Indie Game Recommendations

i like indie games, so i'll use this capsule to post some recommendations for them. some of them might already be extremely popular, some not so much, but whatever!

Cruelty Squad

Cruelty Squad is most well known for its bizarre maximalist visuals. it's level and equipment design allow for a lot of actual exploration and pushing of the game's mechanics. while the visuals can be confusing and disorientating at first, you do get used to them, something which is actually a big part of the game's great satire regarding violence, the tech industry, grifting and capitalism

Cruelty Squad's Steam Page

Umurangi Generation

Umurangi Generation is an interesting game to talk about because it's really really hard to explain what makes it so special without spoiling it. it is a game where you play as a freelance photographer and in every level you need to take a few photos to reach certain goals and move on to the next level. it is also a game about the end of the world and neoliberalism's role in causing and refusing to do anything about it

Umurangi Generation's Steam Page

Everything Else

Everything Else by stuffed wombat is something like a minimalist top down shooter. you need to get through levels increasingly faster in order to save your 'other half'. it's really hard in a great way. i also really like the endings

Everything Else's itch page.

Mosa Lina

Mosa Lina (also by stuffed wombat, i didn't intentionally put these last two together but i just really love his games lol) is a puzzle platformer where you play through a random set of levels (with randomized level elements) with a random set of equipment that gets re-rolled on every death/new level. figuring out how to use the tools you're given to finish those levels (or on occasion even figuring out if it is at all possible) is a really fun challenge that requires a lot of creative exploration of the game's mechanics.

Mosa Lina (Steam)

Mosa Lina (itch.io)