Gaming

always way too many to list without some guidance on what you're looking for(!)

worth mentioning guacamelee 1 and 2 (notable indie metroidvania games ) are currently free on the epic store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/guacamelee-stce-7cdbc8 https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/guacamelee-2-ac4977

I played the hell out of Slipways

Their slogan "Build vast trade empires, still be done in time for lunch" is on point here. You connect planets with different resources and different industries to an interconnected network in a (turnbased) race against the clock. Easy to learn and always great fun to cram into a 30min slot in your day.

I enjoyed atomicrops tremendously

I would recommend Wintermoor Tactics Club, its a top down turn based tactics game with a cute and wholesome story. I also found it quite funny

Narita Boy is a really cool glitch aesthetic sidescroller

night in the woods!

Does Tunic count?

Best to jump in without spoilers, but it's way more than a Zelda/Souls like. So. Many. Layers.

And at a similar depth, but from many years ago. The Ur-Quan masters (space game) https://sc2.sourceforge.net/

Pawnbarian: A quick-playing, turn-based puzzle roguelike. Play cards to move your hero like a chess piece, and conquer challenging dungeons full of cunning monsters!

I've enjoyed it way more than i thought i ever would. I got it in the Ukraine humble bundle and probably play it more than anything else and I had no real intention of even playing it. It was just a throwaway game in the bundle.

You want short and weird? Check out Crypt Worlds. Free too.

You want a bit longer and weird? Check out Hylics 2. One of the most unique aesthetics in gaming.

You want a very streamlined 3D version of Dwarf Fortress? Try Going Medieval. I have over a hundred hours in it.

You want a Czech version of Duke Nukem 3D with the art style of Quake? Well that's very specific. But good news, you should check out Hrot.

These are all indie games that I think aren't quite as popular as they should be. Not the most explicitly unknown, but definitely under-known.

If you liked Hades, play Ember Knights. It’s in early access but I legit put 6 hours in my first session cuz it scratched that Hades itch juuuuuust right

If you enjoy city builder games you might wanna try Songs of Syx out. You basically build an empire containing potentially thousands of citizens. There’s no way I could possibly do the game justice in a comment, so you might wanna check out a let’s play or the Steam page

I can't really recommend this because its more or less a dead multiplayer beta that's not even legitimately available anymore but Shattered Horizons was a microgravity first person shooter that was really cool. So, uh, if there are any indie devs in this chat, uh, please steal this dead idea!

Here is a good one

I'll pick the two that I think are the most criminally overlooked:

Vagante is a co-op roguelike platformer that combines Spelunky and Dark Souls. The Spelunky influence is obvious right down to a few of the biomes, and the combat is committal in the way that Dark Souls combat is. Really, you could replace Dark Souls with a lot of different RPGs inspired by D&D, but Dark Souls also captures the combat and the way the difficulty is tuned, as well a slight nod to the series with a bonfire between levels. Due to the way loot drops over the course of a run, it actually scales remarkably well between 1-4 players, as the loot is finite, and you're finding ways to split it among your party or, as a solo player, stack yourself with the best stuff so that you stand the best chance alone.

Cannon Brawl is a side-perspective RTS that combines StarCraft and Worms. Everyone has a buildable area that you expand with balloons sort of like expanding the creep as Zerg, but like Worms, you can destroy the ground beneath your opponent's feet. Each player controls a blimp that moves at a set speed, and that blimp needs to manually move to the structure that you want to use, such as the titular cannons. This keeps the game from being dominated by fast RPM while still allowing for controller-friendliness and plenty of depth. It's got same-screen and online multiplayer, and every time I break this game out, we're glued to the screen for hours, swapping loadouts and commanders for different strategies.

• DemonCrawl: It's basically RPG Minesweeper, with hundreds of items that you can encounter as you work your way through 10 progressively harder levels. You could be an armored knight, a snooping detective, a fiery pyromaniac, or even a sneaky ninja. There are several dozen of classes that take your standard Minesweeper mechanics and subvert and reframe them entirely. If you like puzzle games, this one is worth playing.

• Backpack Hero: It's an inventory management roguelike. Use your limited inventory to hold all the weapons, armor, consumables, and trinkets you need to reach the end and claim your prize. Don't forget to optimize the placement of your various items, so that they can all combo together. Different characters have different play styles, each with some mechanic that is partially or wholly unique to them. Is your backpack big, small, or filled with many pockets? Do you fight with totems, summon minions, or charm your enemies to your side? There's lots to see and do in what is possibly one of my favorite indie games of the past year. Highly recommended!

Thanks for the great, great, great answers and recommendations everyone! Hope that all of you found a new game to enjoy, I sure have.

One of my favorites over the past few years is Prey(2017) it was made under Bethesda so I wouldn’t say it’s underground, but It didn’t get the popularity and fan base it deserves. Essentially a open world (as open as a world can be in a giant space ship) that allows you to explore and fight creepy creatures. It also gives you multiple ways to solve the problems you face as well as Multiple endings and story branches to choose from. I played for 33 hours and it was so worth the price it was on sale, (wish I could remember) but it would also be worth $60 as well. It reminds me of a high polished Skyrim at certain points. Would highly recommend

Superflight

Really engaging game with a short, easy to understand mechanic. It's fun just to put on and fly around for a bit every now and then.

Slice & Dice - dice-based roguelite. Runs on mobile as well.

Lost Pig And Place Under Ground

An old-fashioned text adventure, one of the best ones I've played.

Pig lost! Boss say that it Grunk fault. Say Grunk forget about closing gate. Maybe boss right. Grunk not remember forgetting, but maybe Grunk just forget. Boss say Grunk go find pig, bring it back. Him say, if Grunk not bring back pig, not bring back Grunk either. Grunk like working at pig farm, so now Grunk need find pig.

Check it out

Gunpoint

S.P.A.Z.

Eufloria

Astroneer

Manifold Garden

Massive Chalice

The Pedestrian

Solar 2

Snakepass

Stacking

Some games I recommend:

Alina of the Arena: A roguelike deckbuilder game. It has turn based tactical battles. There are lots of cards and builds you can try, but there is a fair amount of randomness to it. So you have to go with what you get.

Unreal Life: A really strange, surreal adventure game with a talking traffic light. Great visuals and music.

YumeCore: Just a short little game where you beat up people in a hospital. Why? Why not?

Flood of Light: Great little game with pretty much one core mechanic (direct lights). The Engliah translation isn't the best, but I really liked the atmosphere.

Brotato: Is it a hidden gem? I don't really know, but it is a fun "Vampire Survivor"-like game and a huge time sink. Great shop mechanic and large amount of characters and items.

Everything - a zen game about everything, very chill

The Sexy Brutale - weird name, actually a fantastic time travelling LucasArts adventure style game

Neo Scavenger - ignore the graphics, this is a really in-depth turn based post-apocalyptic mini rpg where you will come to love plastic bags

I’ll say CrossCode. 2D hack-and-slash set in a futuristic MMO. Way too good, way too unknown for the genre that it is.