Here are the 10 best indie nuggets of 2022

End clap for 2022, which has been a year particularly rich in surprises for video games. In addition to highly anticipated AAAs that have established themselves as real successes, we have been seduced by many independent games, just as or even more remarkable than their big-budget counterparts.

Here is the last overview of the indie nuggets of the year, before starting a new one just as promising. Our top 10 video games of 2022 can be viewed right here. Don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments which are your games of the year, all categories combined!

stray

This game is literally made for cat fans. stray – which means alley cat – puts you in the shoes of a small feline, alone and lost in a mysterious post-apocalyptic world. You will live your adventure at his height as he desperately has to find a way to join his friends. While doing so, you will learn more about the current state of the world and how such a tragedy could shake humanity.

In addition to being incredibly engaging, this game is perfect for those who never have time to play since it can be completed in an afternoon. It is available on PS4, PS5 and PC. Find our test right here.

Buy Stray

Tunic

A real nugget released this summer, Tunic is an indie game that hands down all the praise on earth. This is an RPG in which you play as a little fox, who must explore a mysterious land. You start with nothing, and initially have little equipment, but as you brave the dangers that come your way, you will learn, collect items… and die.

Never mind, you just have to start over, and do better. Far from being as punitive as it looks, Tunic is a game that takes you from beginning to end as the possibilities are great, and its atmosphere enchanting. It’s a game with a very calm atmosphere and yet can be epic at times. It is playable on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC.

Cult of the Lamb

Definitely, last summer was full of good surprises. Cult of the Lamb was also released at this time and made a very strong impression on us. In this adventure game combining management, simulation and dungeon crawling, you play as the lord of the lambs, who has become the leader of a ruthless Satanist sect… or not.

After collecting followers during your journeys, you have the choice to mistreat and enslave them or to treat them with benevolence by offering them comfort and safety. Either way, the game gives you graphics that border on cuteness. The title is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Return to Monkey Island

Ron Gilbert fans have been waiting for his next adventure for over 10 years. With Return to Monkey Island, the developer has made a strike on the track of our hearts as the game perfectly combines nostalgia and modernity. In this new opus, Guybrush Threepwood returns to service and brings us back to Monkey Island, a place where everything has changed but not necessarily for the better.

Building on the success of its license, this sixth installment has delighted its fans and even created new ones as the game appropriates the codes of the new generation. Return to Monkey Island can be found on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Somerville

We’ve been waiting for it since E3 2021, and we weren’t disappointed (at all). Somerville is a narrative adventure game in which you play as a father, ready to do anything to find his family in a world on the brink of the apocalypse. Like any work of science fiction, there is a dark atmosphere to wish, difficult choices, visually very pleasing special effects and a good dose of lethal technology.

Available as soon as it is released on the Xbox Game Pass, it is one of the good surprises of this end of the year, and it will not have taken long to conquer our hearts. You can also discover Somerville on PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles.

SIFU

We’re leaving on PlayStation with a fighting game that caused a stir at the start of the year. In SIFU, you play as a young fighter whose greatest wish is to avenge the death of his master, who was murdered a few years earlier. An ode to traditional kung fu except that you have a magic relic, allowing you to revive each death, but having taken a few years in the process.

Both visually and in terms of gameplay, it is a title that has made its way among the best indie games of the year. The only downside was that it was impossible to choose your difficulty at launch, which frustrated a very large part of the players. Fortunately, Sloclap has corrected the situation and has even added new content since, which makes it a fairly complete and more accessible title. You can enjoy it on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Buy SIFU

Dune Spice Wars

In the category of French games, Dune Spice Wars garnered rave reviews when it was released earlier this year. It must be said that the title arrived at the right time, just a few months after the cinema broadcast of Dunes, the film by Denis Villeneuve. Far from being an adventure game as we would have hoped, the strategic recipe of Dune Spice Wars did not leave us indifferent.

In this title, you must try to take control of Arrakis through the spice trade, which gives all its wealth to the planet. Choose from five different Houses, Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino, Smugglers, and Fremen, and compete in 4x real-time battles. The game is available on PC in early access.

Have A Nice Death

Technically, this indie game isn’t out yet, so it could also appear in our top 10 of 2023. Still, Have A Nice Death is available in early access on PC, we were able to play it, and it turns out that it is a simply excellent title. If you like Hollow Knightthe universe is probably made for you.

This is a roguelite platform game in which Death has it over the heads of its employees. She therefore sets out to rectify the situation with violence and delight. It’s a game with a neat artistic direction, which makes us love indie productions even more. It is also a title filled with a little black humor that we warmly recommend. A release on Switch is scheduled for March 22, 2023.

Metal Hellsinger

Metal Hellsinger is one of the few games that manages to mix music and action brilliantly. He manages to make rhythm games attractive by mixing it with a slightly nag FPS, scenery straight out of hell and an ultra dynamic artistic direction. The goal is to achieve your revenge by killing all the demons and other infernal creatures that stand in your way.

Of course, you have to like metal at least to appreciate this kind of title. If you manage to be in time with the background noise, then your punches are more powerful and you’re more likely to stand out against your enemies. The title is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

immortality

immortality it’s a narrative game as we love them and it too was released this summer (decidedly!). The title was developed by Sam Barlow, a talented developer who was already behind the highly acclaimed Her Story. You are investigating the disappearance of Marissa Marcel, an actress who starred in only three movies and never came out for mysterious reasons.

Far from the standards of modern games, immortality chooses to bet on live-action (real shooting) for more authenticity and immersion. We love its gloomy atmosphere and the reflection it puts forward. The title is available on PC, Xbox and Netflix as a mobile game.

Honorable Mention: Shadow of the Guild

We end with an out-of-class title that has become one of our favorites this year. Shadow of the Guild is a platform game developed by Guild Studio that takes you into a universe inspired by the first Prince of Persia. Everything about this game is an ode to the desert adventures of our childhood, with a touch of modernity that we love.

Retro as you wish, you have to deal with a fighter that is both warrior and mage, and several genres put forward by the developers. RPG, stealth, beat’m all and storytelling are featured in this fun, action-packed game. It is available on Steam only at the moment.