Video Gamers Podcast - The BEST Indie Games of ALL TIME - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan and Ace return with another gaming packed episode. On this episode we go head to head to draft the Top 5 Indie Games of ALL TIME. We only get 5 games each, and once a game is chosen, it’s gone for the others. What ensues is hilarious and a tribute to some of the best indie video games ever made! It’s another can’t miss indie gaming episode from your favorite video game podcast! Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Ol’ Jake, Disratory and Gaius Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Discord: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q   Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello fellow gamers and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. We've covered a lot of various topics through the years, but it's time to cover one we've never done before and it's time to put ourselves to the test on this gaming packed episode We'll be drafting the best indie games of all time That's right We're going head to head to see who can put together the greatest list of indie games that history has ever known The game choices will matter Strategy will matter but in the end you will decide who the king of the indie is.

But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh, and joining me, he may be at a small disadvantage with his general lack of expertise in the indie format, but he more than makes up for it with his competitive nature and his charming good looks. It's Ryan. You know, I don't know how I feel about this.

You know, you guys were asking me before like Ryan, you sure you got enough games or you need some help? Do you need a hand? Like I've played some indie games in my time guys. I mean, admittedly you were, you have not played the extent or the variety of indie games. This is true. This is number one. neither of us have compared

to this next feller. But you may not have the depth of knowledge. I'll accept it. Yeah. And then joining us, he might actually have the most to lose on this episode. We're in his world, and he's got the belt. But this is his first draft ever.

Does he have what it takes to face the challenges ahead and go up against two seasoned veterans? It's Ace. No, you kidding me? This will be light work. I mean, come on. Oh, OK. Oh, here we go.

You too, Indie Games? Yeah, sure. Ace is so confident right now. But Ace, man, when this draft gets going and you get sniped in the game that you were going to pick, it's taken, and you start scrambling, man, it's a whole different world then, buddy. It's going to be awesome.

We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. Well, welcome in, everybody. We're doing the impossible. We are going to go head to head to draft the best indie games of all time. This is going to work basically like a snake draft. So we randomized the draft order. Ace paid off the AI that we use to randomize this.

So ace gets the first pick, Ryan gets the second pick, and then I pick third. The one caveat to that is because I have to wait to pick third, I get to pick back to back. So I will start the second round of picks after that. We're gonna do this until we each have five games and then that's it. We're gonna put this up on social media and in our community and let people decide

who drafted the best list of indie games of all time. But man, this is gonna be a heck of a fun episode. We're gonna be talking about some of the all of all time. But man, this is going to be a heck of a fun episode. We're going to be talking about some of the all-time greats. Yeah. Yeah, I can't wait for this. But we do have just a tiny bit of housekeeping. Ace, I believe that you have a review to read.

Oh, yeah. You know it. Here we have a five-star review that's titled The Office of Podcast by, Oh my God. How do you read that? Remember during the pandemic people streamed like 1 billion minutes of the office. That's because that's what felt like when you were watching with old friends and it was comfort in hard times.

This is exactly the same thing for game nerds. Keep it up. Well, thank you. That's super kind of you. Dude, anybody that refers to us as the office of podcasts. Yeah, the same vein as the office I'm in. High praise, brothers. High praise.

Oh, how the turntable. Oh, how the tur High praise, brothers. I'm in too. High praise. Oh, how the turns table. Oh, how the turn tables, buddy. All right, well, let's get into this draft, boys. I'm excited about this. And Ace, you have the very first pick. So in theory, you are picking the number one indie game of all time with this pick right here in your mind. So I, man, is it going to be, is it going to be recency bias?

Is it going to be like Ender Magnolia? Is it going to be tales of iron or is it going to be some deep cut that nobody's ever heard of because ACE just loves this game so much? Or is it going to be one of the more popular indie games? Is he going to play to the crowd and abandon his, his true nature? I'm a sellout boys. I'm picking hollow night. The ultimate revival of Metroid Vanias within our lifetime.

All right. I was wondering if that was going to happen. Now you weren't getting a hollow night. If I got first pick, there's a few directions you could have gone, but yeah, that, uh, that's a dang good peg. What a game, man. What a game, dude. Hollow night's so good. I like self professedly.

I don't, I am not a huge fan of Metroidvania games, but hollow night is just an all-timer for me. It is absolutely near the top of my list. I could, I could see this being taken as the one-on-one, you know? I mean, when it comes to indie games, we've all played hollow night. Like we've all loved hollow night. I mean, I think that's a, a good safe pick that makes a lot of sense for the first pick on this one. Um, do you guys think silk song's going to be better? Uh, I feel like at this point it's been so long. If it's not,

there will be riots and it almost feels like kind of like the, the half life three situation now that it's been so long and there's so much of a buildup and anticipation and expectation. You know, it's, it's gotta be great and revolutionary and next level. Otherwise, you know, if it's just good, it's going to be a let down. Oh yeah. No, if it doesn't at least live up to the hype of base game Hollow Knight before all the content got added to it. Yeah. Massive. Yeah. I, I have a feeling I think it's going to be better guys, like legitimately,

and maybe that's just the optimist in me, but I think that that's why they're taking their time with this game. And I think silk song is actually going to be like, you know, what red dead two was to like red dead, for instance, I think it's going to, or kingdom come to versus kingdom come deliverance. You know, I think it, I think they are actually going to say, look, we took everything we learned from the first game and we improved on all of it. So hopefully you get to play it in your lifetime. Yeah, that's not going to happen.

