I'm genuinely upset at how miserable the mobile scene is compared to the rest.

I've got a phone that's orders of magnitude above a TurboGrafx or a Game Gear, but 95% of the games are GACHA crap or so ad bloated as to be unplayable.

Even if you only have a console, it's really not THAT bad especially if you're not a conscious consumer. Like my kids love their Switch 2 games because they don't really know any better yet. They see me playing different games on my PC or even indies on the Switch and look genuinely interested so I'll get them to play those soon enough to expand their horizons (and eventually let them know how shitty a company Nintendo truly is lol).

You can emulate tons of consoles and games on your phone though

A lot of great games have been ported to phones. Then you have emulation. I am playing games up until 3DS on a 6yr old phone with a blue tooth remote that sticks to the back of my phone.

if you only have a console

... then your an idiot in the first place.

If you spent $700+ on a gaming only device that you can't use for most "PC activities" (office, banking, browsing the web, etc), than you obviously set your priorities wrong.

Most indie games run on 10 year old budget laptops/PCs and you can get them definetly cheaper than a console.

I think it's still a bit of a fair critique.

There were always sequels and garbage 30 years ago but someone who maybe only saw a movie a year the chance that it would be a new IP were higher. Studios are allergic to risk so they would prefer a mediocre known quality.

That said you're right there's more media than ever and tones of interesting options in niche areas. That said discoverability is not free. You have to put in a decent amount of effort and even still you might end up watching a niche indie darling that was never for you and come out disappointed.

For someone who only periodically dips into a form of media I think the current landscape is undeniably worse than it was and I understand when they complain about it.

On the topic of indie films, can people in-the-known share some suggestions for what's worth watching?

That's what folks don't seem to realize, it's always been about money and the entire industry has always been toxic and what we have now is it's natural outcome. There's always been non mainstream content and more recently it's become more accessable which hurts the profits of the industry meaning they do less innovating because they worry about the ROI beyond anything. This drives more people to non mainstream which increases its quality. It just requires effort to find.

I love deltarune and I enjoyed the ultrakill demo, never tried Celeste though

Most games I play are indie ones cause those are the best imo

not played those but deltarune, undertale, and celeste are on my planned list, and might check ultrakill out

i rlly like hollow knight and hollow knight silksong, which are 2 very good indie games

the main non indie ones i play are minecraft and the legend of zelda series

Depends on how you define indie. By my definition, Deltarune is still indie but made by a quintillionaire so like, meh. Celeste was indie when it was just a fantasy console bs thing.

both ultrakill and dusk look like arse, and that might turn people away

We always have and I've often ignored big corp.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/

A fun puzzle game with lots of layers to it. There's the original, stated goal. But as you work towards it, you discover lore that points you towards other puzzles.

No way Undertale/Deltarune fans haven't shown up yet

1. Jazzpunk https://store.steampowered.com/app/250260/Jazzpunk_Directors_Cut/ - Everyone should play Jazzpunk. Watch the trailer, and read no other reviews, just play it.

2. Far: Lone Sails https://store.steampowered.com/app/609320/FAR_Lone_Sails/ - a gorgeous art piece, a good story that develops through the gameplay, worth your time.

3. Void War https://store.steampowered.com/app/2853590/Void_War/ - Void War is FTL crossed with Warhammer 40k, but it's not just a reskin. If you ever wanted more FTL gameplay, Void War is it.

4. The Red Strings Club https://store.steampowered.com/app/589780/The_Red_Strings_Club/ - a great story with beautifully written characters, everything that digital storytelling should be.

5. Songs of Syx https://store.steampowered.com/app/1162750/Songs_of_Syx/ - this has been eating my brain recently. If you enjoy colony builders like Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress, Songs of Syx is potentially dangerous in that where did the last eight hours go kind of way. It's still got some rough spots, but the developer is actively working on it.

*Bonus - Fatum Betula https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281270/Fatum_Betula/ - a strange experience, like nothing else that I know of. I also recommend going into this one blind, just watch the developer's trailer.

• Star Valor is one of my all time favourites - i always come back to this one, it never gets boring.
• Dead Cells doesn't need much introduction i think.
• Pathogenic is the newest addition to my library, and it's a really fun and innovative twin stick shooter with a great soundtrack and a very polished design.
• Look Outside Is a horror survival game. Lots of body horror, for those who like that. Great atmosphere, i love playing it at night on my steam deck.

Outer wilds a fun little mystery game about exploring a small alient solar system

Don't look up anything about it and go in as blind as you can for the best experience

There are some NSFW games I've had a lot of fun with that are contenders for a space in your library:

The Flipwitch series is a fun Metroidvania that asks "what if changing gender at will was a gameplay mechanic?"

Scarlet Maiden was my first 2d platformer roguelike I've ever sunk hours into and really turned me on to the genre, pun intended.

Spirit Valley is "what if Pokemon but with sexy monster girls?" There are even shinies to hunt!

Elf Girl Pinball is a lot of fun!

Tower/Sword of Succubus are two entirely different genres. Tower is more puzzle based, Sword is essentially sexy Zelda. Even comes with the free Castlevania throwback: Succubus Hunter. The series even expands further into search-action with Midnight Castle Succubus DX and Castle in the Clouds DX. Seriously, check these out while you wait for Belmont's Curse.

Smash Girls looks fun if you can get it to run without crashing and rebooting your PC. Basically Smash Bros with Hentai.

Voices of the Void is great and free! It’s a game set in a government facility in the woods where you monitor satellites to try to detect aliens.

!VoicesOfTheVoid@indie-ver.se

https://store.steampowered.com/developer/knucklecracker

I really enjoyed most games by Knuckle Cracker. They're very unique and different.

if you’re looking for a fun couch coop game, towerfall is really awesome! it’s a 2D vertical fighting game with bows, the controls are very easy to pick up and the rounds are fast, so anyone can join in and it’s really fun!

Right now I am hitting endgame in SolarPunk. I fucking love it.

Im the type, if a game hands you a gun, and says go kill the bad guys, Ill pass. It's very clear in this game, it will not be for everyone, I however, have sunk 60 hours into it in the last few weeks. It's for me, and I love it.

I have to use every opportunity to recommend vivid/stasis. Its amazing, my favorite game

catgirl is another cool game

Both games are free and have a cool story, the second took me 5 hours to finish, in the first one i have spent 117 hours

A bunch of Indiana Jones fighting against techno-feudalists seeking to hoarde proprietary

Shut up and take my money!

For real though, casual and chill-out games are so cathartic. Sure, I love my edgy soulsborne action adventures... But a couple of edibles and some Slime Rancher and I'm happy as a clam.

Watching Paradox Interactive transition from AA into a AAA studio has been painful. They fill a niche that nobody else is really paying attention to, but they've become so entrenched that the games are really starting to feel like reskins of each other, and while I wouldn't call their DLC strategy predatory, they feel just a hair below that point.

"Historical strategy simulator" is a pretty tough genre to attack as an indie dev, though.