal
Eschaton is a short, experimental, surreal first-person exploration game. Explore the 'aftermath' of a cult ritual in the grounds of a manor in the remote and picturesque Scottish highlands.
Why MUST I play this?
Experimental, chunky, surreal, first person, post-cult ritual.
Who’s Lila?
Choose Your Own Adventure / Mechanically Novel
A reverse-detective adventure, where you control your character's face
Why MUST I play this?
Talk to people using facial expressions ala Super Mario 64’s opening.
Hardspace Shipbreaker
Physics Based / Space / Capitalism
Equipped with cutting-edge salvaging tech, carve & slice spaceships to recover valuable materials. Upgrade your gear to take on more lucrative contracts and pay your billion credits debt to LYNX Corp!
Why MUST I play this?
Capitalism sucks, but the job of slicing up spaceships is hella satisfying.
Lunistice
3D Platformer / Sonic / Bite Sized
Lunistice is a 3D Platformer created with simple & fun gameplay and a cute PS1/SEGA Saturn inspired artstyle in mind. Take the role of Hana the Tanuki and jump and fight through her dreams!
Why MUST I play this?
The best 3D sonic game out there.
Cantata
Tactics / Grand Strategy / Gorgeous
Choose a Commanding Officer from one of three factions. Explore, expand, and endure across campaigns set on a mysterious planet steeped in mystical sci-fi lore! Fight tactical, turn-based battles across large maps. Mod the game and make it your own!
Why MUST I play this?
RTS meets grid based meets supply lines meets otherworldly visuals.
Jack Move
JRPG / Turn Based / Cyberpunk
Jack Move is a JRPG that features a unique blend of gritty cyberpunk story telling, turn based battles and beautiful modern pixel art. Take on the role of Noa, a vigilante hacker who is thrust into a world of murder, kidnapping and dark research after her father goes missing.
Why MUST I play this?
Cyberpunk 2D JRPG fine tuned to perfection.
I don't think I've walked this stretch of road before
First Person Narrative / Eerie / Ambiguity
Walk the length of your memories on a lonely country highway. Follow the signal. Return to the place you left behind. Piece together a truth you can live with. A short, ambiguous narrative adventure game.
Why MUST I play this?
Ambiguous first person narrative ripe for some introspection.
For A Vast Future
2D JRPG / Gameboy Aesthetics / Post Apocalyptic
War has ended in Seralia, but the scars are far from healed. Explore a dystopian landscape and build weapons from scrap parts to use in battle. Recruit companions and travel in style in your trusty motorbike as you uncover the depths of a deep government conspiracy. The future is vast.
Why MUST I play this?
Gameboy-esque RPG set in a post apocalyptic future.
Restless Soul
Undertaler / Comedy / Light Puzzle
Laugh in the face of death in this hauntingly humorous comedy adventure about a wayward soul trying to make it back to the land of the living. Engage in bullet-hell lite battles, solve puzzles, and communicate with the dead as you navigate this “colorful” world. Death is just the beginning.
Why MUST I play this?
You’re dead, but at least you can split your sides laughing.
Gloomwood
ImSim / Stealth / Late 90s
Trapped in a dark, Victorian city consumed by an ancient curse, you must plan your survival and daring escape using nothing but stealth, an arsenal of eccentric weapons, and your wit in this haunting adventure inspired by the immersive sims and survival horror greats of the late 90s and early 2000s.
Why MUST I play this?
Thief is back and better than ever, baby!
Thymesia
Soulslike / Hack N Slash / Plague Ridden
Thymesia is a gruelling action-RPG with fast-paced combat and an intricate plague weapon system. In a kingdom where death spreads, play as a mysterious character known by the code name "Corvus". Prey upon your enemies, wield the power of disease and find the truth in your own memories.
Why MUST I play this?
Indie Bloodborne in ways no other game has pulled off yet.
NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD
VN / Psychological Horror / Emotionally Heavy
NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD is a “multi-ending ADV” depicting daily life with “OMGkawaiiAngel”, a young girl with a rather extreme need for approval attempting to become the #1 “Internet Angel” (streamer).
Why MUST I play this?
Brutal take on streamer culture.
Boneraiser Minions
Swarmer / Raise An Army / Pixel Graphics
Amass an army of deamonic undead to fight endless waves of heroes intent to end your boneraising ways! In this gothic-horror auto-battle roguelite, use the bones of slain heroes to raise your minions, collect powerful relics and spells, and unlock meta upgrades, all to survive King Gigald's crusade!
