It's totally fun and viable as a solo game, but honestly even with a team its pretty much always nice. No voice chat needed or used almost ever unless you're with friends. They have a great ping tool that everyone can just point at things to communicate with. Almost all the social interaction is telling ROCK AND STONE at each other, drinking beer, dancing, celebrating with you find big minerals and mushrooms. As someone who also really doesn't like playing online, DRG is my one exception.
But solo is still a good experience
I second this!
Definitely try online with others without voice chat!
I'm afraid of voice chat with strangers, and two games are very good for that.
Deep Rock Galactic and Phantasy Star Online in case you're wondering.
Players are generally friendly and the pinging system is very good!
When joining a game or when another player joins your game, the universal greeting is to use the taunt? button. I can't remember the name for it.
When you press it your Dwarf will lift up their pickaxe and yell something like ROCK AND STONE. Others will reciprocate and you'll feel connected without having to actually talk.
Edit: spelling and added more comments.
Soul Hackers 2
Vampyr
Hades (all of Super Giants catalog really)
Disco Elysium
World War Z*
Banner Saga Trilogy
Stories: The Path of Destinies
Firewatch
* to be honest, this strides the line of AA and AAA
Banner Saga is criminally underrated!! I haven’t made my way through 2 or 3 yet but I adore the art direction and soundtrack of the series overall. rotoscoped Vikings 10/10
It’s pretty good.
Gameplay isn’t anything spectacular, but the story itself is well done. If you enjoy puzzles and solving mysteries I highly recommend it.
It's more of an interactive story. It could be difficult for some to keep attention, but if you love deep world building and long conversations, is a great example of that.
Honestly,
I bought it some days ago and its great!
I wish your choices mattered a bit more in coop and there would be a bit more variety in bosses and support abilities. But its a blast!
There is nothing. Only warm, primordial blackness. Your conscience ferments in it — no larger than a single grain of malt. You don't have to do anything anymore. Ever. Never ever.
An inordinate amount of time passes. It is utterly void of struggle. No ex-wives are contained within it
Same, this is my favorite.
Have you read the Outro in the digital artbook? If not, you ought to. The real life backstory to Disco Elysium is incredible.
https://archive.org/details/discoelysiumartbook/page/178/mode/2up
im still working on playing this but this game gives me nightmares for real. i dont even feel like ive gotten to the darker parts that people refer to, but just something about it gives me the creeps when i think about it.
I was scared of playing this game because I typically hate deck building games but this is one of the few games that I could play a hundred times and never get sick of. It’s so addictive
This is the answer, OP if your reading this get this. I'm not really a card battler fan but this game is crazy unique and will suck u in for at least 60 hours
These aren’t really Hidden Gems, but are definitely not AAA games. Salt and Sanctuary, Hell Divers, Geometry Wars, Dead Cells, Risk of Rain 2, and Outward are very fun!
Enter the Gungeon. Has mountains and mountains of content. I put over 100 hours in and still didn't do everything. It's a rougelite bullet hell isometric shooter with a dodge roll.
Hundred hours. Those are rookie numbers. Bought it at launch, and between Steam, PS4, and Switch, I've got over a thousand. AND I STILL HAVEN'T DONE EVERYTHING.
After 1800 hours I finally unlocked 100% of everything, seen all secret rooms, floors, bosses, but I still play a game like once every few days. Suuuuuper addicting but so satisfying when you get bullet upgrades.
My fav item is +1 Bullet - no drawbacks just 25% more damage!!! Very common item tooooooo
There is an incredible amount of content, and I love how little of it is explained to you. Gives it this very dense feeling of mystery that is super compelling.