So I'm going to need somebody to like write on my tombstone, like silk song, like 98% overall, you know, overwhelmingly positive or something like that. I record you a let's play Play and leave it there for you. There you go. Exactly. All right, so Ace starts us off with Hollow Knight Ryan. Ooh, baby. I feel like Ryan's the wild card on this show, man.

Oh, he absolutely is. I don't know. I know what I would pick on this pick right here, but I don't know. Well, it's funny you say that, because I'm already going to start and preface this with I'm going to need a judge's ruling Okay on this so I am going to go with the game Came out. It's an older game

Originally and it came out in 2011 It is the highest selling game of all time over 300 million copies Minecraft Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, And I'm going with Minecraft. Minecraft is an indie game, man. Yes. Best selling game of all time. Doesn't mean it's good. Does that mean it's the best indie game? That's the question. I mean, 300 million people would probably agree with you. I know my kids would be like, yeah, duh.

And I am not a big Minecraft guy, but I recognize what's there and what it can do and what it's done, you know, for kind of indie gaming as a whole. So yeah, I mean, just ask anyone if they know what Minecraft is. And the majority of people, even like the elderly know what Minecraft is, you know, they got some grandson or granddaughter that plays it, you know, and it's just, it's such a massive game, especially for being an Indy. I don't want to admit it, but that's a great pick. With Jack Black as the lead role.

Oh yeah. That movie does not look good, dude. No, it's so bad. It does not look good to me at all. It looks like garbage. You would think that like they're taking, you know, they're going to finally make this Minecraft movie, right? And it's going to be like, okay, well, we got to knock this out of the park.

And then I feel like they were just like, yeah, whatever, man, like a hundred million people are going to see this anyway, cause they're going to want to see this Minecraft movie. Yeah. Just Jack Black and Jason Momoa. And they're like, yeah, we'll make our money back. We'll figure out the plot later. Yep. So guys, I'm not going to lie.

I am very excited right now because number one, I got two of the games that I was hoping would be at this pick right here. And so my first pick is quite possibly one of the best RPGs ever made. One of the games that takes you on an adventure, one of these games where you kind of start playing it, you don't know what you're in for. And then as you continue to play it, you kind of go like, dude, what the heck is this game, man? Like, what is this? It starts off with you being just completely hammered in a hotel room, trying to find your shoes and your tie.

And I am taking Disco Elysium. That's a good one. With my first pick. Dang it, man. Yeah, I wasn't making it back to you. I know. I know. It was wishful thinking. It was like, Oh, maybe they'll totally overlook it. Like, Oh no, no way buddy. Yeah. Disco Elysium. If you have not played it, look, if you were like me, I did not think that I would enjoy disco Elysium. I am a guy that loves combat and action in my games. I remember

hearing about this game and going, dude, there's no way I'm gonna enjoy this. There's no combat whatsoever. It's a whole bunch of dialogue and talking. Like, I don't think it's for me. Oh my goodness, was I wrong? And I feel like if you think that is the case for you, you are probably wrong as well.

I mean, Disco Elysium is one of those all timers, man. I mean, we have all played it. Recently. I played it recently. It is an incredible game and it's an experience. Like you can't get anywhere else. Even though it lacks like direct action, you never feel bored or like you're not doing anything. Never. You're constantly somewhere to look or what's that over there and know what I should I pick that up or check that out? And it is far superior once they added uh, added the, uh, the voice lines and you

didn't have to just read all that stuff. Like it's so much better. I couldn't read it. I couldn't do it. Yeah. That's why I didn't play it either. Like, honestly, so if you were somebody that tried disco Elysium way back in the day when you had read everything, give it another try.

Now the voice acting in that game is second to none. It really just changes the entire experience. But yeah, so that's my first pick. Now I'm torn because I have one that I'm not sure that you guys would go to right away. But I also have one that I think will absolutely not make it back to me. So I'm gonna take the one that I think

is not gonna make it back to me. And that is, I don't know, just a little game that changed the rogue-like indie game genre forever. A little game where you are a guy by the name of Zagreus. You are trying to escape Hades to get out on your own. Your aunts and your uncles on Mount Olympus are helping you out. I am taking Hades. This game changed the rogue-like world. Like honestly, I mean, when Hades came out, it took the world by storm. It has

often been copied. It has tried to be replicated. There are very few games that have done it. Honestly, I can't think of any game that's done it. Honestly, I can't think of any game that's done it. Sworn is looking real close. Yeah. Or is super close. I will say, I'm not trying to give any spoilers on sworn yet, but sworn is as close as I've seen someone get to perfecting

that almost Hades bar. Cause Hades absolutely raised the bar for what people expect out of a top-down road like,ike like that. Like it is absurd. Something different there for sure. And now I, I've seen a lot of footage of it. I've yet to play it. I have recently been falling in love with roguelikes. Um, we started with Josh within this dungeon and I was like, Oh, these are kind of sweet.

