Indie Games
Mechanics/Gameplay
Companions/Sidekicks
Lines/Quotes
Music
200
This game tasks you with working as an immigration officer, where you grant or deny access to the country.
What is Papers, Please?
200
This system removes downtime between failure and retry, creating a loop where death functions as instant feedback rather than punishment.
What is Hotline Miami’s instant restart loop?
200
This young girl accompanies a Texan man across a post-apocalyptic America.
Who is Ellie?
200
"You want S.T.A.R.S.? I'll give you stars!"
Who is Jill Valentine
200
1
Cruel World from RDR 2 OST
400
In this game, a climb up a mysterious mountain becomes a metaphor for confronting internal struggles, assisted by a spectral doppelgänger.
What is Celeste?
400
This title uses a “social stealth” system blending into crowds.
What is Assassin’s Creed?
400
This sarcastic AI oversees testing chambers in Aperture Science.
Who is GLaDOS?
400
“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this”
Who is The Old Man from The Legend of Zelda.
400
2
Song of Storms from The legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
600
In this game, a corporate presence pressures a rural town where rebuilding community is tied to restoring a neglected farm.
What is Stardew Valley?
600
This mechanic allows players to rewind time to fix mistakes in this Graphic adventure game.
What is Life is strange's Rewind Time?
600
This salesman is the boatman of the Underworld and transition incarnate, son of Nyx, guides the player through relics and runs.
Who is Charon?
600
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake”
Ralof in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
600
3
Floral fury form Cuphead OST
800
This game’s narrative unfolds through time loops tied to a quantum moon and an ancient race called the Nomai.
What is Outer Wilds?
800
This mechanic uses diegetic UI, where all menus and information exist within the game world itself.
What is Dead Space's UI?
800
This robotic companion in Fallout 4 can transform into various tools and weapons.
Who is Codsworth?
800
“Nanomachines, son!”
Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
800
4
The Rebel Path from Cyberpunk 2077 OST
1000
In this ultraviolent FPS, a machine fueled by blood descends through the layers of Hell, earning style points for aggressive, nonstop combat.
What is ULTRAKILL?
1000
This system ties enemy aggression and behavior directly to player stealth visibility and sound output rather than fixed patrol routes.
What is Alien: Isolation’s AI behavior system?
1000
A 19-year-old woman who has been imprisoned in the flying city of Columbia since she was an infant and who Booker DeWitt is sent to retrieve and bring to New York City unharmed.
Who is Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite?
1000
“Despite everything, it’s still you”
The narrator/mirror/player from Undertale
1000
5
Sealed Vessel from Hollow Knight OST