Repit
my butt hurts a little, but it’s so cool
– Real player with 2.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Minimalist Games.
From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a pretty solid game. I also like a lot the simple art. I don’t know if there were supposed to be music or SFX, because I didn’t hear any. I think working on that would make the game better :)
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
SJ-19 Learns To Love!
A very to-the-point Metroidvania.
SJ-19 Learns To Love! doesn’t play around with hidden rooms, power-ups drop directly from bosses and the map features clear cut landmarks.
You’ll know exactly where to return to once you’ve drained the water system for example.
You play as SJ-19, a droid fortunate enough to be selected from storage and immediately instructed to follow in a long line of killing machines. This plays nicely against the simple cute aesthetic presented by the game visuals, as bosses will ask you to reconsider fighting them, whilst the shops (which are characters) gleefully encourage you to get back to killing and pump up your Soul Power to increase your firepower. Every boss comes with an ability to be gained and a lesson to be learned (guess what the final one is?) as SJ-19 malfunctions and journeys through the recess of it’s…programming?
– Real player with 9.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Minimalist Games.
After trying two metroidvanias that turned out to be terrible (Frauki’s adventure and catmaze) I had low expectations for SJ-19. However, this turned out to be actually good. It’s got a good story, and good gameplay at the expense of content, graphics, and sound effects. The only downside is that the game is a bit overpriced and it has to be bought on sale.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
The Dream Libra had
It was a fun little game… my only complaint is not about the game but that I earned all the achievements and then discovered what “Profile Features Limited” means. I’ve never noticed this note on any other games but now I know this game doesn’t appear in my “Perfect Games”… why Steam???
Otherwise, good luck figuring out the trash can… you can do it… and the Elixir mission… lol. They were tough but doable. Nice touch by the game dev to make those a challenge.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Nonlinear Supernatural Games.
The Dream Libra had
This game is a really simple adventure indie game. I really enjoyed playing this game, I like the genre and games with strange atmosphere and funny and weird quest. Sure the story might be mind shocking to genre savvy people but I liked the twist anyways. Plus I am a big fan of how the quest tied in with the story/message of the game. The game does have issues with it inventory and picking up items. It was really annoying trying to get an item off the floor and no way to toggle to it. Also the way way you shoot your gun. Sometimes I am clicking directly at the enemy but it doesn’t connect and takes a few tries before they die. Also there is some game mechanic that felt useless like the heart v body stats? I am not sure if the affects the ending. There is some spelling and grammar errors but this guy is doing everything himself and it is way better than other translations it brings charm anyways.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between
What do you see up there, when you consider the infinity around us? And as you wander on your own journey, who are the strange, unworldly others who probe those questions as they pass like ghosts through your travels? Were they ever really real?
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is about the thoughts that exist between destinations, the parts of journeys that dominate our time but not our attention, when our minds wander to parts of ourselves and our world normally left unexamined. On a late night highway drive, a quiet train car in the early hours, a walk through a moonlight park, or the endless wait in a deserted airport, we listen to weird music amid the ambient announcements of delays, and question our place in the universe.
Inspired by long travel and the stream of consciousness it fosters, Glitchhikers asks you to look inward. Find the answers to your questions, and question the answers you receive. Ruminate on life, the universe, our place and purpose in it. Voyage through a freeform narrative experience, converse with the endless inevitability, and explore the cosmic, hopeful world you find yourself in.
A follow up to the critically praised short game released in 2014, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an expanded experience, reborn and reimagined.
No pressure, no failure, no optimal path, no journey exactly the same. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an introspective freeform game where the player picks a journey, slips into that liminal space and has a unique experience travelling into their own thoughts, guided by the characters they meet along the way.
A late night drive, a deserted airport lounge, a moonlit walk through an empty park, a quiet carriage on an overnight train, a 24-hour convenience store. Never the ultimate destination, spending time in the inbetween creates a setting for contemplation and reflection, a mood that exists in these liminal spaces.
The hikers you meet on each journey will travel with you for a time, offering thought-provoking conversations, and questioning your place in the universe. Who will you meet? What will you talk about? Were they real or just a figment of your imagination?
An extensive original soundtrack full of chill grooves, upbeat wonder, dreamy synths controlled by your movement through space, and that one busker who makes you feel right at home: each journey has its own feel.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between both expands and dives deeper into the ideas behind the original Glitchhikers (released as a short conceptual game in 2014), to fully realise the concepts and present a polished and fleshed out experience to a new generation of players.
Silverstring Media are a vital and vibrant voice within narrative indie games, creating a string of short experimental titles and working as narrative guns for hire on indie darlings including Celeste, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Manifold Garden and Wandersong.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1449230/
Sea of Leaves
A young girl disappears from her hometown, leaving friends and family.
After many years, she returns to her place.
What was behind her vanishing?
Sea of Leaves is a contemplative game set in the Gargano, a remote region in southern Italy.
Half drama, half mistery, the story of Sea of Leaves revolves aound a disappearance from the perspective of the missing one.
In Sea of Leaves you will explore the story through the stream of consciousness, which will reveal thoughts, memories, feelings and sensation.
DEKONSTRUKT
DEKONSTRUKT is an interactive movie, with elements of first-person gameplay. You will be immersed in the inglorious story of a game developer with plenty of destructive black humor. The game responds to never-before-seen creative challenges. Help the protagonist deal with his inner demons. Or not really.
As you can see, the game tries with all its might to seem like it’s not just another triviality. In other words, my mother grew a vegetable, even though she is not a gardener.
✔ A story that will stay in your memory for a long time.
