Top 25 Best Indie Games of the Year 2023 (Indie GOTY 2023)

[Music] 2023 has been one of the best years for Indie Games with some Stand Up titles that will rank among the best of all time so the best begins with after image a beautiful metric Venia sets in the ruins of a fantasy world the combat and animations are some of the standout features as is the variety of biomes and areas to explore having an open world structure which is very interesting since you could technically go into an area which is too difficult for you and just get stomped by the enemies with fun exploration the expected metric Vania traversal ability unlocks and a skill tree system as you level up which can be pretty satisfying however the story is a little difficult to piece together and isn't one of the drawers in my opinion where this developer has released two free content updates since launch making it quite the substantial package mechanics and concepts are usually borrowed and tweaked from one game to the next with wo W of course being a standout title in the defense mining Rog light sub genre this has you digging into a wall to get resources so that you can upgrade your spider tank and more effectively fend off enemies repeating the loop of digging upgrading and fighting and has a good look they did release a DLC titled deep threats which adds even more content with the base game being very affordable so why not give it a go I love my rope lights but due to sheer saturation it can be difficult to get excited for a new one which is why luck be a landlord was especially of Interest a game that doesn't look particularly impressive but hides so much more it is a slot machine or symol building Rook light and basically created this sub genre in which you're choosing which icons to place on the slot machine which after spinning will interact with each other to get you more money this is used to pay off the rent so that you can get to the next stage otherwise it is game over for the run and while it looks simplistic is one of the more interesting strategic challenges with the different builds that you can make always bring your cassette player when adventuring I grew up with Pokemon so of course I have a soft spot for Monster teaming RPGs so when cassette beasts popped up on the radar of course I was in the interesting part of this game is that you control two characters who can use the cassette to transform into a monster Digimon starle but then the two monsters in turn can be further fused together and including the DLC the total number of Beast monsters is up to 141 so that means a total of 19,886 enough Firepower to cut through them like a hot knife through butter the success of vampire survivors has led to a bunch of clones which I know some of you are absolutely sick of so hopefully we will see more innovation in 2024 still there's something to be said about the pure dopamin that games like this release and is perhaps worth a study for game [Music] developers speaking of innovation one of the reasons why I love Indie Games is that developers can take the weirdest mechanic and make it fun case in points being backpack hero a turn based R light RPG but with an inventory management twist yes the Infantry Tetris that we have all come to know and love or hate depending on who you are from games like Diablo or Resident Evil is the primary gimmick of this game in which the placement and orientation of set items in the backpack affects their effectiveness as such the inventory grid then becomes a whole new puzzle element to wrap your head around as you seek to create the most devastating build to destroy your enemies and with the 1.0 release they've added additional elements like a village building meta progression layer making it more accessible although the more pure dungeon crawling only mode is also available and is another standout title in the space she's a princess we're supposed to save her you're supposed to slay her well she'll go on to destroy everything do you not understand what everything means I was not expecting to put a visual novel title among the best games of the year let alone a horror title since as a noted fan of clean pants I don't around with horror games in general but yet here we are with slay the princess the premise is that you're supposed to kill the princess if not she will end the world but you do have a whole bunch of narrative options and dialog choices to make before you get there without spoiling too much things have a funny way of coming around full circle and it's not as straightforward as it seems the monochrome art style makes it stand out and is difficult to get right but they manag to do so where I really have to commend the voice acting in this game especially the narit and Princess so yeah probably the biggest surprise for me personally which makes it worth a look everything goes dark and you die speaking of horror games I do have to give world of horror its dues as well a rook light RPG with amazing music and art which released out of Early Access after many years years and unsurprisingly based on its history is a fantastic game again I'm not a horror person choosing to avoid creepy movies books YouTube videos anime and such whenever I can due to a love for clean pens but my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I've seen my fair share of junji ito's work and I have to say the one bit pixel art of this game certainly looks like a horror manga you're attempting to stop cultist from summoning an oich evil by solving various Mysteries around town with some really horrific monsters