What are the best indie games on console? It’s a hard question, mainly because Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo play host to a vast number of indie titles that vary wildly from one another. From 2D pixel art platformers to grand adventures with deep stories, the range of experiences available on consoles are immense. So, you know we had to make a list. We are going to do our best to present to you the indies we think are most worthy of your time (because someone had to put them in order).
Here we go!
7. Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley “beautifully combines farm simulation with RPG elements to create an intriguing, absorbing rural world,” and it has only gotten better with each massive FREE update. The game opens with the player inheriting a farm in a run-down village, and from there it is all about everyday living.
Whether growing crops, helping townsfolk with problems, or exploring caves to find resources, players must decide what they value and pursue it. Multiplayer, new items, buildings, farm types, events, and relationships give Stardew Valley an even better foundation and more of a reason to stick around past the coveted event in the third in-game year.
Available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch.
6. The Witness
Jonathan Blow’s long-awaited follow-up to the huge hit that was one of many to start the indie resurgence, Braid, is a very different game. The Witness features puzzles, and puzzles alone. At first glance, the colourful island scattered with random sculptures and weird oddities seems like a very strange environment for a game that consists solely of line puzzles. Still, when you start moving from puzzle to puzzle, you will begin to understand and examine your surroundings. And the line puzzles are simply brilliant.
The game tests your mental endurance and will often urge you to take out a pen and paper as you search for the correct solution. It is rare for a game to inspire that much commitment, but The Witness does, and it will compel you to keep going, to keep learning, every step of the way.
Available on PS4, Xbox One.
5. Inside
Playdead’s follow up to the acclaimed Limbo does not stray much from the studio’s renowned aesthetic. Like Limbo, Inside creates a feeling that is both chilling and hypnotic. Play it once to marvel at the clever puzzles, but play it again to notice all of the story details that you may have missed the first time around. A young boy is lowered into a dark environment with a colour palette consisting exclusively of white, black, and grey. Most of the sound heard is produced by his feet pattering across the environment, which changes from the woods to a bizarre factory. This puzzle-platformer is a master of not wasting a single second of the player’s time. Every puzzle has a goal, both narratively and in regards to teaching you a mechanic, you will need to use later. Inside and Limbo both have a distinct atmosphere, but Inside makes better use of it while telling its unusual and unsettling tale.
Available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch.
4. What Remains of Edith Finch
Giant Sparrow scoffs at the concept of the “walking simulator” with What Remains of Edith Finch – a bona fide indie masterpiece. A first-person, story-driven adventure akin to Gone Home and Firewatch, it tells the unbelievable, tragic, and continuously surprising multi-generational tale of the Finch family. As you explore the beautiful labyrinthine home, you’ll go on a guided history of each family member, delve into what may or may not be a familial curse, and eventually learn how each one succumbed to it. As you explore the confines of a deserted family home, you will come across scenes that transport you to all manner of strange & unusual worlds. From the bathtub to the fishing cannery, it is an exceptional experience, unlike any other.
Available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch.
3. Celeste
Celeste, the latest game from Towerfall developer Matt Makes Games, is a deceptively easy puzzle-platformer. A game about heroine Madeline’s journey to the top of Celeste mountain, we gradually learn about her emotional troubles, as well as the eccentric cast of characters she meets along the way.
However, this is not a “walk and talk” adventure. Madeline scales the mountain with simple-yet-deep jumping mechanics that make for some remarkably imaginative levels, and the hazards thrown in our way later in the game were always challenging enough to slow us down. With tons of collectables to find and unique “B-Side” levels to unlock, Celeste will keep you climbing the mountain for hours.
Available on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
2. Undertale
When you first boot it up, Undertale seems like a bizarre student project, a tribute to old-school JRPGs. The game adopts many of the trappings of those old games (particularly the graphical style of Earthbound), but underneath that eccentric retro exterior beats a transcendent heart.
Undertale casts players as an unknown child who has fallen into an underground world populated by monsters. Rescued by a kindly creature, the player must travel to the barrier that divides the human world and the monster world, meeting and battling a cast of outlandish characters along the way (ala Stranger Things, but better). Undertale’s writing is where the game shines; its cast of monsters come across as beautifully human.
Available on PS4, Switch.
1. Journey
What is there to say about Journey that has not previously been mentioned countless times before? A near-perfect adventure, this all-time classic never utters a word, but it still manages to say so much more than most games ever will. Journey is a true masterpiece. A sublime poetic experience in which all videogame elements merge perfectly to create an unforgettable trip.
This PS4 version adds 1080p 60fps, which is notable but remains a detail as the original work stands for perfection: a great game forever, to put in all hands yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Available on PS4, PS3.
What are your favourite indie games on console? Have you played all the titles we have featured? Let us know in the comments section below, and be sure to check out our other gaming lists!
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