10 Indie Games Better Than AAA Games

Now that there are quite a few indie games that can rival AAA titles in terms of quality, we're seeing increasingly daring proposals from independent developers.

Studios, now more skilled and experienced, are venturing beyond the genres that have become commonplace within the ecosystem, exploring spaces typically dominated by big-budget productions.

Racing games, multiplayers, RPGs, open-worlds, shooters... Many of these styles have been the stronghold of commercial titles for years, but now they have to share the spotlight.

In reality, more than just sharing the room, they've often had to watch smaller projects steal the show, as this list of the ten best indie games in genres dominated by AAA games confirms.

10 art of rally

Reminiscences of a Golden Age

For the past decade, simulation has been the dominant approach to cars in video games, which is why I believe art of rally is a gem that deserves far more attention.

With its highly stylized aesthetic rather than realism, prodigious sound design, and a satisfying difficulty curve that aims to turn you into a rally master, it's an ode to the genre's more arcade-like and fun era.

The title presents a dichotomy between cozy and adrenaline-fueled gameplay that works brilliantly, with coherent physics and mechanics that ultimately prioritize entertainment and challenge, delivered by developers who are clearly die-hard fans of the sport.

Whether you're an enthusiast of the discipline or not, it's an admirable work thanks to how art of rally distances itself from the modern standard of driving, without completely sacrificing the elements that make simulation the current king.

9 Friends vs Friends

A Multiplayer Like in the Old Days

As you approach thirty and become an extremely old person as an immediate result, playing contemporary multiplayer games becomes a real struggle due to their aggressive time demands, unlike the rewarding Friends vs Friends.

Combining Counter-Strike with Slay the Spire, and creative enough to warrant a try just hearing such a crazy description, this is a first-person team shooter where the primary goal is to have fun with your friends in the midst of chaotic matches.

The gunplay is phenomenal in itself, but the key lies in its colorful and complex environments, along with the card effects, which can freeze characters, enlarge their heads, allow them to see through walls, slow down time, and other things straight out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Furthermore, Friends vs Friends boasts a highly defined art style within a charismatic and distinctive world, which is considerably appreciated in a medium where all multiplayer games are starting to look increasingly alike.

8 Dread Delusion

Let the Classics Tremble

Dread Delusion is a marvel that reminds us that, if there's one thing indie developers have mastered in recent years, it's the ability to emulate the development of video games from past decades.

Being the closest thing we'll see to The Elder Scrolls released on PlayStation 1, it's a dark fantasy adventure that truly captivates you with impossible architecture, stunning color palettes, and fantastical quests that motivate you to experience every last second of content.

The game is brimming with creativity in its mechanics, objectives, and map design, featuring terrifying designs that transform exploration into a fever dream, as well as extremely dynamic first-person combat that even Skyrim would envy.

As if it weren't enough, it boasts masterful worldbuilding that completely immerses you in its world, so the only way to stop playing Dread Delusion is to finish it, because leaving it incomplete is impossible.

7 DUSK

Since the FPS genre changed forever with the rise of consoles and the advent of the 2000s, the dominance of franchises like Quake and Doom became a thing of the past, and it wasn't until indie games like DUSK arrived that we saw the excellence of the so-called boomer shooters again.

Clearly, this is a subgenre dominated by independent products, but this particular title arrived in 2018 to establish it, as there were only the typical Call of Duty clones before its arrival, marking a new golden age for bullets' followers.

It was David Szymanski's work that opened the doors for boomer shooters to cease being a dead genre exclusive to the old greats, and he achieved this simply because it's a masterpiece whose visceral nature and gameplay variety are truly admirable.

To be honest, more than just an outstanding FPS, DUSK is among the pillars of current indie video games, because stealing fire from the gods is not an easy task, and even less so when it is done by a single individual alone.

6 Faith: The Unholy Trinity

This is How Fear is Instilled

Major horror franchises like Silent Hill and Resident Evil continue to be at the forefront of the genre, yet it's becoming increasingly clear to me that true terror lies behind indie games like Faith: The Unholy Trinity.

As much as big-budget productions boast realism and cinematic artistry, the rotoscoping and sound effects of this infernal video game are seared into the deepest recesses of my psyche in ways no AAA title has been able to.

Playing as a tiny collection of pixels across equally simple places where you can only use a cross and your wits to protect yourself is far more terrifying than it seems, especially given the fantastic and nightmarish design of the threats that stalk you.

