Steam is full of asset-flip garbage and clunky “chase-the-fad” nonsense. But in an environment where only the best of the best get any real attention, what’s your secret “I can’t believe I ever stumbled across this” gem?
Bonus points if it feels personal or revealing of the creator, but that’s not necessary. Bonus points if its fun to play, but again not necessary. My only real requirements is that almost no one has heard of it, and the project was eventually finished. What I’m looking for is the weirdest “complete” experience you’ve ever found on Steam.
You must log in or # to comment.
Does Sable count? It has ~6k reviews on steam. It’s a really unique environmental exploration game with a sweet story (to minimize spoilers) and there’s a lot you come across accidentally and it feels satisfying and like it’s your own journey, in a way.
Also Mudborne. It’s about $8 and has 620 reviews, and the breeding mechanics are fun and tinker-y. Unlocking areas and figuring out puzzles in the name of frog conservation!
Garden Story is also a cute, easy enough, Zelda-like as is Ogu and the Secret Forest, with about 1k reviews each. Less “weird” and more “adorable” but still enjoyable.
Last but not least, I will always recommend Jazzpunk. it’s 6k total reviews across 11 years so hopefully that’s obscure enough but it’s super duper weird in the best way. Play it at least once and you’ll never forget it.
I played Sable a couple of years ago, I found it fairly underwhelming despite its cool art style.
I mean, 6k people have left reviews but Hylics is definitely one of the weirdest experiences you can have on Steam. The second one is disqualified due to popularity. If you play them both get their album Absent Moon and listen to it afterwards. Its an experience.
Just this last month I played “Final Profit - A Shop RPG”: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1705140/Final_Profit_A_Shop_RPG/
An RPG Maker game with no combat, quite a lot of story that’s honnestly not bad and more custom systems than I expected RPG Maker being able to handle.
My understanding is that it was made by a single guy, which for the size of the game is fairly impressive.
You play as the Queen of the Elves trying to fight the embodiment of capitalism by becoming the very best capitalist. I believe there’s some branching to the story, but I only did one playthrough, which took about 20 hours.
I like the Swindle It’s a platformer roguelike, you have 100 days to rob the police of an AI that will make crime impossible, but first you have to get enough money to go there and on equipment to not suck when you get there. it’s a deceptively deep game both with the mechanics and the strategy of what perks to get when. It took me about 40hrs to beat but it’s one of the few games I decided to 100% which took me about 120hrs.
It’s been a bit since I’ve played it, but from what I remember Sky Rogue was pretty fun. Plane based roguelite. Simple enough flight model to pick up and play but complex enough to not be mind numbing. It’s also 75% off right now
Smushi Come Home
Beautiful and soulful little platformer, 99% positive reviews on steam.
Bonus points if it feels personal or revealing of the creator
Solo dev. Reading his letters of gratitude to players and comparing it with the game he made gives me this vibe very strongly
Ilamentia. Abstract puzzle/3D platformer. The developer has made more polished games since, but this one lives in my head.
Solium Infernum: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893810/Solium_Infernum/
Brilliantly original strategy game where you play demon lords fighting for rule of hell. Amazing, complex strategy where you need to use insults, threats, challenges and diplomacy just as much as military and magical power to win. Incredible art and writing and incredibly fun and deep gameplay. Warning: you may ruin friendships over this game, you can really do devastating stuff to each other once player abilities ramp up in the later game.
Mine is a more normie choice, but I’d have to say Chained Echoes.
It’s a JRPG made by one guy in Germany. Lasts 40-60 hours and manages to integrate both on-foot and flying mech mechanics together in a way that works. Plus, there’s several encounters throughout the story that are unique and interesting, and the story tends to subvert a lot of expected norms in the genre.
The downsode is there’s plenty of spots where the quality drops. There’s a couple of scenes with bad and nonsense writing, a couple of poorly thought out encounters, and and obsession for dangling post-game content in front of your nose throughout the story when there’s no need to make it post-game. Mainly, Mattias Linda really needed an editor to tell him “no” on some spots. As it is, I’d give it a 3.5-4 out of 5. If he had someone for proofreading and QA it’d probably be a solid 4.5/5.
