So many great games out there don’t get the spotlight they deserve. Some of them release right under our noses, some diamonds in the rough. For this list, we’re giving you 20 of those hidden gems. All of them were released this year. Do you think you’ll recognize some of them?
Tune in til the end for the best-rated titles and don’t forget to subscribe for more.
20. Beyond the Long Night
We’re starting our list with a charming yet brutal twin-stick shooter Beyond the Long Night. You play as an explorer looking for a way out of the Dark Mountain, an underground kingdom that, for some mysterious reason, is stuck in a time loop.
Your journey begins in the deepest part of this mountain but the way out is not just up. You need to move from cavern to cavern. Oftentimes, needing to go back down or move sideways. A cavern will have monsters that need killing, puzzles you have to solve, treasures, and interesting NPCs. You can upgrade weapons, health, attack speed, and more if you survive long enough.
Beyond the Long Night has a playscore of 7.3 out of 10. It’s a solid choice for fans of 2D roguelikes despite some design flaws that hamper the experience. The most obvious ones are the small, hard-to-see traps and monsters.
19. Vernal Edge
PC — PS5 — Xbox Series X|S — PS4 — Xbox One — Switch
Meanwhile, in another kingdom, a young warrior is on a vengeful quest to find her estranged father. Vernal Edge is a fast-paced metroidvania-ISH game. Okay, okay, okay. Forget about the story; IMO, it doesn’t really stand out. Unfortunately, it’s the same for the characters.
Vernal Edge is all about movement and combat. The attacks, the juggles, and the dashes will remind you of Smash Bros. Although Devil May Cry might be a better comparison. And don’t miss the killer music.
18. This Means Warp
If you’re looking for a game to play with friends, This Means Warp is perfect. It’s a space adventure that supports up to 4 players, either locally or online.
Have you played or heard of Overcooked? This Means Warp has the same potential for multiplayer chaos! How about FTL? Well, this game comes with the same procedurally-generated surprises, ship management, and space battles. With the added option to level-up your characters so they get better at tasks like shooting and repairs.
And although you can play it by yourself, I don’t recommend it.
17. Liberte
Liberte, on the other hand, is best played solo. It’s a deck-building, roguelike inspired and set during the bloody days of the French Revolution. It’s not a historical game. In fact, it’s an alternate take on history. There’s still warring factions, but with magic spells, monsters, and a lot more.
Most reviewers compare Liberte to Hades. Yes, there are similarities. But Liberte can get repetitive and while the combat is good, it lacks that visual impact that you experience in Hades. Fortunately, the developers are responsive. There have been updates since its release, with more fixes around the game’s combat promised in the near future.
16. Life of Delta
From a game set in the past, let’s blast to the future. Life of Delta is a point-and-click adventure set in a future where humanity has been wiped out by nuclear war. Our protagonist Delta is a service robot who’s on a journey across post-apocalyptic Japan to find his friend.
It’s a short game. You can probably finish all the puzzles in less than five hours. Where it stands out is the visuals. It comes with 28 beautiful hand-painted levels, with more than 50 cleverly-designed puzzles.
True, there are players who loved it… But it ends in a cliffhanger so it feels like an unfinished game or a prologue to a longer one.
Is there a game that you think should be on this list? Let us know in the comment section. We’ll see how it ranks against our picks and, who knows, you might see it in the next videos!
15. Dungeon Drafters
Next up is Dungeon Drafters, a single-player deck-builder that combines dungeon crawling with a unique premise: “Magic is cards and cards are magic.”
The deck-building aspect of the game is excellent. It offers a rich array of cards and effects that will have you exploring different builds and strategies. As for dungeon crawling, it can range from demanding to downright frustrating. If you die, you will lose your loot.
It had the potential to be standout title but was initially plagued with issues:
- An un-intuitive user interface
- Clunky progression
- And the absence of auto-save within dungeons, to name a few.
However, it’s not all gloom and doom. The developers are quick to push new updates. So it’s improving. It’s also expected to release on the Switch, PS4, and Xbox One later this year.