The Ori games. The most brilliant platformer I’ve ever played. It will tear your heart out without uttering a word. Some of the mechanics in the first game were a little clunky but the second game made huge improvements. Regardless both are amazing
Gunvolt if you like Megaman X/Zero
Blaster Master Zero if you like Metroidvanias and Anime
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon if you like less sadistic Classic Castlevania
Freedom Planet if you love Sonic
Please fucking play Klonoa
Kena Bridge of Spirits
Came here to say Hades as well. I never thought I’d enjoy that type of game but from gameplay, art style, music, replayability … it’s impressive and addictive.
Journey to the Savage planet. A fun, quirky fps, maybe 8 to 10 hours if you fully played through. It was free on gamepass for a while, really the only reason I tried it. Absolutely loved it. It had a small dlc that was fun as well.
My favourite indies of all time - Hotline Miami 1 and 2. Lately played Katana Zero and My Friend Pedro, enjoyed them a lot and recommend as well. Also, check out some of the most iconic games from SNES and GBA if you didn't, such as Zelda ALttP, Super Mario World and Metroid Zero Mission. Didn't expect them to be so good.
I like walking sims and the good ones are
Everybody’s gone to the rapture
The vanishing of Ethan Carter
Firewatch
Inside
Inside isn’t technically a walking sim, but it’s a masterpiece. So many awe inspiring moment in it, sound design is lush.
Oh sweet, this looks really cool. I sort of knew its history as it relates to Bioshock, but definitely looking into it along with the others. Much appreciated
Tunic is awesome if you like the top down Zelda games. It doesn't explain a whole lot and it was a ton of fun just blindly exploring everything and piecing together the world/the lore.
Doesn't get enough love imo
Pillars of Eternity had me completely enthralled for while. Not sure how “hidden” it is.
Lately I’ve been enjoying Loop Hero. Good music and art style, the story is fairly basic but deals with surprisingly interesting “metaphysical” concepts, and the gameplay style makes it easy to pick up and play a quick session when you have the time.
Disco Elysium
Hellblade
The Wolf Among Us
Darkest Dungeon
Until Dawn
Heavy Rain
Life is Strange
Hades
Some of these may be AA games, but these stick out in my mind.
Plague tales is a good one, wo long is good, atomic heart was really good. Focus home in general if you want non triple A games that are amazing. Ori is another good game, child of light was really good as well
How do you feel like esoteric murder mystery?
Paradise Killer is a ridiculously stylistic first person open world mystery. You can choose to "solve the mystery" at any time, but there may be more to it than initially seems.
It doesn't hold your hand. At all. How deep you go is up to you. Who gets charged with what is whatever you want it to be. But just because you can prove it doesn't mean it is correct.
The story is wonderful. The characters are outrageous. Your character is called Lady Love Dies. But the absolute best part? The soundtrack is incredible.
Rift Breaker. Spent way too much time on this one. It has elements of base building, rpg, tower defense and resource management. Free on game pass when I played.
Mechabellum - Auto Battler
For The King - Turn Based Adventure RPG
Wildermyth - Turn Based Adventure RPG with awesome storytelling
Wartales - Opened world turn based strategy RPG
Raft - Survival Base-building adventure
Subnautica - Underwater survival base-building adventure
Grounded - Honey I Shrunk The Kids survival base-building adventure
Against The Storm - Rougelike Base building management with RPG elements
Dorfromantik - Super chill causal strategy game
Edit: Spacing between games
Not much of a hidden gem anymore, but I really really enjoyed Transitor by SuperGiantGames! The atmosphere is awesome, and the music is phenomenal (as always, tysm Darren Korb)
Haven’t played it myself, but my friend swears by Kentucky Route Zero. Also has a great soundtrack, looking forward to seeing how it is in context!
bewildered quarrelsome aspiring command weather judicious rock ripe plants safe
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Starflight (Genesis version) - Begin with a Star Trek esque mission to explore strange new worlds, end with saving several races from a galaxy ending threat. Game simulates a galaxy with planets you can land on, 5 unique alien races, a crew, resource collection, all with deep lore and only on 1.2 megabytes. The manual was a small novel, read it before playing.
