Home Features The Critical Hit Games of the Year 2018 – Best Indie Game

The Critical Hit Games of the Year 2018 – Best Indie Game

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Not every game needs a budget that could rival the GDP of Belgium. Not every game needs to field a team of hundreds of professionals who use absurd new technology to create groundbreaking simulations of your ears lighting up when sunlight hits it, as the industry has more than enough room for games with smaller budgets and even grander ambitions.

Indie games are a vital part of the video game ecosystem, and 2018 saw more than one such game rise to the top of the food chain. Here’s a look at the best of the best, from the indie darlings that we just cannot get enough of.

Honourable Mentions

Return of the Obra Dinn

Return of the Obra Dinn

Just on a visual level, there’s no other game this year that looks even remotely close to Return of the Obra Dinn’s bizarre reverse-sepia design, but beyond the surface graphics? The heart of a mystery beats, utilising familiar game mechanics to paint a new picture that feels dangerous, original and memorable.

Celeste

Celeste (2)

It’s impossible to not like Celeste, as this quirky adventure focuses not on the destination, but the journey. Beautifully designed, hopefully optimistic and dedicated to its 2D inspirations, Celeste will make you believe in a better tomorrow.

The Forest

The Forest

There may be too many survival games to choose from these days, but The Forest’s mixture of solid ideas with horror themes and a more liberating sense of design made this foray into a harsh and unknown wilderness, stand out from the pack.

Into the Breach

Into the Breach

What happens when you mix Pacific Rim with Fire Emblem? You get this minimal strategy game, that mixes tight unit co-ordination with tactical positioning and frequent resets of time itself. Even with such heady concepts attached to it, Into the Breach is still amazingly easy to pick up and play, no matter where you are.

And the winner is…

Dead Cells

Dead Cells

After spending most of 2017 in Early Access, Dead Cells finally emerged from the shadows and cut a path forward that had to be seen to be believed. Taking the very best from multiple genres and wrapping them into one cohesive package of blistering action and rewarding exploration, Dead Cells is a masterpiece of ambition and fan feedback, worth playing several times over and our pick for the best indie game of 2018.

Last Updated: December 12, 2018

17 Comments

  1. Still gotta jam Dead Cells.
    I’ve just gotten back into platform gaming with Wonder Boy Dragons Trap. Been loving that, so pretty damn sure Dead Cells is gonna blow me away.

    Reply

    • Magoo

      December 12, 2018 at 12:19

      You are correct.

      Reply

  2. Caveshen Rajman

    December 12, 2018 at 11:54

    Dead Cells is such a magical game, both to look at and to play. The technical prowess that went into it is fascinating. I don’t even play those kinds of games and I bought it to support the devs lol. <3

    Reply

  3. JacoZAB

    December 12, 2018 at 12:24

    Hollow Knight? I know it was released last year. But it was only released on PS4 this year

    Reply

  4. Daniel Hallinan

    December 12, 2018 at 11:49

    I’m actually kinda surprised SURVEY PROGRAM / Delta Rune isn’t on here. Admittedly, the nature of its release avoided marketing outside of word of mouth, but I suppose I’m likely biased in regards to how well it was received as my feed (which is 95% artists at this point) EXPLODED violently with fan art.

    Anyway, I personally adored Obra-Din and Into the Breach, but I struggled with Dead Cells, eventually giving up on it. The gameplay itself was great fun for the first few dozen hours, but the fun fell away as the only challenge slowly became the fight at the end, which one would spend a LOT of time getting to, only to die. I don’t mind difficult bosses, but a large time investment inbetween attempts tends to rile me up and put me off.

    I’ve still not finished Delta Rune (stuck in an optional portion of the game, and I REFUSE to do anything else until I beat it), but that’s honestly made me feel so god damned wonderful again. It’s entire release was a wonderful surprise, and a wonderful experience.

    Reply

    • The D

      December 12, 2018 at 11:54

      I need to try this Delta Rune. Had no idea it even existed, but it looks aces.

      Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      December 12, 2018 at 11:54

      Huge undertale fan, but Delta rune was…weird. Not really a properly released game, and more a weird sort of super surprising marketing event.

      Reply

      • Daniel Hallinan

        December 12, 2018 at 12:03

        I fully agree – a LOT about it was / is weird (really need to finish it -_-), but I’ve invested several hours into it and it was a wonderful and surprising experience, so definitely an indie highlight for me.

        I’m not bugged that it’s not here, due to its weirdness – as I said, just surprising because I was particularly exposed to a lot of people going apeshit over it, so I had an assumption that it had a much “louder” release, but I’ve kinda clicked that for most the whole thing flew under the radar.

        Reply

  5. Captain JJ

    December 12, 2018 at 12:24

    Hmm. I would’ve gone with The Forest first, but I haven’t played Dead Cells. So I guess, that means….nothing XD

    Reply

    • Pariah

      December 12, 2018 at 12:29

      See while I like Forest I don’t think it should be on this list at all. Not because it’s a bad game, but because the quality of the other stuff on this list is so damn good.

      Also if Forest made it on, why didn’t Subnautica, which is also a 2018 release? I felt that had so much more going for it.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ

        December 12, 2018 at 12:40

        Well, I bought the Forest when it first hit early access about four or so years ago. So for me it holds a special place, and I feel like they’ve done an excellent job at creating a unique experience that can be enjoyed both alone and in co-op.

        But I agree that Subnautica is excellent, though wasn’t that 2017? Or was the console release this year?

        Reply

        • Pariah

          December 12, 2018 at 12:59

          Subnautica was released in Jan this year, officially. Also out of early access.

          As for the Forest – that game has some serious creepy atmosphere. Those caves are creepy AF. Excellent audio design, those laughs at night… It’s a great game. I will never dispute that. I just don’t know if it meets the standard set by Celeste and Dead Cells. To some people, easily, especially with the co-op being so good. But yeah.

          Reply

          • Captain JJ

            December 12, 2018 at 14:49

            Ah, okay. Subnautica is another game I bought in very early access.
            Wonderful game.

            Yea, I get what you mean. Absolutely.

            I think I’m maybe just a slight Forest fanboi XD

  6. Spathi

    December 12, 2018 at 13:22

    Duuuuuudes, where is Subnautica? Such an awesome game, great VR support, great gameplay, great story, great stuff in general!

    Reply

    • Captain JJ

      December 12, 2018 at 14:49

      They don’t like fun, clearly 😛

      Reply

    • Pariah

      December 12, 2018 at 15:03

      I think it might be PTSD from a Ghost Reaper Leviathan appearing out of bloody nowhere. Those haunting echoes are the stuff of nightmares. Beautiful, wonderful nightmares!

      Reply

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