You know, this is risk of rain too. We got a lot into that and stuff. So Hades is one I haven't been able to hit up yet, but, um, everyone, every time I tell them, they're like, what dude, you gotta play Hades. So yeah, it's, it's on the list for sure. It defined the genre like legitimately, uh, there's a few games out there. And I mean, there's a few indie games that may or may not be on my list that define their own genres and stuff like that. And so I think that's a pretty good sign when other developers and games try to go, dude, we got to copy this. This is great.

Like let's capitalize on this. And as gamers, I don't think we mind that so much, you know, give me more of what I like is not a bad thing. I think it only becomes a problem when it becomes like oversaturated at that point. And we're just like, okay guys, like this is the 10,000th game like this. Like I'm good. I don't need anymore. We got enough battle Royales.

All right, Ryan, we are back to you. Your second pick, man. I am, uh, I am actually surprised this one is here for me. Um, I figured I honestly didn't even put Hades on my list cause I figured it was going to go with Josh, you know, especially having two at the back end of those picks there. I'm going to go with a game that I again, I'm not the biggest indie guy, so I haven't played some of these, but I know that it's a huge one. I've watched a lot of footage and I actually enjoy just sitting in watching people run this game I'm gonna go with Celeste dang it yeah how's it feel to get poached man now what are you gonna do

I just think Ryan of all people would take Celeste yeah that's what I'm talking about you guys did not give me any credit you were asking if I was gonna have enough games to pick for this yeah lay I love this so much. Ace is tilting already, man. I love it. Yeah, lay it on me. What do you got to say about Celeste, brother? Come on. Do you even know the protagonist's name in Celeste? I have no idea. I have absolutely no idea. But we clarified this before and we said, is this our favorites or is this just best of all time? You guys are like best of all time. First of all, it doesn't matter. And I'm like, all right, say less homie. That's all I need. Her name's Madeline by the way. It is. It's Madeline.

The mountain's name is Celeste, if you wanted to know. The more you learn. I played Celeste in the last, I'd say year and a half. Like I was very late to it because the graphics put me off big time. I Celeste is in my opinion, one of the best platformers ever made. Like I can honestly say that dude, like it is, it is one of the best platformers. If you, if you were like me and the graphics put you off, you'll get over it. I promise the gameplay is, is literally that good. It looks so hard.

It is hard like, and it can be as hard as you want it to be. You start getting to like the cassette, like side, what does it see? Or something like that. It gets to be just a torture device at that point, man. Hi Marty. I'm, I'm good now. I'd snake this pick. I genuinely thought I got it past you guys when everyone, Josh didn't take it as second figures. Like, Oh yeah, I've got this right. It is absolutely on my list too. Yeah. You guys when everyone Josh didn't take it a second big. I was like, oh, yeah, I've got this right All right, let's see you're like fourth pick like what do you what do you have?

All right, ace well now that you got full tilted here you get back to back picks buddy. Oh, yeah, it's super great that I get back We told him he thought he's gonna come in and walk us, you know Oh, this is one I know is might be on your list, but you know nothing about, uh, ooh, it is a pixel art RP turn-based RPG that took the world by storm and it came out and kind of revived the indie genre from where it was. And that is a little game called Undertale. Undertale. I figured Undertale might get taken. Here's the thing with Undertale, and this is not to slander your pick Ace, because I know people that consider Undertale one of like the most master like full games

that has ever been developed by somebody. The only issue with Undertale is it either hits and it hits extremely hard for people, or people try it and they just go, what, what, what the heck is this game? Man, I don't get, I tried Undertale and I put about two hours into it. And then I was one of those people that just went, dude, I don't know what the heck this game is.

Oh yeah. No, if you don't get that emotional connection with it, like within the first hour, you're, you're not going to go anywhere with it because the whole point of it is not to fight monsters and level up. It's to be human and show humanity and see what happens. Yeah. That's awesome. Undertale also has one of the best soundtracks of a game, doesn't it? I hear, because again, I've only tried it for like two hours. Again, it just didn't click with me and maybe that's not fair to the game and maybe I need to give it another shot at some point.

I know there's thousands of people that are nodding their heads and being like, yes, if Undertale didn't get mentioned, I quit. Kind of thing. It is easily one of the biggest names. I just, yeah, I just don't know that much about it, other than people really, really love Undertale, and it does have one of the best soundtracks

for an indie game. All right. All right, Ace, really love Undertale. And it does have one of the best soundtracks for an indie game. All right. All right, Ace, you get another one. Back to back, baby. There is a game that I mean, there's a few games. But there is one game in particular that I'm really hoping makes it back around to me. So yeah, it's just this great little game

where you fly through space. You just happen to be stuck in a time loop, and the sun is exploding. Maybe it's on my list. I don't think either one of you are taking it number one. No you wouldn't do that to me ace. Well it's too bad I'm taking Subnautica anyways. You did this on purpose, Ace? Dang it, man. I love it. Dang it. I love it. Dang it.

Dang it. That was definitely on my short list too. You actually played that one. I did. You did. You did. You did. You did.

