To our happy joysticks, the world of video games is vastly populated. Today, you can get your hands on about 5 million games, a list too large for a lifetime.
Since our lives are busy with to-do lists and games we want to play but don’t have the time for, we at GamesHorizon have compiled a list of games that may not have taken the pedestal of Steam charts or hall of fame but genuinely deserve your time and attention.
Remember, the list is in no particular order. Close your eyes, scroll, and stop at a game. Let that be your next adventure.
Spec Ops: The Line
Release Year: 2012 | Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, macOS
Spec Ops: The Line was first launched over ten years ago, but the game is still startlingly novel. The contemporary military shooter did garner praise, but larger titles in the industry took over the FPS-Action/Adventure genre. Spec Ops failed to keep its name shining.
Yeager Development’s game had a more human and consequentialist approach to battle than games like Call of Duty and Battlefield. The game educates us about the realities of war- it shows battalions as flawed people who must make difficult decisions in awful situations rather than act like perfect heroes. The game is nothing less than a masterpiece in terms of storyline.
Papers, Please
Release Year: 2013 | Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, iOS
Players take command of an anonymous border agent in 1982’s fictitious totalitarian state of Arstotzka in the Eastern Bloc. The game has rather simple rules to understand – choose who is allowed to enter the nation and reject those you don’t seem fit. This is done by authenticating each traveler’s documents, such as their passports, visas, and work permits, cross-referencing them with the numerous laws and regulations set forth by the state.
Through its theme and decision-making, players can see how fascism takes hold of bureaucracy through Papers, Please’s interactive storytelling. The gameplay itself puts you in the shoes of someone who can alter a person’s life by a single decision.
Suppose the player needs to correct a mistake, such as failing to verify a visa’s validity or the most-wanted list. In that case, they may be held accountable for allowing a terrorist into the nation. Each document the player checks signifies a tacit acceptance of state policy. Talk about tough life choices.
Mad Max
Release Year: 2015 | Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Max Rockatansky is a character who has been driven to the verge of insanity by the post-apocalyptic society in which he lives. You step into his shoes and brave a world occupied by terrible humans and hard-hitting situations. The game does a fantastic job of giving the impression that you’re right there in the moment, struggling to survive in this harsh environment.
There is a lot to discover in the vast world. Your “Magnum Opus”, a vehicle that expresses the personality of this world, can be upgraded to make it even more efficient and deadly. Similarly, the game’s combat is quite satisfying. It’s a mix of quick parries and environmental attacks, similar to the likes of Arkham games and Sleeping Dogs.
Alan Wake
Release Year: 2010 | Platforms: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Very few games captured players’ attention during the seventh console generation like Alan Wake did. The game’s incredible storytelling and mysterious atmosphere made it a great conversation starter. Still, Alan Wake never achieved the widespread success many fans feel deserved.
Unlike many other adventure games, it is mainly story-driven and plays more like a horror game. It thrives on a storytelling tool often used by clever directors – what happens next!?
Sunset Overdrive
Release Year: 2014 | Platforms: Xbox One
Insomniac published Sunset Overdrive as an Xbox One-only title in 2014. Despite its low sales, Sunset Overdrive revitalized the action-shooter genre. The game had stylish aesthetics and thrilling themes that made it stand out. It was also brimming with warmth and humor, making the overall experience more than just a pick-up-and-play adventure.
The premise of Sunset Overdrive was bizarre and attention-worthy: a zombie outbreak brought on by a new energy drink taking over the market in a futuristic city. To counter this, our protagonist has tricks and methods to use environmental mobility and abilities.
Gravity Rush 2
Release Year: 2017 | Platforms: PlayStation 4
Almost everyone knows that PlayStation 4 started off with some great exclusives, but some of them didn’t quite make it to the limelight. One of the most inventive, fun, and daring open-world games of this console generation is Gravity Rush 2.
The game’s compelling sense of aesthetic, coursing worldwide, and combat mechanics make it truly special. Your gravity powers let you “fly” through the world of Jirga Para Lhao. With more variety and better balancing than the first game, combat has significantly improved. Ground combat and projectile attacks are substantially more advantageous in this situation as a trade-off.
Remember Me
Release Year: 2013 | Platforms: PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
The concept and potential of certain games outdo their gameplay loop, and that’s very much the case with Remember Me. The theme of Remember Me is science’s impact on people and society. The title’s plot revolves around a game-changing discovery- a virtual memory digitizing technology called Sensen, owned by the mega-conglomerate Memorise. Sensen implants were once considered a utopian fantasy, but in 2084, memories can be bought, sold, taken, or even erased.
Without a doubt, that tale serves as Remember Me’s redeeming grace. The core game mechanics mimic Uncharted’s ledge-climbing and long jumps, and traversing the world feels insignificant. However, memory remixes are the coolest game mechanic made use of. They combine harsh psychological repercussions with choose-your-own-adventure book components to build a strong narrative around player choices.
Quantum Break
Release Year: 2016 | Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
There is always a chance that a time travel story could plunge into a gigantic plot hole that will completely ruin someone’s life, a universe, or colliding worlds. Things can quickly run off the rails when dealing with paradoxes and complex space-time theories; this stands true especially in video games.
The 2016 video game Quantum Break by Remedy Entertainment makes use of these scenarios to build a game that, at times, outdoes itself. Because of this fundamental idea, it has some of the most gratifying and reliable time travel laws ever portrayed in a video game.
Quantum Break tells the story of a young man named Jack Joyce who helps his friend Paul Serene with a disastrous time travel project at a university. Paul’s time machine breaks down, resulting in a Fracture that causes time to randomly desynchronize and produce ‘Stutters’, when time is temporarily suspended.