Why MUST I play this?
Vampire Survivors but you summon an army of skellie-bros to do the fighting for you.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between
First Person Exploration / Atmospheric / Philosophical
Glitchhikers is a surreal journey through the spaces between places. A late night drive, a deserted airport lounge, a moonlit walk through an empty park, a quiet carriage on an overnight train. Who will you meet? What will you talk about? Where will the journey take you? Find yourself along the way.
Why MUST I play this?
It’s all about the philosophy.
The Iron Oath
RPG / Tactical Turn Based / Strategically Deep
Command, endure, and prosper in The Iron Oath, a turn-based tactical RPG where the fate of your mercenary company rests on your decisions. Lead your band as they age, retire, and die. Build your outfit’s renown across decades in the ever-changing medieval fantasy realm of Caelum.
Why MUST I play this?
Tactical turn based combat across a world that grows and changes with or without your intervention.
Immortality
Story Based / Detective / Film
Marissa Marcel was a film star. She made three movies. But none of the movies were ever released. And Marissa Marcel disappeared. An interactive trilogy from Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story.
Why MUST I play this?
Her Story’s logical next step, watch and rewind clips of 3 unreleased movies to uncover a dark truth.
Ctrl Alt Ego
Puzzle / Sandbox / ImSim
Transmit your disembodied consciousness between robots and devices and exploit their capabilities in first-person sci-fi immersive sim Ctrl Alt Ego. Tool-up and break bad bots into broken bits, or sneak a bug into the system as if you were never there.
Why MUST I play this?
Immersive sim that gives you tons of incredibly fun tools to play with and always says yes to the player.
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga
Tactical RPG / Grid Based / Fantasy
Enter Tahnra, a land savaged by war. You, a fresh academy graduate with humble beginnings, will grow to lead a grand army against a corrupt adversary. Gather heroes, form bonds, and lead your force in turn-based battles. Make use of tactics, terrain, morale and more to bring peace to the land!
Why MUST I play this?
GBA Fire Emblem: squads edition.
Moon Runner
Mini Death Stranding / Survival Shooter / Mystery
An atmospheric survival shooter set on a small moon. You are tasked with finding the monoliths across the lunar landscape and restarting the moon's infrastructure. Traverse the dangerous terrain and deal with enemy droids, corrupted by an ominous presence below the surface.
Why MUST I play this?
Indie Death Stranding on the moon.
A Story Beside
Narrative RPG / Choices Matter / Emotionally Driven
Step into the shoes of Lyric, the humble innkeeper in a quiet mountain village, as she reflects upon a lifetime of poignant memories, heartwarming friendships, and bittersweet choices — proving along the way that you don't have to slay dragons to be the hero of your own story.
Why MUST I play this?
A quiet RPG Maker story game with bittersweet choices that will tug the heartstrings.
Spirits Mirror:: Digital Possessed
First Person Narrative / Poetic / Hallucinogenic
a spirit reflects / the visions you see / shifting divisions / between you & me / we talk in the garden / you tell me your name / you tell me be careful / to not do the same / the spirit descends like a beautiful dove / wrapped in addictions & perils of love / burning for futures obscured in the flames / a mirror reflects, so we play mirror games / suggesting halves / but / neither
Why MUST I play this?
Unexplainable vibes.
Salt 2: Shores of Gold
Open World / Pirate / Sandbox
Salt 2 is an open world pirate game focused on exploration, survival, and crafting. Set sail across an infinite procedural world with just you and your ship. Explore islands filled with quests, caves, towns, pirates, and secrets. Level up skills, craft, hunt, fish, loot, and decorate your ship.
Why MUST I play this?
Single player Sea Of Thieves with a focus on exploration, ship customisation and discovery.
Betrayal at Club Low
Point N Click / Dice Based / Surrealist
Tonight you're on a rescue mission, infiltrating a nightclub that was once a coffin factory. Will you succeed? Will you fail? Or will your night take an unexpected detour? Roll the Pizza Dice and find out!
Why MUST I play this?
Nobody does it like Cosmo D, but even they have broken new ground with a fantastic new dice based system.
Gloomgrave
Roguelike / Retro Aesthetic / Small Package
Gloomgrave is a roguelike dungeon crawler with a retro pixel aesthetic. Upgrade your Gloomcrawler with unique perks and experiment with different builds as you try to survive each depth in search of the ultimate ancient relic.
