Community MetaCouncil's Hidden Gems Thread

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STHX

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There was a discussion about it in last month's thread so since I suggested it why not do it?
In this thread let's post some hidden gems that escaped the eye of potential buyers. Post whatever you think someone else would enjoy if they heard about it
But since this is for hidden gems, let's add some "difficulty options" to make things more interesting

I'm too young to die
For games that have 1000+ reviews on Steam. Hidden? Never heard of this word

Hey, not too rough
Between 1000 and 500 reviews. Almost hidden

Hurt me plenty
Between 499 and 100 reviews. Now we're talking

Ultra-Violence
Between 99 and 10 reviews. Things are getting dangerously too hidden

Nightmare!
Less than 10 reviews. How did anyone even find these games?

But remember: these aren't rules. I could probably find various 1000+ games which no one ever heard about, especially when dealing with games from asian developers, uncommon genres, or not translated in english, so don't worry about the "difficulty". And obviously don't let the "gem" scare you into only post 10/10 games, you would be surprised how many people end up enjoying a 7/10 that ticks all the right boxes. Post anything you want to show to fellow members. Even better to do during major sales since a good sale will most likely increase the chance someone decides to get it. This thread doesn't have a year because it can work as a "database" for each mjor sale event

And now, to start the thread I'll post these 2 games. These games are much older than what the steam release date says. I remember playing the first with a fantranslation more than 15 years ago (the original released in 2007, we're talking about actual history of japanese indies, or doujin, games). They're well made mega man clones and have lots of references to many classic NES and SNES series. They both got an official Steam release in 2017 by playism with 417 reviews for the first and 137 for the second. They're on the harder side but the gameplay is pure classic mega man, and the graphics and soundtrack are pretty high quality too. At their sale price they're a steal
 
Nice thread! Here's a hidden point-and-click that every (hardcore) mystery lover should play. I finished it in one sitting. 7 hours straight from start to finish. Absolutely no hand-holding, so be ready to make lots and lots of notes.


Edit: at time of writing, 180 reviews
 
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Some recommendations per category

Ultra-Violence category

Bananitro is a simple game where the objective is to reach the end of the level while doing it fast. Once you get the hang of the physics and game mechanics you start discovering the shortcuts you can do to get better times in the levels. Currently there 30 reviews for this game.



A retro platformer with 4 different characters that you can change at will, once you get them, to pass the level challenges. It's competent and fun, there aren't much to say about it except for it being cheap. It has 35 reviews.




It's a short adventure game set in a cyberpunk future in which you can transfer your mind to synthetic brains. You work for a company that recover those brains when the body dies so the rich owners can get another body and keep living on. The graphics reminded me of late 90 games and a bit of that Blade Runner adventure game. It took me around 4.5 hours to get all the achievements and different endings.

Currently sitting at 37 reviews.



Hurt me plenty

Expelled! is a new game from inkle, the studio that made Heaven's Vault, 80 days, Overboard! and other games. In Expelled you control a sweet girl that was accused of pushing her class mate through a window! Nothing is what it appears and as you keep replaying the day trying to solve the mystery and to not get expelled from the school you'll discover a lot of secrets involving the characters and the school. Currently sitting at 122 reviews.




Wizordum is a frickin' good boomer shooter. The levels are great and packed with secrets to find, there are small tidbits of lore scattered through each level so you can know what exactly happened and why everything went to shit. They released the level editor recently so I hope we can get some fan made content. It has 495 reviews.

 
Cool idea :)

The most obvious one I can think of is Pocket City 2, which has only 54 reviews right now; and its excellent. Its a city-builder that is both fairly simple and surprisingly deep at the same time. The whole management aspect is the simple part; you wont be handling individual tram lines here (like in Cities Skylines). But you can walk around your city and do lots of side activities* that kept surprising me. Its not super refined, as its a solo dev, but its a lot of fun regardless.



here's my screenshots:

* side activities include: driving, riding a horse, flying a plane or helicopter, using that helicopter to put out fires, doing taxi missions, catching criminals, doing demolition, a lasertag game, a basketball game, shooing raccoons, motorbike drag racing, buying a house and furnishing it, adopting pets and walking them... and more.
 
A puzzle based metroidvania with no combat that barely ever goes on sale and it's simply excellent


Another no-combat puzzle base metroidvania that's all about finding secrets


Rad Codex has a lot of great CRPGs that are all set in the same universe and continuous timeline. The most well known is Horizon's Gate but I don't recommend starting there, Voidspire or Alvora are the most beginner friendly games. Expect complex combat scenarios, lots of skills and classes/jobs and lots of ways to solve any problem.
Save 35% on Rad Codex Tactics Bundle on Steam

A game about taking pictures of exotic "animals" in different poses and biomes. Haven't found another photography game as good as this one.


The Witness on a budget where puzzles are based off of our 5 senses.


