On the fourth day of Christmas I cop out and just talk about all the sweet indie games that I played this year. Some really fantastic stuff came out from small studios in 2018 and here are my favorites. In retrospect I should have done these five games as day 5 to go with the theme but I am dumb and didn't think about that till just now as I summarize this article. Oops.
Who knew the simple mechanic of moving an ever expanding hole around and swallowing up a town could make for a good story telling? Donut County features such a hole as well as a great cast of characters including a raccoon that needs to learn some life lessons. A good soundtrack and pleasing visuals make this one a treat. Become the Trash King and Have a Garbage Day!
*****
Weird puzzle heads that are also houses more your thing? GNOG serves that up with room to spare! A series of puzzle heads adorned in a great visual style with a range of puzzle types that will have you pushing, spinning, pulling, dragging and more all in the confines of each level. They open up like a strange lunchbox and let you eat the tasty treasure of puzzles found within (or something?). A jamming soundtrack accompanies your endeavors. GNOG exists to give joy to those who play it!
*****
Want to travel the exciting waters of the unknown and create some folklore tales? Burly Men At Sea does exactly that! Lead a trio of bearded fishermen through adventures in the short form story telling game. Each time you play you create a new tale and discover more of the map. Perfect for 15 minute sessions the choose your own adventure style game is both funny and looks great. Like playing a picture book from when you were a kid.
*****
*****
What if I told you there was a game that came out in 2018 that was not only an incredible platformer but also tackled issues of mental health in a serious way? Celeste is that game. If you like well thought out and challenging platforms with tight controls, a good learning curve and clever ideas this is for you. The characters and conflict double down as well adding a fantastic layer of story about empowerment through sweat, and the change that comes over us when we embrace, rather than evade, the difficulties of life. Add an amazing soundtrack and some of the best pixel graphics I've seen this year Celeste knocks it right out of the park. And if the games platforming difficulty get to be to hard for you there is a variety of assist mode options (to be turned on and off as you like) that will help you through the game so you can see all it has to offer (I'm bad at games and was very thankful for this - more games should do this).
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