Summary
- Indie games can often excel in production value, offering stylish graphics and immersive sound design.
- Titles like Disco Elysium and Darkest Dungeon 2 elevate gameplay with creative aesthetics.
- Atmospheric games like Kentucky Route Zero provide experiences that are captivating and immersive.
Indie games are often celebrated for their refreshing gameplay. These titles are often able to exercise more freedom and creativity than those from larger game studios, allowing for a more experimental approach to design. However, some indie games also excel with their production value.
Best Games Worth Playing Just For The Atmosphere
For those looking to truly immerse themselves in a video game, here are some of the best titles to check out for their atmospheres.
These games feature stylish graphics, immersive sound design, and evocative soundtracks, offering a synergistic presentation that elevates the overall experience. From the atmospheric point-and-click adventure of Kentucky Route Zero to the ambient exploration of Hollow Knight, there's something here for everyone.
1 Ravenswatch
A Stylishly Dark Fairy Tale
Ravenswatch
- Released
- September 26, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Ravenswatch is an action roguelike that excels with its unique structure and co-operative gameplay. In addition, the game features a stark and stylish dark-fantasy setting that takes great inspiration from legend and folklore.
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This style is executed with prowess, offering players a heavily stylized look that remains clear amid the action. It's supplemented by a driving soundtrack, voice acting, and distinctive character designs, providing a well-rounded package that punches above its weight.
2 Fallen Aces
Pulpy Comic-Book Presentation
Fallen Aces
- Released
- June 14, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Telling its story via pulpy comic-book cutscenes and purposefully stagy voice acting, Fallen Aces is an immediately stylish experience. It follows through by translating its comic-book influences to the environments themselves, providing an FPS adventure that's like leaping directly into the pages of a pulp crime story.
The FPS gameplay is decidedly focused on brawling, with a durability system motivating constant weapon-switching and creative problem-solving. Fans of the immersive-sim genre will surely enjoy it, but its amazing production value opens up Fallen Aces to a broad demographic.
3 Disco Elysium
Painterly Landscapes & Evocative Writing
Disco Elysium
- Released
- October 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Be it voice acting, writing, graphics, or music, Disco Elysium's presentation excels in more ways than one. From its opening vignette with its dark tone, to the opening images of Revachol and the player's first exposure to its melancholic beauty, Disco Elysium is elevated at all times by its creative production value.
There's plenty of substance to match its style, but the aching atmosphere that Disco Elysium provides drives the experience with a sure hand. The music, the evocative writing, the diverse cast of characters, it all elevates the experience. It doesn't take long to forget Disco Elysium is an indie game, to get lost in the whirling streets of Revachol and the words of its often poetic denizens.
4 Animal Well
An Exotic World Presented In Strange Neon
Animal Well
- Released
- May 9, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania, Puzzle
Animal Well is an immediately immersive indie game that excels with its neon style. This puzzle-focused Metroidvania takes place in a truly exotic pixelated world populated by strange and often alien creatures. The foreign nature of Animal Well's underground environments is perfectly presented with its distinctive visuals.
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The charming neon pixels of Animal Well are complemented by an excellent, synth-heavy soundtrack that provides a faraway ambiance. Steeped in atmosphere and wholly consistent in tone, Animal Well is an immersive and strangely cozy experience worth having.
5 Darkest Dungeon 2
A Rich & Grim-Dark Style
Darkest Dungeon 2
- Released
- May 8, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, RPG
Darkest Dungeon 2 expands on the gritty, grim-dark visuals of its predecessor. This title offers players slick and stylish graphics that paint a burning dark-fantasy world in stark and creative ways. This goes hand-in-hand with the game's unforgiving gameplay, providing synergy between both design and presentation.
The immediately impressive production value of Darkest Dungeon 2 is only heightened by the narrator, providing added flavor throughout the game with true gravitas. The music is also standout, providing a driving force that blends triumph and defeat in equal measure.
6 Wildfrost
Charming Cartoon Visuals
Wildfrost
- Released
- April 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game, Strategy, Roguelike
Wildfrost is a deck builder that excels as much with its gameplay as it does with its visual style. Fans of colorful cartoons are sure to enjoy Wildfrost's charming visuals and consistent sense of whimsy, clearly presented with love and care.
With its myriad character designs and slick user-interface, dynamic soundtrack and weighty sound design, each facet of Wildfrost's production oozes value. Even interacting with the cards is a fluid experience. Care has been taken in every regard, allowing the game to flow without a hitch.
7 Hollow Knight
A Rich Atmosphere & Hand-Drawn Visuals
Hollow Knight
- Released
- February 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Genre(s)
- Metroidvania
Hollow Knight is an immersive Metroidvania that excels with its melancholic atmosphere and dense, interconnected world. The world of Hallownest and its accompanying ambiance are particularly effective thanks to Hollow Knight's amazing production value.
The game's hand-drawn art style displays environments and characters with both clarity and style, supported by subtle world-building. In addition, the unique sound design and poignant soundtrack are particular standouts, consistently sparking the imagination with artistic flair.
8 Kentucky Route Zero
An Experimental Visual & Audio Treat
Kentucky Route Zero
- Released
- January 7, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
Kentucky Route Zero is a point-and-click adventure game that borders on interactive fiction, but its incredible production value fills in the blanks left by its lack of gameplay. This title is all about the experience; the mise en scene, the atmosphere, the poetic musings, all seasoned with supernatural flavorings in a magical-realist setting.
The soundtrack is in the driver's seat here, offering poignant needle-drops of bluegrass country and throbbing waves of emotional synths, steering the adventure with subtle ease. For fans of contemplative experiences that don't mind a slow burn, Kentucky Route Zero is likely to hit the spot in more ways than one.
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