Do you think your list of "Essential Indie Games to Play" tends to be more similar to, or wildly different from, the kinds of lists that gaming news and blog sites put out? From watching your material, and being a bit of a hidden gem connoisseur myself, I feel like looking at "great indies to try" type lists always show me the same stuff over and over, vs what kind of list I'd make for my friends if they ask. The good exceptions to this are the RPS "unknown pleasures" feature that they used to do, covering good stuff among the new steam releases weekly, or the gaming blog Buried Treasure from John Walker (formerly of RPS).
Since I've already locked my list of questions (the video will be out tomorrow), I'll answer this question here. Though I haven't seen any of these lists myself (as far as I can remember at least), I would guess that my list of the best indies would probably look very similar to lists that focus on the most popular releases. The reality is that those popular indies like Hollow Knight, Celeste, Undertale, Outer Wilds, FEZ, etc. are popular because they're a significant cut above the competition quality wise, and if any of those "hidden gems" had that mainstream appeal, they wouldn't be so hidden. But to reiterate, I would have to see an example of one of these lists for myself to truly judge how much my opinion deviates from it. Also, the other question asked in reply to this comment wasn't explicitly written down in my list, but it should be answered well enough by another question.
I'm glad you talked about Tunic. I actually just finished my playthrough of it the other night after originally picking it up because of your Fez video. I knew it was a game with similar puzzle solving elements and having a lot of knowledge-gated mechanics, and while Fez seemed a little too cryptic for my tastes, I thought Tunic may have been just digestible enough for me, and it was so worth it. As you said, solving the final puzzle to get the true ending was immensely satisfying and is one of my all-time favorite video game puzzles. I've got about half of the fairies and secret treasures left to find, as well as translating the runic language (which I've been told gives you loads of background lore via the book), and I think I'd at least like to translate the book - if not 100% the game. I've had so much fun solving puzzles with Tunic that it'd be a shame to not go all the way. Loved your Fez video and this one, and honestly hope you talk about it more in the future!
Thanks for the shout out about Moonstone Equation. I agree with every point you made about it. It's a bit rough around the edges and is occasionally annoying but it's something a very small niche of people have enjoyed unwrapping for literally hundreds of hours. Also, sorry to everyone about the spelling mistakes. Too much text and not enough testing. It didn't help that I decided to make loads of procedural branching text generation systems that try to deal with variations in the real-world time of day, what activities you've previously engaged in, which other characters you've talked too recently, where you've visited or all sorts of other stuff. Also, yes, the water level is annoying. It turns out not many players enjoy learning about number systems and sequences while drowning.
I appreciate the effort put in to trying so many different ideas, and while some of those are bound to end up half baked on a first attempt it's important that someone is making these niche games with weird new mechanics. I hope you release another game sometime, I'll be looking out for it at least.
I would like to add Animal Well. It is amazing and has layers upon layers filled with secrets. It is quite similar to fez in some way. Lots of exploring and hunting for secrets.
great video as usual!! i was kind of hoping you would mention outer wilds-- the non-linear, knowledge-based progression is similar to fez's, and the sense of discovery in outer wilds far surpasses fez's. i've been meaning to try tunic, as i've heard it has similarities to fez, looking forwards to getting it
What got me into FEZ was your video (right until the funny spoilers). Before it I only heard very small peeps around the internet and I thank you for exposing me to such a wonderful game. Thanks to this, I was also able to take the initiative into playing games like Outer Wilds and, of course, Tunic. I was positively suprised to see Toodeee and Topdee in this video, it's quite an underrated puzzle game I have to get around playing some day. And now you have given me a new game to sink my fangs (which have been currently oversaturated with a case of Eldenringitis and Yokaiwatchious Threeum) into. Oh, I have also noticed that the Mr. Bell Notification hasn't alerted me of your GOTYs video and shall watch it with glee. Congratulations on reaching 1K subs btw.
Toodee and Topdee is one of those games that I bought at release to support indie devs but, you know, backlog stuff gets in the way. But I'm hoping to actually play it this year, as it gave me some Fez vibes even before seeing this video. GREAT game choices by the way. I own or have played them all. I'm hoping this video will get more people into The Moonstone Equation, since that game is fucking amazing, but truly truly a hidden gem, as it came out in 2018 and sadly, by Steam's metrics, its barely gotten any attention (by metrics I mean: marked as profile features limited, but yeah that tends to denote lower playerbase/engagement).