and Spirits in this game that is definitely worth a play the stylish pixel arts action platformer somehow always goes back to cyber Punk think Katana zero for example since there's just something about the neon lights that adds a layer of attractiveness to the game with the title of Interest this year being saabi you play as a retired Warrior who is pulled back into action having to ascend the mega City in order to face the great evil as can be scene the main gimmick is the chin hook prosthetic arm of the main character which allows him to Grapple and swing around which combines beautifully with the combat and action if speed running is a thing this game does cater for that as well but if you're a Nory like me it will provide plenty of Challenge and fun as [Music] well I've recently noted how Indie Games Moves In Waves with developers that grew up with the NES or SNES making gorgeous pixel art titles but things are beginning to sh shift with developers that grew up on the Nintendo 64 and PSX instead with a key example being pseudo regalia this is a 3D metric Venia that Nails the throwback log in which the story is told pretty vaguely so leave it to you to explore however what I want to highlight is the combat and platforming in particular since you have a variety of Moves In Your Arsenal which if skilled enough can be used to sequence break to get to another area much more quickly and where the movement feels fluid and is great to play [Applause] [Music] there tends to be a couple of standout puzzle games every year that get my attention with the very clever viewfinder being the one of interest in 2023 this is a first- person puzzle game in which the gimmick is evident from the footage take a photo with your polar right camera then place the photograph down which materializes in the world and then becomes a new environment that you can step into of course it is used used in clever ways to create some interesting puzzles based on perspective and it's an excellent puzzle g a beautiful title with a premise that inverts genre Norms is Teran nil in which you're attempting to revive a Barren Wasteland through first constructing wind turbines water pumps toxin scrubbers and more first cleaning up the environment before planting trees creating ecosystems and attracting Wildlife this has been described as a reverse City Builder when contra to City's skylines in which you were always building more and more and more the concept here is to restore the environment and then eventually destroy all supporting infrastructure erasing all traces that you were ever there the ecological theme is evident and it's a very pleasant experience that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy [Music] inside rug lights are one of the most over saturated genres these days with the gigantic Classics like Isaac or dead cells still continuing to retain a huge core audience which mean Astro Ascend a nice surprise a rike platformer that released out of Early Access and from the title you might be able to guess that it is based on the zodiac signs you're attempting to escape an astro prison that has the personifications of the zodiac signs acting as bosses but luckily you have a bunch of different spells attacks and playable characters to mess around with combat feels great which is partially due to the massive amount of air control that your character can get so you can pretty much jump and stay up in the air while using your attacks dashing and getting yourself into a better position for the next volley there are plenty of inun upgrades which allows you to customize your build along with meta progression in the hub area so it checks off many of the boxes that makes a great Rog light oh the pixel art is also worth mention as well with fantastically detailed backgrounds but for some reason the characters during gam play are a little Blobby in terms of pixel art but still it's a fantastic title that will especially be of interest to rope light fence the Galaxy is mine one of my most anticipated games of the year was the last Faith a grim dark metri Vania with soul like elements that stops just short of having a stamina system auto combat is pretty deliberate and you need to dodge and jump to get out of the way of enemy attacks and cannot just go in guns blazing in fact it feels pretty similar to blastomers but with more of a classic Gothic horror setting in which hero explores a cursed City in search of his lost memories if you're familiar with Souls like titles and even bloodborne you'll be right at home since tactics like getting right up at that when fighting bosses works as well along with the cryptic storytelling that the genre is known for personally while we think that something like Sals and Sanctuary is much uglier visually that game certainly has more depth in terms of character builds and systems but for a first swing at the concept for this new team is commendable and is certainly worth a play [Music] as I'm getting older I'm getting an increased appreciation for puzzle games since the game design is frankly pretty mindboggling and how the developers come up with these puzzles and their Solutions with one of the freshest entries in the space being cocoon it is a recursive puzzle game since you play as a little Beetle creature with the ability to grab in-game orbs which themselves are WS which you can jump into and where once unlocked each or has a special ability which can be brought into another world to help solve the puzzles there if it sounds confusing don't be the ramp on this is pretty accessible as you slowly wrap