The independent video game industry saw a sharp rise in prominence in the late 2000s and early 2010s with titles like Braid, Fez, Super Meat Boy, and of course Minecraft showing that indie games could stand toe to toe with even the largest AAA franchises.
Today, indie video games make up a huge portion of the gaming market. Many people favor the old-school simplicity that many of these titles provide, in contrast to the open-world action-adventure titles that are currently dominating the industry. 2020 has been another fantastic year for indie projects, and the highest-rated indies games on Metacritic have brought great joy to many gamers worldwide during what has been a difficult year.
10 Observer: System Redux (86)
Bloober Team’s cyberpunk game Observer: System Redux is an enhanced re-release of Observer, featuring improvements to the visuals as well as new story content.
The psychological horror title won numerous awards upon its initial release, including Best Emotional Indie Game from The Emotional Game Awards 2018 and Best Setting from Game Informer. The latest version is the best way to experience the game and it is even available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.
9 Huntdown (87)
A callback to classic ’80s run and gun titles like Contra and Metal Slug, Easy Trigger Games’ Huntdown throws players into crime-infested cyberpunk streets.
The game doesn’t hold back on the nostalgia with its side-scrolling arcade action, 16-bit pixel graphics, and old-school synthesized soundtrack. Huntdown will make players feel like they’re back in a 1980s arcade.
8 Streets of Rage 4 (87)
Huntdown isn’t the only arcade throwback on this list, as Dotemu’s Streets of Rage 4 is reminiscent of classic beat em’ up titles like Golden-Axe and Double Dragon.
Much like the aforementioned Huntdown, it would be a disservice to say that Streets of Rage 4 is purely a nostalgic novelty, as the game offers fantastically balanced combat in a campaign that has tons of replay value. It would be a shame if only older gamers give Streets of Rage 4 a chance, as it’s a perfect gateway game for younger audiences to get a taste of the side-scrolling beat ’em’ up genre.
7 Super Mega Baseball 3 (87)
Unlicensed sporting games are always fighting an uphill battle against titles like FIFA, Madden, and NBA 2k that have official branding and team names. Super Mega Baseball 3 and other similar sports games may be about to get their deserved recognition though, due to the ongoing FIFA licensing issue that could have huge ramifications on the future of licensing in sporting titles.
Super Mega Baseball 3 provides plenty of hope to sporting fans who are worried about the potential licensing lawsuits though, as the game offers a simple yet addicting brand of baseball that is a worthy competitor to the MLB The Show series.
6 Pistol Whip (88)
The sole VR game to feature in this article, Pistol Whip is a fantastic advert for virtual reality equipment, with its offering of immersive FPS action gameplay.
Cloudhead Games have already won numerous awards for their 2020 game, including Immersive Reality Game of the Year at the 2020 D.I.C.E Awards. Anyone with a VR headset should definitely give Pistol Whip a look.
5 Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (88)
Whereas Huntdown and Streets of Rage 4 take players back to the action-pact run and gun and beat em’ up genres that were prominent in the ’80s, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is a throwback to the ’90s era of point and click games.
Cardboard Computer’s game has one significant difference to the ’90s point and click titles, however, in that the game ditches the puzzle-solving in favor of pure storytelling. This makes Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition a perfect game for those that complained that the tough puzzles in games like Grim Fandango detracted from the flow of the story.
4 A Short Hike (88)
Created by Adam Robinson-Yu in just three months, A Short Hike was ported to the Nintendo Switch in August 2020 and offers a fantastic open-world adventure that is centered around collecting golden feathers.
The game was a deserving winner at the Independent Games Festival Awards, picking up the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Audience Award.
3 There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (89)
Almost certainly the most unique game released this year; There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension starts by trying to live up to its name, as it actively encourages players to stop playing.
Once the game gets going, it jumps between multiple different genres, including ’90s inspired point and click puzzle-solving and top-down The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past style adventuring.
2 Spelunky 2 (91)
The follow-up to 2008’s Spelunky narrowly edges its predecessor on Metacritic by just one point. Developers Mossmouth and BlitWorks didn’t try to reinvent a wheel with Spelunky 2; keeping the core gameplay similar to the original Spelunky, while finding ways to simply improve upon the pre-existing material. Among the more significant additions was the implementation of a ridable turkey, reminiscent of Yoshi in the Mario Bros. games.
Spelunk 2 was nominated for the Best Indie Game award at The Game Awards 2020 but lost out to the next and final entry on this list.
1 Hades (93)
IGN’s Game of the Year and The Game Awards’ Best Indie Game, Hades has quickly become one of the most critically acclaimed roguelike action-RPGs in the genre’s history.
Hades deserves all of the praise and acclaim that it is currently receiving for its fantastic combat system, excellent offering of post-game content, and superb storytelling that is intelligently and seamlessly weaved into the gameplay.
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