You'll find both kinds of games in this list of the indie games the PC Gamer team cherishes the most. These are the best indie games to play right now, the ones we recommend today. Into the Breach. These sexy and taboo indie games will shock you. Adults Only: 15 Indie Games That Will Make You Blush. 15 Best Games To Play on Steam's Tabletop Simulator.
When it comes to personal computers, the Mac has never been known as a gaming heavyweight: Apple doesn't focus on building machines that have the hard-core processing and graphics power you might find in, say, a Razor PC laptop.
That said, there are still a number of excellent games available to play on your Mac — especially of the indie variety. Two-person development teams and small studios shine on Apple's laptops and desktops, building stories with smart twists and heart-wrenching endings.
There have been many great indie titles for Mac over the years, especially with the advent of the Steam Store, but here are our all-time favorites.
Braid
I'm not generally the type to get overly invested in a game — I'm more of a book and movie person. But when I picked up Braid in 2009 after an off-hand recommendation from a friend, I found myself completely captivated by its mechanics and story.
On its face, Braid is a simple puzzle platformer: You play a man named Tim searching for a princess across the landscape of a strange world, encountering puzzles as you progress through each level. But the true delight of the game is in its controls: Not only can you run forward, jump, and the like — but you can rewind time at any moment, reversing your decisions and movements. It's a simple but beautiful mechanic and quickly becomes one of the primary ways you can solve the hardest puzzles; all the while, it makes you think about time and movement in a completely different way.
Years after its release, Braid is still considered a masterpiece — and it's not hard to see why. (If you can't — just rewind.)
Firewatch
We've said a lot about the magic of Firewatch on iMore over the last year, but the Campo Santo/Panic collaboration continues to merit praise. The 3D mystery and exploration game, which places you as a firewatch in a national park around the late 1980s, captures the essential beauty of being alone in the U.S. wilderness — and the eerieness factor, too. The voice acting here is also top-tier; this is a game that demands headphones and a wistful spirit.
Gone Home
Another entry in the first-person mystery genre, Gone Home puts you in the shoes of a student recently returned from a lengthy overseas trip to her family house, only to find it empty — with her younger sister apparently vanished. It's a wonderful example of the mystery and exploration genre, providing just enough of a creepy flair to keep you on the edge of your seat with just a few major jump-out scares.
For all of its intrigue, however, the game's core centers around family, ambition, and love — and paints those feelings with wrenching truths.
Transistor
Modern RPGs are a dime a dozen, but none are painted in quite so stunning a manner as Transistor. Supergiant Games's sci-fi/action game sets you on a path through a futuristic electro-punk city with a mystical weapon and enemies to outwit and defeat. Though shorter than your average Final Fantasy entry, Transistor nevertheless captivates and offers great replay value with its quests and power-ups — though I'd settle for just exploring its beautifully rendered environments.
Best Indie Mac Games 2017 2018
Stardew Valley
This was an outlier pick for our indie games list courtesy Mobile Nations video producer Justus Perry, but I have to admit that I quickly fell in love with it myself after a few hours. If you're a fan of simulation games but want a little more quirk and a little less 'send your Sim to work for the fortieth time' monotony, Stardew Valley offers you the chance to run your own pixelated farm, interact with the locals, defeat (or join forces with) a possibly evil corporation, explore caverns, and create all sorts of endless weird cooking experiments.
In a month where it's been hard to regularly read Facebook or Twitter, Stardew Valley is an appropriately delightful escape from the real world.
FTL: Faster Than Light
If you've ever dreamed of captaining a starship, it's hard not to love FTL. Subset Games's tactical strategy title puts you in the captain's chair on your way to save the galaxy — if you can make it through any number of insane and sometimes impossible challenges. And those, honestly, end up being the heart of the game: You become attached to your ship and crew — even when you end up accidentally killing them and having to start over.
Your favorite indie games for Mac?
What are your favorite indie games for the Mac? Let us know below!
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
4.2Eve updates app to add new customization and better iCloud syncing
Eve has updated its Eve for HomeKit app, and version 4.2 has a host of new features!
With each passing year, we’re continuously surprised by the standard of independent gaming. Smaller studios have created experiences that consistently compete with offerings from big publishers (that too without loot boxes). This year was no different and we got a chance to experience some of the very best in first person adventure, side-scrolling Metroidvania and old-school run and gun platforming. Here are the nominees for Best Indie Game of 2017.
Nominees:
Hollow Knight
Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight doesn’t break much new ground. However, with its gorgeous art-style, stellar combat, massive and mysterious storyline and excellent environment design, it’s one of the finest Metroidvania titles ever. The aesthetic will immediately grab you before pulling you under into a dark fantasy world full of adorable (and deadly) insects. No matter which platform you’re on, Hollow Knight must be experienced.