I expected a mention of The Witness when it comes to how FEZ recontextualizes many elements of it's level design to bring forth a new wave of puzzles. Without going into too much detail it was quite mind-blowing and made the whole world even more beautiful, just like it did in Tunic. EDIt: ok, I wrote this while watching but saw the message at the very end. I hope you liked what you found in this game, if you did play it since this video was made.
Hope you enjoy The Witness when you get to it. My favorite game. The less you know going in, the better your experience is likely to be. This and the previous Fez video are both very well done. Thanks!
An add to this list is obviously Animal Well! It is inspired by Fez and Tunic and scratches the right places of my brain😄 I must say tho that Animal Well is SO much harder then Fez and Tunic! There are puzzles that are meant to be solved by the internet (Rabbit Screen). I mean I don’t think I could have solved everything in Fez alone (for example the telescope room) but I struggled in Animal Well so much more. As a standard player you wouldn’t even think of a lot of things that have been figured out by others. Which is… intriguing but also can be frustrating. The red room in Fez is comparable to one of the rabbits in Animal Well but the rabbit is much harder in my opinion. So be aware that you will spend hours in Animal Well (and give it a try without the internet! You will be surprised how far you get without it☺️) thank you for this video!
Are you familiar with the work of Nifflas? All of his games have unique charm to them I believe you'd appreciate a lot. As far as I'm concerned, games from Knytt series are some of the most atmospheric indie platformers out there. "Within a Deep Forest" is also a game that despite being fairly simple and short, stays with you for long because of how much charm it has. For me most of the games Nifflas developed fill the "need for more" you mentioned in the intro.
definitely play the witness. there's a deep rabbit hole that leads to the possible lesson of the game being: dont waste your time or more so i guess: moderation
hello, I have recently found your channel after watching your first video on Fez, I have recently been replaying the game myself. Some of your comments in this video have made me want to ask if you have played the games Environmental Station Alpha, Baba is You, and Noita, and your thoughts on these games, the pacing of their "layers" of gameplay, their atmosphere and endgame. Noita in particular has 2 puzzles that have gone unsolved for I believe over a year now. Cheers
I don't have anything against Witness, but personally, I like how games like FEZ have a simple story and ending, but only gets convoluted as you try and dig for secrets. The feeling of finding a cryptic puzzle amidst a simple game and trying to solve it is amazing. It's gotten me to get a dopamine-like feeling each time I hear the "unlocking something hidden" sound in-game.
You've probably already played it, but to me, The Witness is a missing piece in the understanding of what makes Tunic what it is. What you're refering to as interesting in the way Tunic pushes the Fez' concepts to an extent is to me nothing but an application of The Witness' methodology (and at times, puzzle idea) to Fez' World and Ambiance. This is what bugs me in Tunic, it doesn't feel like a proper thing on it's own, we clearly see it's inspiration from Fez, The Witness, Zelda and Dark Souls like you mentionned but it hardly surpasses its inspirations imo. It doesn't feel as rigourous as DS, not as adventurous as Zelda, not as paranoiac and intricate as The Witness and not as pure and mysterious as Fez to me... Would love to here what's your view on the subject
Wow. You're just so wrong about Fez, on so many levels. 2D and 3D levels, my friend. But no, really, you're way off. Fez is amazing and it's too bad you couldn't appreciate it.
If you missed the community post I made a couple weeks ago, I'm going to be doing a Q&A video in celebration of reaching 1000 subscribers (thanks
Who or what inspired you to make videos or continue to make them
Do you think your list of "Essential Indie Games to Play" tends to be more similar to, or wildly different from, the kinds of lists that gaming news and blog sites put out? From watching your material, and being a bit of a hidden gem connoisseur myself, I feel like looking at "great indies to try" type lists always show me the same stuff over and over, vs what kind of list I'd make for my friends if they ask. The good exceptions to this are the RPS "unknown pleasures" feature that they used to do, covering good stuff among the new steam releases weekly, or the gaming blog Buried Treasure from John Walker (formerly of RPS).
Since I've already locked my list of questions (the video will be out tomorrow), I'll answer this question here. Though I haven't seen any of these lists myself (as far as I can remember at least), I would guess that my list of the best indies would probably look very similar to lists that focus on the most popular releases. The reality is that those popular indies like Hollow Knight, Celeste, Undertale, Outer Wilds, FEZ, etc. are popular because they're a significant cut above the competition quality wise, and if any of those "hidden gems" had that mainstream appeal, they wouldn't be so hidden. But to reiterate, I would have to see an example of one of these lists for myself to truly judge how much my opinion deviates from it. Also, the other question asked in reply to this comment wasn't explicitly written down in my list, but it should be answered well enough by another question.
