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Actual Hidden Gems on Steam

I love obscure and overlooked games and want to share a bunch with all of you. Most “hidden gem” threads end up listing titles with thousands of reviews or that got some level of marketing. I aim to mostly avoid that. While you may see a few familiar games here, everything in the list below has under 1500 reviews on Steam and most have far less. Far fewer had any notable marketing push or appearance in gaming shows or directs. And since the Steam Sale is ongoing, it’s the perfect time to try these games for yourself.

If you’d like more recommendations, comment with at least three games you like and I’ll respond with a couple more indie games hopefully suited to your tastes. Hope you enjoy!

False Skies - 37 Reviews

  • A JRPG with simple GameBoy graphics but scale matching and surpassing lots of genre classics. It’s most similar to Dragon Quest III, since both deal with custom parties and somewhat open exploration of their worlds.

Hyperspace Delivery Service - 37 Reviews

  • A Star Trek inspired take on Oregon Trail. There’s a bunch of minigames based around travel and planets and events like fighting space pirates to make each trip across space feel fresh.

Treasures of the Aegean - 57 Reviews

  • Imagine if Tomb Raider was a 2D metroidvania and had a timeloop mechanic. That’s this game. The parkour system feels great too.

DIG - Deep in Galaxies - 79 Reviews

  • Terraria/Starbound + Noita + Spelunky = this game. Fly through space to dig through planets and create broken character builds. The first free content update was also just released.

Star Drift Evolution - 169 Reviews

  • A racing game with 75 tracks, 51 vehicles, multiple camera modes, and some great handling. Probably most similar to Art of Rally, but this has more variety.

Prodigal - 182 Reviews

  • A Zelda-like game with Stardew Valley-esque characters and interactions. Loads of dungeons and a charming (if simple) story all wrapped in a GameBoy Color aesthetic.

Intergalactic Fishing - 211 Reviews

  • Travel to infinite lakes and fish in them. Despite the simple graphics there’s a lot being simulated and yet the complexity of it all never makes the game overwhelming.

Elsinor - 235 Reviews

  • An adventure game about Hamlet, but you play as Ophelia and she’s caught in a Groundhog Day scenario. While I don’t think this is the best narrative game (that would be Scarlet Hollow), I do think this is the most intriguing one with so many clever and interesting ideas to share.

RITE - 251 Reviews

  • A difficult precision platformer like Celeste, Super Meat Boy, and I Wanna Be The Guy. It’s split into dozens of bite-sized levels so it’s easy to pick up for short play sessions.

Ctrl Alt Ego - 350 Reviews

  • An immersive sim that stands toe to toe with classics like Deus Ex and Prey. You play as a detached consciousness which can jump between robots to make your way through various missions and levels however you want.

The Eternal Cylinder - 383 Reviews

  • This is like Spore, but even weirder and there’s a cylinder that’s going to kill your aliens.

ADACA - 449 Reviews

  • Imagine S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with Halo’s weapons and a special move that’s Half Life 2’s gravity gun and you’ve got ADACA. The two current story acts are just an introduction to the more open zone mode with quests and mysteries to explore and solve.

Legend Bowl - 723 Reviews

  • If you ever played Tecmo Bowl or Superbowl on the SNES, this is basically an upgraded version. I think this is the best American Football game on Steam. Mutant Football League is a close second.

Environmental Station Alpha - 1046 Reviews

  • It’s really difficult, but I think this is the best encapsulation of the Metroidvania formula. Plus the postgame is more substantial than you’ll probably expect.

Heaven’s Vault - 1410 Reviews

  • Did you like uncovering the secrets of an ancient alien civilization in Outer Wilds? This offers something like that, with a slower pace, more direct narrative, and focus on learning a lost language.

Northern Journey - 1453 Reviews

  • Explore a mystical and mysterious Nordic region. The atmosphere this game builds for itself through environments and music is possibly the best I’ve ever experienced in any game ever. It’s really that good.
Hexorg ,

Creeper World. It’s technically a tower defense, but the enemy is fluid, constantly pouring out of spawn area. And the game has a pretty good story line.

Lmaydev ,

I can lose hours in those games. I didn’t enjoy 2 very much but 1 and 3 are great!

Hexorg ,

4 is out

alee33 ,

Love the post, keep it up

Profilename1 ,

Warsim deserves love. It’s a real passion project: a text-based kingdom management sim with lots of things to do and nooks and crannies to explore.

Skyhighatrist ,

Plus, IIRC it’s got a procedural ASCII face generator.

PaupersSerenade ,

Neodori Forever - 46 reviews (Positive) is also part of the Summer Sale!

I just picked this up and it’s a fun and vibrant, pixel graphics, arcade style drifting game. There’s a ‘story’ mode followed by an endless mode to keep you busy and the soundtrack made its way onto my playlist. I don’t have a Steam Deck, but it seems like it’d be a good fit.

Herctic ,
@Herctic@beehaw.org avatar

Love this thread, finally some real hidden gems! Gonna check out DIG - Deep in Galaxies and Ctrl Alt Ego.

brognak ,

I’m just here to +1 Northern Journey. I couldn’t put this game down once I started. It’s weird AF, and I loved it utterly.