Paradigm
Something is up in Krusz, an Eastern European country with mutants and genetically modified sloths. The game centres around Paradigm, a cast-away mutant who develops a love for electronic music before having to save the world. It’s bizarre, sure, but Paradigm is also memorable, embodying a retro future aesthetic and world design that’s best described as “Pixar meets Fallout”.
Best Free Indie Games
Cuphead
Fleischer-style animation meets swing music across a range of devilishly tough bosses and stages. Studio MDHR’s Cuphead is simply a triumph in visual design, embodying the 1940s seamlessly into its gameplay while presenting a unique platforming shooter for old and new school fans alike. It’s difficulty might push some people to the edge but if you stick with it, Cuphead is immensely satisfying.
Best Indie Mac Games 2017 Full
SteamWorld Dig 2
Instead of the randomly generated areas of the first game, SteamWorld Dig 2 takes a decidedly more Metroidvania approach. As Dorothy, players are tasked with finding Rusty, the protagonist of the first game. That means digging through rocks, harvesting minerals, purchasing upgrades and solving the mystery of all these darn earthquakes. SteamWorld Dig 2 packs charm, enough freedom to make your own path and tons of challenges for the Metroidvania fans among us.
Statik
What happens when you’re tasked with solving puzzles in virtual reality? It sounds innocuous enough but Statik places a box around your hands, challenging you to figure out which button corresponds to which mechanic. There’s an intriguing story in the background, which also serves to provide hints to the puzzles, but Statik otherwise uses its VR premise to immerse you in a strange, hostile world with plenty of intrigue.
Night in the Woods
A talking cat traversing a nightmarish landscape while asleep and trying to make sense of her life while awake – that’s only the beginning of the rabbit hole that is Night in the Woods. This side-scrolling adventure game set in the town of Possum Springs sees protagonist Mei returning from college and trying to make sense of, well, life in general. Despite its relatively slow pacing, Night in the Woods scores with its aesthetic, quality of dialogue and strong character interactions. Greg rules, okay?
Nex Machina
Housemarque’s Nex Machina: Death Machine could be described as part Smash TV, part Robotron, three-fourths of a frantic action game and all arcade. It imbibes the spirit of old-school shoot ’em ups with a variety of weapons, screens full of enemies and a dash mechanic that adds some much needed mobility to the action. With its neon aesthetic and addictive gameplay bent, Nex Machina will eat up many, many hours of your life.
Thimbleweed Park
A dead body has turned up in Thimbleweed Park and two agents are on the case. But there’s a clown running about, a game developer torn between ambition and family, ghosts and much more swimming in the background. What is going on? A grand adventure from Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the legendary developers behind Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, that’s what. Come for the old-school visuals and stay for the laughs in this bizarre yet compelling puzzle adventure.
What Remains of Edith Finch
A great narrative in today’s world, especially in the realm of gaming, is tough. What Remains of Edith Finch makes it look easy, floating seamlessly from one perspective to the next, exploring lives across time and space. The narrative style is simply breath-taking; the aesthetic is one of the year’s best; and the story will affect you in more ways than one. Needless to say, go in blind and be ready for an incredible experience.
Far From Noise
Games that focus purely on dialogue aren’t uncommon in the indie space and few are as effective with it as Far From Noise. Set on a cliff with two characters trapped in a car, a discussion begins about the nature of life, the likelihood of death and making peace with one’s self until the end. It’s involving, interesting and worth a look, especially if you’re up for a casual playthrough about life, the universe and everything.
Winner: Cuphead
When recommending Cuphead, we often fall back on the fact that despite not being for everyone, this is a game that everyone should play. Cuphead isn’t just a beautifully animated, imaginative title filled with heaps of awesome boss fights. It’s not just tribute to the 1940s style of cartoon making or the swing music that influenced countless legends. The game itself is a glowing return to the days of run and gun platformers that tested your wit, reflexes, muscle memory and most importantly, your attention to detail. Forget about being the Dark Souls of platformers – Cuphead is a love letter to fans of Mega Man and Mega Man Zero, proving that run and gun gameplay with a fairly high skill ceiling is still an experience unlike any other in today’s industry.
Cuphead is delightful in that its very aesthetic invites players in while the compelling gameplay keeps pushing them forward. It’s a heady, addictive mix and even with a difficulty that prevents most people from immediately picking it up, Cuphead is subliminally impactful and wonderfully charming. It may not be reinvent the wheel as far as action platformers go but in terms of visual design, production, presentation and setting, Cuphead can’t be missed.
Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.