Why MUST I play this?
First person grid based dungeon crawling on your phone.
Alina of the Arena
Roguelike Deckbuilder / Hex Grid / Into The Breach
A roguelite deckbuilding tactics game that combines elements from 'Slay the Spire' and 'Into the Breach'. Play as a gladiator to survive. With roguelite deckbuilding and hex-based tactics, no longer bound by simple attack and defense. Make use of dodges and knockbacks to stay alive!
Why MUST I play this?
Slay The Spire meets Into The Breach meets turn based gladiator arena battles.
Not For Broadcast
Interface Driven / Dystopian / FMV
The National Nightly News is live and you’re the brains behind the scenes. Beep the swears, keep the cameras on the celebs and keep the audience hooked in this darkly comedic game of televised chaos.
Why MUST I play this?
Whether Brexit is loved or hated, you as a national TV broadcaster decide.
Islets
Metroidvania / Adventure / Pretty
Take to the sky and reunite a fragmented world in this surprisingly wholesome metroidvania! Help Iko adventure across beautiful hand-painted islands, receive letters from a quirky cast of characters, and face powerful monstrous adversaries.
Why MUST I play this?
Beautiful wholesome metroidvania.
Hyperbolica
Exploration / Mind-bending Physics / Non-Euclidean
Hyperbolica is a whimsical Non-Euclidean adventure with mind-bending worlds full of games, puzzles, mazes, and secrets! Immerse yourself in reality-warping geometries where lines can never be parallel, horizons are curved, and space grows exponentially.
Why MUST I play this?
Game physics that warp perception.
Titan Station
Walking Sim / Firewatch In Space / Mystery
Far into the future, in the year 1999: David, a systems operator, runs from his troubles by taking a job on a space station. After arriving, his mundane work turns into a struggle for his very life as he makes a shocking discovery.
Why MUST I play this?
Firewatch in space.
Security Booth: Directors Cut
Psychological Thriller / Retro / Short
The year is 1996 and you’re employed by a science lab called Nova Nexus. You work as a security guard at the front gate to the lab, inside a guard booth. However, tonight it seems something important is happening inside of Nova Nexus and things are... well... a little strange.
Why MUST I play this?
Unsettling intrigue with chunky graphics, decide who goes in and who stays out.
A Walk With Yiayia
Story Based / Minigames / Emotional
A Walk with Yiayia is a heartfelt solo-developed, bite-sized adventure game about taking your Greek grandmother on a walk after she's lost her confidence from a scary fall. Connect through engaging conversations, explore a relaxing environment, and complete microquests in this thoughtful adventure.
Why MUST I play this?
a tear-jerking lovely little experience.
Citizen Sleeper
Role Playing / TTRPG Inspired / Space Dystopia
Roleplaying in the ruins of interplanetary capitalism. Live the life of an escaped worker, washed-up on a lawless station at the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of TTRPGs, explore the station, choose your friends, escape your past and change your future.
Why MUST I play this?
Capitalist dystopia meets compelling sci-fi world.
The Heilwald Loophole
Horror Adventure / PS1 Aesthetics / Run & Hide
The Heilwald Klinikum used to be one of the most renowned medical facilities in Germany. That all changed when that curious loophole appeared...
Why MUST I play this?
Survival horror where it’s impossible to die.
How Fish Is Made
Surreal / Psychological Horror / Narrative
Are sardines trustworthy? Are you? Do you want to be?
Why MUST I play this?
Free hour long existential experience with a single question: up, or down?
Rogue : Genesia
Swarmer / Roguelike Structure / Meta-Progression
Walk upon a new world and slay foes endangering it. Rogue : Genesia is an action rogue-lite game, where you fight relentless hordes consisting of hundreds and thousands of monsters, carve your path through their ranks, defeat the boss and save one of the many worlds.
Why MUST I play this?
Vampire Survivors but roguelike stages and progression.
Dread Delusion
RPG / Occult Magic / Morrowind Inspired
Dread Delusion is an open world RPG brimming with strange places and dark perils. Carve your own path through the flying continents of a shattered land. Discover curious towns, unearth occult secrets, master powerful magic - and change the world through your choices.
Why MUST I play this?
Morrowind got weird.
Delta Manifold
FPS / Metroidvania / Exploration
Explore a strange interconnected world, find weapons to shoot those that stand in your way, and discover hidden upgrades and abilities to discover even greater secrets in an action adventure first person metroidvania.
Why MUST I play this?
