Trying to get into indies - looking for recommendations (Switch & Vita)

[iceblade]

I've been figuring out what I want to play for this year, and noticed that a lot of the games are big and/or long ones (Dragon Quest 11, Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Red Dead Redemption 2 are just 3 examples), so I'd like to mix things up and try smaller, more easily digestible titles too. For some reason I've never really been able to get into indies, and figure now's as good a time to try change that while expanding my horizons. What are some good recommendations that would make me want to play and find more? I've already got Papers Please, Stardew Valley, Undertale, and 2064: Read Only Memories, and am planning on getting Cosmic Star Heroine too. I'm planning on playing on Switch and Vita.

Note - I'm not looking for platformers, or really hard games (like Super Meat Boy) so please don't recommend those. Neither of those are my cup of tea.

 

[i-Jest]

Vita Stuff:

Foul Play
Phantom Breaker
TxK
Ray Gigant (maybe)
Stranger of Sword Revisited (maybe)
Saturday Morning RPG (maybe)
Adventures of Mana
Velocity
Velocity 2X
Futuridium
Dariusburst CS

I'm trying to keep platforms off the table, as per your request. It sounds like you want something you can get quick 5-10 minute play sessions out of, half an hour at the most.

 

[Lant_War]

The Binding Of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon. Top-tier roguelikes

 

[CannonFodder52]

For Switch I'd recomend these:
Night in the Woods
The Missing
Gone Home
Gris

All great games, most of them are pretty story focused and not overly challenging.

 

[Deleted member 42]

Switch:
Golf Story
Wargroove
A whole bunch of others I'm not remembering right now

Vita:
Literally every indie ever before 2016

 

[legend166]

What I've got on the Switch that I can recommend fully:

- Enter the Gungeon
- Marble it Up!
- Toki Tori 2
- Rogue Aces
- Crypt of the Necrodancer
- Guacamelee (haven't played the sequel yet)
- Super Meat Boy
- Into the Breach
- Yoku's Island Express
- Celeste
- Don't Die Mr. Robot
- West of Loathing
- Splasher
- Super One More Jump
- Hollow Knight
- Shovel Knight
- SteamWorld Dig 2
- Thimbleweed Park
- Picross S/S2
- Golf Story

 

[famikon]

Lone Survivor
FEZ
Hotline Miami 1&2
OlliOlli 2
Limbo
Inside
Bastion
Volume
Oxenfree

 

[Platy]

Switch :

Wargroove (Advance wars like)
Ninjin - Clash of Carrots (Mix of beat em up and shoot em up with hilarious story)
Just Shapes & Beats (mix of rhythm game and bullet hell. It is much more forgiving than both styles are used to be)
Wandersong ( think of a paper mario level of writing and fun gameplay ideas)
Full Metal Furies (Best beat em Up/action diablo like in the system ....it gets kinda hard for the post game because of the puzzles but the steam forum have their sollutions pretty easy if you want to skip the puzzle parts)
Horizon Chase (liked Top Gear on the 16 bits?)
Toejam & Earl Back in the Groove (if you loved the genesis one, this is a MUST)

The Binding Of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon. Top-tier roguelikes

Click to shrink...

I LOVE enter the gungeon and isaac but OP is asking for not very hard games =P

 

[HockeyBird]

Hyper Light Drifter
Axiom Verge
Oxenfree

 

[daripad]

Taking advantage of this thread. I'm playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and sometimes I want to play something that has a loop and doesn't need all my attention.

What do. You guys recommend me on Switch? I was thinking of Stardew Valley but I don't know if that is the right choice.

 

[BringBackSonics]

Into the Breach OP

 

[LonestarZues]

Gris has some light platforming which I'm not a fan of, but still a very enjoyable experience.

Into The Breach is also a very fun rogue like/strategy game.

Bury Me, My Love is basically a text adventure game that has a very well done narrative with multiple endings based on your choices and like Gris can be beat in 1 sitting.

 

[LonestarZues]

Taking advantage of this thread. I'm playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and sometimes I want to play something that has a loop and doesn't need all my attention.

What do. You guys recommend me on Switch? I was thinking of Stardew Valley but I don't know if that is the right choice.