You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. You did. and his Cyclops stuck at the bottom of the ocean with no batteries, and then spent two hours

trying to figure out how to get back down there. Like 400 meters down or whatever it was, and I'm like, you know what, I'm done. I got like 20 hours, 30 hours into this. I'm out of here. This is enough for me. I felt like we were like a, yeah. Yeah, I feel like we were trying to like all jump in

and help you brainstorm on like, well, Ryan, okay, if you take the prawn suit down, you know, maybe by the time it starts to decompress, you can jump out, you know, and then swim down to the cyclops. And then like 20 minutes later, Ryan's like, nope, I died. Yep, nope, no, no more. No, thank you, I'm out.

Man, I love Subnautica, but it gives me anxiety when I get deep down there and it's dark and I'm all by myself. Oh yeah. I'm just like, oh. Subnautica is one of my favorite games, dude. Like I don't pretend that it's one of the best games ever made, but Subnautica, and I've said this before,

Subnautica is the game kind of like endless dungeon for Ryan that kind of taught him like, Hey, I kind of like rogue like games, man. Like, you know, I get the gameplay loop. Subnautica was the game that taught me that I really, really enjoy survival crafting games with like good progression elements to it. And I mean, people are probably tired of hearing me talk about how much I love progression in a game, but Subnautica is the game that taught me that,

you know, and it's just such a masterpiece, dude. This makes everything worth it. Everything you do leads to the next thing. And then it just, you know, the progression it's that's the word, because it just keeps going and keeps going. And you always are achieving something as you go and play the game. So yeah, that's a, that's a solid pick. All right, Ryan, we're going to get back to your pick, but we're going to take a quick break.

And then we will be right back with Ryan's pick. All right, we're back. It is Ryan's pick. Ryan, this is going to be your third pick right now, just to give people a breakdown on what we have going on here. We have ace with Hollow Knight, Undertale and Subnautica. Oh my goodness. We have Ryan with Minecraft and Celeste and we have me with Disco Elysium and Hades. There are, there is one game that I

really just don't want you to pick Ryan. There's one. And if you don't take it, I'll be so excited. And if you do take it, I will be very upset. So I hope I now I'm second guessing. I know Ryan's like, well, I had to pick, but now if I could troll Josh, I mean, that's what matters. I told you guys before we started this, like that's where I'm going with all this. But yeah. All right. What's your pick, Ryan? I'm going to go with a game that, um, is one of your favorites, Josh, a big time, big time e-sports game. Very, very popular. I'm going to go with rocket league. You son of a, is that it? Is that the one? It's not the one that I want to write. It is bittersweet. It is bittersweet because there's no way either one of you was going to take Rocket League, man.

Nope. Asa, you ever played Rocket League? I played it once on Nintendo Switch and never touched it again. OK. It's definitely I jerk. I get back to back picks. I was going to take the game that I want, which I'm going to get. at least happy about that and then I was taking Rocket League man. Yeah, it was that a rust so enjoy you can have rust. But no rocket Rocket League I've definitely I have not played anywhere near your level or anyone else's I played it with my son here and there messed around plays it. I'll sit and watch them or we'll watch people play the game.

But, um, for how, how many people play this game and still stream it and how popular it is, it's just something that within that world that resonates with people. I don't know if it's just the flipping or the cool ways you can score or all the, the different angles, you know, something about it just seems to click, you know, out there. I've got a confession guys. I had no idea Rocket League was an indie. I thought it was an epic games thing. No, it's been an indie. I mean, Psyonix was the one that developed this game. And when it released,

the world lost its mind, man. It's one of those few games where I actually said, like, let me see what all the hype is about, played two matches, and then went, oh my goodness. And I instantly called four friends and went, dude, you guys have absolutely got to pick up Rocket League. We have to play this right now. Yeah, and then they jumped in and they're like, oh my goodness. This game's amazing.

And yeah, 1,700 hours later, I still have Rocket League installed. Nice. Yeah. Oh, man. I love that game so much. And I hate you so much, Ryan. Love you guys. I can't believe you took Rocket League from me.

I'm the Rocket League. I have 1700 hours in that game. Why do you think I did it? You jerk. Listen, you guys thought I didn't do my research? You didn't think I didn't know? You don't think I know things? That's OK, because I can't believe

this game made it back to me. And this is the one where I almost took this with my second pick. This is, we have already said this is one of the funnest video games that has ever been made. It made our list when we did that episode. This is a game that you can play with your friends. The builds that can occur in this game are second to none.

I am taking Risk of Rain 2. It is one of the best indie games ever made. If you haven't played it, you are missing out. I love Ace's face when he started to realize it. He was like, dang it. Another roguelike, god. Oh man, Risk of Rain 2 is so, so good, dude. It is one of the most incredible 3D roguelikes

and it's multiplayer so you can play with friends. Like, come on. Absolutely. I start, I really, really grew to love roguelikes when we played Endless Dungeon. When we hopped on to Risk of Rain 2, that's when I fell in love with them. Like that's what took me to that next level where, like,

OK, I love this game style. I love the way we can hop in. And then us being able to do it together and then just have that multiplayer aspect of it, there was just, there was something that I'd never experienced before. And it hit all the markers that just makes you fall in love with the game. Dude, it's the fun factor for Risk of Rain is second to none.

