Theindependent video gameindustry saw a sharp rise in prominence in the late 2000s and early 2010s with titles likeBraid,Fez,Super Meat Boy, and of courseMinecraftshowing that indie games could standtoe to toe with even the largest AAA franchises.
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Today,indie video gamesmake up a huge portion of the gaming market. Many people favor the old-school simplicity that many of these titles provide, in contrast to the open-world action-adventure titles that are currently dominating the industry. 2020 has been another fantastic year for indie projects, and the highest-rated indies games on Metacritic have brought great joy to many gamers worldwide during what has been a difficult year.
10Observer: System Redux (86)
Bloober Team’s cyberpunk gameObserver: System Reduxis an enhanced re-release ofObserver,featuring improvements to the visuals as well as new story content.
The psychological horror title won numerous awards upon its initial release, includingBest Emotional Indie Game from The Emotional Game Awards 2018andBest Setting from Game Informer. The latest version is the best way to experience the game and it is even available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.
9Huntdown (87)
A callback to classic ’80s run and gun titleslikeContraandMetal Slug, Easy Trigger Games’Huntdownthrows players into crime-infested cyberpunk streets.
The game doesn’t hold back on the nostalgia with its side-scrolling arcade action, 16-bit pixel graphics, and old-school synthesized soundtrack.Huntdownwill make players feel like they’re back in a 1980s arcade.
8Streets of Rage 4 (87)
Huntdownisn’t the only arcade throwback on this list, as Dotemu’sStreets of Rage 4is reminiscent of classic beat em' up titles likeGolden-AxeandDouble Dragon.
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Much like the aforementionedHuntdown, it would be a disservice to say thatStreets of Rage 4is purely a nostalgic novelty, as the game offers fantastically balanced combat in a campaign that has tons of replay value. It would be a shame if only older gamers giveStreets of Rage 4a chance, as it’s a perfect gateway game for younger audiences to get a taste of the side-scrolling beat ‘em’ up genre.
7Super Mega Baseball 3 (87)
Unlicensed sporting games are always fighting an uphill battle against titles likeFIFA, Madden, andNBA 2kthat have official branding and team names.Super Mega Baseball 3and other similar sports games may be about to get their deserved recognition though, due to theongoingFIFAlicensing issuethat could have huge ramifications on the future of licensing in sporting titles.
Super Mega Baseball 3provides plenty of hope to sporting fans who are worried about the potential licensing lawsuits though, as the game offers a simple yet addicting brand of baseball that is a worthy competitor to theMLB The Showseries.
6Pistol Whip (88)
The sole VR game to feature in this article,Pistol Whipis a fantastic advert for virtual reality equipment, with its offering of immersive FPS action gameplay.
Cloudhead Games have alreadywon numerous awards for their 2020 game, includingImmersive Reality Game of the Year at the 2020 D.I.C.E Awards. Anyone with a VR headset should definitely givePistol Whipa look.
5Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (88)
WhereasHuntdownandStreets of Rage 4take players back to the action-pact run and gun and beat em' up genres that were prominent in the ’80s,Kentucky Route Zero: TV Editionis a throwback to the ’90s era of point and click games.
Cardboard Computer’s game has one significant difference to the ’90s point and click titles, however, in that the game ditches thepuzzle-solvingin favor of pure storytelling. This makesKentucky Route Zero: TV Editiona perfect game for those that complained that the tough puzzles in gameslikeGrim Fandangodetracted from the flow of the story.
4A Short Hike (88)
Created by Adam Robinson-Yu in just three months,A Short Hikewas ported to the Nintendo Switch in August 2020 and offers a fantastic open-world adventure that is centered around collecting golden feathers.
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The game was a deserving winner at the Independent Games Festival Awards,picking up the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Audience Award.
3There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (89)
Almost certainly themost unique gamereleased this year;There Is No Game: Wrong Dimensionstarts by trying to live up to its name, as it actively encourages players to stop playing.
Once the game gets going, it jumps between multiple different genres, including ’90s inspired point and click puzzle-solving and top-downThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Paststyle adventuring.
2Spelunky 2 (91)
The follow-up to 2008’sSpelunkynarrowly edges its predecessor on Metacritic by just one point. Developers Mossmouth and BlitWorks didn’t try to reinvent a wheel withSpelunky 2;keeping the core gameplay similar to the originalSpelunky,while finding ways to simply improve upon the pre-existing material.Among the more significant additions was the implementation of a ridable turkey, reminiscent of Yoshi in theMario Bros.games.
Spelunk 2was nominated for the Best Indie Game award at The Game Awards 2020but lost out to the next and final entry on this list.
1Hades (93)
IGN’s Game of the YearandThe Game Awards' Best Indie Game,Hadeshas quickly become one of the most critically acclaimed roguelike action-RPGs in the genre’s history.
Hadesdeserves all of the praise and acclaim that it is currently receiving for its fantastic combat system, excellent offering of post-game content, and superb storytelling that is intelligently and seamlessly weaved into the gameplay.
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