Summary
Devolver Digital has a reputation for publishing some of the most compellingindie titleson the market. They are video games with innovative gameplay and unique aesthetics that make for immediate cult classics. These indie darlings have a tremendous impact on future game development, changing the video game landscape forever.
There are so many games in the Devolver Digital catalog that could have been included in this list.Carrion,Broforce,and Devolver’s revival of theSerious Samseries are fantastic examples of other titles from the publisher that are fantastic games in a collection of exceptional games.
Heave Hois a wonderfully chaoticcouch co-oppuzzle platformer that combines baffling physics and diabolic level design to create one of the best party games out there. It makes the list due to its devilish design, excellent user and critic reviews, and its popularity with streamers.
The premise is simple: get the potato characters with long spindly arms from the starting point to the flag. But in practice it is anything but simple, requiring problem-solving and teamwork. The art style is charmingly simple and rough around the edges, giving it a distinctly non-threatening look in early levels, before giving way to the carnage of later levels.
Enter the Gungeonis an amazing rogue-like dungeon crawler with a goofy sense of humor and frantic gameplay. Those who like challenging bullet hell games will loveEnter the Gungeon. The rewards for completing intense challenges are well worth it and the gameplay loop is incredibly satisfying.
As the name suggests, the game is chock-full of guns: players can use guns, the NPCs are bullets, and the objective of the game is to acquire a very specific gun. The levels are procedurally generated, so players never quite know what they are going to get when they enter. This is even more anxiety-inducing as permadeath means that players will lose all of their equipment and level progress when they die.
Fall Guysis essentially a brightly colored, obstacle coursebattle royale. Players compete solo, or in teams, against other players, and every round a certain number are eliminated until one is victorious in claiming the crown.Fall Guyswas massive when it was first released, becoming a surprise hit. This is commonly attributed to widespread quarantine.
It’s hard to say ifFall Guyswould have been anywhere near as impactful if it had been released at another time in history. Would it have simply passed under many people’s radars? Despite this, it is a thoroughly enjoyable multiplayer experience that has continued to be expanded and supported by the developers. It has also featured a steady stream of Fortnite-style cosmetic crossovers, including Marvel andDoctor Who.
Katana Zerois a cleverside-scrollingplatformer that allows players to plan ahead and discover all variables in a similar fashion to another Devolver title,Hotline Miami. The player character is an amnesiac Samurai on the hunt for a serial killer known as the Dragon.
The player character is a glass canon, doing incredible damage to enemies and doing visually stunning attacks. However, a single hit will kill them. It has an interesting pixel art style that turns into a chaotic neon nightmare at times. The music is amazing and really compliments the more intense moments of gameplay.
Inscryptionis a rogue-likedeck builderwith a deadly twist. It incorporates found footage elements and digital horror to create a truly unique card game.Inscryptionis an indie darling, making a huge impact in its year of release as well as shifting the boundaries of what a deck-building rogue-like could be.
The player is up against a supernatural being in a mysterious game of cards. The rules change and the opponent takes on different personas, almost taking on the role of a tabletop game master. The art style is creepy and bewitching, changing as the game progresses. As with all Daniel Mullins games, it is utterly unpredictable and takes the familiar and flips it on its head.
Return to Monkey Islandcaptures thepoint-and-clickadventure game magic of the original series, with some of the original team involved in development. The impact of the original series on point-and-click adventures and adventure puzzle games, in general, can’t be overstated, and the fact that it was so well-received by devoted fans of the original series is a testament to the developer’s creative choices.
While the art style is different from the original, it still evokes the same humor and ridiculousness that players expect from Guybrush Threepwood and co. The solutions to the puzzles are still relatively counter-intuitive, but this new entry is kinder to players. It’s a joyous celebration of everything thatThe Secret of Monkey Islandwas and makes important quality-of-life improvements.
Cult of the Lambis a rogue-like management simulator with a bizarre premise: create a successful cult and crusade in honor of The One Who Waits. The player is The Lamb, who is trying to free The One Who Waits from his chains by defeating the bishops who guard it. Cult of the Lamb was incredibly popular when it first came out and continues to have a strong player base due to its enormous replayability.
The art style results in some of the cutest, yet unsettling, character designs, with the Lamb itself looking like a doe-eyed cartoon character until their eyes light up red and they levitate. Players engage in combat, grow their cult, and increase their power.
The Talos Principleand its 2023 sequel,The Talos Principle 2,are devastatingly clever puzzle games that tell a story found throughout the seemingly abandoned levels.The player is an android, and the game ruminates on related themes about where to draw the line between humans and robots. There are overt references to philosophy and an underlying meta-commentary on game design.
The gameplay consists of navigating puzzles in different environments to undercover clues and new areas. The puzzles follow a clear logic and have a well-executed spatial element. The art style of the firstTalos Principleappears quite dated, but this is partially a deliberate design choice to reflect the manufactured nature of the puzzles.
GRISis probably best known for its beautiful art style that mimics watercolor painting and finely detailed ink drawings. It is a lovingly crafted platformer that has a particular floating quality to it despite following fairly conventional puzzle mechanics.GRISwas remarkably well-received and was the recipient of multiple awards, primarily with regard to visual style and the themes that it explores.
GRISis a story about grief that uses the video game medium to fantastic effect. There have been criticisms of its simplicity in actual game mechanics, but it is more interested in walking the line between being challenging and leaving scope for contemplative play that compliments theemotional journeyit is exploring.
Hotline Miamiis a surprisingly self-aware, hyper-violenttop-downshooter. The player character is definitely not a good guy and carries out brutal massacres based on orders received on messages left on his answering machine. Through all the pixelated gore and killing, there is an anti-violence message that follows in the footsteps of hyper-violent films likeAmerican Psycho. However, the degree to which that message is clear and effective will depend on the player. As many played the game as a simple bloody power fantasy.
The top-down element gives the player an incredible vantage point to view threats that would otherwise be obscured behind walls. This is where the planning inHotline Miamicomes in, with the game rewarding forethought as the levels increase in complexity.
