I wanted to highlight some cool itch projects that have stuck with me over the years. These are all free games and they vary in length from a few minutes to (potentially) a few hours! I wrote a small blurb about what makes each game special in my opinion.
This is essentially fantasy Yahtzee with tons of add-ons. You're constantly struggling with interesting decisions: do I use my dice to become a fearless leader or advance the mandatory quest? Should I reroll and remove enemies that will be attacking next turn or release more dice in the future? The only downside of this game is the lack of a tutorial. You'll learn the game through sheer trial and error, but it's worth it!
A short RPG adventure about a girl navigating her small town. The dialogue is heartfelt and will catch you off guard with its surprising, yet honest humor. It's got a unique interface system for the items and there are frequently different (and funny) dialogue options depending on what item you are holding. The soundtrack is also super catchy!
This is, in my opinion, one of Terry Cavanagh's most elegant games and it flew completely under the radar! It never got a paid release or much attention, but it's surprisingly addictive and one of the first roguelikes I genuinely enjoyed playing. It's usage of stealth and light in a traditional grid-based roguelike setting feels novel to me. I've never gotten that far in the game but it hasn't stopped me from returning again and again!
Possibly the smallest Yume Nikki fan game ever. You start out using just your mouse to poke around and then soon switch over to keyboard, using left and right to see different rooms. The game feels like a dream in how it moves from one atmosphere to the next in a way that is jarring yet still feels like it exists in the same headspace. The music features short snippets that repeat but have so much personality and weirdness to them that I couldn't help but leave them running for 10+ loops.
This was a free demo for the indie game, Night In The Woods. But notably, it tells its own story completely independently from the main game. This project fires on all cylinders: gameplay, graphics, atmosphere, story, music, etc. The worldbuilding and "walking simulator"-esque gameplay in particular have stood out and stuck with me over the years. As a side note, I really wish more developers made demos like this--as standalone projects that are related to the larger project and enrich the world it lives in, rather than just giving people the first chapter of the full game.
☆ Thanks for checking out my recs! ☆
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