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[Steam Sale 2014] Indie-ana Games and the Temple of Hidden Gems

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
wow, that's a great price for papo & yo, faults and all

the setting and music alone is worth the price, the in-game graffiti is gorgeous



so torn on Wake, it looks so neat but I hate time limits in my metroidvanias and I'm concerned about the "sinking ship" thing :/

Probably avoid then, I really loved the experience I got with it, but the time limit gives it some very harsh conditions that requires you to retry the game over and over again. A big part is to choose certain paths, and figure out where to go at which time, which felt very rewarding once I got the hang of it, but its incredibly hard and unforgiving. I only managed to finish the game once, which was a feat in itself, but I got a bad ending because I couldnt save anyone on time.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Always look forward to your thread Toma.
This is the sale that I'll finally pick up spacechem.

*pats you on the back and gives you a handkerchief*

...you might need it. I really want to finish the game, but the 10-12 hour levels at the end of the game are hard enough to make grizzlies weep. ONE DAY!
 
Probably avoid then, I really loved the experience I got with it, but the time limit gives it some very harsh conditions that requires you to retry the game over and over again. A big part is to choose certain paths, and figure out where to go at which time, which felt very rewarding once I got the hang of it, but its incredibly hard and unoforgiving. I only managed to finish the game once, which was a feat in itself, but I got a bad ending because I couldnt save anyone on time.

oof, I'll probably just admire from a distance then, thanks


...I really should get back into spacechem, I was too lazy to think after a few puzzles last time :(
 
Your love for the game outweighs all the reviews that say the game is just like work.
Ha, yeah, when Toma profusely recommends something, I tend to listen. He hasn't let me down yet. Full Bore is awesome, Crimsonland is fantastic. I was hesitant about SpaceChem, but it's so damn satisfying. The best logic-based puzzle game I've played.
 

Cyrano

Member
Inquisitor sounds really cool. I had never heard of the game before. So it's like old school Fallout style gameplay and depth, but with a gritty medieval fantasy setting?
Yep. But a lot tougher and less combat focused. Don't want to spoil too much, but you start out as an Inquisitor sent to a local town to investigate a murder. Beyond that, talking to everyone will reveal more details about this, as well as finding evidence. What you say and how you say it affects this quite a bit, as well as your stats. As an opening hint, be wary of investing too much into combat. It won't pay off nearly as much as in other games. Solutions frequently aren't "kill everyone in the room," and the game nicely emulates an actual conversation (or at least, allows you to feel like a conversation actually affects the game meaningfully). It can also go to some very dark places at times...
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Yep. But a lot tougher and less combat focused. Don't want to spoil too much, but you start out as an Inquisitor sent to a local town to investigate a murder. Beyond that, talking to everyone will reveal more details about this, as well as finding evidence. What you say and how you say it affects this quite a bit, as well as your stats. As an opening hint, be wary of investing too much into combat. It won't pay off nearly as much as in other games. Solutions frequently aren't "kill everyone in the room," and the game nicely emulates an actual conversation (or at least, allows you to feel like a conversation actually affects the game meaningfully). It can also go to some very dark places at times...

Man, you singlehandedly sold that game to probably a dozen people reading this thread.
 

Cyrano

Member
Man, you singlehandedly sold that game to probably a dozen people reading this thread.
Just a hint, not really a huge spoiler regarding Inquisitor:
As another note, people don't have magical "awareness" of stuff that occurs privately. So if you do something somewhere out of the way, people aren't altogether just going to know who did it and why. So... you can do with that what you will
.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
I wondered how many games this thread now featured and was thinking whether it reached 100 by now.

The correct number is 149 actually, I am surprised its already this many.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Reminder for myself, need to include Underrail. Not on sale.
 

rybrad

Member
How deep is it compared with other genre titles? And how far into early access is it? Does it feel like a complete game?
It is definitely not as deep as something like Tales of Maj'Eyal but has enough complexity to be interesting for players experienced with the genre while being (somewhat) welcoming for new players. It has all the staples you would expect like unidentified potions/scrolls, varied classes/skills, lots of death, plenty of loot to find and turn-based combat. The UI is shaping up to be MUCH better than other roguelikes though which is always a big gripe for me; I think bad UI adds faux complexity in a lot of cases.

The comparison to Rogue Legacy I mentioned before is one of the things that really sets the game apart. You find various objects throughout the world from tough monsters that allow you to upgrade your Academy. Upgrading your Academy let's you do things like have all Tier 1 potions identified when you find them, provide extra stat points, and so on. All of these upgrades can be accessed immediately on a new character so you keep making progress or you can eschew them and just head out into the world.

The game also features an overworld where you travel between dungeons and towns. It adds variety to the game and makes the game feel more interesting rather than just jumping straight into the dungeon every run.

As for it feeling like a complete game, it still has a couple months to go I would say. There is still a ton of balancing/polishing happening, features being implemented, art being created and so on. You can check out the current bug list and roadmap with the status of everything here. The dev has been really good about updates and progress so I have no worries about this one getting done and being an even better game post-Early Access.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Picked up Monaco and Super House of Dead Ninjas.