14. Lunark
PC — PS5 — Xbox Series X|S — PS4 — Xbox One — Switch
For those of you gaming on consoles, you might want to check out Lunark. It’s available on all major gaming platforms, including the Nintendo Switch.
Lunark is a sci-fi adventure set in a planet ruled by a totalitarian regime. Although, this game will not appeal to everyone. It caters to a specific group of gamers. Those who grew up with cinematic platformers from the 90s like Prince of Persia and Flashback.
Don’t worry, it’s not stuck in the past. The controls have been modernized. And, it even managed to fit some great pixel animations and quality soundtrack.
13. ArcRunner
For those getting frustrated with all the AI this, AI that… ArcRunner is a cyberpunk shooter you can play to vent. An evil AI has gone rogue and you must shoot your way across the space station to destroy it.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Straightforward gameplay: fight and destroy enemies, unlock new loadout, power up, and clear new areas.
- Graphics is decent but the gunplay and combat are enjoyable.
Arcrunner is one of those games where you just shoot and turn everything else off. If you’re looking for an action-packed escape, this could be just what you need.
12. The Expanse: A Telltale Series
PC — PS5 — Xbox Series X|S — PS4 — Xbox One
The Expanse: A Telltale Series, on the other hand, is on the heavier side. Much like past Telltale games, this is an episodic adventure. It’s a prequel to the popular sci-fi tv series. But you don’t need to have watched the show to make sense of the narrative. For those who have, it follows Camina Drummer as she ventures into the uncharted areas of The Belt.
There are two key differences from past Telltale games:
- First, A new episode is released every two weeks, similar to tv shows. The fifth and final one will be available on September 21.
- Second, you only pay once for the entire series. So no more paying for new episodes.
From the reviews of the first two chapters, it seems like a promising game. But, I think it resonates more with fans of the show. I forgot to mention, for PC gamers, this is an Epic Games exclusive.
11. NOOB - The Factionless
PC — PS5 — Xbox Series X|S — PS4 — Xbox One — Switch
For a game-ception experience, I present NOOB - The Factionless. It’s a turn-based RPG about a group of ‘noobs’ striving to reach the highest level in an MMO. It has all the trappings of an old-school RPG: turn-based battles, different job classes, unlockable weapons and abilities, and retro sound effects.
Believe it or not, it’s based on a French web series. It’s pretty popular, and if you’re a fan, you might enjoy this. If, like me, you’re not a fan, then you’ll have to contend with:
- The decent-looking world with meh sprites
- The Simplistic combat
- And an English translation that is far from perfect.
Still, the music is great and the characters, goofy as they are, might just grow on you.
10. Zoeti
The same can be said for Zoeti — with its quality music and three endearing playable characters. Plus, it has a cute, bright visual style.
What’s unique about it is that, for a deck-building game, all three characters have fully-fleshed-out backstories. And instead of introducing its own set of cards, it uses poker hands.
Each hand has a skill tied to it. So when you draw, say a Full House, you can cast that specific ability. The stronger the hand, the more powerful the skill is. And, if you’re not familiar with poker, it doesn’t take much to get the hang of the basics.
9. Invector: Rhythm Galaxy
For your casual gaming fix, check out Invector: Rhythm Galaxy. This rhythm game lets you pilot a spacecraft to the beat of popular tracks. With WMG as its publisher, expect to hear songs from some of the biggest artists like Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa, Gucci Mane, and The Spinners.
Yes, it’s based on and developed by the same studio as the popular rhythm game AVICII Invector. Rhythm Galaxy has a more polished gameplay. But, some tracks are better than others. You might end up re-playing the same few tracks and ignoring the rest.