Metroid Prime but with modern controls.
Roadwarden
Text Adventure / RPG / Evocative
Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG that uses isometric pixel art and combines mechanics borrowed from RPGs, Visual Novels, adventure games and interactive fiction.
Why MUST I play this?
A brilliant, evocative text adventure that sticks with you.
TERRACOTTA
Puzzle Focused / Intense Combat / Historical
Puzzle your way through 80+ hand-crafted levels in this uniquely challenging action-adventure game. Unleash world-shifting abilities, awaken ancient mechanisms, and defeat 8 brutal bosses - balancing cunning and force to rescue the cursed spirits of your fellow warriors.
Why MUST I play this?
Where most AAA games are combat first, puzzles second, Terracotta is the opposite.
Magnus Imago / Magnus Positive Phototaxis
Puzzle Adventure / Physicality / Dripping Atmosphere
Magnus Imago & Magnus Positive Phototaxis are atmospheric journeys through mysterious worlds of characters, traces and symbols. The task of the player is to solve the puzzles, using proper combinations of objects, finding them in the environment around him.
Why MUST I play this?
Adventure games absolutely dripping in this upsetting yet enrapturing atmosphere. Play the trio of Magnus games all in one.
Stacklands
Village Builder / Card Based / Casual
Stacklands is a village builder where you stack cards to collect food, build structures, and fight creatures. For example, dragging a Villager card on top of a Berry Bush card will spawn Berry cards which the villagers can eat to survive. Play your cards right and expand your village!
Why MUST I play this?
Build a village out cards in an incredibly satisfying strategy game.
Best Month Ever!
Point & Click / Heavy Themes / Multiple Endings
Take part in a roller coaster of emotions with Louise embarking on a road trip of a lifetime through the late 1960s USA, trying to show her son Mitch how to navigate the often cruel modern world. Your choices matter!
Why MUST I play this?
A mother tries to impart positive life lessons on her black son in the 1960s American south.
Shadow Burglar
Stealth Puzzle / Student Game / 1920s
Play as Jean, a thief with the mystical power of morphing with the shadows. Creating yourself an improbable path in the dark and carefully dealing with guards in the light, you will try to steal back your deceased brother’s paintings. Do you have what it takes to avenge his legacy?
Why MUST I play this?
Students made a really awesome, short stealth game.
Supraland Six Inches Under
Metroidvania / Zelda / Puzzle Platformer
A mix between Portal, Zelda and Metroid. Exploration, puzzles, combat! A first-person-metroidvania taking place six inches under Supraland.
Why MUST I play this?
Game lives up to its inspirations of Zelda, Portal and Metroid.
Paradise Marsh
Chill / Cute / Bug Collecting
Stars have vanished from the sky and scattered around in a perfect wetland crawling with wildlife... Catch bugs and chat with delightful characters while wandering through peaceful scenery. But don't lose sight of the night sky, the constellations need help!
Why MUST I play this?
Spend a few chill hours collecting bugs and taking photographs.
Grid Slayer
Deckbuilder/Grid Based/Extreme Customizability
A unique tactical grid based deck builder. Extreme strategic freedom. Use elemental wizardry to manipulate your environment and defeat overwhelming odds. Test your wits and resolve to rise above the chaos.
Why MUST I play this?
Combines the best of Slay The Spire’s deck building progression, Into The Breach’s foresight and Divinity Original Sin’s battlefield interactivity.
Dorfromantik
City Builder / Chill Vibes / Puzzle Strategy
Dorfromantik is a peaceful building strategy and puzzle game where you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing tiles. Explore a variety of colorful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles and complete quests to fill your world with life!
Why MUST I play this?
There’s something soothing about placing tiles to create a beautiful world.
Wayward Strand
Story Based / Curiosity Driven / Emotional
Wayward Strand is a heartfelt story told in a curious way. Hop aboard an airborne hospital and meet its fully-voiced cast of eclectic characters. As time passes for everyone on board, explore the interwoven lives of the patients and staff; discover something new on each and every playthrough.
Why MUST I play this?
Sleep No More meets 1970s Australiana meets a down to earth story about palliative care.
Tunic
Zelda-like / Secrets Abound / Whimsical
Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure.
Why MUST I play this?
brain teasing secrets to unravel, that also happen to be in a superb 2D Zelda adventure.
Haiku, the Robot
Metroidvania / Retro Aesthetic / Tight & Responsive
Delve into the depths of a mechanical world in this cute, adventure-exploration game. Explore and fight in a land full of corrupt robots and machinery. All while seeking answers to the mysteries around you.
