Summary
- Indie action games like Anger Foot and Pizza Tower provide immediate fun with expressive controls and gratifying combat.
- Games like Ravenswatch and Streets of Rogue offer accessible but deep experiences through unique gameplay mechanics and immersive settings.
- Post Void delivers chaotic FPS action with streamlined controls and a relentless pace, perfect for fans of fast-paced gameplay.
Action games are typically easier to approach than, say, real-time strategy games. This is thanks to designs that are typically less complex and often more tactile in their controls. As a result, action games are often able to offer plenty of instant gratification.
Great Indie Games That Are Immediately Fun
There's no slow warm-up period for these indie games. Right out of the gates, players are guaranteed to have a good time.
This is no different in the indie space, particularly in roguelikes/roguelites and arcade-style titles. With games such as Anger Foot offering bombastic gauntlets of FPS action right from the start, and Pizza Tower giving players immediate access to its expressive movement abilities, each of these titles is able to get to the point almost instantly.
8 Going Under
A Unique Charm & Intuitive Brawler-Based Combat
Going Under
- Released
- September 24, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Going Under is an action roguelike dungeon-crawler with a unique structure and distinctive, colorful art style that's immediately charming. More importantly, its brawler-based combat is both accessible and tactile, providing instant gratification for fans of action games.
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The tongue-in-cheek charm and quirky characters that surround its gameplay provide a comfortable ambiance, but it's the aforementioned combat that shines brightest; a durability system forces players to adapt on the fly, using an assortment of office equipment and random objects to take down foes. Short runs also allow for quick rewards, tasking players with crawling through individual dungeons, rather than one long and interconnected gauntlet.
7 Pizza Tower
Expressive Movement Controls In Short, Intuitive Levels
Pizza Tower
- Released
- January 26, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Tour De Pizza
- Platform(s)
- PC, Nintendo Switch
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Pizza Tower is a movement-based action platformer that tasks players with scoring as high as they can by moving fast and extending combos as they blast through each level. The unique structure of the game takes death out of the equation, excluding boss fights, making its gameplay rather forgiving.
What makes Pizza Tower immediately fun, however, is the speed with which it gives players access to its expressive movement controls. The tutorial is brisk, and players are soon after thrown into its gonzo crucible of mad dashes and crazy combos, able to easily experiment and express themselves with the tactile controls and movement abilities.
6 Anger Foot
Stripped-Back FPS Action With Immediate Style
Anger Foot
- Released
- July 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Anger Foot is a fast-paced FPS with an immediately obvious sense of grimy style. The grit and grime are playful, almost satirical, and coated in color, littered with bright and violent explosions and gunfire. This stylish presentation extends into the gameplay itself with its speed of play, tight-level designs, and hectic gunplay.
Anger Foot is all about kicking down doors, vanquishing any nearby threats, and moving on as fast as possible while attempting to fulfill optional objectives. The incredibly short and tightly wound levels provide instant gratification, with fast-paced and high-lethality combat offering a do-or-die loop that's immediately addictive.
5 Ravenswatch
A Distinctive Action Roguelike With ARPG-Style Combat
Ravenswatch
- Released
- September 26, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Ravenswatch is an action roguelike with a dark fairy tale setting and unique gameplay that centers itself around constant time pressure. For some, this time pressure will be too stressful. However, this constantly ticking timer provides a sense of urgency that offers immediate fun, spurring players into action and forcing them to adapt and strategize immediately and efficiently.
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The addition of online co-op also helps Ravenswatch to provide immediate fun, as its gameplay loop is practically designed with teamwork in mind. Most important is the abundance of decisions players have to make right from the start; which character to play, which starting trait to take, and which activities to take on first. These choices make Ravenswatch an immediately engaging but equally tough experience.
4 Rollerdrome
Tactile Movement Controls & Dynamic Combat Arenas
Rollerdrome
- Released
- August 16, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Roll7
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Fans of movement-based games such as Skate 3 and third-person shooters alike are sure to get immediate fun from Rollerdrome. This stylish action game tasks players with rollerskating around tight, expressive combat arenas and pulling off tricks while simultaneously taking out enemies.
The way that the game's shooter mechanics blend with its movement and score system makes for a dynamic experience, and this is apparent from the very start. Furthermore, despite being a heavily skill-based game, Rollderdrome's controls are remarkably intuitive.
3 Fallen Aces
An Immersive & Action-Packed Introduction
Fallen Aces
- Released
- June 14, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Fallen Aces is an old-school FPS with immersive-sim styling that excels with its pulp comic book art style and exaggerated charm. The game features a focus on brawler combat and a durability system that encourages constant experimentation and improvisation, supported by immediately accessible controls.
Thanks to its stripped-back design, Fallen Aces is able to provide immediate fun, focusing on open-ended level design and strategic action over complex mechanics. Furthermore, the game's introduction takes no time to get going, setting up the story and throwing players into the action with brutal efficiency and style.
2 Streets Of Rogue
An Approachable Roguelite With Tremendous Depth
Streets of Rogue
- Released
- March 10, 2017
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Matt Dabrowski
Streets Of Rogue is an action roguelite that combines the chaotic sandbox gameplay of games such as Grand Theft Auto with the freedom and experimentation of immersive sims such as Deus Ex. This results in a gameplay loop that's utterly unique, supported by an objective-based structure that encourages players to think outside the box.
Despite the intricate combination of systems at work in Streets Of Rogue, it remains a tremendously accessible experience. This is thanks to intuitive controls and simple top-down shooter action, with much of the complexity coming from the variety of playable characters and abundance of items. By giving players a great deal of freedom and agency, Streets Of Rogue is able to offer immediate fun while ensuring the game remains easy to learn.
1 Post Void
A Chaotic FPS Roguelike With A Streamlined Focus
Post Void
- Released
- August 6, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
With its psychedelic style, frantic music, and frenetic action, Post Void is a bombastic and immediate assault that drags players through a non-stop gauntlet of twitchy gunplay at a breakneck pace. The lack of weapon cycling and minimal controls ensures the game is immediately intuitive and quick to learn, but the speed of play and skill-based gameplay keep this title expressive.
The short runs, facilitated by the speed of play and the constantly draining health of the player, also help Post Void to get its point across quickly. For fans of fast-paced action, twitchy FPS gameplay, and skill-based roguelikes, Post Void is likely to provide a short burst of immediate fun.
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