your head around the concept being a tightly executed title that does not overstay its welcome I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of pizza Tower since while I think it's great people have been saying that it is indie game of the year and that it was robbed at a game awards in favor of kocon where this Warrior land like action platformer can certainly be very satisfying to play you play as Pino spaghetti who runs a struggling Pizzeria where one day he is threatened by the villain pizza face who wants to destroy his shop with a nuclear laser on top of a tower hence our hero has to ascend theonomous Tower in order to save his business what this entails is getting through the platforming challenges and fighting enemies in every level to get to the end destroying a pillar which then triggers a timer and then you need to do the level in Reverse to get back to the start most critically once Pepino gets up to a certain speed he's able to run up walls and through enemies and objects so getting and preserving this momentum is key there are of course plenty of challenges for speedrunners with secrets and optional challenges with the developer having quite the ingenious idea of using patreon to gather early supporters and to release demo builds which then created a community pre-launch leveraging that into massive success upon the actual release and is one of the most impressive inie death stories of the year darkers dungeon 2 is the sequel to a game from 2016 which is one of my all-time favorite indie games so to say that expectations were high is an understatement and while the reception to the game is understandably mixed I do still think that there's something here that are familiar returning elements such as the turn-based positional combat a stress system that might cause your hero to break down in combat alich monsters and many familiar returning characters but instead of having the hamlets as your base of operations this game leans more heavily into the Run based Rook light structure the more I think about it the more I realize that the original is not a rook light since while your characters could permanently die in combat and the dungeons were randomly generated leveling up your characters and being able to take them from one dungeon to the next mitigates The Rook light nature which is why this game was a distinct change there are some new elements like a character relationship system and more obvious meta progression systems which unlocks new characters and items and while this is different as compared to the original it's still a Rog light RPG worth a [Music] play this next title is perhaps no surprise since in many ways my time at srock builds upon the foundation that is my time at Porsche a 3D life Sim title from 2019 which has you playing as a builder instead of a farmer but has similar elements like romance with villagers farming fishing crafting combats and Dungeons and more this takes place in a new location of the once thriving town of Sandrock where through your efforts as the newly assigned Builder are sure to help Revitalize the town the crafting elements are fairly standard but thus have improved combat as compared to the first game even having gun sights in this together with NPC quests mini games Co-op and so much more being the title in the Life Sim Space this [Music] year a title that oer style is bomb Rush cyber Funk a 3D exploration platformer in which you're attempting to claim the city of New Amsterdam spraying graffiti battling rival Crews and running away from the police in order to become All City a term describing someone that manages to get paint all over the five burrows of the city it has an explosive start to the game and does have a classic tail of Revenge together with an interesting Central narrative the game play involves you moving around the city on a skateboard roller blades or a BMX bike in in order to paint the city and then challenging rival Crews for control having one of the sickest soundtracks of the year with an art style to match the Jet Set Radio comparison has to be made since it seems very much like that game and even as someone with no particular affinity for that I still found this to be very enjoyable one of the biggest success stories of the year is that of wondering sword a pixel art RPG with a Chinese USA or cultivation theme which has largely been confined to games specific specifically targeting the Chinese market or mobile games with microtransactions so imagine my surprise when this managed to hit the main stream if you're not familiar with usia movies or TV it generally involves a wondering sorts man on a hero's journey type of story of wanting to get stronger in order to get revenge and while that is pretty much the case here it does have interesting story moments of characters struggling with their own internal conflicts the combat is interesting since they are both turn-based and realtime options depending on how you like to play which I have never seen a game give that kind of choice to the player backed up with great pixel art and flashy combat animations one of the best metro Venus got a sequel this year in which blamus 2 was beautifully executed and while it took many elements from the first game like the character Theme law and art style it expanded it just enough to keep things interesting it is a direct continuation of the story of the first game that has you continuing your fight against the miracle a powerful Godlike Force that sometimes curses and sometimes blesses the inhabitants of the world where our hero seeks