Why MUST I play this?
One of the best 2D metroidvanias this side of Hollow Knight.
Praey For The Gods
Open World Adventure / Zelda BOTW / SOTC
Praey for the Gods is a boss climbing open world adventure game where you play a lone hero sent to the edge of a dying frozen land to explore and solve the secrets of a never ending winter. Grapple, glide and grab hold of massive beasts as you fight to survive and return the world to proper order.
Why MUST I play this?
Indie Breath of the Wild meets Shadow of the Colossus.
Coral Island
Farm Sim / Environmentally Conscious / LGBTQ Friendly
Coral Island is a vibrant and laid-back reimagining of farm sim games. Be who you want and experience enchanting island living at your own pace—live off the land, nurture animals, build relationships with a diverse cast of townsfolk, and make the world around you a more vital and harmonious place.
Why MUST I play this?
3D Stardew Valley with added features and an environmental bent.
The Case of the Golden Idol
Compelling Mystery / Novel Mechanics / Detective
A new kind of detective game that allows you to think and investigate freely. Discover clues surrounding 12 strange and gruesome deaths and build your own theory. Pick your suspect, deduce the motive, unmask the awful truth.
Why MUST I play this?
The best detective game of the year, a must play for Return of the Obra Dinn fans.
Potionomics
Shop Sim / Crafting / Deckbuilding
You’ve inherited your uncle’s potion shop—and a huge debt. Better get brewing! Customize your store, hire heroes to gather ingredients, befriend (or romance) fellow vendors to learn new haggling strategies, and go head-to-head with competitors in this narrative-driven, deck-building shop simulator.
Why MUST I play this?
Compelling blend of deck building, potion brewing, shopkeeping and lovely animations.
Taiji
Puzzle / Knowledge Based Progression / The Witness-esque
Solve puzzle panels and uncover the meaning of the symbols within. Explore a dense world where secrets are hidden in plain sight.
Why MUST I play this?
2D The Witness with it’s own twists, that may actually be better than its inspiration.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars
3D Action Adventure / Mythological / Choices Matter
Embark on a journey full of danger in this action RPG, inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies. Explore the breathtaking city of Aphes and forge your way through legions of unique foes and mythical bosses to discover the truth behind the city’s curse.
Why MUST I play this?
Classic third person adventure game in the vein of Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
Vampire Survivors
The Grandaddy of the Swarmers
Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you.
Why MUST I play this?
If you haven’t already, you must be like the only one yet to try it.
Wytchwood
Crafting / Exploration / Story Focused
Wytchwood is a crafting adventure game set in a land of gothic fables and fairytales. As the old witch of the woods, explore a strange countryside, collect magic ingredients, brew sorcerous spells, and pass judgement upon a capricious cast of characters.
Why MUST I play this?
Gathering and crafting in a crafty world.
Torii
Adventure / Atmospheric / Psychological
Torii is an adventure/puzzle/indie game with an artistic approach. Full of surreal landscapes, strange creatures, and emotions. It's an introspective journey about the feelings that arise when facing the loss of a loved one.
Why MUST I play this?
A surreal adventure with wondrous landscapes.
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum
ImSim / Low-fi / Dystopian Future
Embody the ultimate cybernetic corporate agent. Master deadly gunplay, time manipulation, and supernatural abilities. Hack computers, people, even the individual bullets flying at you. Confront the future, and die trying.
Why MUST I play this?
Hack the fridge from the other side of the map to eat what’s inside.
Signalis
Survival Horror / Existential / Sci-fi
A classic survival horror experience set in a dystopian future where humanity has uncovered a dark secret. Unravel a cosmic mystery, escape terrifying creatures, and scavenge an off-world government facility as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost dreams.
Why MUST I play this?
Silent Hill 2 has nothing on this survival horror masterpiece.
Sephonie
3D Platformer / PS1 Aesthetic / Surreal
Memories linger across time, deep under Sephonie Island. Explore a massive cave network, link with unidentified species, and unravel scientific and spiritual mysteries, all under the watchful eye of an ancient presence. By the creators of Anodyne 1 & 2!
Why MUST I play this?
3D parkour meets a layered and thought provoking narrative.
Winter Falling: Battle Tactics
RTS / Abstract / Quick
Lead troops in tense tactical battles, just you and your brain against the dying world. Manage a mercenary company, scavenge supplies, build an army. Go on a quest! Burn down a village or two... Inspired by Warhammer, FTL and Total War.