The progression in that game is fantastic with all the different characters that you can unlock and they all play so differently so it's like you get the joy of just trying these new characters that you unlock and then you can kind of upgrade their abilities. You have to complete these kind of neat little quests to unlock some of the abilities where it's like, you have to kill 50 enemies while airborne. And then it's like, oh, boom, that unlocks a skill for you that you, or is like an upgraded or alternate skill. The, the like, like how you can break that game. If you get certain like drops along the way in that,

and you can just stack these buffs and stuff like that. And not every run is that way, but man, when it happens and you're just like, I didn't know this game could go to this level and I love risk of rain. I'm so glad it fell to me right here. All right. So this is where I'm, I'm a little, I'm struggling a little because I was going to take rocket league right here. That was it.

I was like, nobody's going to take rocket league from me. And I, I'm very excited that risk of rain too was there, nobody's going to take Rocket League from me. And I'm very excited that Risk of Rain 2 was there. But if I had Risk of Rain 2 and Rocket League, I would legitimately feel like I won this draft. So here's the problem. I, again, I'm back to the, I have some games on my list that I think there's a chance that might make it back to me, but this is my next to last pick as well. I only get one pick after this. And I'm really torn between two games on this one.

Man. I'm gonna go with my heart, guys. There's a game that I think I should take right here. I really think I should take it, but I am taking Outer Wilds. Oh, there it goes. I figured it was. Yeah, it's not a Josh draft for indie games

if I don't take Outer Wilds, man. I got to be true to myself, dude. I hinted at it earlier. I know you did. And here's the thing. I'm going to mention this because a good friend of the show, a listener for a long time, a good friend of ours, we've been playing a lot of Rivals together.

Rego I know is listening and Rego instantly or recently jumped into Outer Wilds and kind of streamed it. And I watched him play one night and all the nostalgia came back for me on that game. And then it's so awesome because like a few days later, he was just like, Josh, what the heck is this game, dude? Like, what have you done to me? And then I was like, yes, this is great. And then I think it was literally yesterday.

He just went, dude, I have to thank you for putting this game in front of me because this is one of the wildest video game experiences I've ever had. And that is just what I'd love to hear. And people that play Outer Wilds and have that experience are the ones that put it in that category where they just say, dude, if I could wipe my memory and play this game again, like all over for the first time I would, it also happens to be one of the best indie games ever made in my opinion.

So I am locking up Outer Wilds so that it will be on my list and people aren't like, Josh, what the heck, man, you're always talking about this game. You didn't even draft it. Oh, I have a bad feeling. That's awesome. All right, Ryan, we are back to you, buddy. Back to me. So I got two more.

You get two picks. Two more picks here. And Ace has back to back picks after you and then he's done. So if you can poach something that Ace wants, I would really like to see this Tilt Fest. Oh, man. That's so tempting. I'd prefer you didn't. I'd really prefer you didn't.

That is so tempting. Just take Endermagnolia. Just do it. I don't do it. Just do it. Just do it. Don't you do it. I really, that's why I said earlier,

Endermagnolia or Ori or something like that, maybe? You never know. I don't think I'm going to do that. I can only poach one per per So you'll do it to me, but you won't do it to ace. I took Celeste from ace. Yeah, I mean Yeah, yeah, quit trying to bait me into doing it Deceptive while I am to peer pressure. I'm gonna go with the game for our Former one of our former hosts senior, because it's got the best

fishing ever. I'm going to go with Stardew Valley. Oh, that wasn't on my list. It was on my starting valley. It's, it's one of those games that you just, I can't tell you how many people, just, just rave and they, they're like, I just hop on and I just kick back and do all my little chores and, and, um, I think and and I think Josh you said your wife loves Stardew Valley right she likes those kind of games she hasn't actually played

Stardew Valley but she would love it I mean 98% of people in the world love Stardew Valley yeah I am 2% that does not get it. I get why people love it. It is a masterful video game. Like I can acknowledge that. I can acknowledge like why people love it so much. It's just, it's not my kind of game, man. Yeah, for sure. But again, I think it's one of the most highly reviewed positive games like in existence as well. Oh, absolutely. In the indie scene. I mean, you can't go anywhere without someone knowing what started

Valley is. I like, if you look up the best reviewed games of all time, I'm, I'm very, very certain that Stardew Valley is in that like top 10 list. And I'm telling you right now, I'm looking, it's a 98% on steam with 729,000 reviews. Oh my gosh. That does not happen. This does not happen.

You cannot please 729,000 people at a 98% level. If there's not something there, starting valley is a great pick. I just, I would have taken it, but it would have been like, it's not my game, man. Yeah. Solo dev too, which is,. Which is insane, dude. What is it? Concerned ape, right? Concerned ape.

And he's already working on his Dex game. Something haunted. I went to a chocolate tier. I can't, I think I looked at that up once and doesn't it look just like Stardew Valley? Probably so. It's like he just reskinned it. Stardew Valley 2.

I'm making a new game, guys. It's like, yeah. I just. If it ain't broke, don't, you know, don't fix it. I mean, that's true. Oh man. All right Ace, this is it for you man. This is gonna close out your draft.

