There is no shortage of big-budget video games on the market these days. But even the latest AAA titles can feel a little stale at times. Thankfully, there have been plenty of lesser-known games throughout the years that still hold up well. Here are five games of various ages and styles to get you by when you need something a little different to enjoy.
Pyre (Supergiant Games – 2017):
Supergiant Games is great at establishing quirky, colorful worlds that give the player a reason to care about their characters. They pulled it off in 2014 with the fantastic turn-based game Transistor and again with the hit game Hades from 2020. Pyre is another example of Supergiant finding that wonderful balance between simple, yet entertaining gameplay and succinct, yet engrossing world-building.
Pyre tasks the player with leading a misfit group of characters through a series of capture the flag type challenges as they try to navigate their way from a dangerous land of exile back to the society they were cast out of. The point and click narrative is effective at establishing a robust world of questionable morals and tenuous relationships, and the mechanics are just varied enough to keep the player invested through the 12 hours or so of gameplay.
Stacking (Double Fine Productions – 2012):
Stacking takes the ability-stealing mechanic and fits it perfectly into a set of Matryoshka dolls. It is a puzzle platformer of sorts that tasks the player with leading the diminutive Charlie Blackmore on a quest to free his family from forced servitude and to bring down the evil aristocrat, The Baron. It’s a bit silly at times, but it all comes together in a remarkably entertaining package.
You’ll forever associate The Sphinx with cheese, and next time you see a blimp you may feel an insatiable urge to yell, “Release the fish!” The silent movie artistic style works great, and the puzzles are entertaining, but not particularly challenging. It’s a quick play through–even for a completionist–at 4 to 8 hours, so it’s perfect for a quick reprieve from longer games.
Trine (Frozenbyte – 2009):
Trine, the first in a series of five games, boasts a novel multiplayer experience. In what is a slightly different take on the puzzle platformer, the player is tasked with leading three characters through levels by switching between control of one character at a time. Each of the three has their own skill set that will be demanded at different times and in different ways. The ability to add new skills as the player progresses each character helps keep it feeling fresh to the end.
The levels are all beautiful and it is a fun solo play through, but where Trine really shines is as a couch or online co-op. Each player controls one of the three characters and the demand for creativity and communication make for some very entertaining sessions with friends.
Defense Grid: The Awakening (Hidden Path Entertainment – 2008):
Defense Grid is the next level of tower defense. Players’ ability to create efficient killing zones will be thoroughly tested. Just beating the levels is not too difficult, but achieving gold on all the maps is a task meant only for the dedicated. Dropping towers and simply waiting to level them up will not get the job done.
Some of the harder levels demand constant adding and removing of towers, and the player needs to know their enemies well as the order of targeting can be paramount. A casual fan will enjoy The Awakening as it’s among the best of the tower defense genre, but this game is perfect for those who want to push themselves to fully complete some of the incredibly challenging levels.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (Raven Software – 2005):
For a title pushing 20 years old, the gameplay holds up well to a modern standard and old-school X-Men fans will find themselves engrossed in the nostalgia in no time. The only example of abandonware on the list, this game can be downloaded for free online. As with all abandonware, it may take a bit of technical knowledge with computers to install the game properly, but all the information needed can be easily found.
Abandonware is a distinction for software that the original studio no longer supports or sells in any manner. It usually cannot be found on physical media any longer and is only hosted online, generally by fans of the product.
Rise of Apocalypse is a top-down, four-character action role-playing game. It can be played alone or multiplayer, with each player controlling a character. There is a robust community of modders that have done a lot of work on this game. There are now well over 100 versions of playable characters and loads of patches and textures to improve gameplay and graphics. The visuals can become busy at times, and the menus are a little janky, but for the most part the characters and their powers look pretty good on the screen.
Please drop a comment with your take on any of these games and share some lesser-known games from the past that you suggest gamers go back and play through.
Sean Shanks can be reached at [email protected].