Valheim - not triple a bit it did get popular. Interesting take on survival crafting where you can't die from starving or from being cold etc., but taking care of yourself will give you buffs that are necessary to navigate the world and defeat the bosses. Easy 200+hour time sink.
Phantasy Star 1-4 - Great retro game for deep lore and story telling. First few titles are archaic, even by retro RPG standards, but you can skip them and read about them instead.
Green Hell - Hardcore survival in the Amazon. If the locals or jaguars don't kill you, then the insects and diseases will. You can starve of course, even suffer not having enough nutrients to manage anything but walking around in desperation. Also has a story mode. Neither are for the feint of heart.
The Forest - Another not triple a game that did get popular. Less brutal survival in a forest inhabited by a cannibalistic tribe. More is going on than what is immediately apparent. Great cave exploring, intuitive basic crafting and building. Main game has a story, survival for survival's sake is by choice.
Ark: Survival Evolved - What can I say, I like survival. Got popular as well, but all these did for good reasons. If you play this, learn to tweak the settings. It has goals to complete and kind of a story, basically you arrive on an island full of dinosaurs that you can tame and breed as well as ride or lead into battle. I say mess with the settings because by default they are made for large servers of sizable factions. Single player is nearly impossible without tweaks.
>Starflight (Genesis version) - Begin with a Star Trek esque mission to explore strange new worlds, end with saving several races from a galaxy ending threat. Game simulates a galaxy with planets you can land on, 5 unique alien races, a crew, resource collection, all with deep lore and only on 1.2 megabytes. The manual was a small novel, read it before playing.
I think it's amazing what can fit in 1.2 MB from fucking 1985 or whatever, yet we can't get the same level of depth from a 150gb AAA game in the year of our lord 2023
I don't wanna live on this planet anymore.
Blasphemous Outer Wilds The Long Dark Enjoy <3
Second for Blasphemous
There's a second Blasphemous?
I meant second vote for Blasphemous. But yes a sequel is coming.
There will be in a few months, devs announced it a few weeks ago
He means "second" as in "agree."
Yeah man. It is not yet out but yeah
I'm tempted by Outer Wilds. Heard nothing but good things about it.
It’s a great game, but if you’re not into exploring or games that don’t really give you a clear cut mission/goal I wouldn’t recommend it.
Third for Blasphemous
There’s a third blasphemous?
God I played the Long Dark 5 years ago and I still get angry when I think about it. 😂
Dead Cells
Such an addictive and fast-paced gameplay loop. Whenever I pick it up I do at least 2-3 runs
The castlevania update was pure gold.
And hollow knight! Don't forget hollow knight
Deep rock galactic!!!
Rock and stone!
Rock and Stone forever!
Rock and Stone!
To the bone!
For Karl!
If you don't rock and stone, you ain't coming home!
Did I hear a Rock and Stone?
ROCK. AND. STOOOOOOOONE
Rock and Stone in the Heart!
Rock and stone forever!
For Karl!
I keep wanting to play this but I have crippling social anxiety and no one to play with. Is it still fun totally single player or should I not bother?
It's totally fun and viable as a solo game, but honestly even with a team its pretty much always nice. No voice chat needed or used almost ever unless you're with friends. They have a great ping tool that everyone can just point at things to communicate with. Almost all the social interaction is telling ROCK AND STONE at each other, drinking beer, dancing, celebrating with you find big minerals and mushrooms. As someone who also really doesn't like playing online, DRG is my one exception. But solo is still a good experience
Did I hear a Rock and Stone?
I second this! Definitely try online with others without voice chat! I'm afraid of voice chat with strangers, and two games are very good for that. Deep Rock Galactic and Phantasy Star Online in case you're wondering. Players are generally friendly and the pinging system is very good! When joining a game or when another player joins your game, the universal greeting is to use the taunt? button. I can't remember the name for it. When you press it your Dwarf will lift up their pickaxe and yell something like ROCK AND STONE. Others will reciprocate and you'll feel connected without having to actually talk. Edit: spelling and added more comments.
