I’m looking for a great indie game and could use some recommendations. Share the hidden gem you always suggest, what makes it special, and which platforms it’s available on.
CrossCode isn’t just another retro-looking action RPG. It has unusually sharp combat, big Zelda-style dungeons, clever projectile puzzles, and a story that takes its time without feeling like filler. The pixel art gets attention first, but the combat system is what makes it stand out. You can build around melee, ranged attacks, defense, or elemental abilities instead of following one fixed setup.
The main caveat is that the dungeons are long and puzzle-heavy. If you want constant fighting and quick rewards, parts of it may test your patience. If you enjoy figuring out rooms, finding hidden routes, and returning to old areas with new abilities, that density is a major strength.
It’s available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The console editions can be played on newer PlayStation and Xbox hardware through backward compatibility.
I’d put it ahead of many better-known indie RPGs because it feels like a complete, carefully designed game rather than a short experiment built around a single gimmick. Just don’t go in expecting a relaxed, lightweight adventure.
Don’t pick A Short Hike expecting a huge adventure. If CrossCode sounds exhausting, this is the opposite: a warm, funny exploration game you can finish quickly, available on PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.
Where A Short Hike is about unwinding, Chants of Sennaar makes you slow down and think. You decode languages through context, gestures, and symbols, which feels genuinely satisfying when a translation clicks. The occasional stealth section is weaker than the puzzles, but it’s still an easy recommendation for anyone who likes deduction games. It’s on PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.
Chants of Sennaar gives you languages to decode, while Return of the Obra Dinn gives you a ship full of dead people and makes you reconstruct the entire incident from incomplete records. If @binaryrunner3594’s recommendation sounds appealing, Obra Dinn is the harsher, less guided version of that same deduction itch.
You explore frozen scenes from the crew’s final moments, then identify each person and determine what happened to them. The clever bit is that evidence rarely arrives in a clean sequence. A uniform, an accent, a name mentioned in another scene, or even where someone sleeps can solve an entry much later. The game confirms correct deductions in small groups, so random guessing is possible but inefficient. Keeping a few notes outside the game helps once the cast starts blending together.
It has almost none of the usual mystery-game padding. There are no dialogue trees where you exhaust every option, no highlighted clue trail, and no combat system interrupting the investigation. That makes it unusually focused, but it can feel like work if you prefer frequent hints. The monochrome rendering can be visually tiring too, although there are several display palettes to try.
The biggest warning is that it is effectively a one-time game. Once you know the identities and causes of death, you cannot reproduce the original process of figuring them out. Avoid guides, videos, and even casual searches until you finish. Spoilers can remove an hour of deduction with a single sentence.
It’s available on Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The console editions work on newer PlayStation and Xbox systems through backward compatibility. For someone who wants a compact game that trusts them to pay attention, Return of the Obra Dinn is an easy recommendation.
Stay off the Outer Wilds subreddit before you finish it. I mean that literally. @1r0n_falcon’s warning about Obra Dinn being a one-time game applies here too, except Outer Wilds is the harder version. Progress is entirely in your head. You don’t unlock anything, you just learn things, and once you know the ending you can never un-know it. A single thumbnail can gut the whole experience.
The pitch is short: you’re stuck in a 22 minute time loop, and every loop resets the solar system while your notes carry over. You poke at planets, piece together what an ancient civilization was doing, and slowly the pieces line up until you know exactly where to go. Nobody holds your hand. There’s no quest marker telling you the next planet. That freedom is the whole point, and it’s also why some people bounce off it in the first hour when nothing seems to be happening.
Where I’d push back a little on the deduction love in this thread: Outer Wilds asks more patience than Chants of Sennaar and gives fewer confirmations than Obra Dinn. You can sit stuck for a while, and the flight controls annoy some folks early on. If that sounds like a slog, it’s not for you. But if the payoff of a clue clicking into place is what you’re chasing, this does it better than almost anything. It’s on PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, and Xbox. Get the Echoes of the Eye DLC only after the base game.
Expect Pyre to feel strange for the first couple of hours, because it’s basically a fantasy road-trip RPG built around three-on-three magical basketball. That description sounds like a joke, but the matches are fast, tactical, and tied directly to the story.
Unlike the spoiler-sensitive games above, Pyre is worth replaying because failure doesn’t send you back to a checkpoint. The plot keeps moving, characters react, and losing an important match can change who remains in your group. You’re making uncomfortable choices about which companions get their freedom rather than chasing a perfect run.
The catch is that there’s a lot of reading between matches, and anyone wanting traditional RPG combat will probably bounce off it. It’s available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and PS4, with the PS4 version playable on PS5 through backward compatibility. No Switch or Xbox release, unfortunately.
CrossCode asks you to learn a lot of systems, while A Short Hike barely asks you to learn any. Tinykin sits in a nice middle spot, so that would be my recommendation for someone who wants exploration without a huge commitment.
The screenshots made it look like a Pikmin-style strategy game to me, but that comparison is slightly misleading. You collect different types of tiny creatures, yet there is very little army management to worry about. They function more like tools. Some carry objects, some form ladders, and others break barriers. Most of your time goes into platforming, solving simple environmental problems, and searching enormous rooms while you are the size of an insect.
What makes it easy to recommend is the movement. You can glide with a bubble and ride a little soap-board across tables, shelves, and improvised ramps. It feels quick without demanding precise platforming skills. The house setting gives every level a clear identity too. A normal kitchen or bathroom becomes a whole city when chairs and cabinets are towering structures.
The honest downside is that it is a collectathon. If seeing an incomplete counter makes you search every corner, the final cleanup can become more tiring than the main objectives. There is no combat system carrying the experience either, so people who need regular fights may find it too gentle.
Tinykin is available on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The Switch edition is listed as supported on Switch 2 as well.
If Obra Dinn sounds good but too demanding, try The Case of the Golden Idol. You inspect each scene, collect names and verbs, then arrange them into an explanation of the crime, so the deduction has clear steps without giving away the answer.
It’s on PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS, and Android. I’d favor PC or mobile since selecting tiny clues can feel awkward with a controller.