Waiting for broforce...

Does anyone know the current early access state of BroForce? Is it content complete as far as the campaign goes?
 

Cyrano

Member
Thanks for your consideration Toma, and to anyone who buys Inquisitor, I hope you enjoy it! It's a great game.

Sleeping now... worked all night. -_-
 
Does anyone know the current state of BroForce? Is it content complete as far as the campaign goes?
No, far from content complete. They haven't added any of the alien levels yet. But there's still a hefty chunk of content available and the game feels solid. Similar to Prison Architect or Door Kickers, less of a skeleton of a game and more like a game that's getting free content updates.
 

Forkball

Member
Is it screwed up that I want to buy games, but I want to wait until tomorrow because my team won't benefit at all today?
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Is it screwed up that I want to buy games, but I want to wait until tomorrow because my team won't benefit at all today?

...I hate Steam sometimes.
 

aku:jiki

Member
I had most of this wishlisted but I added about half a dozen sweet-looking ones. I did go ahead and pick up Original War right away, it looked really nice to me and the description sold me immediately since I'm very nostalgic for that late 90's/early 00's era of RTS. Great thread!

Is it screwed up that I want to buy games, but I want to wait until tomorrow because my team won't benefit at all today?
It is a little screwed up considering buying games doesn't give your team points. Buy away.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
I had most of this wishlisted but I added about half a dozen sweet-looking ones. I did go ahead and pick up Original War right away, it looked really nice to me and the description sold me immediately since I'm very nostalgic for that late 90's/early 00's era of RTS. Great thread!

I hope I find the time to make a thread on it to motivate myself to go through it with others again. Loved that game when I was younger.
 
Bookmarking this; excellent work as always! Spacechem is showing up as 80% off now... only $1.99. Buying that so hard tonight.

Also, in post 6, Superbrothers and Surgeon Simulator are having a little too much fun together.
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Bookmarking this; excellent work as always! Spacechem is showing up as 80% off now... only $1.99. Buying that so hard tonight.

Also, in post 6, Superbrothers and Surgeon Simulator are having a little too much fun together.

Surprised you dont already own it actually.

And haha, guess surgeon simulator can slice up anything :p
 

Jonm1010

Banned
Thanks Toma!

One of my favorite threads last year was your hidden gems thread.

Learned about so many games I would of never even found.
 

wetflame

Pizza Dog
I salute your tireless work in bringing all these great indie games to our attention Toma! Thanks a lot. I love reading through these. Even if I don't often get a lot of them, they remain on my radar.

Reminds me, I should get back to Full Bore.
 

Knurek

Member
Some more recommendations:

Everyday Genius: SquareLogic - $4.99 (0% off, hasn't been discounted in ages if ever)
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Absolutely massive (20,000 stages) number puzzle game. Well worth the money if you like Picross or Sudoku

Ichi - $3.75 (25% off)
ss_24d8d921707112b7bf2dd65525d35d2b344db296.600x338.jpg

Another massive (100 original, 19,000 user created puzzles) puzzle game for the cheap.

Skyborn - $6.99 (50% off)
ss_62fec49a8bb41c89be01994e527c00539c6c54e5.600x338.jpg

RPG Maker games get a lot of flak from some people. Most of the times the games are badly designed, have stock artwork and are overpriced. This game on the other hand ticks all the boxes. Custom artwork, custom coding, good story. Do give it a try.

Sweet Lily Dream - $7.49 (50% off)
ss_b7fad30af9514fa7f304314c4e60a1324e0b01e3.600x338.jpg

And another RPG Maker game well worth your time. Both games were featured in a recent Humble Weekly, so you should be able to find them for a lot cheaper than what Steam currently has
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Some more recommendations:

Everyday Genius: SquareLogic - $4.99 (0% off, hasn't been discounted in ages if ever)

Its back on Steam? :-o
 

Knurek

Member
Its back on Steam? :-o

Since a few months, yes.

Not on Steam, but well worth your attention

DROD 1-2-3 - $4.99/$2.49 (50%/75% off)
568de021f057a9e447168a368840b6840ebfb1f9.jpg

Toma will disagree, but to me DROD is the best puzzle game available on PC. This compilation of first three titles allows you to additionally play a few thousand user created puzzles, many of which are on par or better with original ones.
Available on GOG, 50% off due to their Summer Sale, does reappear regularly as a flash sale at 75% off
 
Totally in for One-Way Heroics and Grand Ages: Rome. Will probably buy some more before all is said and done.

Is Grand Ages: Rome by the same people who made Tropico or am I just imagining that?
 

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Totally in for One-Way Heroics and Grand Ages: Rome. Will probably buy some more before all is said and done.

Is Grand Ages: Rome by the same people who made Tropico or am I just imagining that?

Same devs, maybe a different internal team?
 
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