Besides its gripping narrative and brilliant use of mechanics, Quantum Break’s visuals are some of the best in gaming history.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Release Year: 2017 | Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S
You play as the troubled young as she journeys into her broken psyche to save the soul of her boyfriend, Dillon, while battling her inner demons. It’s a courageous story that addresses mental illness, psychosis, paranoia, and other important mental health issues. And the game does it so elegantly that you never feel like it’s bit too much. It is a compellingly written, passionate, and sad story that set new standards for storytellers in the video game industry.
Although it’s brief and has no replay value, it’s safe to say that Ninja Theory has nailed it in terms of tone and delivery. The subject matter may not be for the faint of heart, but it makes for an excellent video game nonetheless.
Psychonauts
Release Year: 2005 | Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Mac OS X, Linux
The Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp is the focal point of the story. Young psychic youngsters attend this camp managed by Psychonauts. They are camp counselors who have undergone special training to become psychic agents. Weird plot? It gets better.
Our protagonist is Raz, a young psychic who leaves his family of psychic haters to attend the camp. Things start spiraling when children go missing, only to turn up years later with their entire brains taken. Raz must save the camp’s children and solve the riddle of who is abducting them and why, which has something to do with brains.
Psychonauts’ gameplay is highly diverse. Raz has access to a range of psychic talents and abilities, which you can frequently apply however you see fit. A mix of levitation, and telekinesis. Heck, even pyrokinesis! Raz is all about great reflexes, so you’ll be jumping, flipping, and hooping your way through different platforms.
Oxenfree
Release Year: 2016 | Platforms: OS X, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch
Oxenfree is about a group of five teenagers who take the ferry to Edward’s Island where they begin a yearly tradition of drinking and stone-skimming by the shore. However, things start getting eerie the more you unravel dialogues, situations, and mysteries throughout your journey.
While they joke around and backchat, an 80s synth soundtrack plays in the background, giving you a sense of chill and stylish responsiveness to the game. They also use portable radios, projectors, and tape players to get around the island, primarily analog and old-school.
The scenes are painted with watercolors. It has the nostalgic vibe of old-found footage without truly seeming to be from a specific era. A sequel to the game will arrive later this year.
GRIS
Release Year: 2018 | Platforms: macOS, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
A lot of players are used to video games that pump up their adrenaline and promote instant gratification for the sake of it. However, on the flip side, we have games like GRIS that occasionally asks us to appreciate everything around us completely. Take it as a lesson in mindfulness.
As soon as you awaken in a colossal palm, ready to start your trip, GRIS takes your breath away. GRIS is not about the gameplay; it is a platforming game like any other, and it won’t test your ability to solve puzzles or go from point A to point B.
GRIS is an emotional journey that the player must understand as a metaphor. It is a game that forces you to take a moment to pause, breathe, and take in its beauty, tranquility, and music in a busy, always-on-the-go world. But while expressing the beauty of GRIS, words are useless since you have to play the game.
Abzû
Release Year: 2017 | Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Abzu’s worldbuilding is intentionally vague and mysterious. Instead of telling you what’s going on, it creates a breadcrumb trail of indications and clues about the background of your underwater environment.
How you solve the underwater world’s mysteries builds the player’s journey. Giving you “moments” is where it thrives. Every new location invites you in with awe and wonder. A clueless protagonist often reflects the vagueness of Abzu.
The time to complete Abzu will take you up to a few hours. However, it’s the ideal amount of time that wraps up the experience satisfyingly. If you’ve enjoyed games like Journey or Flower, Abzu will be your cup of tea.
Superhot
Release Year: 2016 | Platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Oculus Quest, Stadia, Nintendo Switch
SUPERHOT experiments with innovative ideas that build on first-person shooter mechanics while adding elements of intelligent puzzles and challenges.
Enter SUPERHOT, a game where “time only moves when you do”- a truly cool concept that enables you to dodge gunshots slowly, move briefly in midair as gunfire skitters in all directions, let you grab weapons from the skies, and finally forces you to play in the style of something like Matrix and Max Payne.
SUPERHOT is one of the coolest games we’ve played, and it stands strong as a symbol of “don’t fear experimenting with game mechanics.”
Spiritfarer
Release Year: 2020 | Platforms: Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, iOS, Android
Spiritfarer has a poignant lesson to share about the nature of grief and death. It captured our hearts, and we couldn’t help but write about it.
Stella, the boat’s captain, transports souls over the river separating this world from the afterlife. It’s a management simulation game that asks you to create a voyage that is as hospitable as possible for recently deceased folk. The feeling of creating a temporary home for individuals you’ll soon say goodbye to is a humbling journey.
Mirror’s Edge
Release Year: 2008 | Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
The setting of Mirror’s Edge is a corrupt metropolis with a totalitarian government that poses as a democracy. In a dystopian society, there is essentially no crime in the city, save for a select few. These citizens attempt to retake it by closely monitoring their communications via “Runners”.
You play as Faith Connors (one of the Runners), experiencing the city through some insane parkour mechanics. The game tests your free running skills and attempts to escape dangerous circumstances. A mix of mobility, combat and engaging storytelling, Mirror’s Edge stays as one of our favorites.
Sleeping Dogs
Release Year: 2012 | Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS
Sleepings Dogs was a clear competition to some of the best open-world games during its time. As threatening as that may sound, the game genuinely surprised everyone with everything it got right; Hong Kong’s excellent atmospheric charm, NCPs with some soul, and combat/exploration that did justice to the game’s world.
You play as Wei, an undercover cop who makes new friends and enemies and battles demons of his past throughout the game’s narrative. After its reception, fans waited for a sequel that never came to be. Despite that, Sleeping Dogs remains one of the best, lesser-talked-about open-world games ever.