You know. Don't mess it up man. I've been drafting in the name of the people this whole time, but I think it's time I chose some of the ones closer to my own heart. And specifically this guy, I spent $ hundred dollars to have you play his game. Oh man. My good buddy, Shovel Knight.

Yeah. There's no, Celeste may be one of the greatest platformers of all the indie genre, but Shovel Knight's a close second, man, with just how much variety in the gameplay there is. I did not expect that I was going to like shovel night as much as I did. And that is a Testament to the game. If you have ever wanted that feeling of popping a cartridge into your Nintendo and then having that game just kind of blow your mind.

And then you play it all weekend with your buddies, watching and taking turns trying to beat a level or something like that. Shovel night is the epitome of that feeling, dude. It really is. It's such a good game. It is such a throwback game. The kind of just joy in that game, you can tell the devs just had a good time making it. It's just a lot of fun to play. Shovel Knight is one of those. I don't think that game gets enough credit, to be honest with you. you it doesn't so I'm really glad you brought that up here because that game should be in like in the forefront of people's minds for just a really fun game also don't break the checkpoints like Paul did yeah don't

do that again so much harder yourself you get an achievement for it if you do it but I don't recommend it no poor Paul poor Paul. Oh, man. All right, Ace. Your last pick. This is it. This is rounding out your top five list of best indie games of all time, man. You know, you all let me have it, so I'm going to take it. And that's Ender Magnolia. Yeah, I figure.

It is going to be my game of the year, and it's easily one of the greatest games I've ever played in my entire life. Like, I love it so much. And it's not even recency bias anymore because it's been a while. That's true. Yeah, you've played a lot of other games since then. So Ender Magnoli, I wish I could speak on it. I've seen your review of it. I've heard you talk about it. What's funny is I've seen a lot of people on like social media that are starting to to kind of dive into that. And I'm seeing a lot of the same thing. Like people are just like, dude, this game is beautiful. The gameplay is super

good. The soundtrack is second to none. And so it's really neat to kind of see those other opinions from people that I don't know. These are like just internet strangers that are going like, dude, enter Magnolia is awesome. It's wild how good on Indies, the soundtracks always seem to be. Yeah, we pointed that out before. That's like, that's like what really works for them. I think it's what keeps people there when like they don't have the great graphics to go along with it sometimes, or they can't afford the hand-drawn graphics. It's like, Oh man, this soundtrack is killer.

I'm going to keep playing this level. It just keeps you in the, it keeps you in the mode and it gets you in a vibe and you just keep playing. So no, that's it. That's a solid one. I figured that would go, I didn't, I, like I said, I already took one, you know, I didn't want to, I didn't want to take your, your, your heart and soul, your baby under. I'm just glad I had a backup platformer. Yeah. All right. This is your last number five, number five. All right. Uh we go. All right. Brian, this is your last pick. Number five. Number five. All right.

So I'm going to go with one that, again, kind of took the world by storm. And it's always weird when you're not in a certain genre or you don't play a certain type of game and then everyone around you is talking about and playing this game. And you're like, why is everybody so obsessed with this? You know, I don't get it. I don't understand, but, but people just can't help themselves and they always keep comparing, um, their high scores and people are streaming it. And I'm going to go with a game called Bellatro.

How, how many, how many people, I mean, everybody that was waiting for Bellatro to get mentioned, if somebody didn't pick it, we'd get yelled at for sure. But the amount of people and even in our discord that just would not stop talking about it and, and even just streaming in our, some of our channels, then playing the game and you know, I'd pop in and I'd watch for 20, 30 minutes while I was doing something and then hop out. And I mean, it's just one of those games that it's never the same and people keep getting in and just trying to beat that high score man. And it's, it's, uh, it's, it's just one of those games that it's never the same. And people keep getting in and just trying to beat that high score, man.

And it's, it's, it's, it's awesome. It, I, I, I have tried to play Bellatro twice now, and I love indie rogue like card games, man. And since you can't take it like sleigh, the spire is absolutely in contention for me for this last pick. I don't know if I'm taking that there or not, but the indie roguelike card games were a huge, huge genre. Again, I think Slay the Spire kind of set the bar there on that, but Pilatro is just this crazy mix of people's love for poker, but then the rogu rogue like card game aspect of it as well.

I've tried to play it twice and I don't know what it is. I really don't. I don't know if it's the poker aspect or what, but I just can't seem to get into it. And I feel like there's something wrong with me. Because it's like, this is my kind of game, man. Why don't I love this game? And then I've refunded it twice.

Two times I've refunded it. I'm sorry everybody. Like, please don't I love this game? And then I've refunded it twice. Like two times I've refunded it. I'm sorry, everybody. Like, please don't hate me. I tried so hard, man. It's a cheap game. You could keep it and give the money to the dev. Like, come on. Oh, you know, Josh, you can't do that.

It's literally like 30 minutes in, and I'm like, nope, this game is not for me, man. Oh, those devs are rich, man. They don't need my $7 or whatever it is. Oh man. I legitimately, this is like, you know how like people like, like wine and it's like, dude, nobody, it loves wine.