Necrowave
Necrowave is a game about the emotional life of a zombie stuck in a microwave. It’s a 2D platformer with critical based combat where each different enemy feels like a puzzle to solve instead of relying on brute hack & slash tactics. Almost everything in the game dies in one hit, including you. So caution and critical thinking is highly incentivized.
-Discover a dark & beautiful hand crafted world filled with secrets and mysteries.
-Enjoy a world filled with fully traditionally animated characters and enemies.
Raven’s Point
Raven’s Point is a town. Raven’s Point is also a game. Solve puzzles and explore a seemingly never-ending maze of unnerving hallways and rooms inside a terrifying house of secrets. You’re not only trapped within the town of Raven’s Point, you’re also trapped within the game.
DEEP EXPLORATION
Dive down into the rabbit hole of Sara’s mind-bending, ever-changing home. Rooms will appear and disappear and new paths will unearth themselves as you explore deeper and deeper into the darkest recesses of the house. With dozens of alternate paths to take and hundreds of secrets waiting to be found, the world of Raven’s Point is shrouded in both mystery and intrigue.
ABSTRACT PUZZLE-SOLVING
In Sara’s attempt to escape her home, the house itself is a puzzle waiting to be solved. New branches can be unlocked and discovered, hidden areas can be unearthed, and secrets can be found through unconventional puzzle mechanics that test both your creativity and abstract puzzle solving skills.
CONFRONT YOUR INNER DEMONS
During her journey, Sara must learn to confront and overcome the demons hunting after her. Taking the form of her own personal traumas, her own mind is often the greatest enemy. Unsure who to trust, she must find a way to avoid different terrifying threats whilst piecing together the fragments of her mind to feel whole again. She must decide whether the greatest enemy is herself, or the person controlling her.
LEARN NEW LOGIC
Raven’s Point is a game that constantly changes around you. Each room is unique and offers multiple secrets and methods of exploration. Objects that weren’t there before may suddenly appear, rooms that were there before are suddenly different, things that wouldn’t normally be possible are suddenly viable. Raven’s Point is a game meant to be played like it’s a game. It aims to create a whole new world of logic that leaves you questioning what is real and which secrets were meant to be discovered. A feeling of accomplishment yet emptiness. A feeling you didn’t want to experience. Become immersed in the town of Raven’s Point but don’t forget everything is trapped within the window. Don’t be afraid to break the rules.
FEATURES
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A house with a seemingly impossible layout that changes around each move you make.
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Unique puzzles with surreal solutions.
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A variety of twisted bosses, each with their own new gameplay elements.
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Numerous characters to encounter with their own tragic tales and questionable motives.
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Lots and lots of secrets.
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Places you aren’t meant to find.
Disclaimer:
This game contains themes of depression and anxiety which may make it unsuitable for some audiences.
Nowhere New
TLDR: If you like indies, play this game. Its story and atmosphere are well worth a few hours of your time.
This is not a full size game. It was created by a small group of students on no budget, and it shows. However, for that size and scope, it is impressively complete. I greatly enjoyed the couple hours I spent playing.
Narrative:
The writing is very strong. The mystery is intriguing, the characters are likable and complex, and the story is well constructed. There are several emotionally impactful story beats; at various points I felt shock, anger, suspense, horror, compassion, etc. I enjoyed the prevailing theme of identity, trust, and how our experiences shape who we are. Also, LGBT rep is a plus!
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Even though the game has unappealing visuals, I thought that the writing was very strong and I liked most of the characters. However, I ultimately was disappointed with the experience because the ending felt very anticlimactic, a big exposition dump to what otherwise was a mysterious story that could have gone in many ways. We play as a character that crashlands on a mysterious world where inhabitants lose their memories as they share them with other people. The game presents memory share as a mechanic but it’s somewhat cosmetic, for the most part, the story is pretty linear and you can only trade a few memories for a couple of hints, although I cannot confirm that as I decided to keep them. I wouldn’t say that it has any puzzles, you just have to talk to the characters in the right order, it’s not too convoluted. If anyone cares you can complete the game in about 90 minutes.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
La Dimensione Interna
La Dimensione Interna (The Dimension Within) is a 3D narrative adventure game where you play as a young Italian journalist, named Giorgio, living in a small town in Tuscany. The game focuses on his personal struggle as he finds himself at the center of a chain of events he doesn’t quite understand, but feels responsible for. The player will be asked to guide him through a series of situations and decisions where time, the opinion of others, and his emotions will influence how the story unfolds, and ultimately decide the destiny of the protagonist and the people around him.
Through an innovative dialogue system, the player will be able to decide when to respond or intervene in a dialogue; he will also be able to decide what to say – and how to say it. All those elements will be taken into account by the characters involved, which will respond accordingly to what they feel, believe, and are trying to achieve.
However, not all options will always be available, and this will depends on Giorgio’s Principles: the player will be able to shape up his instincts and personality, which will enable some choices and hinder others. There are ways to force Giorgio to act against his will, to a certain degree, but it will have a cost.
Giorgio’s emotions are another important aspect the player will need to deal with: fears, anxieties, neurosis will make everything more challenging for him: on a wrong day, even innocent jokes can turn into mortal offences, and some NPCs will leverage this, in the attempt to manipulate him.
Another key aspect is that Time will always be ticking – even during conversations. Every line of dialogue pronounced by either the protagonist or other characters has a time cost associated. This means that even if NPCs will follow their own routine, your actions will impact what they will decide to do next, given they still have the time to do it… just remember that time won’t wait for you either.