Best Indie Games of 2019

It’s award season here at Twinfinite! Let’s look back at the best indie game releases of 2019. Voted on by our editors, these were the best and most memorable indie games that our team felt really stood out this year.

Let’s start with some honorable mentions, and then our top vote-getting runner-ups, and finally, of course, our overall winner!

Honorable Mention: Sayonara Wild Hearts

Features Editor Greysun Morales: There were so many interesting and unique indie titles this year and ever since I got my hands on Sayonara Wild Hearts earlier this year at PAX East, I knew that this playable electro pop album was going to be something special.

Narrated by the iconic celebrity, Queen Latifah, Sayonara Wild Hearts starts off with a bang with the first track in the game, or the first stage rather, Clair de lune, which introduces us to a young woman who has just experienced a heartbreak for what feels like the first time ever.

This game starts off a bit slow but once you get into the meat of potatoes of it all, the music opens up with tracks containing lyrics and some bomb beats that never fails to make my head bop and my toes tap.

The gameplay itself is mostly just moving your character left and right to collect gems and avoid enemy attacks but there are also some really cool QTE sections that feels ver satisfying to pull off.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is definitely an indie game this year that’s going to be overlooked by lots of people since it exists outside the norm of big-time AAA games, but I beg of you: If you’re a fan of electro/pop/synth music and a cute little story, this indie title should not be missed as it’s one of the best games that 2019 has to offer.

Best Indie Games of 2019

Honorable Mention: Afterparty

Staff Writer Andrew McMahon: When a premise is so good it can sell a game all itself, you know that, if nothing else, you’re in for a wild ride. Afterparty is just that, telling the story of two teenagers, Lola and Milo, who are thrust into Hell with no knowledge whatsoever of how they got there or what to do to get out.

The only way for the protagonists to even attempt to escape is by navigating a horde of vulgar, but surprisingly amicable, demons, challenging them to drinking contests and other shenanigans in order to try and outdrink Hell’s bigwig: Satan. 

Thanks to some comical writing and amazing performances from well-known industry veterans like Dave Fenoy, Ashly Burch, and Erin Yvette, Afterparty delivers another story narrative-driven fans should experience.

Best Indie Games of 2019

Second Runner-Up: The Outer Wilds

Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Outer Wilds isn’t just my favorite indie to release in 2019, but one of my favorite games of the year period. There’s no glamorous visuals. No in-depth character levelling system. No enemies for you to eviscerate in tight, responsive combat. Just you. Your spaceship. A handful of puzzle-like planets, and the vast emptiness of space.

Your task in Outer Wilds is simple. You’re the latest recruit of the Outer Wilds Ventures Space Program. Your mission: Explore the other planets in the solar system and learn as much as you can about the mysterious alien Nomad race. You do this by exploring planets and using a translator to decipher the Nomad text scrawled on walls.

What makes Outer Wilds so ingenious though is the way in which its solar system is ever-evolving. Each planet, over time changes in one way or another. One planet’s sandy surface slowly dissipates, revealing the mysterious alien ruins underneath. A comet made of ice slowly melts the closer it gets to the sun. Uncovering each planet’s unique mechanics is all part of the fun. The next part of the fun comes in trying to do all of this in 20-minute segments.

That’s because the sun explodes, obliterating all planets and causing a time loop to occur. Resulting in you waking up on your home planet, ready to explore that solar system all over again. These two mechanics combined means that despite Outer Wilds’ peaceful, often lonely state, you’re in a hurried, frantic dash through it so you can get through that darn door before the sand drops too much and you’re impaled on THAT GOD DAMN CACTUS! If you know, you know.

Random cactus ramblings aside, Outer Wilds’ sheer intelligence shouldn’t be understated. To the point its vague hints system can sometimes just paint out the bleeding obvious. If you’re willing to put in the grind or resort to looking up the occasional thing online (if you need a hand, check out our guides. They’re great. I wrote them!), this is a recurring space adventure you cannot miss.

I could bang on about Outer Wilds for hours, and honestly, there’s so much more I haven’t touched on here. It’s emotive synthy soundtrack, the sense of satisfaction you get every time your hints map fills out that little bit more, the fact its planets are so densely-packed with things to see.

The fact that its 20-minute time loops are perfect for pick-up-and-play but will keep you hooked for hours. It’s on Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass for PC. It’s on-sale on the Epic Games Store, and it’s available on PS4, Xbox One and soon Steam. Go buy it.

Best Indie Games of 2019

First Runner-Up: Disco Elysium

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: Developed by ZA/UM, Disco Elysium isn’t just one of the best indie games of 2019, it’s also probably the most immersive role-playing game of the year, and we don’t say that lightly.

Disco Elysium shines best when you allow yourself to be immersed by the game’s impressive world-building and tantalizing writing and dialogue. The way the game’s been set up, you can play it however you want –as a hyper logical detective focused on the case, a raving madman who has imaginary conversations with inanimate objects, you name it, the game’s probably got it.

There’s so much replay value to be had out of this little game, and it’s one that’ll keep you hooked from start to finish.

Best Indie Games of 2019

Winner: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: As one of the biggest success stories in Kickstarter history, there was a lot of pressure on Koji Igarashi and his team to make sure Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was going to live up to fan expectations. Thankfully, IGA and the development team proved that they were willing to listen and adapt to fan feedback, and the resulting game is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an incredible Metroidvania game that will undoubtedly make Castlevania fans very happy. There’s a lot of depth and variety to the weapons and skills made available to you, and each time you think you’ve seen everything this game has to offer, it surprises you with even more. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

The 2.5D graphical style works well, and while some of the character models and animations can look a little out of place in a modern video game, Bloodstained makes up for it with an abundance of charm. The story is simple, but its characters are lovable and unique, and it’s one of the rare games where the voice actors really give it their all to make a cheesy script actually sound good.

Without a doubt, this is one of the campiest video games you’ll probably play all year, and that just makes Bloodstained even better. Whether it’s the hapless Benjamin making his off-handed comment about Paris being in Spain, or the demon barber aptly named Todd who’s trying to lift a curse by giving you a good haircut, you’re sure to enjoy a laugh or two at every silly twist and turn you encounter here.

It’s beautifully Gothic as well, evident by the haunting orchestral soundtrack that swells with melancholy and triumph at the right moments, and the intricate architecture and design of the castle and its surroundings.

Bloodstained is an unabashed, unapologetic love letter to Symphony of the Night. It can also be a challenging game at times, but it strikes just the right balance between being tough and being welcoming to players who might not be hardcore fans of the genre. It’s the perfect Metroidvania game for a modern audience, and easily the best indie game of 2019.