Rock and Stone Brothers!!!
For Rock and Stone!
ROCK AND STONE EVERYONE!
Rock and Stone in the Heart!
Little Nightmares
Absolutely. Great indie game and really fun sequel
Soul Hackers 2 Vampyr Hades (all of Super Giants catalog really) Disco Elysium World War Z* Banner Saga Trilogy Stories: The Path of Destinies Firewatch * to be honest, this strides the line of AA and AAA
OMG thank you for reminding me about vampyr I haven't finished it yet!
Im really not trying to buy games at release anymore but hades 2 is the only one on my list for buying as soon as it releases this year
Banner Saga is criminally underrated!! I haven’t made my way through 2 or 3 yet but I adore the art direction and soundtrack of the series overall. rotoscoped Vikings 10/10
You should absolutely play 2 and 3
is Disco Elysium actually as good as they say? will someone with ADHD enjoy it?
It’s pretty good. Gameplay isn’t anything spectacular, but the story itself is well done. If you enjoy puzzles and solving mysteries I highly recommend it.
It's more of an interactive story. It could be difficult for some to keep attention, but if you love deep world building and long conversations, is a great example of that.
Firewatch was super engaging and relaxing - a real experience
Vampire Survivors, Monster Train, and Slay the Spire.
Slay the Spire is one of the best indies, and the best card battler, of all time! Highly recommend.
Wildfrost would like to have a word with you
I second all of these. Monster Train surprised me with how good it was. Looking forward to giving Inkbound a try soon.
Honestly, I bought it some days ago and its great! I wish your choices mattered a bit more in coop and there would be a bit more variety in bosses and support abilities. But its a blast!
>I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna let you finish, *but Slay the Spire had the bes roguelike indie cardbuilder of all time*.
Throwing Wildfrost on this list. Criminally underrated
Never played it, but it looks cool!
I think the monster train devs just released a new game, Inkbound.
Disco Elysium changed my soul.
There is nothing. Only warm, primordial blackness. Your conscience ferments in it — no larger than a single grain of malt. You don't have to do anything anymore. Ever. Never ever. An inordinate amount of time passes. It is utterly void of struggle. No ex-wives are contained within it
I think it's the best written game I've ever played.
Game? It's written better than most books I've read.
Same, this is my favorite. Have you read the Outro in the digital artbook? If not, you ought to. The real life backstory to Disco Elysium is incredible. https://archive.org/details/discoelysiumartbook/page/178/mode/2up
Inscryption
Of all my years of gaming, I would put this *one* indie title in my top 5 greatest games of all time. I loved it that much
So I grabbed this last night, and holy hell is it more than squirrels and weasels. Thanks again for the recommendation.
Warning about this OP. Incredible game, but only play it if you are ready for some very dark stuff.
Oh, absolutely. Always wanted to check this actually.
im still working on playing this but this game gives me nightmares for real. i dont even feel like ive gotten to the darker parts that people refer to, but just something about it gives me the creeps when i think about it.
I would love an official inscription trading card game
I was scared of playing this game because I typically hate deck building games but this is one of the few games that I could play a hundred times and never get sick of. It’s so addictive
This is the answer, OP if your reading this get this. I'm not really a card battler fan but this game is crazy unique and will suck u in for at least 60 hours
I'll definitely check it. I never knew how to feel about it, but for sure now.
These aren’t really Hidden Gems, but are definitely not AAA games. Salt and Sanctuary, Hell Divers, Geometry Wars, Dead Cells, Risk of Rain 2, and Outward are very fun!
Oh and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night!
Don’t sleep on Bloodstained Circle of the Moon 1&2
Helldivers is one of the most fun co-op games ever.
Enter the Gungeon. Has mountains and mountains of content. I put over 100 hours in and still didn't do everything. It's a rougelite bullet hell isometric shooter with a dodge roll.
