#The latter being enough of a Xbox Live Arcade dynamic fluid simulation unfinished failgame that it killed the studio.

[catastrophic-crisis]

Top 5 indie games that didn't hit the bigtime? With how much you posted about nextfest I feel like you'd have a few under-the-radar favorites

Oogh, pitting my knowledge of random games vs the fact that I don't play video games (as much as I should). This always happens when it comes time to talk games with me.

So let's talk 5 games from the fridge.

What the fridge is doesn't matter, but what it does contain is both the cheap and the free. It's not going to be used to find the next, more obscure S*gnalis or movement-based shooter that will knock your socks off, but at the very least it'll almost definitely have games you've never heard of (if you haven't paid too close attention to me posting) and that nobody will ever talk about unless Jacob Geller or some other writer gets his hands on it like How Fish is Made (free; my post here).

1. No Sidewalks in the Mushroom Kingdom - Free / aesthetic post

Your kart has broken down on Moonview Highway. Looks like you'll have to take this next lap by foot.

In the first slot is No Sidewalks, both because I talk about it too much and because it's free, which could be very compelling to my presumed main demographic of broke twenty-somethings. I can enjoy just walking around in games, and on a side note I find it interesting when I do enjoy just walking around vs when the novelty quickly wears off. What's the secret to good in-game strolls?

Here, as the description says, your kart has broken down and you're going to be exploring a Mario Kart stage that may be familiar to you by foot, breaking off from the original path and walking out of bounds, finding little details and floating messages like the one attached above, which you can find close to where you start. You can walk and walk and walk to the border of the world, look back at the city you left behind in the distance, and watch a pair of ghost headlights drive out over the lake before disappearing.

That message about Halo 2 resonated with me.

2. Momotype - Free

The monotype, an off-shoot virtual pet, is being play-tested by members of your company. You have been selected.

This is my bastard son Momo and I feed him cigarettes every day.

When you reach the end, play the game again.

3. Marginalia - $6.00 USD ($3.90 itch.io Summer Sale, $2.99 Steam Summer Sale) / my post

I'll trust what I wrote in my original post, that the audio is a defining feature of this game. It's a "walking simulator" from a developer whose entire Thing is walking simulators. It crackles, it glows, it's horror. New England forests are just like this I think.

4. Imaginaria - $5.99 USD ($2.69 in both the itch.io and Steam Summer Sales)

'Imaginaria' is a term describing both a night watch and the night watcher. You are in charge of Imaginaria duty tonight, in this godforsaken Antarctic station. Inspired by the developer’s experiences living in Antarctica for 15 months, Imaginaria is equal parts visual novel, point & click adventure, walking sim and documentary.

This time, the screenshots aren't from me. What it says on the tin. A little peek into Antarctic station life in pixel art form on a quiet night.

5. Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia - $4.99 ($3.49 Steam Summer Sale)

Lake Ophelia. A strange little place full of fish from all around the world. Nobody is quite sure why, and it seems like most people don't really care to find out. Go ahead, sink your lure and see what you can catch.

I'll finish off this list with what could be considered the most "normal" game, which still manages to be a little abnormal by being a fishing game with horror elements. The center of the lake glows green on some nights. The lake is filled with fish from around the world that shouldn't be there, and descends far, far beyond what a normal lake should be.

Lots of fishing, a little bit of cookin', all wrapped up in a nice package of charming (and sometimes fucked up) low poly fish. People like to say that if a game has fishing it's the game of the year, and baby this one is all fish.

If you like fishing games, this game is a proper casual one. If you've ever purchased an itch.io bundle for charity, there's a chance you may own one of these games. Regardless, some of the games are currently marked down, and the rest are free. Unless you have a particular taste, Lake Ophelia is the game I'd point most people to out of the five.

This post was written in the middle of the night, the perfect time to play these games.