Balrum
Beautiful isometric game inspired by 80's and 90's CRPGs.
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
147 points (97.4% liked)
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Strife - last commercial release (at least until a recent retro game using it) of the Doom Engine. Picked it up for £3.50 or something about '97.
Think Hexen but plot, charming pixel-comic art, and some potentially frustrating boss fights and rpg lite elements.
Lots of fun, and does interesting stuff. I quote the voice acting quite a lot, but no one notices.
The Finals.
I love it, it's also among one of the most popular games right now.
Never see anyone talking about it.
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- Hacknet, it's almost like a detective game in a way
- The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, weird gary told me to add this but it's good in it's own right
- Flight (flash game), fly a paper airplane, buy upgrades, it's kinda like the Learn To Fly series
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Dark Fall 1 & 2 (specifically not 3)
couple of my favorite point and click adventures, and I've played a lot
Still no love for my babe Cubivore. Shit slaps
also Frolf. I miss the gamecube era :(
https://old.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/vczi8d/someone_donated_cubivore_one_of_the_rarest/
Someone donated Cubivore, one of the rarest Gamecube games of all time, to the thrift store I work at. I got to take it home and play it for a night.
Non-japanese copies are rare. Only about 5,000 were released to western audiences.
Huh.
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It's a relatively obscure PS1 game in the horror genre.
The main thing that made it relatively unique among the horror game of the PS1 era is its lack of action mechanics. It’s essentially a horror dungeon crawler without action mechanics. You can run away or sneak past the invincible enemy, or if you gain a companion, the enemy kills your companion allowing you to run away when caught.
Game mechanics and ending spoilers
Essentially, your companion is your extra life. Different companions also have different abilities. Different endings result from who your companion is, or not having any at the game ending.
Its mechanics is more akin to Clock Tower—first person point and click at certain rooms, while being a first-person dungeon crawler in most other areas.
From the wiki article:
The game uses a first-person perspective, very similar to first-person shooter games, only without any means of combat. Throughout the game, players must travel through different areas of The Mesh and beyond, and must solve puzzles to progress to the surface. The player encounters only one type of enemy, and that is the mutating monster called The Hybrid. The only possible way for players to survive is to run away. Any close contact with the enemy will result in the deaths of their companion (and finally themselves). Once the companions are attacked, they are killed off permanently.
It is pretty different from the other horror games from the PS1 era, which made it relatively disappointing for those expecting it to be similar to the likes of Resident Evil or even Silent Hill.
The Cube Escape series. Free to play escape the room puzzle games with a really creepy vibe
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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. An absolute gem from Dontnod that plays like a double-A god of war with superb writing and voice performances.
Gives me the same vibes as Claire Obscure, but in a less flashy, more grounded world of early colonial America
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1493640/Banishers_Ghosts_of_New_Eden/
- Bionic Commando on Game Boy --> platform game with good graphics and good musics for a 1992 Game Boy game. It's an adaptation of the NES/Arcade game but in a futuristic world and more fluid controls (in my opinion) than the NES one.
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle --> really good tactical RPG with a funny universe and awesome music that was released early on the Nintendo Switch.
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Geometry Wars Retro Evolved is the best arcade style game in existence.
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved
https://store.steampowered.com/app/8400/Geometry_Wars_Retro_Evolved/
While I wouldn't personally set it that high, I did have a lot of fun with it myself.
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Hmm. I don't know if they'd stand the test of time, but a few older games I enjoyed a lot back in the day that aren't going to show up much of anywhere due to age:
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Loony Labyrinth, a 2D video pinball game for the Mac and Windows by Little Wing Software. I've played huge numbers of tables on newer and more sophisticated engines, but that table kept me coming back for more hours of gameplay than any later ones. Not on GOG or Steam, though Little Wing sells copies directly.
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Flying Nightmares, or AV-8B Harrier Assault. Untextured polygon flight sim where you're operating off a US amphibious assault force; probably one of the few games kind of like Carrier Command 2 that I can think of in that you can also control other of your forces (though Flying Nightmares focuses on operating the Harriers, and Carrier Command 2 the amphibious assault ship). Doesn't look like GOG or Steam have them.
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Eufloria. Steam link for an HD re-release. One of those "real-time 4X" games, but using plants and seeds and minimalistic graphics.
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Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising. A spiritual successor to Carrier Command. One has an amphibious assault ship, can construct autonomous vehicles and move your ship around. Unlike Carrier Command 2, this is a single-player game. Wish that someone would make a more single-player-oriented Carrier Command 2. The graphics haven't really kept up with the time, and it tends to encourage exploiting the AI's weaknesses, but I've had a lot of fun with it.
It's not exactly unknown within its niche, but because it is niche, Rule the Waves 3, a game that simulates naval fleet command and development.
EDIT: Oh, here's an oddball, not quite as old game: Ghost Master. One acquires and upgrades different types of ghosts, then places them and uses their abilities to scare humans away from a location. Nothing else very similar to it out there that I'm aware of.