Our Adventuring Guild doesn't look like much on its cover but it scratches all the management sim and tactics RPG urges that I enjoy, while also having some surprisingly cute writing (while still mainlining the classic fantasy RPG themes)

Toodee and Topdee (559 reviews)

Puzzle platformer/block pushing hybrid

The 2d platforming world and top-down world have smashed together. You control one hero from each dimension, who share the same space in the levels. You switch between platformer and top-down modes and must get both characters to the goal. The boss levels are hard but very cool, combining action and puzzles.

Also features local 2-player co-op and a generous assist mode.

Children of a Dead Earth is a tactical space game with n-body Newtonian physics. This means that on the surface it is very similar to something like KSP, you can do things like orbit a Lagrange point. In addition, you can design all the parts of you spacecraft and weaponry down to the materials they use. If you can make a fuel tank made out of aerogel work with the laws of physics, then you can use it. For example, I made a coilgun that fires nukes which was devastating at close range but the low velocity of the nukes made them easy to dodge at long range and without any thrusters, they cannot course correct.

Clanfolk, a (very alpha and also very playable) game that draws clear inspiration from Rimworld, but has a kind of tech progression that feels spiritually similar to bootstrapping a factory in Factorio, while being set in the Scottish Highlands.

20 Small Mazes

If you're looking to kill a couple hours and love puzzle games, give 20 Small Mazes a go. I really enjoyed the variety.

Best of all, it's free.

Bugvasion TD (9 reviews)

It's a charming little tower defense game where you fight bugs with very fun abilities. I also play tested it so I may be a tad biased but I think it's underated and fun :3

Rags to Riches C64

I found this game a few years ago after playing a remake on Pico-8. The premise is youre an unhoused person who just got out of jail, and you have to collect cans and change, find work, get an education, and a nice job, all while avoiding several hazards like muggers and the IRS.

I found it surprisingly addictive and very fun.

Underhero is a RPG. There is (bad) 2D platforming and an interesting blend between turn based and real time battles with decent amount of player expression, but I find most interesting the writing and scenarios you will find yourself in during the game. You play as an Underling after the Hero has an unfortunate accident after all, and while technically a silent protagonist, all entries in the journal/hint system/to-do list are just brimming with personality.

I swear I first saw this game in list of "Paper Mario-likes", but I can't find a single video with that topic that mentions it, and now I realize that it only has like 600 reviews on steam.

Alina of the Arena

Hex based rouge like deck builder. If we're taking indy gems, this one's probably a nice Amethyst. Not quite the most polished (the game kind of just throws you in without much of a tutorial and the story's pretty bare bones), but overall a solid B. If Slay the Spire and Into the Breach are your jams it'll be right up your alley.

Dink Smallwood is an old fantasy role playing game. It has a small community that makes mods for it. It's really dumb but it's free to play and very short if you have nothing better to do.

edit: Wow! I didn't realize a lot of people here know this game. That's actually cool.

Evochron Legacy if you want a space game that also lets you fly down onto planet's atmospheres, with the appropriate air drag limiting your max speed.

I should probably try playing it again sometime, it's very rough around the edges, but can be fun for people that enjoy ship piloting in space.

D-Day Normandy is a Quake 2 total conversion mod that is a standalone game. Our website is currently reduced to a forum, but we hope to get that back on track soon. The admin is currently unavailable... Anyways, WW2 FPS from around 2000. Class-based, objective or fraglimit (or both in some maps). Runs on everything these days. We have a couple servers worldwide, more info on ddaydev.com.

Spheres of Chaos is an old asteroids based game that really ups the ante on trippyness and cool sounds

I should warn you though that it is very flashy, so epilepsy warning is in order

Spin Rhythm XD is a highly enjoyable rhythm game where you spin a wheel with two colors and match them with the beats on the game's rhythm track.

Here's a description from Steam:

Enter the Rhythm Dimension. A homage to classic arcade rhythm games (Guitar Hero, DDR), with a modern aesthetic and soundtrack. Match colours and beats, spin, tap, flick and flow through the juiciest beats in the universe. Supports multiple control styles including MIDI DJ gear on Steam!

Edit: at the time of writing this, I didn't realize that this game had 3.5K reviews on Steam, but literally nobody I asked knew about the game, so I guess it kinda counts.

One Way Heroics+

Semi-Rogue-like RPG, flee away from the darkness on the leftside of the screen, try and defeat demonlord and save the world. (Multiple endings)

One of my favorite games ever, guy made his own engine.

It does have design flaws, don't get me wrong. But this is is really novel and has enough content to get somewhat deep into it.

Eventually you start seeing the same things but for essentially a one man team it's really impressive.

Encased is a CRPG, heavily inspired by the classic Fallout games, bringing it's mechanics into the modern age. It's story is based on the classic book "Roadside Picknick" (known for being the inspiration of the Stalker series) and is very well written. It has a story narrator, similar to the Divinity: Original Sin games and a very in depth character creation. At the start you choose a department of a research company to work in, which will change the way you interact with many characters, adding some replay value. Anything more I could say would be a spoiler, but the entire beginning (first half to one hour) is an absolute banger.

It's my favorite indie game of the last few years and at the time of writing this, it is currently 90% of on steam, an absolute bargain

I recommend Scavenger SV4 It's a very unique game where you send a rover down to a planet to grab what alien artifacts you can before your radiation exposure gets past the point it can be treated. You can bolt some of them onto your rover to make it better and send it down again. It also has several hundred different endings that are decided by how much radiation you absorbed and how much loot and what loot you brought back.

Achron A RTS with time travel. You can actually send troops and orders in the past to change the outcome of the battle.
https://youtu.be/b6YYWCW1wVs

It's a shame it never got big. The time travel mechanic is awesome.

Megabyte Punch is a side scrolling fighting game where you build your robot with different parts salvaged from fought robots that give you different abilities and powerups.

It is a super fast, casual game that you can bang out in a few nights. It has a pretty good electronic soundtrack, boss fights feel weighty even if they are relatively simple.

One of my favorite games as far as just fun and de-stressing!

Minishoot Adventures is a twin stick shooter with a 2D Zelda-style map.

Taiji (906 reviews)

Nonlinear discovery-based puzzles

If you liked the puzzle design of The Witness, you'll enjoy Taiji as more of that but with scenic pixel art.

Instead of a linear sequence of tutorials and puzzles, Taiji is open-ended. You can wander wherever you want, solve the puzzles you stumble upon, and ultimately discover this place's secrets. Sometimes you find a puzzle that you don't understand, so you'll just have to leave it for later, when you've learned more puzzle mechanics. It's like a metroidvania but gated by knowledge instead of abilities.

All the puzzles are built on grids of tiles that you can turn on or off. There are no tutorials; you have to figure out the puzzle mechanics on your own, hinted by environmental details.

Lorn's Lure (currently demo only, releases in 3 weeks)

An android is led through a vast structure by a glitch in his visual system. Lorn's Lure is an atmospheric narrative first-person platformer with novel climb-anything mechanics and modernized retro 3D graphics.

Astalon: Tears of the Earth. Really fun 8-bit roguelite metroidvania where you swap between characters to access different parts of the dungeon.

Nexus: the Jupiter incident. It is a now a bit old tactical space combat game with a big focus on the narrative. It's awesome, but I never see it mentioned anywhere.