Thank you for making this, Fez made a huge impression on me and I'm always on the lookout for something similar.
I'm glad you talked about Tunic. I actually just finished my playthrough of it the other night after originally picking it up because of your Fez video. I knew it was a game with similar puzzle solving elements and having a lot of knowledge-gated mechanics, and while Fez seemed a little too cryptic for my tastes, I thought Tunic may have been just digestible enough for me, and it was so worth it. As you said, solving the final puzzle to get the true ending was immensely satisfying and is one of my all-time favorite video game puzzles. I've got about half of the fairies and secret treasures left to find, as well as translating the runic language (which I've been told gives you loads of background lore via the book), and I think I'd at least like to translate the book - if not 100% the game. I've had so much fun solving puzzles with Tunic that it'd be a shame to not go all the way. Loved your Fez video and this one, and honestly hope you talk about it more in the future!
🌌
Thanks for the shout out about Moonstone Equation.
I agree with every point you made about it. It's a bit rough around the edges and is occasionally annoying but it's something a very small niche of people have enjoyed unwrapping for literally hundreds of hours.
Also, sorry to everyone about the spelling mistakes. Too much text and not enough testing. It didn't help that I decided to make loads of procedural branching text generation systems that try to deal with variations in the real-world time of day, what activities you've previously engaged in, which other characters you've talked too recently, where you've visited or all sorts of other stuff.
Also, yes, the water level is annoying. It turns out not many players enjoy learning about number systems and sequences while drowning.
I appreciate the effort put in to trying so many different ideas, and while some of those are bound to end up half baked on a first attempt it's important that someone is making these niche games with weird new mechanics. I hope you release another game sometime, I'll be looking out for it at least.
I would like to add Animal Well. It is amazing and has layers upon layers filled with secrets. It is quite similar to fez in some way. Lots of exploring and hunting for secrets.
Great video! Keep up the good work!
Recently I have finished FEZ and now a video about my favorite game of all time, made it more special.
great video as usual!! i was kind of hoping you would mention outer wilds-- the non-linear, knowledge-based progression is similar to fez's, and the sense of discovery in outer wilds far surpasses fez's. i've been meaning to try tunic, as i've heard it has similarities to fez, looking forwards to getting it
Yes! Tunic is great! Also try Animal Well!! And I will have to have a look into outer wilds!!
What got me into FEZ was your video (right until the funny spoilers).
Before it I only heard very small peeps around the internet and I thank you for exposing me to such a wonderful game.
Thanks to this, I was also able to take the initiative into playing games like Outer Wilds and, of course, Tunic.
I was positively suprised to see Toodeee and Topdee in this video, it's quite an underrated puzzle game I have to get around playing some day.
And now you have given me a new game to sink my fangs (which have been currently oversaturated with a case of Eldenringitis and Yokaiwatchious Threeum) into.
Oh, I have also noticed that the Mr. Bell Notification hasn't alerted me of your GOTYs video and shall watch it with glee.
Congratulations on reaching 1K subs btw.
Toodee and Topdee is one of those games that I bought at release to support indie devs but, you know, backlog stuff gets in the way. But I'm hoping to actually play it this year, as it gave me some Fez vibes even before seeing this video. GREAT game choices by the way. I own or have played them all. I'm hoping this video will get more people into The Moonstone Equation, since that game is fucking amazing, but truly truly a hidden gem, as it came out in 2018 and sadly, by Steam's metrics, its barely gotten any attention (by metrics I mean: marked as profile features limited, but yeah that tends to denote lower playerbase/engagement).
Coming back to this video. PLEASE play Animal Well, everyone. It'd be a great addition to this list
I expected a mention of The Witness when it comes to how FEZ recontextualizes many elements of it's level design to bring forth a new wave of puzzles.
Without going into too much detail it was quite mind-blowing and made the whole world even more beautiful, just like it did in Tunic.
EDIt: ok, I wrote this while watching but saw the message at the very end. I hope you liked what you found in this game, if you did play it since this video was made.
Tunic is fantastic. I probably like it more than FEZ, and actually 100%ed it.
