Does Cogmind count? Because even when I see people discussing games like it, which are already pretty niche, it never comes up. That’s tragic, because oh my god, just read some of these articles. This developer is obsessive and even if you don’t get too deep into Cogmind it’s an incredible toy to just screw around with and just see what happens.

ΔV: Rings of Saturn
https://store.steampowered.com/app/846030/V_Rings_of_Saturn

A hard sci-fi 2D space mining sim.
“A physics-based mining sim, set in the thickest debris field in Sol. Every action has a reaction, lasers are invisible without a medium, and your thrust is a potent weapon. Find trade, adapt your equipment to your playstyle, hire a crew to help. Unravel the mysteries of the rings, or just get rich.”

I can recommend NEO Scavenger (slightly under 4k reviews). It’s hardcore survival game in post apocalypse world. I haven’t finished it yet, 'cause I always die in the process. Still very enjoyable if you’re into post-apo.

Adding some from my library

• Dropsy - 1329 Reviews

  • A weird point and click with nice atmosphere. The soundtracks are neat too.

• The Blackwell Legacy - 1122 Reviews

  • The Blackwell series are point and click games about ghosts. It’s cool to see familiar characters through out the series and how they change (or unchanged) .

• Railroad Ink Challenge - 65 Reviews

  • It’s the digital version of a puzzle board game I highly recommend. High re-play value and fun to play solo or with friends. (The digital version should be solo only but you can compete with online leader boards)

Really enjoyed Heaven’s Vault.

Surprised that The Enteral Cylinder only has 300-ish reviews. I remember seeing it all over the new when it launched. How is it?

Creeper World. It’s technically a tower defense, but the enemy is fluid, constantly pouring out of spawn area. And the game has a pretty good story line.

Love the post, keep it up

Warsim deserves love. It’s a real passion project: a text-based kingdom management sim with lots of things to do and nooks and crannies to explore.

Not sure if I would consider it a gem but this game gave me a good chuckle: Genital Jousting is currently on sale for 69 cents.

I highly highly cannot more highly recommend Observation. It’s $7 right now.

It’s a unique story game, with an excellent narrative, pace, and conclusion.

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

The Age of Decadence is CRPG set in a post-apocalypse ish, in which an analogue to the Roman Empire ruled most of the world until the collapse of civilisation, now it’s mostly city states struggling to survive and reclaim the old magitek of the empire.

Underrail: Life on earth’s surface has been made inhospitable ages ago, and the remains of humanity now live in the metro system called underrail and the caverns around it.

Both are isometric, turn based games that focus on combat and exploration. And they are hard. Builds are incredibly important, almost min maxing but they have a wide range of viable builds, especially the first one where you can play the entire game without fighting a single battle, all through alternative solutions and skill checks.

Here are two 3D platformers I haven’t really heard a lot of but still had very fun with last year.

Demon Turf - 335 Reviews What pulled me in initially was the art syle, the games looks a bit like the cartoons from my childhood. This one got combat, exploration, bosses, collectables. A bit of a problem is that the game tried to do a lot of things at the same time, resulting in a bit uneven quality overall. There are also leaderboards if you into speedrunning.

Demon Turf: Neon Splash - 105 Reviews Some kind of standalone DLC/spinoff to the first game. In this game everything is more streamlined and the design feels more focused. Combat have been cut in order to give the platforming more time to shine and a reason to simplify the controls. The focus is on repeating the same levels for better a time on the leaderboard. Speedrunning is not really my thing but I still found enjoyment in the game. Much cheaper and short than Demon Turf.

Anyone got a gem similar to Hypnospace Outlaw? Literally my favorite game since I discovered it.

Thanks for the lists! Seems like whenever someone asks for some lesser-known indie games, people start mentioning ones like Stray and Hades, which are good, but not exactly deep cuts. :)

I looked through my most played and least reviewed indie games on Steam, and found these three. They’re super cheap for the summer sale right now, too.

Venineth - 178 reviews - currently $8 - released 2020

• Physics-based 3D puzzle platformer. You play as a ball, with a lot of momentum, that rolls around some amazing looking, mysterious landscapes. Chill ambient music plays in the background. I haven’t gotten very far yet; the reviews suggest that it gets harder as it goes on. The first couple hours are very relaxing.

Stealth Bastard Deluxe - 628 reviews - currently $1 - released 2012

• 2D puzzle platformer with the best soundtrack ever (and the soundtrack is 40 cents right now). You need to have very precise jump timing, so it has more difficult platforming than most puzzle platformers. Very replayable with leaderboards, community-made maps, and unlockable new skills that let you solve a level in different ways.

AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - 625 reviews - currently $2 - released 2009

• I stayed up way too late playing this one many years ago, and I can’t even explain why it was fun. You just kind of fall downwards, aiming at things as you go down, and trying to find new routes to hit the things you want to hit and avoid the things you don’t want to hit. I can’t really compare it to anything else, except for maybe some platformers where there’s a “falling level.” Except this is all falling levels. It’s weirdly good. They’re working on a new one, although it’s very delayed at this point.