It's that time of year again when looking back at the plethora of releases this year becomes common, with everything from RPGs to indies getting their due attention. At this point in the lifespan of the term 'indie,' it is used to describe a wide spectrum of games at various levels of budget. Still, this list of games from smaller development teams all exist outside the AAA game space, with an interesting exception, but these 15 indie games were the biggest, best, and most notable ones of 2019.
Ape Out
Ape Out is one of the most stylish games of the year. Players take control of an Ape escaping from a scientific lab as they try to survive and take as much revenge as possible without monkeying around too much. The art is reminiscent of graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass and the jazzy percussive soundtrack adapts to the player. Ape Out is not a rhythm game per se, but player actions determine the when the drum hits will be. Throughout the levels in a given "side," the music will grow in intensity as the difficulty ramps out. It is a brilliant stylish audio-visual experience that provides a decent challenge by the end.
Baba Is You
Baba is You is one of the most creative and challenging puzzle games of the year. Rules appear on screen, and as the aptly named sheep Baba, players can manipulate the rules by shuffling the words around the puzzle space. Sometimes, the answer is more simple than it seems, and often times, the levels are even more tricky than they appear. Baba Is You is an exercise in thinking outside of the box and ends up being one of the most creative puzzle games since The Witness.
Cadence of Hyrule
The best rhythm game of the year is spin-off from Crypt of the Necrodancer with a Legend of Zelda skin, but Cadence of Hyrule is more than that. The game evolves the gameplay of Necrodancer and sets it to some groovy remixes of classic Zelda tunes. This game shows the potential of what talented, passionate independent teams can do with a license like Zelda. Developers Brace Yourself Games approached Nintendo with an idea for Zelda DLC for Necrodancer, but the collaboration went so well, it turned into its own game. The developers also put in a fixed beat mode for players who want to simply explore the game at their own pace.
Children of Morta
Some of the great indie games this year were rogue-likes. Children of Morta is the one for fans of action rogue-likes, like last year's Dead Cells or fans of Diablo style isometric games. Basically, Children of Morta is a rogue-like Diablo, with engaging combat and abilities that don't grow stale. The game is great about making sure players always have new persistent skills that help the game move at a brisk pace where it always feels like players are making progress towards the next big upgrade.
Disco Elysium
One of the absolute best RPGs of 2019, Disco Elysium is a beautiful game with enrapturing storytelling systems. In a year with beloved RPGs like the Outer Worlds and Dragon Quest 11, Disco Elysium stood out by being a throwback to the CRPG days that managed to be socially relevant. The gritty detective RPG interrogates the politics of its world through dialogue trees and some of the best writing of the year. The way skills and building a character impact the way the player interacts with other characters makes Disco Elysium a compelling game world to dive into headfirst.
Indivisible
A kickstarter game from years ago finally got picked up by 505 games, publisher of Control. Despite being published by a company that puts out AAA games, Indivisible is still very much in the indie game spirit. This Metroidvania style platformer has a JRPG style active time battle combat system. It scratches the JRPG itch by being a game about the player's party, both their abilities and the character's personalities. Indivisible is an extremely engaging game with a stunning art style and some truly impressive character designs.
Katana Zero
For fans of old school style games that ooze style unheard of in the 16-bit era, Katana Zero is the indie game to pick up from 2019. This pixel art action game has stylish sword combat and meshes that with ambiguous storytelling and a rewind feature. The game is absolutely one of the most stylish games of 2019 and satisfying controls with combat puzzle solving.
Mordhau
One of the most in-depth combat systems of the year comes from Mordhau. This medieval multiplayer hack and slash has some of the most satisfying and diverse melee combat of the year. Each parry, stab, and thrust serves a different purpose and has a hard counter. Additionally, each class has pros and cons against other class. It's the most complicated game of rock, paper, scissors ever devised, and it ends up being a standout multiplayer experience. Plus, there's a dedicated scream button, so nothing wrong with that.
Neo Cab
Being one of the last human Uber drives in a hyper-corporatist future is not a glamorous job, but it is a job. Neo Cab is a visual novel style game that has players navigating conversations with their passengers to get the best star rating possible. Not for the fame and glory, though, just to survive. The game takes cues from games like Papers, Please and Cart Life in exploring the punishing, meager monotony of low wage labor. Neo Cab is not as grim as those titles and has an engaging story with superb characterization throughout.
Outer Wilds
Not to be confused with the Obsidian RPG of a similar name, Outer Wilds is one of the most unique games of the year. Outer Wilds traps players in a 22 minute loop as the solar system supernovas, while they solve the mysteries of the Nomai, an ancestral race. It is a fantastic game about navigating space and truly exploring in a foreign sci-fi world. The true key to making progress in Outer Wilds is knowledge. The more the player learns about the Nomai and the universe, the closer they get to unraveling the multi-layered story. This is one that is worth seeing through to the end.