Summary
- Indie games often prioritize gameplay over narrative due to budget constraints.
- Maximum Action and Balatro are among indie games focusing on action and mechanics.
- Ravenswatch and Streets of Rogue excel in immersive gameplay without heavy narratives.
From the likes of Kentucky Route Zero to Night In The Woods, there are many indie games that are almost entirely narrative-driven. However, it's often the case that indie games are forced through a lack of budget and/or development time to choose a focus, and for those that choose gameplay over story, this typically results in the absence of a clear narrative thread.
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While it's true that games such as Hollow Knight manage to toe the line between the two, many games take more experimental approaches or offer players sandbox experiences in favor of meaningful narrative. This opens up a variety of opportunities for gameplay design that allows the mechanics to shine.
8 Maximum Action
An Action Sandbox With Cinematic Style
- Platform(s): PC
- Released: 2018
- Developer(s): George Mandell
- Genre: FPS
Maximum Action is a sandbox action game with no narrative to speak of, instead driven by its stylish and cinematic shootouts. Complete with bullet-time and slow-motion dives, fans of Hong Kong action cinema and 80s gun-fighting flicks are sure to get a kick out of this indie title.
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Despite lacking in the challenge department, Maximum Action remains engaging through its variety of weapons, tools, and environments that allow players to express their own style. Frantic gunplay, constant weapon cycling, and homage-infused level designs all add up to exciting action in place of dramatic narrative, giving Maximum Action a tight focus built for a specific niche.
7 Kenshi
An Open-Ended Sandbox That Champions Player Agency
Kenshi
- Released
- December 6, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Open-World, Survival
Kenshi is an open-world sandbox RPG that gives players complete freedom to explore its harsh and hostile world. Built with variety and agency in mind, Kenshi allows players to carve their own path via detailed RPG systems and immersive mechanics that result in emergent gameplay.
With so many options laid at the player's feet, Kenshi has no need for a main narrative. In fact, the game actively encourages players to create their own story, to find the excitement in its truly strange wasteland world.
6 Thronefall
A Minimalist RTS
Thronefall
- Released
- October 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- GrizzlyGames
- Platform(s)
- PC, Nintendo Switch
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, City Builder
This base-defense game excels with its tower-defense structure and minimalist RTS mechanics, resulting in a deeply strategic but highly accessible experience. With such a mechanical approach, Thronefall's variety of intricately designed systems are given room to shine via the absence of a progressing story.
In place of narrative progression, Thronefall offers players a set of increasingly difficult missions that can be replayed for better scores and even provides a myriad of unlocks. In combination with its unique roguelike mode, Thronefall manages to be a highly replayable and mechanical experience.
5 Post Void
A Frantic, Bite-Sized FPS
Post Void
- Released
- August 6, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Post Void is a psychedelic FPS with a frantic style, dropping a concise narrative and clear-cut setting for complete chaos and thrilling action. With the twitchy, trigger-finger firefights, the breakneck movement, and claustrophobic corridors, Post Void is a stressful but wholly engaging FPS that makes every minute a nail-biting roller-coaster.
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This is thanks in large part to the constantly draining health pool of the player and the aforementioned speed of play. However, Post Void's greatest innovation is perhaps its complete lack of narrative or setting; this razor-sharp focus and the minimalist design of its roguelike runs ensure the game is easy to learn, hard to master, and, as a result, immediately fun.
4 RimWorld
Sandbox Survival & Accessible Management Gameplay
RimWorld
- Released
- October 17, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
RimWorld is a colony-simulator and complex management game that's made accessible via its approachable user interface and variety of difficulty options. The sandbox approach to its design gives players a great deal of agency in how they build and manage their colony, elevated by a lack of linear narrative that allows players to make their own stories in its sci-fi world.
With gameplay inspired by Dwarf Fortress and a setting inspired by the likes of Dune and Firefly, this indie game markets itself as a story generator. This distinctive design drops any form of main story in favor of the emergent narrative of the player's colony, resulting in a uniquely immersive experience.
3 Balatro
Poker-Infused Roguelike Deckbuilding
Balatro
- Released
- February 20, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- LocalThunk
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Android, iOS
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Digital Card Game, Roguelike
In keeping with the roguelike genre, Balatro favors interconnected gameplay systems and deep mechanics over drama and linear narrative. In fact, Balatro is almost an abstract game, even dropping typical enemy designs for a score-attack structure that's likely to appeal to a wider audience.
Balatro excels not only with its satisfying gameplay and tactile user interface but also its unique slot-machine aesthetic and hypnotizing soundtrack. As a result, Balatro truly feels like a game pulled right from a cabinet, bearing no resemblance to a story-driven experience.
2 Ravenswatch
A Stylish & Co-Operative Action Roguelike
Ravenswatch
- Released
- September 26, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Ravenswatch is an action roguelike that excels with its cooperative play and unique emphasis on time pressure. Ravenswatch leans into the typical lack of narrative that comes with the roguelike genre, mixing in moments of world-building and light character development via dialogue and optional texts, giving players room to enjoy the mechanical design of its ARPG combat.
With a variety of playable characters, each with their own skills and upgrades, Ravenswatch's combat is incredibly skill-based. This skill-based approach fits perfectly with the constantly ticking timer that looms over each run, an overwhelming time pressure that simply wouldn't fit well in a typical narrative adventure.
1 Streets Of Rogue
A Sandbox Action Roguelite
Streets of Rogue
- Released
- March 10, 2017
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Matt Dabrowski
Streets Of Rogue is not concerned with narrative, providing an incredibly thin veil of context for players to wreak havoc on its variety of environments. As a result, the objective-based structure, immersive-sim influences, and action sandbox approach to its design are given plenty of room to breathe.
Variety is chief in Streets Of Rogue, with a diverse set of playable characters and unique items that allow players to approach objectives in creative ways. This hands-off design makes Streets Of Rogue a tremendously immersive experience that consistently rewards resourceful play and creative thinking.
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