GuyFleegman ,
@GuyFleegman@startrek.website avatar

This is a great list and these all look amazing. Thank you for taking the time to compile it and share!

Naz ,

Anyone got a gem similar to Hypnospace Outlaw? Literally my favorite game since I discovered it.

czeskilager ,

loved it as well, caught myself thinking about it very long after playing. i was really impressed with how it captured a feeling of nostalgia for a digital community and for an internet of another time, I think hypnospace Outlaw is something quite relevant for many of us now who moved away from r*ddit

anon_water ,
@anon_water@lemmy.ml avatar

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

sapo ,
@sapo@beehaw.org avatar

Shout out to Fishery (309 reviews). It’s pretty niche as an aquarium simulator, but very relaxing and well made.

Also, Ozymandias (770 reviews) is a great strategy game that manages to squeeze the feeling of a full game of civilization into less than one hour.

If you’re interested in classic board games, The Conquest of Go (397 reviews) is a great entry point into Go, with nice tutorial features and a campaign mode that scales difficulty as you win games.

neintynein ,

I highly highly cannot more highly recommend Observation. It’s $7 right now.

It’s a unique story game, with an excellent narrative, pace, and conclusion.

Lowbird ,

I very strongly second this recommendation, especially for those who know they like space horror in general. Or for people who like FMV. Or AI stories - you play as an AI in this.

The one caveat is: this game relies on point-and-click type interaction, and it does a TERRIBLE job of indicating which items in any scene are interactable/important. There will inevitably be some time spent clicking around to see f x y or z is something you can interact with. This is super annoying.

BUT the rest of the game is amazing so it’s very worth putting up with UI issue, imo.

kittenroar ,

Star Valor looks cool as hell. I can’t actually run it, since it’s Windows-only, but one of y’all might like it. If you liked the classic Escape Velocity games or endless-sky, this looks similar.

Hieracosphinx OP ,

Star Valor does look great. If you’re on Mac or Linux you can play Endless Sky or Naev, which are both free. Or outside Steam try Starsector, which might be the best 2D space game on the market, or The Ur-Quan Masters; a continuation of Star Control 2 and also free.

nickajeglin ,

Do you know of anything like this for the switch? I’m a late comer to handhelds since I developed some shoulder problems and can’t really PC game anymore.

I used to love a game called transcendence back when it was a free alpha. Top down, open world, semi-roguelike, big focus on combat with satisfying 2d physics and lots of ship customization. Less focus on trading and world interaction stuff.

I’ve looked at a couple you guys mentioned, but I’m really trying to find something that’ll scratch that 2d space combat itch on a handheld.

Hieracosphinx OP ,

That’s a tough question. There’s a handful of 3D space combat games like Everspace, Starlink, or Manticore: Galaxy on Fire. There’s also bullet hell games like Galacide and AstroWings: Space War. But none of those are quite like the more open top down games above. Your best bet to find something might be to ask on a larger Nintendo forum. I hope you find something!

kittenroar ,

If you have an android, there are two games that did a great job with 2d space combat and trading - spacerpg3 and spacerpg4. 3 is definitely inspired by EV Override, while 4 is very much its own thing.

Skyhighatrist ,

Star Trader Frontiers is also available on Android and iOS and is pretty good.

nickajeglin ,

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried spacerpg4 but it hasn’t held my attention as much as I hoped.

I did find an android port of star control 2, and that is some good stuff. Really scratched the 90 gaming itch too.

kittenroar ,

I have played all of those except for Ur-Quan. I didn’t like the combat or trade mechanics in Naev, but the storyline and the planet art is cool. I played endless-sky a lot, but at this point I just want to see the main storyline for it finished, but that will have to wait until MZ has the time to dedicate to it again. I have starsector, but it looks more complex than I would like.

MJBrune ,

If you like choose your adventure games the game I released in 2016 is on sale. …steampowered.com/…/The_Away_Team_Lost_Exodus/ 58 reviews. Mostly positive.

Hieracosphinx OP ,

This looks like something a friend of mine will absolutely love. I’ll be sure to share it with them!

Xandolas ,

I’d love to contribute with Vision Soft Reset, with 78 reviews.

A metroidvania with time travel elements, you are a robot that can see the future investigating a planet, every time you save it creates a vertice in a timeline tree where you can jump around. I wish it was more ambitious but with the small team and budget, it did what it wanted pretty well, with my critique being a lack of polish in a few areas.

Hieracosphinx OP ,

That sounds incredible. Adding it to my wishlist now!

Dymonika ,

This title is in at least one of the past years’ gigantic itch.io charity bundles, for those who may have picked up some of those.

BuboScandiacus , (edited )
@BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz avatar

___

Acid Spy****___

Acid Spy is a first person stealth action game set in a cyberpunk universe. Infiltrate heavily guarded bases and take down your enemies with skill and finesse. Master the art of quick, deadly stealth to become the acid spy.

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