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Snoman Gaming: Top 10 Underrated Indie Games of the Decade

Xterrian

Xterrian

Member
Apr 20, 2018
2,815


I know, a year late. He addresses that point in the video.

Normally I'm not a big fan of "youtuber ranks x" threads but this one is an exception. Snoman is one of the best channels for gaming analysis, and indie games deserve more spotlight. Hopefully this video leads to some people finding hidden gems that they enjoy. There's a couple on there that I've wishlisted on the eShop thanks to this.

Edit: Adding the list as requested. Unfortunately YouTube is bugging out on my phone, so I'll just list them in non-ranked order, rather than getting some incorrect.

Volgarr the Viking
Yoku's Island Express
Just Shapes and Beats
Golf Story
Wandersong
The End is Nigh
Return of the Obra Dinn
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Tiny Barbarians DX
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
 
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zMiiChy-

zMiiChy-

Member
Dec 12, 2017
1,881
Video unavailable for me
??

Though If the thumbnail is anything to go by I definitely agree with Momodora and Yoku's Island express.
 
Platy

Platy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,765
Brazil
Not sure i would call some of them underrated (obra din and bloodstained are pretty popular) but

Just Shapes and Beats
Golf Story
Wandersong

those 3 are pure love
 
.exe

.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,303
Good games, all of them! Though most seem relatively high-profile on the indie scale of things.

Two of my favs that have been painfully overlooked:


 
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Pirateluigi

Pirateluigi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,901
Very few of that list are what I would consider underrated. Still, they're great games so I'm always happy to see them get more buzz.
 
Regiruler

Regiruler

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,332
United States
I didn't like Shapes & Beats that much tbh. A dodging-only game, the soundtrack was hit or miss IMO, and it didn't even feel like the attacks fully lined up to the music.
 
vaderise

vaderise

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,915
Antalya / Turkey
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hiredhand

hiredhand

Member
Feb 6, 2019
3,170
Almost all of those are high profile and well-reviewed indie games. They are good games but hardly underrated.
 
jett

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,675
Volgarr the Viking is great. It manages to capture a proper 16-bit, 240p feel that most retro games fail at.
 
bounchfx

bounchfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,674
Muricas
pretty great list. there are actually sooo many really awesome indies that it's hard to make a list like that to begin with. I'm not sure some of those are underrated but I guess it depends in what way.
 
ThisOne

ThisOne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,938
Interesting list. I thought Momodora was pretty bad. It's well liked on here by quite a few people and so I bought it blindly. Some of the art is terrible and it's pretty short and shallow. Volgarr is great. Really tough but I loved it. I own End is Nigh but still haven't given it much time.
 
Nocturnowl

Nocturnowl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,189
I'm reminded that I never even beat the first level of Volgarr, i'm a sham!

I'll never miss an opportunity to trumpet the virtues of the 2018 combo of Bloodstained Curse of the Moon and Yoku's Island Express.

Started Wandersong on gamepass earlier in the year but timed out before returning, I did like what I played, was just about to hop onto the ship seen in the vid, really feels like "what if Super Paper Mario was good?"

Meanwhile Momodora I dropped about halfway through, felt like I was playing a very well presented but otherwise really rote take on the Igavania style of game

Probably should've pushed further into Golf Story to get past the part where it's still playing things semi straight as a (goofy) golf game, felt like the mechanics weren't all there for when I tackled 9 fairly standard holes of golf.

Straight up never even heard of tiny barbarian but it's going on the list.

pixelpatron said:
This thread needs more bomb chicken.
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the final stages of this game made my throat hoarse
 
FreddeGredde

FreddeGredde

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,907
I feel like I see all of those games on "best indie games" lists all the time.

WANDERSONG though! Now that's a game that needs to be played by everyone.
 
ScreamingMadden

ScreamingMadden

Member
May 5, 2018
7,353
This list has Wandersong, Yoku's Island Express, Golf Story and Obra Dinn. Great list, even though I feel Obra Dinn is fairly well known.
 
Ionic

Ionic

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,735
I'm glad he covered Volgarr. It's one of the best traditionally hard indie games I've ever played, but your skill progression with it can be immense. You die 100 times on every level you get to, but the second time you'll die only 50 times. And within a few attempts it will be maybe once or even zero. Adult Swim did a promo where the first 10 people to beat the true ending got their screen name on aired on a bump and I grinded pretty hard to see if I could get it in time. Excellent fun.
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,134
For the people saying Bloodstained isn't underrated, this is the 8-bit type one, not the main Bloodstained game.
 
kiriku

kiriku

Member
Oct 27, 2017
947
If you are covering an entire decade of indie games and then include stuff like Golf Story , Bloodstained and Obra Dinn as underrated games... it's kind of unfortunate when there are sooooo many other games to choose from that could use some of that spotlight.
 
ShinobiBk

ShinobiBk

One Winged Slayer
Member
Dec 28, 2017
10,122
I don't agree with Golf Story or Obra Dinner being on here. They are fairly well known and liked for indie games.
Curse of the Moon I can kind of understand. It's in the shadow of Ritual of the Night even if a lot of people think CoTM is the superior game.
 
Catshade

Catshade

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,200
Not exactly underrated. If I make a similar list, I'd scour itch.io and find hidden gems that only exist there.
 
spineduke

spineduke

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
8,777
kiriku said:
If you are covering an entire decade of indie games and then include stuff like Golf Story , Bloodstained and Obra Dinn as underrated games... it's kind of unfortunate when there are sooooo many other games to choose from that could use some of that spotlight.
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Seriously, it sounds like whoever wrote this list doesn't actually go that far in the rabbit hole that is indie.
 
Bonfires Down

Bonfires Down

Member
Nov 2, 2017
2,825
The ones I've played:

Volgarr: Nope, can't handle these challenging NES type where you have to repeat each stage 50 times before you learn it. Gameplay is good if that's your thing though.
Yoku: Didn't really feel this one either but it's decent.
Momodora: My favorite of this bunch. Fun and beautiful but I wouldn't consider it essential.
Curse of the Moon: Again, not a huge fan of this NES gameplay. Ritual of the Night is far more enjoyable to me.

Obra Dinn is definitely on my to play list.
 
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