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Disco Elysium
Hollow Knight! Got me into indie games.
Disco Elysium
Primer. Like $12k budget, mostly cost of film.
Journey!
What Remains of Edith Finch. Is that a 'small' enough game? Affected me deeply, tho.
Games:
- To the Moon
- Gris
- Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
- This War of Mine
- Inked: A Tale of Love
- Papers, Please
Movies (this list I had to think about for a while...):
- 50/50 (2011)
- Amour (2012)
- The Station Agent (2003)
- Columbus (2017)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Books:
- The Bookshop
- The Lives of Others
Edit: spelling
Thomas was alone. Never have I had such strong feelings for a bunch squares and rectangles
TUNIC
It's a good game in general, but
spoiler
If you, as a kid, had to decipher an older sibling's notes in game manual, it hits that nostalgia right on the nose. And then turns it on its head.
Man from Earth.
Coherence.
Unpacking (game)
Dear Esther
Small indie film? Dear Zachary is a documentary produced on a shoestring budget, and it is an absolutely devastating piece of art. Just thinking about the film puts a lump in my throat.
SIGNALIS (indie horror game). Very good, scary, I cried. Strongly recommend.
17776, especially the start and end (you do not need to care about American football at all to enjoy this story)
I thought a game like To The Moon would have been high up, but everyone has their own tastes.
Though, I will say, the sequel, Finding Paradise, is definitely worth it and is my choice. Even with the little bits of comedy and things that take away from the seriousness of the story, it's still an amazing story. Just as good as To The Moon, if you ask me.
Chappie might be borderline, but it goes so hard emotionally for a movie that basically had no critical reception.
Before Your Eyes. I was going through some major stuff at the time and I'll associate the game with that summer forever. It has a very unique mechanic and it ties into the game really well without feeling like a gimmick. Takes about 3 hours to complete, so not a huge investment either.
DELTARUNE. toby's been changing my brain chemistry for 10+ years now
Games: INSIDE, We Happy Few
This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren't put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.
Most indie games will end up better than pretty much every AAA title. The best games I've played in the last decade were either indie or AA.
Roboquest, Pathfinder WotR, Dyson Sphere Program, Outer Wilds, Balatro, Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Rogue Trader, Darktide, Abiotic Factor, Rimworld, Stellaris, DV Rings of Saturn, Hardspace Shipbreaker, Voices of the Void, Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Tiny Glade, Witchfire, Instruments of Destruction, Heart of the Machine, Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon, A Webbing Journey, Planet Crafter, Kenshi, X4, Ultrakill, Schedule 1, the list goes on.
All amazing games, none of them AAA.
Honestly, all of them.
Applying the term "Indie" to a book feels interesting to me, because almost all books, even ones that are part of intensely popular franchises, are written by a single author - so in a sense, all books are Indy.
Of course team size is only one aspect. There's also budget and commercial involvement. But budget doesn't have to be a constraining factor for books the way it is for movies. And if you're the only person pushing the keyboard keys then you are the one with ultimate creative control.
If you are a penniless author and publish a hit and get rich, does your next book then stop being indie, even though it's still just you? Or maybe it's no longer indie because your circumstances have changed.
Game no one's mentioned yet: Look Outside
The game I wanted to say was already said, so I'll go with a movie! The 2018 Korean film "Burning".
A game released in 2008 called Iji. At first glance, it seems like a simple platformer, but think again. It's an amazing blend of platforming and RPG mechanics. The game reacts to the decisions you make resulting in multiple endings.
Mine is music and the answer is essentially literally any Indy band that I like, I like WAY more than any mainstream artist.
but like I have several Indy bands that do different styles, so I don't know what my actual taste is.
here's my recent plays if anyone wants to tell me :)
Blood machines. It's only a half hour cgi movie. But it hits super hard for me.
Frisbee
Adastra.
I'm still infatuated with that dumb wolf. 😩
Game - Factorio. Literally broke my 5 year gaming fast. I've spent over 1000 hours in it.
Film - Boondock Saints. Not a fan of the gore in it, but damn is the rest of it amazing. Willem Dafoe, excellent as usual.
Book - I honestly don't know if I've read any indy books. I don't know the production status of books.
I just finished ViewFinder. It's peaceful, surreal, beautiful, and poignant. Highly recommended if you like puzzle games. The end hits you in the feels.
I've been a pretty big fan of both Elex games from Piranha Bites.
In terms of world design, scale, etc.. It's rare that I come across a game that actually sucks me into exploring every part of the open world map like Elex and Elex 2 did.
They're also games that don't hold your hand. Enemies don't level with you. Meaning that if you wander into an area with strong enemies, that's on you. A lot of people complained about that aspect of it, saying that it leads to having to spend a lot of early game running and dodging fights. But to me, that's the entire point, finding creative ways to deal with the enemies that you're too weak to deal with.
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I've lured stronger enemies into towns for the NPCs to deal with; adding just enough hits of my own to get the experience points. (added bonus of looting the corposes of the townsfolk that were killed dealing with it)
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I've skipped entire minor fetch quests (like paying off a gate guard to get access to a town) by again luring an enemy to him and having it kill him because the games have very few non-killable characters.
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I've spent an hour skirting along the edge of a crater riding the line between freezing by going any higher and getting one hit killed by enemies if I go any lower just to get to a hut that I spotted in the distance.
Honestly, for AA games that certainly have their flaws, there are parts of both that blow the modern Bethesda games out of the water.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
It's an amazing punk rock musical and a kickass indie film.
A couple of games from recent years: Chants of Sennaar (linguistic puzzles and incredible vibes) and 1000xResist (this game had something many big game devs seemingly have completely forgotten about, specifically, writing).
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