And the people are like, Oh no, I love wine. No, you don't. You've just forced yourself to think you like wine. That's like Pilatro for me, man. I just can't. I feel like if I kept playing and I'd just be like, I'm just pretending like I like this game. I kept playing. And I'd just be like, I'm just pretending. Like I like this game. I love it.

I swear. I really do. I really do. What's a Bellaccio is like alcohol. It's pretty addictive to a lot of people, man. Like there's a lot of people. Like they're like, I've been playing this at work. I play it in the morning before I leave for work.

I hide it from my wife. I haven't seen my family in seven days. Oh man. Dude, Pilacho is a really good pick, dude. I just couldn't. I like my team, bro. That's a great pick. I'm feeling pretty good.

Yeah. All right. I'm just gonna mention some honorable mentions. I mentioned Slay the Spire, dude. I really feel like for like the record, I should take Slay the Spire, dude. I really feel like for like the record, I should take Slay the Spire because it's that game that like everybody's gonna be like, how did you guys not draft Slay the Spire

when you talk about best indie games of all time? I might. Another game that I have bolded is this, just this little title that kind of came out recently called Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Is it indie? Because, so this is the thing, right? Yeah, judge rolling, let's go. that kind of came out recently called Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Is it indie? So this is the thing. Judge Rowling, let's go.

I Googled it. I Googled it. And technically it says that Warhorse Studios is an indie developer because they are solely responsible to themselves. But at the same time, they did get bought out by a parent company called Plion. And it's like, as much as I want to mention Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 being an indie game, I know the first one absolutely was, but I don't want to try to blur that line of like, it's an indie, but it's not an indie kind of thing.

So I'm not drafting that one. Although if I could do it with like full certainty, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 belongs on that list. Y'all really like that one, huh? Oh dude, it's so good. I'll really like that one. Huh? Oh dude. It's so good. I'm going to lock it in. This one might be a little controversial as far as does it

belong in the greatest indie games of all time. And I'm just going to say three words, boys. Rock it. Rock it. I knew it. Dude. Okay. So here's, here's a little, a little behind the scenes transparency.

I had that on my list and then I had some other games on there and I had scrolled up too far and I totally forgot. And so I was like, oh yeah, I'll go with Bellatro. And then after I did that and explained it, then I was like, dang it, I forgot Deep Rock, man. And then I knew you were going to pick it. Because I was going to do the same thing. Rock and stone. Oh, man.

Deep Rock Galactic is just a blast, dude. I mean, it is just a blast of a video game. If you have some friends that you can hop in with, dude, this game will keep you busy for dozens and dozens of hours. You will laugh. You will have fun. I mean, it's just kicking the kicking the stupid cans around, or, you know, in the main area, getting beers with your buddies before you even go down.

It's just one of these games that is just a joy to play. And it honestly, it deserves to be like in the, in these mentions, in my opinion. Um, yeah, deep rock galactic is just a dumb, fun game that has been being developed for like 10 years now. And they just keep developing it and it's their awesome developers. The fans of this game are fantastic. And one of the best communities in a video game, like they will help you.

They will not troll you, dude. They will walk you through things. I remember jumping in one time. These dudes were so high level and I just died like 40 times, like right in front of them. And I even was like, dude, I am an idiot. I am sorry guys. And they were like, no way, man. Like we're glad you're here, dude. Like you'll, you'll get it. And I was just like, this doesn't happen. Like what is this? What is this support? Yeah. It's my life. It's definitely, I feel the same. It's one of those communities where everyone's just so happy to play this game that they love that no matter what happens, they're just happy they're there, man.

They're enjoying the ride. They'll help you. They want you to be as happy as they are and hop on board. Um, that was, that it's such, that's such a good pick. Cause that was, uh, definitely the one I would have gone with if I remembered. But I mean, Pilacho is a pretty darn good pick. Yeah, that's such a good pick because that was definitely the one I would have gone with if I remembered But I mean Bellacro is a pretty dark. Yeah That's a pretty great fail pick

Real quick, let's do a couple honorable mentions if you guys have any I'll just go so on my list slay the spire I've mentioned that one already forgotten city dude. We covered that game. We did a deep dive that games fantastic We had a couple listeners that played it recently and went to where's this game been like this is awesome very very cool time loop game legend of grim rock one and two old-school blabber type games dungeon crawler types this is the game that notch from Minecraft when he was talking about making Minecraft to they're making this game called like Dungeons and levers or levers and treasures or something like that

And he said that Legend of Grimrock 2 is one of his favorite games of all time So they're kind of trying to mimic that game and then one of my personal favorites I actually mentioned this when we interviewed Chris Tester the voice actor No, yes, he actually did some voiceover in this game, is Bard's Tale 4. Dude, Bard's Tale 4 is one of, like, that game is tailor-made for me. It's like the old school dungeon crawler,

you go to these different cities, there's puzzles involved, there's like a really neat combat system, there's secrets galore everywhere. I mean, Bard's Tale 4 is like, it's just a straight up, just this is perfect. Josh game kind of thing. And then that is it. What do you guys got? Any honorable mentions for you guys? Well, I've got a few to say. I got 30. Let me just open my dictionary of indie games. I only have a couple, so I'll give mine real quick. I don't, don't starve. I don't know if you guys have played that game. I I have played it

I love frustrating, but that's where I kind of got into rogue likes too. So I maybe I need to give that one It's wildly frustrating. It's not gonna change but you learn to love it for sure and Fall guys, that's just dumb goofy fun. That one's a good one. But then another one that's that's super high on my list Lethal company. Yeah, that's that's a game that just Ace and I were talking we were playing something else last night. We're like we're gonna get back into lethal company Let's we can we can convince Josh to come play with us. So yeah that that one's just I haven't had as much just goofy dumb fun over and over again as I have with that game. So that's, that's way up there. Yeah, that's a good one.