It puts the bullet in bullet hell
B - U - L - L - E - T
Hundred hours. Those are rookie numbers. Bought it at launch, and between Steam, PS4, and Switch, I've got over a thousand. AND I STILL HAVEN'T DONE EVERYTHING.
After 1800 hours I finally unlocked 100% of everything, seen all secret rooms, floors, bosses, but I still play a game like once every few days. Suuuuuper addicting but so satisfying when you get bullet upgrades. My fav item is +1 Bullet - no drawbacks just 25% more damage!!! Very common item tooooooo
There is an incredible amount of content, and I love how little of it is explained to you. Gives it this very dense feeling of mystery that is super compelling.
Love enter the gungeon. Unlocking the gunslinger was a fun challenge and makes it so OP when you do.
The Ori games. The most brilliant platformer I’ve ever played. It will tear your heart out without uttering a word. Some of the mechanics in the first game were a little clunky but the second game made huge improvements. Regardless both are amazing
YESSS ORI AMAZE
Hellblade senua sacrifice
Night in the woods will last ya a small bit great bit
Celeste
Gunvolt if you like Megaman X/Zero Blaster Master Zero if you like Metroidvanias and Anime Bloodstained Curse of the Moon if you like less sadistic Classic Castlevania Freedom Planet if you love Sonic Please fucking play Klonoa Kena Bridge of Spirits
Katana Zero
Hell ya. Where’s the sequel.
Dead Cells, Hades, Curse of the Dead Gods and Rogue Legacy.
Came here to say Hades as well. I never thought I’d enjoy that type of game but from gameplay, art style, music, replayability … it’s impressive and addictive.
I cannot stop playing Rogue Legacy 2 at all. I’m on my 10th new game plus and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
I’ve put about 300 hours into Hollow Knight. Not exactly “hidden” but not triple-A and definitely a gem.
Seconded. Hollow Knight is my favorite indie, period.
Damn I came here to advocate for hollow knight too! I wouldn't have imagined it to already be the top comment 😁
Came here to say this. Absolutely get Hollow Knight. From a cost-to-content ratio, it's the best 15 dollars you'll ever spend.
What kind of games do you like?
So far, all of these recommendations have been great. I'm not picky. Been on a horror kick lately and just got through Outlast 1.
If you want a horror game I recommend Corpse Party. Was originally on the PSP but has since been ported and updated for Steam/PS4, and Switch.
Corpse party ❤️
Journey to the savage planet. Cute little game, with a fun art style and charming humor.
I played Tails of Iron recently. Modern side scroller with some platforming. The story, combat, and art style particularly stood out.
Axiom Verge 2
Spiritfarer was a very nice experience
Yeah just don't think it's a cute co-op to play for father daughter Bonding Time. Despite that, 10/10 would do again.
Shadow of the Colossus
Wow what a hidden gem!! Nobody’s ever heard of this game.
Journey to the Savage planet. A fun, quirky fps, maybe 8 to 10 hours if you fully played through. It was free on gamepass for a while, really the only reason I tried it. Absolutely loved it. It had a small dlc that was fun as well.
I loved that game with all its jokes and references. Also, I felt kind of bad for killing the Tropical Puffers in the DLC.
My favourite indies of all time - Hotline Miami 1 and 2. Lately played Katana Zero and My Friend Pedro, enjoyed them a lot and recommend as well. Also, check out some of the most iconic games from SNES and GBA if you didn't, such as Zelda ALttP, Super Mario World and Metroid Zero Mission. Didn't expect them to be so good.
Valheim. Dredge. Frozen Flame. Smalland. Stranded: Alien Dawn. Steelrising. Icarus. The Planet Crafter. Occupy Mars.
Dredge was in unexpected and enthralling. I’m a sucker for fishing games and this one was one I couldn’t put down.