Click to shrink...

Stardew Valley is a good pick. I can also recommend Into The Breach although that one can require your full attention at once.

Edit: Sorry for the double post.

 

[Deleted member 9857]

I'll definitely further recommend Golf Story & Wargroove on Switch

 

[HomespunFur]

Taking advantage of this thread. I'm playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and sometimes I want to play something that has a loop and doesn't need all my attention.

What do. You guys recommend me on Switch? I was thinking of Stardew Valley but I don't know if that is the right choice.

Click to shrink...

Stardew is a good choice for that I think.
Maybe a rougelike such as enter the gungeon as well.

 

[Joltik]

OP, you said you don't like platformers, but do you like Metroidvanias? Are you also okay with pinball? If so, then I highly recommend Yoku's Island Express. It's a chill Metroidvaina where you play as a mail carrying dung beetle where instead of jumping, you use the bumpers throughout the land to help you travel from place to place. In addition to the unique gameplay premise, it has a chill cast of characters, lovely art and nice music. It was one of my favorite games of last year.


Another great game is Wandersong which is an adventure game with puzzle elements in which you play as a cheery bard as you use your singing powers to solve problems and to save you world from being rebooted. It has a very excellent cast of heart-warming and quirky characters and script. Also, it has some really great music. Another one of my top games of last year.

 

[werezompire]

My favorite indie games on Switch so far are:

Has-Been Heroes - it's kind of like a roguelike RPG meets Plants vs Zombies. Bit of a learning curve, but a lot of fun once it clicks.
Into the Breach - Turn-based Strategy game where you have time-traveling mechs fighting aliens and you can see the alien moves beforehand to try to mitigate damage.
Android Assault Cactus - It's a fantastic dual-stick shooter that looks amazing. Switch port is fantastic with great visuals at 60fps even in portable mode.
Baba is You - It's a single-screen puzzle game where you push blocks and some of the blocks have words on them and connecting the words changes the rules of the stage. Like for example if the phrase "Baba is You" is on the screen and you push "Door" to where "Baba" was, you'd then control all the doors in the stage instead of Baba.

Oh and if you do decide to get Cosmic Star Heroine, the Switch version has better performance than the Vita version.

 

[SMD]

You can't say no platformers, what about Shovel Knight? One of the best games this generation.

 

[Fireblend]

Just get Hollow Knight, OP.

 

[Shinobido Heart]

Death Road to Canada!

https://www.resetera.com/threads/death-road-to-canada-is-the-best-9-bucks-i-ever-spent.104685/

 

[Harlequin]

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Firewatch

I've also heard good things about Thimbleweed Park and Little Nightmares but haven't played them yet myself.

 

[Hx]]

Hollow Knight spam incoming (I hope)

Play Hollow Knight

 

[Disclaimer]

To add a great RPG / dungeon crawler / roguelike that hasn't been mentioned:

Tangledeep.

If you enjoy job systems, dungeon exploration, loot collection, and deep character building, then this is the perfect game for you. It's my favorite game of the year so far. Beautiful SNES-inspired graphics, a boppin' OST, and well-written dialogue too.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I've been figuring out what I want to play for this year, and noticed that a lot of the games are big and/or long ones (Dragon Quest 11, Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Red Dead Redemption 2 are just 3 examples), so I'd like to mix things up and try smaller, more easily digestible titles too. For some reason I've never really been able to get into indies, and figure now's as good a time to try change that while expanding my horizons. What are some good recommendations that would make me want to play and find more? I've already got Papers Please, Stardew Valley, Undertale, and 2064: Read Only Memories, and am planning on getting Cosmic Star Heroine too. I'm planning on playing on Switch and Vita.

Note - I'm not looking for platformers, or really hard games (like Super Meat Boy) so please don't recommend those. Neither of those are my cup of tea.

Click to shrink...

In addition to this thread, you might want to also watch the upcoming Nindies Showcase on Wednesday.

 

[iceblade]

Oh wow - a whole bunch of recommendations, and most of them I've never heard of. Going to have to do a bunch of digging and investigating. Thanks everyone - it's much appreciated :D.

