Best Indie Games of 2024

Indie video games have had a fairly nice 2024. From video games that rival large business titans to smaller experiences that’ll depart you feeling emotionally unwell, there’s some nice selection.

It has been particularly good to be an indie fan, with most triple-A titles this 12 months pulling their punches, and most award exhibits selecting to appoint an indie or two for Sport of the Yr.

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We have polled the DualShockers crew for his or her ten greatest indie video games launched this 12 months, and this checklist is a results of that ballot, with all our tastes being mixed into some kind of opinion soup.

That mentioned, I am fairly assured that it is a nice illustration of one of the best indie video games to launch this 12 months, and I am very happy to go over what made every sport shine.

10 Pacific Drive

Supernatural Survival

Pacific Drive is an unbelievable merging of a sci-fi paranormal survival sport and a campy driving journey the place you get to customise and equipment out your automotive, and it is nice.

It has an extremely cool 90s aesthetic, with all the things at all times warping and altering round you in a New Bizarre setting that retains you in your toes, making the survival side a little bit scarier and making the general vibe extremely partaking.

You are continuously looting stuff, filling up your pockets, then driving previous large surreal and otherworldly anomalies, hoping your automotive would not get wrecked, and in case your automotive does get broken, you’d higher have provides to repair it.

It even has a tinge of horror to it, with these anomalies taking type as bizarre, paranormal occasions and creatures. It is unpredictable, tough as hell, and extremely artistic.

9 9 Sols

A Combined Drink of Insanity

9 Sols is a gorgeous hand-drawn Metroidvania, with a parry and fight system taken proper out of Sekiro, and it is probably the greatest Metroidvanias in the event you like intense fight.

It’s going to have you ever trudging by metallic hallways, operating up partitions, grappling as much as an enemy, watching them rigorously, parrying them, and making them explode.

It feels extremely satisfying, rewarding nice timing, platforming ability, and mastery of your distinctive talents that makes you’re feeling like an extremely nimble executioner.

It is extremely moody, with a gorgeous cyberpunk vibe combined with Tao tradition, making for a superbly made but extremely grotesque expertise, and it deserves its spot right here.

8 Thank Goodness You are Right here

A Hilarious Misadventure

Thank Goodness You are Here’s a delightfully comedic journey the place you go round and trigger chaos, remedy issues, and discover probably the most British pocket-sized world ever.

It is just a few hours lengthy, nevertheless it’s crammed to the brim with pure comedy gold and really accessible gameplay consisting of hitting no matter you will discover and exploring down the beautiful linear path the sport units out for you.

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Meaning if the comedy would not land for you, there’s nothing right here apart from the charming model, nevertheless it’s such an interesting, hilarious sport that it is captured everybody’s hearts. Not less than right here at Dualshockers.

You have obtained some daft commercials, cheeky dialogue, and extremely unusual blokes that’ll depart you feeling happy to bits. That is what they are saying over there, proper?

Briefly, it is laugh-a-minute comedy, and contemplating how few video games truly nail comedy, it makes this one a must-play for anybody in determined want of a stomach snicker.

7 Rivals of Aether II

The Final Brawl

The Tremendous Smash Bros. collection has had it too good for too lengthy, with most different platform fighters releasing and dropping their gamers inside every week, however such will not be the case with Rivals of Aether II.

Rivals looks like a correct challenger to Smash’s system, bringing that very same stage of polish and extremely designed fighters to a sport that is quicker, and truly listens to the participant base for as soon as.

It is obtained a bunch of superior characters that every one have extraordinarily distinctive play-styles, with none of them feeling tremendous underpowered, and it is arduous to state simply how huge of an accomplishment that’s.

Most combating video games have a number of characters filling the decrease tiers, however each Rivals character is A tier at worst, they usually’re all actually enjoyable to play, making this a combating sport completely value attempting.

6 One other Crab’s Treasure

Colourful Crustacean Souls

In case you’ve ever needed a Soulslike that is not a darkish and moody expertise, then One other Crab’s Treasure is a foolish sport the place you play as a hermit crab that has to scavenge trash for brand new shells.

It is simply concerning the best Soulslike to get into, with the charming underwater sea life aesthetic, actually enjoyable scavenging mechanics that have you ever scrambling for rubbish in the midst of fights, and humorous dialogue.