Penance and wants to end it once and for all the main differentiator here is the option of multiple weapons to choose from instead of just the sword in the original which significantly changes up combat as well as more humanoid sized and shaped bosses as compared to the screen filling monsters in the first game which was a little bit of a bummer but for the deliciously ma World and Action this is hard to beat another release out of Early Access which I love is the last spell a turn-based tactics RPG with great pixel art and has a fantastic gameplay Loop in this world essentially nukes have been discovered in the form of a devastating spell which can destroy entire cities which led to an arms race and the nuking of many cities via Majors however From the Ashes of those destroyed cities arose the undead horde powered by magic who are now assaulting the remaining humans so you need to defend a city and the majors within trying to buy them enough time so that they can cast the last spell to banish Magic from the world this alternates between a day night cycle in which you reinforce defenses and upgrade your characters in the day and then fight off waves of enemies at night accumulating in the boss fight after a certain number of days there is met progression that allows you to constantly unlock new weapons armor buildings and more as well as multip difficulty levels per scenario with the satisfaction of slaughtering masses of enemies being excellent honestly I thought that 2023 was going to be the year of the Metro Venia since we almost had silk song releasing B that's and my video on upcoming metric ven games with one of the latest entries of the year in tevy clinching the top spot for the genre in my opinion this comes to us from Taiwanese developer cre spirits who are best known for the bullet held metric Vena revi R which is relatively unknown All Things Considered with this new game polishing up the visuals and should appeal to a larger audience over the long run our heroin tevy is attempting to locate a number of Astro gears which are powerful artifacts with the hollow knight style charm system equivalent being very extensive here that allows you to customize the combat experience on top of a great look and challenging bosses it also has interesting characters and very impressive sounding full Japanese voice acting and might as well be from an enemy exploration is wonderful with a bunch of Secrets and quality of life elements like putting down map markers so trust me if you're a fan of this genre you will want to pick this up one of the reasons why I love Indie Games is that developers continue to make games in a genre that is near and dear to by heart something that bigger developers like modern Square enex isn't quite doing in the Japanese style turn based RPG so of course like we've chained Echo last year sea of stars is my pick for 2023 this is from the developer of the messenger and is technically set in the same universe in which you play as the solers warriors fighting back against the forces of the flashh maner an evil alchemist that is creating monsters that will destroy the world this is a time and space spanning adventure and is very Chrono Trigger like in nature which is perhaps the biggest inspiration for this game and I have to say they nailed exactly what they're going for it is quite the expensive RPG experience as well having plenty of Collectibles and even games with the dungeon crawling exploration and puzzle solving involving manipulating time of day and the excellent 10base combat with combo attacks being a fantastic throwback while still feeling modern and is one of the all-time great Indie Games as well and the best indie game of the year goes to dretch fishing is one of my favorite mechanics in games from Stu Valley to Hades so to have a game dedicated to that concept certainly gets my attention however rather than being a realistic fishing simulator or a cozy title this adds in a dose of eldrich horror in which C monsters look in the water but you're unsure if it's just a hallucination or if they are really there it has a relatively simple gameplay Loop of going out to fish sometimes holding up additional resources or ancient relics and then returning to town to sell so that you can get more upgrades but the Grim World created was fascinating to explore along with the main narrative with of course the Pokémon like aspect of catching and cataloging the fish along with their mutant aberration versions where I took Gastly pleasure in seeing how messed up the developers meet the fish maybe it's a reflection of my mental state this year but there's something about the Allure of the Endless expense of the sea coupled with the inevitable hopelessness of cosmic horror of staring into the abyss to see if it stares back that results in an unnatural pool of this game making it my game of the year where you can watch this video for a preview of 2024

Channel: Best Indie Games

Views: 113,861

Keywords: best indie games of the year, indie game of the year 2023, indie games 2023, Best indie games, best indie games 2023, indie game, indie games, indie gaming, goty 2023, indie goty 2023, Brotato, Backpack Hero, Slay the Princess, WORLD OF HORROR, Pseudoregalia, Viewfinder, Terra Nil, Astral Ascent, The Last Faith, COCOON, Pizza Tower, Darkest Dungeon II, My Time at Sandrock, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Wandering Sword, Blasphemous 2, The Last Spell, TEVI, Sea of Stars, DREDGE

Id: IrTeFxPG0eY

Length: 22min 1sec (1321 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2023