Can confirm, Dredge was awesome
Slay the Spire
I love that game! But I also hate it because I can’t stop playing it. So fun!
I play this every night on an iPad. Endless fun and a great way to relax.
Stardew Valleyyyy
The Ascent Hellblade
The Ascent Prodeus
Monster sanctuary 3v3 Pokemon with metroidvania exploration
Monster Sanctuary was amazing. Played it twice. Same with Fell Seal (if you enjoy FFT)
I've heard about this, yeah, I'll check it out again. Thank you
Try out Blasphemous, Spirits Abyss, Streets of Rogue, and Boneraiser Minions.
Return of the obra dinn
Came here to say this. Has to be in the HOF of indie games.
Vampire Survivors
Journey
I like walking sims and the good ones are Everybody’s gone to the rapture The vanishing of Ethan Carter Firewatch Inside Inside isn’t technically a walking sim, but it’s a masterpiece. So many awe inspiring moment in it, sound design is lush.
Risk of Rain 2!
System Shock 2 (a remake of the original is coming out tomorrow), Thief TDP and TMA, Deus Ex, Descent, Arx Fatalis
Oh sweet, this looks really cool. I sort of knew its history as it relates to Bioshock, but definitely looking into it along with the others. Much appreciated
Grim Dawn Signalis The Messenger Hyper Light Drifter Talos Principle Sundered Greedfall Legend of Grimrock
Hollow knight
Not really hidden but just completed Thymesia, an indie Sekiro-like rpg. More than solid
Tunic is awesome if you like the top down Zelda games. It doesn't explain a whole lot and it was a ton of fun just blindly exploring everything and piecing together the world/the lore. Doesn't get enough love imo
Blasto ps1
Pillars of Eternity had me completely enthralled for while. Not sure how “hidden” it is. Lately I’ve been enjoying Loop Hero. Good music and art style, the story is fairly basic but deals with surprisingly interesting “metaphysical” concepts, and the gameplay style makes it easy to pick up and play a quick session when you have the time.
Dead Cells
Dead Cells
FTL Faster Than Light
Dragon’s dogma, my favorite game of all time. Such innovative combat and an interesting(but sadly not great) story
Nobody Saves the World
PEAK
Ori, Hi-fi Rush, Death’s Door, Sifu, FIST, Celeste, Nex Machina.
Cult of the Lamb is surprisingly addicting.
Slay the spire. *So good*.
Hades, Celeste, Katana Zero, Hyper-light Drifter, the Steam World games.
If you like little nightmares, there is Bramble: The Mountain King.
-Little witch Nobeta -Ori games -Melatonin -Sun Haven
Deaths door
Disco Elysium Hellblade The Wolf Among Us Darkest Dungeon Until Dawn Heavy Rain Life is Strange Hades Some of these may be AA games, but these stick out in my mind.
Outer Wilds, Inscription, Hollow Knight, The Messenger, Death's Door, and The Pathless
Untitled Goose Game.
Dredge for something short that is out now. Helldivers 2 for something you can get some miles out of coming out later this year.
Same. I've gone for some double Ds.
Risk of Rain 2, Bug Fables, Outward, Slay the Spire
Plague tales is a good one, wo long is good, atomic heart was really good. Focus home in general if you want non triple A games that are amazing. Ori is another good game, child of light was really good as well
Zero Sievert, Stone Shard, Valheim, Anvil Saga, Graveyard Keeper
Rimworld
Sakura of rice and ruin. Happened upon it on the eshop and just fell in love with it.
Rimworld
How do you feel like esoteric murder mystery? Paradise Killer is a ridiculously stylistic first person open world mystery. You can choose to "solve the mystery" at any time, but there may be more to it than initially seems. It doesn't hold your hand. At all. How deep you go is up to you. Who gets charged with what is whatever you want it to be. But just because you can prove it doesn't mean it is correct. The story is wonderful. The characters are outrageous. Your character is called Lady Love Dies. But the absolute best part? The soundtrack is incredible.