Good man. Lethal company is an all-timer. It really is. And it's a shame it couldn't make my list because it is really that good. Well, I got a few. We've, we already drafted a few of the roguelikes from the genre, but one of the biggest ones I would say is a enter the gungeon. I've never played that dude. And I know people love it. Dude, I was chatting with somebody the other day and they were asking me like, Hey, have you played these various rogue like games? And it was like the binding of Isaac. And then what is it? The sequel to that one or whatever enter the gungeon. Uh, and then there was one other one they mentioned. And I was like, dude, I've heard of all these.

And I know they're like Alzheimer's, but I've not played any of them. I mean, they're these bullet hell games where you're basically like, you go into a dungeon, you gather as much material as you can and try to fight the boss to move up to the next floor like any other rogue like, but there's so much synergy with everything you pick up.

And it's, each of them have their own unique style and Gungeon just does it so well. up to the next floor like any other rogue like, but there's so much synergy with everything you pick up. And it's each of them have their own unique style and Gungeon just does it so well, especially because it had like a secret story hidden in there as well. But on top of that, I would also want to mention Amnesia, The Dark Descent. Yeah, I thought about that, but I was like,

this isn't going to win me anything. It's not going to win. It's super good. It's the scariest game of all time in my opinion. I've said that many times, but that was one where I was like, this isn't going to win. It's the scariest game of all time in my opinion. I've said that many times, but that was one where I was like, this isn't going to get me any bonus points. And for that reason, I'm out. It's not going to win any rewards, but it definitely, uh, it definitely redefined

horror for a while there. I think it really changed the way we see the psychological horror in games and things like that. And like Outlast definitely came from inspirations of amnesia. I don't know if that's like sacrilegious to say or something. No, I don't think so. I like psychological horror for me is the horror that really gets me. Like, you know, Gore doesn't do anything for me. The jump scares might get me kind of, but it's not like I'm scared. It's more just the anticipation of like, okay, I know it's coming kind of thing, but psychological horror will mess with my head. And just to keep it short, uh, the last one I mentioned is Liza P.

It was hard not to draft Liza. Dude, I thought about Liza P and as good as it is, I just felt like some of these other ones were just better. Unfortunately, like Alzheimer's, like All Timers. I think that game is the best indie rogue, or indie rogue, like indie Souls-like game in existence, legitimately. And I cannot wait for the DLC on it. But I just don't know that it deserves

to be in this top 15 of all time. Like ever, yeah, yeah. Yeah, kind of list. So all right, well, let's read these lists one more time. Ace, you wound up with Hollow Knight. That's a good pick, dude. I would have loved to have had Hollow Knight fall to me, but I didn't think it was going to Undertale, Subnautica, you jerk, Shovel, uh, this is the one that you really played to the crowd on Minecraft, but I can't, I can't argue with it either, man. So last, which was a great pick in my opinion, I I'm actually kind of impressed that you took Celeste. I can't believe you sniped Celeste.

I got a pick four. Yeah. Rocket league, you big stupid jerk, um, Stardew Valley. That's a good one. And Bellatro, which is another really good one. And then I wound up with disco Elysium, Hades, risk of rain to outer wilds and deep rock galactic. Is everybody just voting for themselves here? As far as best list,

does anybody's list stand out to people? My list stands out. Obviously. Yeah. My list stands out. Yeah. My, my, my list is one of a kind. What do you mean? Yeah, my list stands out. Oh, yeah. My list is one of a kind. What do you mean? I play every game on my list. Since we can't decide, we're going

to let the listeners decide. We will be posting polls on social media and in our Discord server. Our community is, hands down, the best gaming community in existence. We say this all the time. We have people join, and then people hang out, and then they go, dude, I didn't believe you guys.

Oh my goodness, you're absolutely right. We've been doing Marvel Rivals community nights. People have been playing Headliners together. If you want just genuinely good people to game with, we have the place for you. It is absolutely free to join. We just want people to enjoy playing games together. The link is in the episode description.

Come join us. Come have fun. We're at almost 1,000 gamers. And it's like legitimately, they're the best gamers on the planet. I mean, everybody just is super cool to each other. People talk about games. They give recommendations.

They talk about games like friends would. There's no toxicity. There's no slamming people for their opinions and saying, oh, you're dumb because you don't like Stardew Valley, Josh. And it's like, I know, but nobody's saying that either, which is nice. So, so yeah, come check that out.

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Yeah. Until next time, happy gaming. Vote for me. Peace out. Happy gaming. Vote for me. Peace out. See ya.