Summary
2023 has been an incredible year for gaming, much to the chagrin of many players' wallets. Between new entries in theLegend of Zelda,Final Fantasy, andDiablofranchises and an exhaustive list of long-awaited sequels and new IP still set to release later in the year, it’s safe to say that no one could claim there being a dearth of content to dive into. While the year has been jam-packed with incredible AAA releases that seem to be dropping nearly every week, indie developers have also been busy crafting some of the most compelling and enjoyableindie gamesof the year, many of which might have gone unnoticed by players with their attention drawn to the next big marquis title.
Earlier in the year many were hopeful thatHollow Knight: Silksongwould see the light of day in 2023, but with a lack of concrete updates and a continually slipping release window it’s probably best to assume it won’t be gracing players' screens until 2024.Silksongaside, though, 2023 has still brought some of the best indie titles in years, including a few that are already contenders for best-of lists in one of the busiest gaming years in recent memory. These aren’t just quality indie titles; they’re experiences that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with AAA’s best.
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Dredge
Arriving at the tail end of March this year was the unexpectedfishing/survival-horror hybridDredge. Similar to publishers like Devolver Digital, Team 17 has made a name for itself by finding and publishing some of the best work coming out of small indie studios.Dredgeis no different, with an addictive fishing mechanic, beautiful art style, and inescapable sense of existential dread as day gives way to night and players can no longer trust their senses. It’s doubtful that anyone had a fishing game being one of the scariest games of the year on their 2023 bingo card, butDredgesomehow manages to pull it off.
Cassette Beasts
Despite some changes to world design and a variety of generational gimmicks, the corePokemonformula has remained largely consistent for more than 25 years. Developer Bytten Studio has fully realized an evolution of thePokemonformula with its own game –Cassette Beasts.Not only isCassette Beastsone of the best indie titles of the year, it’s maybe one of thebest monster taming games, period.
Warhammer 40K: Boltgun
A quick browse through the Steam storefront reveals that there’s no shortage of quality Boomer Shooters for players to rip and tear through, but this year’sWarhammer 40K: Boltgunis both one of the latest entries to the genre and one of its best. Making perfect use of theWarhammerextended universe and absolutely nailing the feel of classicDoomandQuakegameplay to a fault,Boltgunis a perfect fitinto theWarhammergame library and also a true “old-school” shooter. Many Boomer Shooters are modern FPSes with a retro aesthetic, butBoltgunactually feels like playing an ID Software title from 25 years ago.
Dave the Diver
AlthoughDave the Divertechnically entered Early Access in October 2022, it wasn’t until late June of this year that the game reached its full 1.0 release. Since then,Dave the Diverhas become a viral sensation, and spending just a few minutes playing the game makes it easy to see why.Dave the Diverseems like it absolutely shouldn’t work, thanks to the sheer amount of competing systems at play, yet somehow the developers made each of them work in concert with one another to support the core gameplay loop while also remaining interesting and fun to play.Dave the Diveris a triumph of originality and some of the most fun to be had with any title released in 2023.
Dave The Diveris available now on PC, with a Switch version currently in development.