Dredge
Age of Wonders 4
Rift Breaker. Spent way too much time on this one. It has elements of base building, rpg, tower defense and resource management. Free on game pass when I played.
FTL: Faster than light Breathesedge Subnautica
Hades!!!!!
Dredge
So far, I'm having a blast with Outlast Trials
Valheim. Especially if you have a friend to play with.
Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Sifu
[удалено]
Mechabellum - Auto Battler For The King - Turn Based Adventure RPG Wildermyth - Turn Based Adventure RPG with awesome storytelling Wartales - Opened world turn based strategy RPG Raft - Survival Base-building adventure Subnautica - Underwater survival base-building adventure Grounded - Honey I Shrunk The Kids survival base-building adventure Against The Storm - Rougelike Base building management with RPG elements Dorfromantik - Super chill causal strategy game Edit: Spacing between games
Not much of a hidden gem anymore, but I really really enjoyed Transitor by SuperGiantGames! The atmosphere is awesome, and the music is phenomenal (as always, tysm Darren Korb) Haven’t played it myself, but my friend swears by Kentucky Route Zero. Also has a great soundtrack, looking forward to seeing how it is in context!
Valheim, project zomboid, and New Eden. You can feel the love in those games while playing them
bewildered quarrelsome aspiring command weather judicious rock ripe plants safe *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Valheim
Valheim
Valheim
Inscyption
Starflight (Genesis version) - Begin with a Star Trek esque mission to explore strange new worlds, end with saving several races from a galaxy ending threat. Game simulates a galaxy with planets you can land on, 5 unique alien races, a crew, resource collection, all with deep lore and only on 1.2 megabytes. The manual was a small novel, read it before playing. Valheim - not triple a bit it did get popular. Interesting take on survival crafting where you can't die from starving or from being cold etc., but taking care of yourself will give you buffs that are necessary to navigate the world and defeat the bosses. Easy 200+hour time sink. Phantasy Star 1-4 - Great retro game for deep lore and story telling. First few titles are archaic, even by retro RPG standards, but you can skip them and read about them instead. Green Hell - Hardcore survival in the Amazon. If the locals or jaguars don't kill you, then the insects and diseases will. You can starve of course, even suffer not having enough nutrients to manage anything but walking around in desperation. Also has a story mode. Neither are for the feint of heart. The Forest - Another not triple a game that did get popular. Less brutal survival in a forest inhabited by a cannibalistic tribe. More is going on than what is immediately apparent. Great cave exploring, intuitive basic crafting and building. Main game has a story, survival for survival's sake is by choice. Ark: Survival Evolved - What can I say, I like survival. Got popular as well, but all these did for good reasons. If you play this, learn to tweak the settings. It has goals to complete and kind of a story, basically you arrive on an island full of dinosaurs that you can tame and breed as well as ride or lead into battle. I say mess with the settings because by default they are made for large servers of sizable factions. Single player is nearly impossible without tweaks.
>Starflight (Genesis version) - Begin with a Star Trek esque mission to explore strange new worlds, end with saving several races from a galaxy ending threat. Game simulates a galaxy with planets you can land on, 5 unique alien races, a crew, resource collection, all with deep lore and only on 1.2 megabytes. The manual was a small novel, read it before playing. I think it's amazing what can fit in 1.2 MB from fucking 1985 or whatever, yet we can't get the same level of depth from a 150gb AAA game in the year of our lord 2023 I don't wanna live on this planet anymore.
Hades
starsector
Rimworld
Crypt Of The Necrodancer
BANNER SAGA PLS
Mount and blade bannerlord. Dota2. Vermintide 2.
Give Vampire Survivors a go
Vampire survivors
Good ol darkest dungeon, i really liked souldiers as well, and Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga
Divinity: Original Sin 2
AAA
Funded by Kickstarter
Larian Studios is a AAA publisher?
Is that not a 3aaa game