Bee's Master List of (mostly) Indie Recommendations under 30 dollars
Some of these games may have upsetting content such as suicides, death, eating disorders, etc. If you're concerned about these themes, please ask me or research the game. I've tried to list trigger warnings for anything particularly upsetting such as suicides but this is not an exhaustive list and goes entirely off of my memory but I'm always happy to answer any questions.
Farm Together: an adorable farm building game, kind of similar to phone games in that you have to wait for real time to pass to do things but it can be very satisfying to build up a cute farm. Can also be played with friends.
Firewatch: A story/exploration game about a man alone in the California wilderness who watches for fires. Touching, surprising, and lovely, I love this game a LOT.
Gone Home: The same kind of game as Firewatch, but you're a young woman who has come home to find your family gone and you're left to explore the house and figure out what happened while you were gone. Seems like a horror game but it's actually not. Again, very touching and moving story.
Life is Strange, Life is Strange Before the Storm, and Life is Strange 2: This series will rip your heart out, stomp on it, and shove it back in your chest. These games are amazing, heartbreaking, and full of some of the hardest choices I've ever made. Trigger warning for suicide. Slight NSFW warning: some partial nudity and mentions of sex
Tell me Why: Made by the same people as Life is Strange, everything I said about those games applies here. Has some horror elements but isn't a true horror game. If you're easily freaked out like me, you might be unsettled a few times but it's worth pushing through.
Night in the Woods: Would you like an existential crisis? Here's one in game form. This one gets a little unsettling at times but isn't a true horror game. This game makes you think about our place in the universe and deals with the heavy topic of depression so it's not for everyone. If you can deal with those topics though, it's a very deep and interesting game.
Slime Rancher: You have slimes. You ranch them. It's adorable, addicting, and so so much fun. The slimes are cute as heck and I had so much fun exploring the world and building up my ranch.
On all platforms except switch
Tacoma: What would you do if you were trapped on a space station with no hope of survival? This is made by the same people who made Gone Home and is a touching story following the last days of the crew of a space station who are doomed to die. You relive their last moments through video taped holograms. Wonderfully acted and an amazing story. Slight NSFW warning: Some making out and mentions of sex as well as "toys" that can be found if you look hard enough.
On all platforms except switch
Coffee talk: You're a barista making coffee in a magical world. Serve drinks and chat with people about their problems. The story is cute, interesting, and the characters are so full of personality. Slight NSFW warning: mentions of sexual things.
Undermine: A roguelike dungeon crawler. You're a miner who travels into the Undermine to fight monsters, mine gold, and rescue people. Can be difficult but is very satisfying when you complete another objective. You use your pickaxe to both defend yourself and fight the various monsters of the Undermine.
Children of Morta: Very similar to Undermine as far as gameplay goes but the story is that a family of warriors is tasked with fighting back the darkness that threatens their world. You can play as various members of the family and each has unique abilities you can level up and learn. Again, somewhat difficult but very worth it if you can power through and grind some levels for the characters. A broad trigger warning for this one because it can be very dark.
Donut County: You control a hole that consumes the town. Yup, that's basically it. It's very satisfying with some light puzzle elements and honestly I don't have much more to say except it's fun!
On all platforms including phones
Haven: This game is beautiful and the two main characters are so in love and so adorable and I love them. You follow the story of a couple who has escaped their home world and arranged marriages and landed on an entirely new world, but they're not safe for long. It's not very difficult and there's options to make combat even easier so it's a pretty chill time. Slight NSFW warning: partial nudity and mentions of sex.
Ikenfell: Even if you don't like combat, this game has awesome accessibility options to make combat a breeze. You can even skip it entirely if you like. You come looking for your sister at the magical school she attends only to discover you suddenly have magic yourself?? Also the world is in danger?? Uh oh! This game has such awesome LGBT representation, I can't recommend it enough even if you aren't LGBT. There's some strong Harry Potter vibes here but so much better.
Moving out: People need things moved out of their houses and you're the person for the job! Can be played alone or co-op, this game is plain dumb fun. Chuck furniture through windows, off balconies, however you need to in order to get it on your truck in the time limit.
Night Call: Taxi drivers hear all the best gossip and you're gonna need it to solve the mystery of the serial killer who attacked you but left you alive. Drive around town and pick up clients to make money and gather information. Obviously there's a serial killer involved but I'm also going to put a trigger warning right here for suicide.
Spiritfarer: Let me start off by saying this game is about death. All kinds of death. If that's not your thing, this isn't your game. However, despite it being about death, it's more a celebration of death than a grim, dark game. It's beautiful, it's touching, it'll make you cry. The gameplay is an exploration platformer with some building elements. This game has stuck with me in the best way possible and was my best game of 2020, no joke.
What Remains of Edith Finch: Like Spiritfarer, this game is all about death and is about the darker side of death. Suicide and the death of sometimes very young children is present here. It's an amazing game about a cursed family and your desperate search for answers as the titular Edith Finch. In the same vein as Gone Home and Tacoma, the gameplay is mostly walking around looking at things but it often does that brilliantly well.
Cozy Grove: You are a spirit scout! It's like a girl/boy scout but for ghosts. After you're stranded in Cozy Grove, you have to try and help the ghosts of this island find peace. It's absolutely adorable but fair warning, there are some performance issues at this current time (April 17, 2021). I still recommend this game because it's so cute and fun to build your little camp and discover the stories of these trapped ghosts.
Not Tonight and Papers Please: I'm putting these together because they're very similar. The premises are basically the same: you check IDs/passports/tickets and choose to admit or reject people based on whether their paperwork is in order. It's much more fun than it can be described and has some difficult decisions and multiple endings to get based on what you do and who you choose to admit or not. Trigger warning for political themes? Both games are pretty political and heavy, not exactly a happy stroll in the park. Slight NSFW warning for Papers Please: partial nudity (full nudity can be toggled in options if I remember correctly)
Papers Please is only on PC
Not Tonight is on switch and PC
Littlewood: You're the hero of the world! You defeated the Evil Wizard! Too bad you don't remember all of that. Actually, you don't remember ANYTHING. The world is still reeling after the almost end of the world and it's up to you to be the hero again and rebuild everything! You rebuild the town of Littlewood by chopping trees, mining, making friends, and farming. You can also decorate your townspeoples houses, your own house, and the whole town. You can even get married to almost anyone! I can't state enough how much I love this game, it's the perfectly chill, addicting game I think everyone needs.
Moonlighter: Extremely similar to Undermine but a little better in my opinion. Explore the dungeons and gather items to sell in your shop to build up your store and the town. Cute art, fun gameplay.
