Consider Gifting Indie Games — Some I Recommend
Fun for you, and your friends, and helpful to devs everywhere.
Fun for you, and your friends, and helpful to devs everywhere.
Ah, the holiday season. As the social anxiety from odd familial interactions sets in, the new year begins coming to a close at blinding speeds set to the tune of your Spotify Wrapped. Good times.
I wanted to make a post about my gift-giving process this year. For the past few years, I’ve forgone buying myself a gift… in favor of purchasing an extra digital game gift or two for others. Some family, some friends… of course, I always hope the investment comes back to me in the form of games hitting my accounts paha, but that’s not always the case, and that’s fine. All the same, I wanted to highlight, not the people, but the games that I sent out this season. A few micro-reviews, if you will!
I really wanted to stick with the indies this year, So that’s mostly what I’m featuring. I pushed myself to find games that they had never heard of previously, and on top of that, I was looking for titles that have a smaller time commitment. My thought is, if it’s indie, and the recipients had never heard of it, a smaller time commitment may reduce skepticism and push them to give it an honest try. So without further ado:
NeoDash
The first game I’d like to showcase: NeoDash. I have actually had this on my radar since it was in development. TikTok’s algorithm thought I was a game dev for a couple of days, and it showed me all these in-development games. NeoDash came on, and I was hooked. With fast gameplay, tight controls, drifting, and flying through the air using Rocket League-Esque physics, it looked like a dream. It was actually NeoDash that gave me the idea to focus on sending out a bunch of indies this year.
The recipient of NeoDash is incredible at Rocket League and is a connoisseur of racing games, so even back when it was in development I knew this would be my pick for them. Additionally, it also plays like Geometry Dash, something I also know the recipient really enjoys. When I played through it, I loved it myself, so I know they’ll enjoy it, should they give it a chance.
Spark the Electric Jester 3
The second indie I was really excited to send out the door is Spark the Electric Jester 3. At first glance, you might look at this and completely disregard it… the art style is a bit weird, and it’s the third game in a series no one I know has EVER heard of. I found out about it, about a half year or more ago when I thought to myself… I wonder if anyone took the “Sonic Adventure Battle” formula and did something with it… Well, someone did. A solo developer from Brazil. This is their game. A spiritual successor of Sonic Adventure Battle.
When I successor, I MEAN it. It’s truly an indie-based evolution of the Sonic Adventure games without the Sonic characters. The physics and speed feel as though they’re ripped straight from SEGA’s own code, then given a dose of steroids to put it up with modern standards. It sounds crazy, almost too good to be true, but check out the videos on the Steam page for yourself. There may only be 200-some-odd reviews on Steam… but many are saying it’s the best Sonic game they have ever played, with some noting its impressive character-brawler combat system jammed in there making it something really special. After having played it myself, I can’t help but agree!
The recipient of the game I know has enjoyed Sonic games of days past, and they just recently played through Sonic Frontiers. When I think about this game, I think of this person playing it, and I just know it’s the right fit. I really hope they enjoy playing.
Stacklands
Next up here: Stacklands. Such a short, yet fun game! Perfectly giftable! I’ve known this recipient for a very long time… they’re constantly pressed for time because of their job, and it seems like they are never able to sit down and relax to do what they want to do. So that said, my priority was certainly a short run-time… And with Stacklands filled with strategy and resource management, I can draw ties to Rimworld, and perhaps even Cult of the Lamb, which are two games they played recently, and know they enjoy. The comparison will make it an even easier sell. I feel like Stacklands is an odd but fantastic combination of genres, but the best part is that it’s a pretty cheap game, coming in at under $5 USD. It fit all my criteria for this person, and I’m really happy to get it into their hands. I hope they really enjoy it.
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator. That’s a mouthful, huh? The recipient of this game… we go way back. It’s hard to describe the strange enjoyment this person and I share from misfortunes and excellently presented dark humor stuff. Lately I’ve noticed a theme… Whether we’re doing a bad job in Surgeon Simulator, or installing mods to Rimworld so we can make money from doing very legal and ethical trades of the organs, to watching YouTube videos of people in Fallout 4 making an organ processing factory. It seems, rather coincidentally, we’ve been in the organ sphere of things, and this game definitely fits in with the jokey, meme based nature of that fascination. And, according to one of my favorite YouTubers, there is a competent and fun game beneath the surface, with gameplay that I’m pretty sure this person could get very much into.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
Another game I was happy to gift was Ace Combat 7. Saw that bad boy on sale for like $7 bucks and knew precisely to who I wanted to send it. The recipient has been playing many “war simulator” type games lately. Hell Let Loose, World of Warships, that sort of thing. They also enjoy tactical (almost impossibly complicated) realistic [insert war vehicle] simulators. But in that light, you might think that Ace Combat 7 would be a poor choice for this person. I’ll admit, I did take a bit of a gamble. It’s much more of an arcade based flight sim than, say, War Thunder.
But one thing sold me. The HOTAS support. This person has a really nice HOTAS. At the very least, I figured they could hook it up, and have a little bit of fun zipping around in some of the fastest jet fighters ever built with their nice HOTAS controller. Of course, I hope they enjoy the game, either through single-player or online multiplayer. But that HOTAS support I hope will add enough value to the game (behind my own stellar recommendation) for this individual to consider it a fine addition to their collection.
FURI
One game I pulled right from someone’s wishlist. Not something I wanted to do this year! But I wasn’t sure what to buy this person, truthfully they are so much more dialed into the indie machine than I am that it was positively impossible for me to begin to think of something they hadn’t put on their list already. So… I went with FURI.
If you know my gaming preferences, you might think my love of FURI is odd. I’ve got a bittersweet relationship with souls games like Elden Ring, and all FURI really is, is a massive gauntlet of boss battles. However, if you know me a lot, you’ll know that I love this OST. Every artist featured in this game is one of my favorites. The soundtrack is God-tier. This, combined with some of the more generous countering (as compared to a souls-like game) makes it an incredible experience for anybody. All the bosses have 2 or 3 phases with checkpoints, you don’t level up or get new gear, it’s just you, and the next guy in line to die. It’s fun to learn all the boss mechanics, and then absolutely slaughter them (after you’ve died to them 10+ times), with the raging electro-synth in the background. Excellent finale as well. Not sure what the DLC holds yet, as I haven’t played it, but it was included in this gift purchase.
This individual I know loves the souls-like formula, they’re a big enjoyer of the soul’s formula, particularly with bosses. Lots of that here. If it’s too easy though… there are difficulty modifiers…
End
So, what did you think of the games I sent out? What games did you send out for the holiday season, and what games are you looking forward to in the coming year? Thanks for reading.