The horror genre relies heavily on sound and imagination, and in both respects, Faith: The Unholy Trinity is unparalleled, toying with you in a way that most games can only dream of.

5 Salt and Sanctuary

The Best 2D ARPG

Without trying to reduce it to the Soulslike subgenre, although I think the adjective would also fit, Salt and Sanctuary is the best 2D ARPG ever created this entire century.

Since role-playing games' action-oriented variant became the dominant one, the number of products replicating the formula of studios like FromSoftware has increased considerably, and none have reached the heights of Ska Studios' creation.

With a precise yet significant inclusion of Metroidvania elements, all the key aspects of the genre find remarkable expression in this adventure, whether you're talking about the bosses, progression, build variety, worldbuilding, lore, soundtrack, art design, or anything else.

Normally, I would focus on one or two aspects in which the title excels to emphasize its recommendation, but with Salt and Sanctuary the point is that it is good at absolutely everything, so much so that the lack of a dimension does not prevent it from comparing itself in talent against many of its 3D peers.

4 Kenshi

A True Open World

Naturally, open worlds have historically been almost exclusively dominated by AAA games due to their demanding nature, making Kenshi an anomaly all the more incredible.

While it can't be compared to the density of elements found in titles like Grand Theft Auto or Fallout, it stands out for how it uses the very limitations of its modesty to propel the experience in the opposite direction: the vastness of solitude and spontaneity.

Instead of predefining hundreds of routes, behaviors, and sequences, Kenshi focuses on the naturalness of human life set in a colossal wasteland where players create their own story, rather than simply acting within a clearly predefined bunch of options.

Kenshi is incomparable to traditional open worlds because it doesn't seek to imitate them but to surpass them; in this process of going beyond what the common denominator offers, it becomes a unique and unparalleled representative of the genre.

3 Signalis

Resurrecting Forgotten Horrors

The fixed-camera horror style, much to my dismay, was lost over the years, becoming an ostracized art form, yet indie developers decided to revive it through masterpieces like Signalis.

Finding a middle ground between resource management and the psychological terror of the aforementioned Resident Evil and Silent Hill, embodying the android Elster in a tragic tale of devotion, identity, and freedom, feels like a love letter for a historical chapter of horror.

From the puzzles to the atmosphere, its inspirations are clear, though its personality is even more so, borrowing elements from titles like NieR: Automata to create a cocktail of emotions of all kinds that no modern game has managed to evoke in me.

The story is magnificent, the worldbuilding is genius, the map and enemy design are unforgettable... Overall, Signalis is a vivid and palpable reminder of how wonderful the genre was at its peak, and how much we've lost with the advance of technology.

2 ULTRAKILL

The Bastion of Modern FPS Games

Unlike DUSK, ULTRAKILL stares at the modern FPS genre directly in the eyes, and let me tell you, even in early access, no budget is big enough to beat this pure expression of talent and sheer madness.

Hakita created a masterpiece whose gunplay and movement mechanics are unmatched, taking center stage in a shooting hell where adrenaline, exuberance, and stylistic flair are the cardinal sins.

From the bosses to the common enemies, including each weapon's mechanical depth and the levels' sheer scale, the endless secrets, and the vast scope for creative expression through gameplay, it's simply a perfect shooter.

Witnessing its evolution over all these years has been a magical experience, and despite having played it to death, I'm sure that its 1.0 version will be so divine that experiencing it will be like touching heaven... again.

1 Disco Elysium

Establishing a New RPG School

Someday I'll get over it enough to stop placing it at the top of every single list where it can be included, though until that happens, I'm afraid it's necessary to continue describing Disco Elysium as a generational phenomenon.

Classic RPGs, like other approaches mentioned in this article, have become a dying breed over time, with very few in the upper echelons of development daring to create them and instead resorting to just including fragmented elements of their cores.

In contrast, that previous ZA/UM crew decided to take a 180-degree turn and embrace the history that preceded them with open hearts, creating a story, dialogue, and narrative variations so memorable that no RPG of this century, regardless of its style, has been able to match.

Many games feature profound dialogue, alter the world around you based on your choices, transform fail states into new stories, or evoke deep reflections on life and its circumstances, but none do it all simultaneously and with the brilliance that Disco Elysium achieves.

Like other entries in this article, its contribution has been so significant that it created a new school within the role-playing genre, and the fact that an indie game has been able to revitalize such a long-established philosophy is the ultimate testament to its greatness.