Listen. I’m not a person who plays a ton of video games, I’ll admit. For one, I don’t have unlimited money, and for another I didn’t grow up with a family game system or a family who felt like one was necessary. For another, I’m not particularly good at games.
I don’t mind saying this, because it’s true. Ask me to play anything that requires quick reflexes or hundreds of hours of technique, and I will fail every single time. I am not, ever, going to beat any of the Dark Souls games. Hell, I’m not going to beat a Roblox “Obby”. So my criteria for games is a little different. I’m impressed by mechanics, but these are also not Action games. They’re not Beat-A-Level-One-Million-Times games. They’re not Million-Billion-Polygon-Graphics games. I’m sure there are a ton of lists out on the Internet for those, if you like, but not this one.
Thirdly, I am one college student, with limited time, specific interests, and an attention span shorter than your peenar. If you disagree with me, challenge me to armed combat. Alternatively, come to a Round Table meeting and write YOUR opinions and make me publish them in my own section. Without further ado and in no particular order: my favorite indie games of all time, as a person who doesn’t play a lot of games.
- I’m On Observation Duty
“I’m On Observation Duty” is not a single game- there have been at least seven titles in the series, and an eighth is on the way. However, the core mechanics of the game remain the same every time- the gameplay loop is spotting changed things in ‘anomalous locations’, whatever that means. Each locale is slightly unsettling, and the details minute enough that if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’re likely to get a game-over several times without having a clue what you missed. The earlier games allow you to free-roam around multiple locations (admittedly creepy) but I prefer the approach some of the later additions take: peering through grainy security cameras, never knowing what might be waiting for you on the next view- or what you might have missed in the last one.
- Slime Rancher
Friends of mine will know this one already. “Slime Rancher” is an open-world game where you work as a rancher on an alien world. As the name suggests, you are, in fact, ranching ‘slimes’: cute, amorphous blobs that you can throw indiscriminately as you wish. “Slime Rancher” does have a story, but it’s content to lie in the background, while your primary focus becomes making money, feeding your slimes, and optimizing your ranch’s output to the best of your ability. The art style and calm, cozy atmosphere (think “Animal Crossing” or “Stardew Valley” vibes) plus the challenge of minmaxxing a ranch where there are dozens of permutations of slimes, and plenty of upgrades and expansions to unlock, mean that I have spent WELL over 100 hours of my life herding digital slimes.
- No I’m Not A Human
This one is quite recent: “No I’m Not A Human” was released September 15, 2025 on Steam. It’s since sparked dozens of Let’s Plays from gaming Youtubers and spawned quite a lot of fanart. I can’t say it’s not deserved, though. “No I’m Not A Human” follows the story of a prolonged solar apocalypse, made worse by the arrival of inhuman creatures called ‘Visitors’. “No I’m Not A Human” isn’t particularly unique for this idea: a small section of online horror has taken a deep-dive into the ideas of doppelgangers, inhuman beings, and the Uncanny Valley effect (See: “Mandela Catalogue” or “That’s Not My Neighbor”). The special part is what, exactly, “No I’m Not A Human” does with these ideas. The color palette (hauntingly green), the art of the characters (wonderfully “off” and often grotesque), and the overall feel of the game are what make this title stand out.
- Kindergarten
The “Kindergarten” games are also a series, with the third game having released earlier this year. “Kindergarten” is a lighthearted, pixelated puzzle game, in which you play as a (get this) kindergartener, in a school that seems to be hellbent on schemes, adults who really do not care about your wellbeing, and a comically mercenary peer group. Every game has multiple different missions, with entertaining characters and puzzles to solve, and an overarching story continuing through every new release. “Kindergarten 2” still makes me laugh specifically for the phrase “spoken like a dumb kid who’s never tangled with a dumpster woman before.”
- What Remains of Edith Finch
“What Remains of Edith Finch” will always hold a special place in my heart. At the tender age of 11, I saw a playthrough of this game, and promptly fell in love. This game leads you through the halls of a family home– and said family’s “curse”. Previously, games had held appeal, but quite honestly I’d had mostly exposure to the games my brother played, which involved cars or soccer or both. “What Remains of Edith Finch” flipped the script, and I spent months rewatching that playthrough, memorizing every detail, every twist of the towering Finch family home. While there isn’t a whole lot of ‘gameplay’ as traditionally described (I’ve heard it called a walking simulator, which isn’t entirely inaccurate), I don’t just mention this game out of nostalgia. The atmosphere and narration are incredible, and every story still holds the same emotional impact years later.
- Killer Frequency
“Killer Frequency” is one of those games that I have to respect for the sheer amount of work it must have taken. In this game, you play as a radio host in a backwater town, whose contrived circumstances lead to him becoming an impromptu 911 responder for the residents. The residents, incidentally, are being terrorized by a serial killer. This game does SO MUCH in terms of sheer sound design: you barely see three modeled characters in the game, but every voice actor is so richly well-designed and intentional that no character feels “background”. It creates puzzles, tensions, and chase scenes, all without ever requiring your character to navigate out of his radio broadcasting booth. This game has a STYLE and it commits all the way.
- Squirrel Stapler
While most people might recognize the name “David Syzmanski” for his most popular indie game, “Iron Lung”– a game that’s being adapted into a movie by none other than gaming Youtuber “Markiplier”- my personal favorite game from him is “Squirrel Stapler”. Syzmanski is known for the absurdist framing of his horror, and this title is no exception. (“Squirrel Stapler” opens with the phrase, “I wish she were beautiful, like the squirrels of the wood. And so I will cover her in the squirrels of the wood.” You’re staring at a rotting corpse.) The atmosphere here is bizzare, but it only works to increase the horror aspect, introducing concepts that you absolutely do not want to think about- what do you mean “In five days God is coming”? Well, keep stapling your dead squirrels to that corpse, and find out!
- Anatomy
“Anatomy” doesn’t have complicated graphics, or the nostalgia factor, or dead squirrels. What it does have is STORY. Released in 2016 and developed by Kitty Horrorshow, this has what a good deal of horror games seem to have put, if not on the backburner, then at least secondary to gameplay: an absolute masterpiece of a horror story. In “Anatomy”, the house you are trapped in is both alive and vengeful, but to sum it up like this feels false, almost insulting. The cassettes you find around the house invoke a deep and inexplicable sense of dread, as do the rooms shaped just too weirdly to be normal, or the way the house starts to express exactly how alive it can get. Go play it.
- Slay the Princess
Rounding off our list is “Slay the Princess”. Where do I even start? Well, maybe like this: you’re on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You’re here to slay her. “Slay the Princess” is an ostensibly ‘choose-your-own-adventure’-esque game that goes off the rails very, very quickly. Each choice you can make allows for different routes, interpretations, and endings that don’t end as much as you think. And, of course, Jonathan Sims (you might recognize him from “The Magnus Archives”, also one of my personal favorites) voices the Narrator throughout. It’s a twisty, Lovecraftian love story- if you can get there.
Featured Image: Betty Cavicchia’28
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