8. Ash of Gods: The Way
It may look like it but Ash of Gods: The Way is not related to The Banner Saga. The developers did say that it’s one of their inspirations. It’s a followup to a 2018 game Ash of Gods: Redemption. The Way is a tactical deck building RPG. In a typical match, you’ll wield 10 warrior cards and 10 support cards. Every turn, you can play one of each card. It’s like chess where the goal is to capture the King, in this case kill the commander. It’s a challenging game that plays more like a puzzle. The battlefield, the situation, the rules, and your opponent have as much effect on your chances of winning as the cards that you play with. Every battle is unique and the tactics that won you the last round, will not guarantee another win.7. Mr. Saitou
Almost all of the games in this list include fighting, except for Mr. Saitou. This is a heartwarming game about an average white-collar worker who struggles to find the meaning of life.
The game is short, funny, lighthearted, and you don’t need to fight anyone. If you read all the reviews on Steam, like I did, one word will stand out. C-U-T-E, cute. And that’s exactly what this game is.
The visuals, the music, the dialogs, there’s even a train ride… they’re CUTE.
6. Shoulders of Giants
PC — Xbox Series X|S — Xbox One
Now back to killing with Shoulders of Giants. The forces of Entropy are spreading chaos across the universe and it’s your job to stop them. This is an action roguelike where you play two characters: a sword-wielding robot and a gunslinging frog.
There’s a tendency for repetition but it’s far from a mindless grind:
- You can gather and unlock new weapons and abilities that will change the way you approach new levels
- And online coop supports up to four players
It’s only available on Epic Games for now…but it’s set to release on Steam, we just don’t have a launch date yet.
5. Moons of Darsalon
And we have yet another space adventure with Moons of Darsalon, a retro “save-them-all” platformer that’s perfect on the Steam Deck.
Space miners are lost and trapped in the many moons of the planet Darsalon. It’s your job to find and escort them back to the closest base station. But it won’t be that easy. Many dangers await their path to rescue.
The whole package is a nostalgic trip: the music, the CRT filter, even the animations. Moons of Darsalon is made for older gamers, especially those who enjoyed Lemmings. In fact, it plays like Lemmings with some mechanics from Worms thrown in the mix.
4. The King’s Dilemma: Chronicles
For a game of high stakes, check The King’s Dilemma: Chronicles.
An ancient prophecy foretells an uprising that will destroy your home kingdom. You play as the Head of the Council, very close to the King. In this position of power, every choice that you make affects the future and survival of the kingdom…. And you will be faced with hundreds of them.
If you don’t like political sims, y0u can skip this part. It’s tedious. You read lots of text, with choices reduced to a simple Yay or Nay! Though based on a board game, some players do agree that the mechanics did not translate well.
Despite being a short game, lasting around 6 hours on your first run, its replayability keeps it engaging.
3. Homebody
PC — PS5 — Xbox Series X|S — PS4 — Xbox One — Switch
If that’s too much for you, how about a psychological horror-slash-puzzle game? Homebody is developed by the team behind the YouTube channel GameGrumps. It follows classic slasher tropes: a group of friends, there’s a conflict between them, a killer on the loose, a mystery… all set in a spooky, isolated rental house.
Is it the house? Is it one of your friends? Or is it something more? You must unravel the mysteries if you want to survive the night! And if you hate jumpscares in horror games, you won’t find them in Homebody.
2. Rusted Moss
If there’s one underrated indie gem that I hope you play this year, it’s Rusted Moss. It’s like Celeste with a grappling hook and guns.
The Age of Men nears its end and the Age of Fae is about to begin. This is a story of Fern, a human with a soul of a fae, as she journeys to decide who will rule the world.
Why do I recommend it?
- Enjoyable platforming
- Beautiful visual and music
- Intense boss fights
- The grappling is actually fun once you need to get the hang of it
- And the story…Well, you have to experience it.
1. 8-bit Adventures 2
And the highest-rated game of this list is 8-bit Adventures 2, with a playscore of 8.9 out of 10.
Don’t be fooled by the generic-sounding title. This is the ultimate homage to classic JRPGs from the N-E-S to P-S-1 eras.
- It has a solid story
- Lovable cast of characters
- Fun and challenging turn-based battles
- And great music
So if you’re a fan of late 80s to early 90s JRPGs, you NEED to get this now!