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The Top 10 Indie Games Of 2020 On Consoles And PC, Ranked

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It’s been a hell of a year for AAA games; looking back, it feels like the horrors of real life in 2020 were eagerly anticipated by the gaming industry, which delivered near-faultless escapism with the likes of DOOM Eternal, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ghost of Tsushima, and Half-Life: Alyx.

And yet, there were thrills galore being offered by indie developers. Their games may not have grabbed the limelight during a packed 2020, but they’re just as deserving of your money, if not more so.

10) Formula Retro Racing

Platforms: Xbox One, Steam

RRP: $11.99

Kicking off the top 10 is this solo effort from British indie developer Andrew Jeffreys, A.K.A. Repixel8. Drawing on past classic Virtua Racing, Formula Retro Racing may appear simple, but this gorgeous game is frustratingly addictive and often brutally difficult, providing the perfect nostalgia trip for anyone who spent their time in arcades during the 90s.

Check out my review of Formula Retro Racing here.

9) 7th Sector

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam

RRP: $12.99 

Set in an eerie, dystopian future that taps into the classic Western, Cold-War propagandist warning of a society that has surrendered to technocratic terror, puzzle game 7th Sector somehow manages to channel an entire emotional spectrum into the spark of electricity you control. As you navigate through wires, switches, toy cars and more, you feel like the only bit of light in a terrifyingly dark world. It’s utterly immersive from start to finish, and regularly heart-stopping.

Read my review of 7th Sector here.

8) Art of Rally

Platforms: Xbox One, Steam

RRP: $11.99

Game names don’t capture the essence of what you get quite as succinctly as Art of Rally, which may be one of the most beautiful titles of 2020. While it’s a perfectly capable top-down rally game, this celebration of past rally classics in beautiful, pastel-palette surroundings offers an anxiety-busting experience that any gamer can effortlessly dip in and out of.

Here’s my full review of Art of Rally.

7) If Found…

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, iOS

RRP: $12.99

As by far the most gameplay-light entry on this list, If Found… is nonetheless one of the most memorable. This interactive visual novel, told between hand-drawn pictures and diary entries that you endlessly erase, delivers an incredibly scripted and remarkably well-handled story of sexuality, gender, self-discovery and personal conflict.

The bulk of If Found… focuses on the journal of Kasio, a character in their early 20s who returns to their childhood home of Achill Island, off the Irish coast, after a school stint in Dublin. Alongside this is Kasio’s story of Cassiopeia: a scientist who discovers a black hole that will destroy her world. Both work in tandem, as Tales of the Black Freighter does with Watchmen, to create a tale that can’t be spoiled–you really have to experience it.

6) Golf with Your Friends

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam

RRP: $14.99

It may feel basic, rarely seem fair, and regularly look garish and ugly, but Golf with Your Friends is an irresistible multiplayer game that just keeps giving. It’s arguably the best casual game of 2020, offering surprisingly clever level design and often-fiendish difficulty, where course leaders can change after every hole, whether it’s down to luck, skill, or occasional acts of deviousness.

5) Neversong

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam, iOS

RRP: $14.99

Formerly known as Once Upon a Coma, it may be unsurprising to learn Neversong is a dark, haunting experience. This 2D platformer, in the style of a more colorful Limbo, follows Peet, a boy who wakes from a coma to discover his home of Redwind Village is now solely filled with children. Months earlier, the village’s adults went to Blackfork Asylum–where your girlfriend Wren was last seen alive–to rescue her, but they never returned.

Characters are incredibly well-rounded, playing into the types of people you knew as a kid; its bosses, meanwhile, are body-horror monstrosities that strike fear into your heart. As far as short, story-driven platformers go, few are as satisfying and complete as Neversong, even if you may walk away with more questions than answers.

Read my full take on Neversong here.

4) No Straight Roads

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam

RRP: $39.99

While it may lack an indie pricetag, No Straight Roads also delivers the closest thing to a true AAA experience on this list. This debut effort from Metronomik–a small Malaysian studio founded in 2017 by Wan Hazmer (Final Fantasy XV lead designer) and Daim Dziauddin (a Street Fighter V concept artist)–uses the pair’s quirky art style as the basis for an utterly unique experience.

This boss-battle-heavy action-adventure game draws heavily on Scott Pilgrim, and you assume the role of rock band Bunk Bed Junction, featuring Mayday and Zuke (brilliantly voiced by Su Ling Chan and Steven Bones), who are looking to make a name for themselves in a world controlled by electronic dance music. Naturally, it has one of the best, and most cleverly composed, soundtracks of the year; if $40 seems steep, treat it as if you’re buying a game and an album at the same time.

Here’s my full review of No Straight Roads.

3) Chicken Police: Paint it RED!

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam

RRP: $19.99

Chicken Police is the debut game of Hungarian outfit The Wild Gentlemen, comprising alumni from AAA releases like The Witcher 3, Call of Duty WWII, and Crysis. Its first outing couldn’t be further from the team’s past experiences, but it’s all the better for it: a well-executed and thrilling visual detective novel that’s simple, without ever being one-note.

It’s a gritty, foul-mouthed combination of Sam and Max, LA Noire and the weird, anthropomorphical animal stylings of Zootopia, delivering a unique brand of storytelling, remarkable voice acting, and stylish visuals. On paper, it may look like a silly hat-tip to B-movies, but the world of Chicken Police is no laughing matter–even if it can be hilarious.

See my review of Chicken Police here.

2) SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Steam

RRP: $24.99/Free*

While it’s a late addition to this list, SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete nearly takes top spot. This self-aware, time-based shooter series is as addictive as its story expertly criticizes it for being. With 100 levels to explore, it’s amazing in short bursts, but regularly hooks you into playing for entire days.

It’s already a high-stakes game, so the inclusion of new enemies, invincible bosses, unlockable hacks and abilities, plus the ever-changing, procedurally generated world of each “node”, delivers nothing short of an endless experience, even if you “complete” the main story mode.

It’s regularly on sale, but it’s also potentially free: if you bought a copy of the original SUPERHOT before July 16, you can actually claim your own copy for nothing. What’s more, it’s currently available as part of Xbox Game Pass.

1) HyperParasite

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam

RRP: $14.99

Not only would I say HyperParasite is the best indie game of 2020, I’d go so far as to name it my favorite game of the year outright. Despite receiving little-to-no fanfare, Troglobytes Games’ 2020 rogue-lite delivers an 80s-inspired twin-stick shooter with stunning gameplay, fantastic progression mechanics, a whole new take on risk-vs-reward strategy, and challenges like no other.

Every time you clear a room, unlock a new host for your alien creature, or beat a boss, you feel an incredible rush of satisfaction; little victories are everything when you constantly feel like you’re losing the war. However, failure may never have been so enjoyable–I’ve owned it since April, and even after dozens of hours, I’ve still not completed it. I can’t stop myself from going back.

Check out my review of HyperParasite here.

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