Why MUST I play this?
Abstract mini RTS game inspired by Warhammer, FTL and Total War.
NORCO
Point & Click / Petroleum Blues / Dripping Atmosphere
NORCO is a Southern Gothic point & click narrative adventure that immerses the player in the sinking suburbs and verdant industrial swamps of a distorted South Louisiana.
Why MUST I play this?
Some of the best post-capitalist writing that’s ever been in a video game.
A Day Of Maintenance
Truck Driving / IF / Gay Robots
A Day of Maintenance is an explorative truck-driving interactive-fiction game set in the early 2100s with gay robots in it.
Why MUST I play this?
Chill trucking simulator that has a lot to say.
Farthest Frontier
City Builder / Management / Survival
Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to survive. Produce crafted items to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats.
Why MUST I play this?
Banished got expanded out with a bit more complexity and some quite pretty graphics.
The Immaculate Drag
First Person Adventure / Story / Atmospheric
A small game about letting go. Stay up late. Smoke cigarettes. Talk to strangers. Think about what you've lost. Someone you used to love? Or someone you used to be?
Why MUST I play this?
Bathe in the vibes of a neon soaked Miami strip as you talk to folks and smoke our last few cigarettes.
Live By The Sword: Tactics
Turn Based Tactics / Build Possibilities / Multiple Modes
Live By The Sword: Tactics is an unashamedly old school tactical RPG with modern gameplay ideas. Set after the fall of the land, you control two brothers who must traverse the kingdom to stop it from falling back into the darkness of conflict. Single Player and Multiplayer game modes available.
Why MUST I play this?
Compelling FF Tactics gameplay mixed with more modes, tantalizing builds and modern sensibilities.
Buck Up And Drive!
Arcade Racer / Beat em up / Action
There is time to explain, I just don't wanna.
Why MUST I play this?
You car can do backflips and grind along the side rails.
Gerda: A Flame In Winter
Adventure / Story Focused / WW2
Walk the path of Gerda as her quiet life is turned upside down during the World War 2 occupation of her small Danish village. Choose where to go, how to act, and who to trust in this intimate narrative RPG-lite experience inspired by real life events. How far would you go to protect your loved ones?
Why MUST I play this?
Fantastic WW2 game that is refreshingly not about shooting everyone you see.
Recursive Ruin
First Person Puzzler / Narrative / Cranked to 11
A kaleidoscopic narrative puzzle game in which an artist comes to terms with their grief. Explore an infinitely recursive world of strange fractal beauty and solve mind-bending puzzles. Confront the ineffable and chat with your cat in a search for meaning and hope.
Why MUST I play this?
Mind bending-ly beautiful first person puzzle game.
The Looker
Puzzle / Comedy / The Witness S***post
You wake up, alone, on a strangely familiar island full of puzzles that will frustrate and annoy you.
Why MUST I play this?
Simultaneously a love letter and the best shitpost you will ever play to The Witness.
ADACA
FPS / Physics / HL2-Halo
A Sci-fi FPS set on the mysterious planet ADACA. - Use your GRAVITY-MANIPULATING arm to HURL objects at your foes or even RIP weapons directly from their hands! - EXPLORE and manipulate the environment in this EERIE and HOSTILE world!
Why MUST I play this?
Half Life 2 meets Halo meets 3D Fallout.
The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
First Person Walking / Choice Based / Comedy
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded re-imagining of 2013's The Stanley Parable. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will make a choice, and you will become powerless. You are not here to win. The Stanley Parable is a game that plays you.
Why MUST I play this?
The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never
Strange Horticulture
Mystery / Puzzle / Investigation
Strange Horticulture is an occult puzzle game in which you play as the proprietor of a local plant store. Find and identify new plants, pet your cat, speak to a coven, or join a cult. Use your collection of powerful plants to influence the story and unravel Undermere’s dark mysteries.
Why MUST I play this?
An account puzzle game played from the perspective of a local plant store owner.
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And with that, we come to the end of our Game of the Year coverage here at Press Play Gaming. If you’ve followed along, thank you! You reading the ridiculous amount of words I put on this site is what keeps me going. If you haven’t and this is your first time here - welcome! You can read the rest of our GOTY coverage here.
As always, please feel free to share, subscribe and all that jazz.
Catch you in the new year for what no doubt will be another year of fantastic indie games!