As a substitute of simply going by the identical construction that the majority Souls-likes go for, you have obtained enjoyable platforming, colourful mob fights, and easy-to-understand techniques that make this the proper strategy to take a look at if the souls style is for you with out being pummelled by the Asylum Demon.

It is very nice to see this sport get this a lot recognition, too, making its means onto this checklist and getting common acclaim, since Going Below was such an underrated title by the identical crew.

5 Neva

Scarily Lovely

Although its obtained a couple of flaws, Neva is a gorgeous, clever expertise that places you within the footwear of a lady and a wolf cub that grows up with you in a dying world.

It is obtained some stunning platforming, and although the excellent visuals can are likely to override the gameplay a little bit an excessive amount of, it’s going to nonetheless wow you with the pure artistry on show.

Not like most video games that go full pressure within the artsy path, Neva backs up the model with substance, providing refined platforming and puzzles, with the platforming segments even daring to get a little bit difficult at instances.

It is a robust suggestion to anybody in search of a gorgeous, story-heavy platformer, and I am glad to see folks agree that it deserves recognition as one of many best indies this 12 months.

4 Palworld

Do not Look Now, Nintendo

What can I say? Palworld is Pokémon however with weapons, and that idea has fairly a little bit of common enchantment to it, particularly once they are likely to evolve Pokémon’s concepts greater than Sport Freak would.

It is a related system to what Legends Arceus had, however as extra of an open-world survival affair, having you craft gadgets, put your ‘mons to work, and be artful to outlive.

The grittier and extra reasonable parody of a normally family-friendly and cartoonish franchise is not something new, however Palworld does that whereas additionally providing an unbelievable gameplay expertise to assist the satire.

It is so good that it obtained Nintendo to try to sue them out of existence, which must be a fairly good indicator that it is value giving it a strive in case it is gone quickly.

3 Animal Nicely

Delightfully Mysterious

Bigmode, the publishing firm began by Dunkey, had fairly a bit to show with their first-ever launch, they usually knocked it out of the park and subsequently slam-dunked it with Animal Nicely.

It is a Metroidbrainia that, in contrast to most video games that get referred to as a Metroidbrainia, truly looks like a Metroid sport on prime of utilizing your information as the most important development gadgets.

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On prime of that, you have obtained real upgrades that really feel like main sport changers, enabling new, extremely distinctive methods to resolve puzzles or distract the bizarre dog-cat apparition.

It is such a singular expertise, with gadgets that really feel customized match for speedrunners and expert gamers which might be nonetheless enjoyable to fiddle with simply casually, which is one thing you will not typically see on this style.

2 Hades II

Early Entry, However Unimaginable

Hades was already probably the greatest roguelite experiences on the market, virtually redefining the style because it dropped, so it is fairly apparent as to why Hades II made this checklist.

It tells a completely new story with a brand new protagonist, which is smart, as the primary sport squeezed out each drop of appeal from its characters, and this one does simply the identical with its unbelievable forged.

It is nonetheless in early entry, but it is nonetheless a good fuller expertise than the primary sport, with the identical intense isometric motion hack and slash fight on prime of some actually superior content material.

This making it onto the checklist is a no brainer, because it was a shoo-in from the advantage of being a virtually excellent sequel that provides loads to like for folks leaping into Hades for the primary time or for returning followers.

1 Balatro

Higher Than Playing

After all, the indie sport nominated for Sport of the Yr was certain to prime the checklist of greatest indies, and that darling poker roguelike occurs to be Balatro.

This sport has doubtless stolen a couple of hundred thousand hours for you because it has myself and has offered tens of millions of copies, with that determine ever-rising with the sport’s launch on cell.

It is all of the extra charming as this single dev challenge was by no means meant to go anyplace, seen as a ardour challenge, however has blossomed right into a globally profitable sport.

It is an extremely addictive, meditative sport the place you have to make use of unbelievable technique and arithmetic to succeed or simply pull an awesome legendary Joker out of nowhere and win with out even attempting.

I believe it says loads that regardless of how a lot cash the triple-A studios throw at a sport, they’re going to by no means match the appeal a singular man pours into his humorous card sport, and Balatro is the proper instance of why indies are superior.

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