Open world rpg with absolutely zero hand holding where you play as a group of goblins.


Crazy taxi but you drive a limo that's spinning non stop. Plus it has FMV cutscenes that go hard


Portal-like but with stacking cubes and a lot of secret easter eggs
 
subpar pool (22 reviews) - not on sale unfortunately. incredibly charming roguelike-ish pool game, not particularly deep but really fun to play with really short runs (regular runs are roughly 2 minutes long, later you unlock long mode which takes maybe 5 per run)


Lovely Planet Remix (40 reviews) - also not on sale but well worth the full (really low) asking price. my GOTY 2021, criminally undersold, it's basically more of the usual Lovely Planet goodness, but this time with plenty of additional modes changing how you play the game (including everyone's favorite noodle gun)


Polimines 2 (128 reviews) - really good math puzzler, if you like Tametsi/Hexcells etc., this should be a good time too (first game is fine - way too easy and takes maybe 2 hours at most)


Hell of an Office (113 reviews) - rocket jumping speedrunning FPS, they talk way too much in here but the gameplay itself is very solid, lots of breakable levels (some of that is kinda anticlimatic, if you ask me) and new mechanics in each world


satryn deluxe (100 reviews) - Robotron 2021, also available for free on Itch (in Steam version you pay for, well, a game in your Steam library, achievements and leaderboards)


Phantom Spark (139 reviews) - lovely racing time trial game


BRUTAL KATANA (46 reviews) - probably not in the same tier for me as other games here but it's a pretty decent short (there was an update I haven't played, the original took me 1,5h with all achievements) and really cheap speedrunning FPS


Utter a Name (88 reviews) - bite-sized Obra Dinn


and two of some of my favorites puzzlers:
Puddle Knights (191 reviews)


Pipe Push Paradise (133 reviews) - bundle with Hiding Spot is worth it, check Bonfire Peaks by the same dev too
 
More recommendations:

Ultra-Violence


Platformer game that can also be played in coop


You dog got lost in a labyrinth now you need to venture into it and change perspectives to solve the traversal puzzles.

Hurt me plenty


A puzzle game about fixing roads


A 3D platformer where you play as mole. The controls are tight and once you understand how it works you can complete the levels quite fast.


I think the store page describes it perfectly: Narrative Tragedy Puzzle Game

I'm too young to die


Boomer Shooter set in the same universe as Hypnospace Outlaw. It's dumb, absurd and fun.
 
There have been quite a lot of interesting titles posted so far, so before the summer sale end I'll post one last title: Path of the Midnight Sun (229 reviews - Hurt me Plenty)
This game has an interesting story. It started as a Fire Emblem Sacred Stones romhack called Fire Emblem Midnight Sun, but one day the author decided to turn it into a standalone game and this is the result. The final game does not play like a FE game at all actually, the battle system is closer to Etrian Odyssey (2 rows with 3 character maximum per row, skills cast from both HP or MP, first person view etc), and instead of top down "chess-like" maps the maps are made of interconnected nodes. Despite the changes in gameplay the game tries to recreate the FE experience in various ways. Movement and battles on maps requires "time", with player and enemy turns alternating each "15 minutes". As these "turns" pass new enemies reinforcements may appear, or neutral allies that can be recruited if your characters approach/talk to them, usually the objective is to reach/conquer a certain node in a certain amount of turns, dead enemies never respawn, really the FE-ism is everywhere. And obviously the story and characters are pure FE-likes: A "lord" equipped with sword and shield, a priestesses in white, a lady archer in short skirt and tighthigh boots, a quiet and ruthless mysterious swordman, wyvern and pegasus knights, a bare chested fighter, an ancient demon defeated by 8 heroes of legends, a power hungry kingdom that wants some evil power for themselves, every FE trope you can think about is here (including romance and fanservice). Outside of battles the game is like a first person P&C game (think Ace Attorney): you can examine backgrounds, pick items, talk to npcs, do some optional quest, or shop (with a similar time system like the battles have). The game story progresses linearly chapter to chapter so there is also no way to go back or endlessly grind
The game's biggest issues are obviously budget (money or time) related: first there are only 6 full/real playable characters while everyone else is a passive or an equippable summon attack for the main party (still, there are lot of these "passive" characters and they also fill the role of typical FE classes/recruits), the graphics are a mixed bags with some characters looking and animating good and others animating like complete ass, also while the game can start quite difficult (especially on hard) all the difficulty gets thrown out of the window the moment you reach the point where you can teach new skills to your main party and honestly, I wouldn't play on the hardest difficulty at all since it just makes the battles go on for longer with no real benefit
Regardless, because of its history and the decisions made this is a very unique game. Your mileage my vary on the story (but guess what: if you like FE stories you will most likely like this one too), the gameplay is nice, the soundtrack is good, and hey the developer is italian (which is why the game has such an uncommon list of translations) so if I don't post about this game here who will
 
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