Hope you enjoy The Witness when you get to it. My favorite game. The less you know going in, the better your experience is likely to be.
This and the previous Fez video are both very well done. Thanks!
An add to this list is obviously Animal Well! It is inspired by Fez and Tunic and scratches the right places of my brain😄 I must say tho that Animal Well is SO much harder then Fez and Tunic! There are puzzles that are meant to be solved by the internet (Rabbit Screen). I mean I don’t think I could have solved everything in Fez alone (for example the telescope room) but I struggled in Animal Well so much more. As a standard player you wouldn’t even think of a lot of things that have been figured out by others. Which is… intriguing but also can be frustrating. The red room in Fez is comparable to one of the rabbits in Animal Well but the rabbit is much harder in my opinion. So be aware that you will spend hours in Animal Well (and give it a try without the internet! You will be surprised how far you get without it☺️) thank you for this video!
Are you familiar with the work of Nifflas? All of his games have unique charm to them I believe you'd appreciate a lot. As far as I'm concerned, games from Knytt series are some of the most atmospheric indie platformers out there. "Within a Deep Forest" is also a game that despite being fairly simple and short, stays with you for long because of how much charm it has.
For me most of the games Nifflas developed fill the "need for more" you mentioned in the intro.
TUNIC is the only game to really extend FEZ legacy, yet...✨
Edit : played Animal Well day one, ooh yep it's another gem like that 🙌
Play animal well pleeeeease
now we have animal well
Dude, I kid you not, i accidentally feel asleep listening to your voice
You should probably play Riven if you enjoyed the puzzles of Fez so much
Your voice is so chillin
If anything can capture the feeling of this game is Adventure Time
The first 2 seasons maybe, everything else is garbage.
love your vids keep it up man
definitely play the witness. there's a deep rabbit hole that leads to the possible lesson of the game being: dont waste your time or more so i guess: moderation
Lumiel 🌌
you talked about the ways tunic surpassed fez with its puzzles and didnt even mention translating tunic's language!?
YOU SHOULD PLAY YOUROPA
💜💜💜
Iu neulu
hey nice username my fellow cheese
There can be only one.
Pick up animal well
Just played through it completely and i need more games like these
hello, I have recently found your channel after watching your first video on Fez, I have recently been replaying the game myself. Some of your comments in this video have made me want to ask if you have played the games Environmental Station Alpha, Baba is You, and Noita, and your thoughts on these games, the pacing of their "layers" of gameplay, their atmosphere and endgame. Noita in particular has 2 puzzles that have gone unsolved for I believe over a year now. Cheers
I'd argue The Witness gaves similar vibes to Fez. The near indecipherable layers of puzzle solving stuck with me for weeks.
I don't have anything against Witness, but personally, I like how games like FEZ have a simple story and ending, but only gets convoluted as you try and dig for secrets. The feeling of finding a cryptic puzzle amidst a simple game and trying to solve it is amazing. It's gotten me to get a dopamine-like feeling each time I hear the "unlocking something hidden" sound in-game.
Good video but I don't like how you spoiled some of the cooles puzzles in Tunic
yeah if only he'd put 2 spoiler warnings ahead of time
You've probably already played it, but to me, The Witness is a missing piece in the understanding of what makes Tunic what it is. What you're refering to as interesting in the way Tunic pushes the Fez' concepts to an extent is to me nothing but an application of The Witness' methodology (and at times, puzzle idea) to Fez' World and Ambiance.
This is what bugs me in Tunic, it doesn't feel like a proper thing on it's own, we clearly see it's inspiration from Fez, The Witness, Zelda and Dark Souls like you mentionned but it hardly surpasses its inspirations imo. It doesn't feel as rigourous as DS, not as adventurous as Zelda, not as paranoiac and intricate as The Witness and not as pure and mysterious as Fez to me...
Would love to here what's your view on the subject
promo sm
Tunic really is the epitome of "What if Fez was good?" Lmao
Wow. You're just so wrong about Fez, on so many levels. 2D and 3D levels, my friend. But no, really, you're way off. Fez is amazing and it's too bad you couldn't appreciate it.
It seems like fez is one of this guys favorite games lol, being able to critize things you love is important to make better things!
This might sound petty, but if a game is being described as "fez-like" that's a HUGE red flag for me considering Phil Fish.
It's not a bad game lol, same goes with fez.
I wish FEZ 2 came out. FEZ has no equal.