Vita Stuff:

Foul Play
TxK
Ray Gigant (maybe)
Stranger of Sword Revisited (maybe)
Saturday Morning RPG (maybe)
Adventures of Mana
Velocity
Velocity 2X
Futuridium
Dariusburst CS

I'm trying to keep platforms off the table, as per your request. It sounds like you want something you can get quick 5-10 minute play sessions out of, half an hour at the most.

Click to shrink...

Thanks :D. Yeah - the reason I specified portables is because I can take them to work and play while on breaks. If I have the chance to use a console or PC I can see myself playing something different instead.

Lone Survivor
FEZ
Hotline Miami 1&2
OlliOlli 2
Limbo
Inside
Bastion
Volume
Oxenfree

Click to shrink...

How difficult are Hotline Miami 1 & 2? I remember hearing about them some years back but never wound up trying them.

OP, you said you don't like platformers, but do you like Metroidvanias? Are you also okay with pinball? If so, then I highly recommend Yoku's Island Express. It's a chill Metroidvaina where you play as a mail carrying dung beetle where instead of jumping, you use the bumpers throughout the land to help you travel from place to place. In addition to the unique gameplay premise, it has a chill cast of characters, lovely art and nice music. It was one of my favorite games of last year.


Another great game is Wandersong which is an adventure game with puzzle elements in which you play as a cheery bard as you use your singing powers to solve problems and to save you world from being rebooted. It has a very excellent cast of heart-warming and quirky characters and script. Also, it has some really great music. Another one of my top games of last year.

Click to shrink...

I don't know tbh. I can't think of one that I've ever tried, so I really don't have anything to go off of. Thanks for these though - Yoku's Island Express especially looks like something I'd like to play.

My favorite indie games on Switch so far are:

Has-Been Heroes - it's kind of like a roguelike RPG meets Plants vs Zombies. Bit of a learning curve, but a lot of fun once it clicks.
Into the Breach - Turn-based Strategy game where you have time-traveling mechs fighting aliens and you can see the alien moves beforehand to try to mitigate damage.
Android Assault Cactus - It's a fantastic dual-stick shooter that looks amazing. Switch port is fantastic with great visuals at 60fps even in portable mode.
Baba is You - It's a single-screen puzzle game where you push blocks and some of the blocks have words on them and connecting the words changes the rules of the stage. Like for example if the phrase "Baba is You" is on the screen and you push "Door" to where "Baba" was, you'd then control all the doors in the stage instead of Baba.

Oh and if you do decide to get Cosmic Star Heroine, the Switch version has better performance than the Vita version.

Click to shrink...

Is the performance gap a big one? All things considered I'd prefer to play on Vita but if the Switch gives a much better experience then it'd make more sense to get it there.

To add a great RPG / dungeon crawler / roguelike that hasn't been mentioned:

Tangledeep.

If you enjoy job systems, dungeon exploration, loot collection, and deep character building, then this is the perfect game for you. It's my favorite game of the year so far. Beautiful SNES-inspired graphics, a boppin' OST, and well-written dialogue too.

Click to shrink...

Ooh! Job systems! I'm a massive fan of job system RPGs - will definitely have to check this out. Thanks a bunch :D.

In addition to this thread, you might want to also watch the upcoming Nindies Showcase on Wednesday.

Click to shrink...

I'm definitely planning to. It seems like a case of fortuitous timing, certainly.

 

[werezompire]

Is the performance gap a big one? All things considered I'd prefer to play on Vita but if the Switch gives a much better experience then it'd make more sense to get it there.

Click to shrink...

IIRC, Switch version maintains a steady 60 fps 99% of the time, whereas the Vita version may drop to 30-40 fps on the more intensive areas. Load times are really fast on Switch (similar to the PS4 & PC versions) but slower & more frequent on the Vita (the Vita only has about 0.5 GB of RAM total to be shared among the OS, GPU, and games so a lot of swapping was necessary to get the game to run on the Vita). Switch version definitely runs better overall (and personally, load times are a pet peeve of mine), but the Vita version does have achievements & is cross-buy (but not cross-save) with the PS4 version if that makes a difference.

 

[SiG]

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Battle Princess Madelyn
Hyper Light Drifter
Golf Story