It is generally accepted that really impressive “cash” is collected only by AAA projects with huge budgets, a team of hundreds of developers and a well-known publisher. But in reality, everything is completely different – large projects also often fail (look at least at Cyberpunk 2077), and to win an army of fans, it is not at all necessary to have a bank account full of dollars. It is enough to have an interesting idea, talent and a desire to prove oneself – then even a team of two people is able to release a masterpiece. Actually, we’ll talk about such video games today – they were inexpensive, but they shot much more powerfully than their AAA counterparts.
Minecraft
Who would have thought that a game where everything is built of cubes, with simple graphics and primitive mechanics, could conquer millions of gamers from all over the world? It turned out that the author of Minecraft managed to create something really unique – an endless world with random generation of biomes, creatures and resources, simple but exciting crafting mechanics, low system requirements and, last but not least, the ability to create custom servers with their own mods, modes and settings. And porting to all possible platforms also played a role – now you can play Minecraft literally on anything.
Firewatch
This game is the clearest example of how a small team of enthusiasts with fire in their eyes can create amazing things. Literally everything is perfectly worked out in Firewatch – there is a chic musical accompaniment, incredibly beautiful and cozy graphics, a lot of interesting gameplay mechanics and, of course, a storyline that can be safely used to shoot a full-fledged Hollywood movie. Of course, the creators of this story did not come up with anything new – they just wrapped an emotional life story in a beautiful wrapper. But, as they say, everything ingenious is simple.
Hollow Knight
The virtual world of this game is so huge and multifaceted that it simply won’t work to get around it in one go. The developers give you the opportunity to explore the locations on your own, choosing exactly where you want to go, who to fight with, and who to try to make friends with. At the same time, each location differs from the previous one in its color palette, drawing and architecture, and it all looks so impressive that it’s even scary to imagine how much time it took to create all this beauty. But do not relax – three dozen bosses are ready to demonstrate that the game is not only beautiful, but also quite difficult.
cuphead
In the army of gamers, there is a separate category of fans who simply love to suffer. It was for them that Cuphead was created – the developers focused on extraordinary platforming levels, drew the virtual world and all the characters literally by hand, and local bosses make gamers around the world cry and press the “Again” button. And while the over-complexity, flickering graphics from the 80s, and the cup protagonist with a co-op buddy may seem like a controversial decision to you (games are supposed to be fun, not to destroy nerve cells!), in fact, gamers are simply delighted and ask for more.
Super Meat Boy
This phenomenal platform game was released back in 2010, but to this day the game is considered one of the most hardcore in its genre. And the fans, of course, really like it – the levels, insane in their saturation with obstacles, will spoil your nervous system in half an hour, but, of course, the satisfaction after passing the next stage cannot be compared with anything. It turns out that only two people are needed to draw a hilarious protagonist (a piece of meat – literally), implement hundreds of the most difficult levels and captivate gamers from all over the world for many years without a drop of donation. It’s worth telling Ubisoft about it.
Hades
The visually insanely beautiful indie roguelike game instantly won the love of audiences around the world – gamers liked the bright effects, motivating music, unusual painted enemies and Hades level architecture. This is the game that brings as much pleasure after years as it did at the first launch, when the gamer is just starting to understand what is happening, the mechanics, the combat system and other intricacies of the gameplay. And although the genre itself is certainly famous for this, it was Hades, thanks to the visual style and a reasonable approach to gameplay, that managed to achieve unprecedented success.
Terraria
The success of Minecraft spawned dozens of clone projects, but only Terraria has become something really successful. The creators of the sandbox decided not to copy the competitor exactly, making a side view, many biomes, random generation of locations, as well as support for mods and custom servers. As a result, anyone can collect resources for hundreds of hours on any of the platforms, complete tasks together with their comrades, build huge castles or compact huts, enjoy battles and victories. And do not look at the simple graphics – here the picture fades into the background, giving way to the primacy of the gameplay.
Limbo
You don’t even have to paint the virtual world to be successful – an independent Danish studio proved this twelve years ago by launching Limbo on the market. Since then, a platformer with really interesting puzzles in black and white with horror elements has scattered with tens of millions of copies sold, giving rise to a whole string of imitators. Apparently, gamers just like monotonous projects where you have to sweat over every obstacle, memorize the level with pixel accuracy and lose nerve cells from loud or unpleasant sounds coming from the speakers. What could be better?
Syberia
Sometimes it only takes one mastermind to successfully launch an entire franchise, able to come up with a stunning setting, a touching story, and memorable characters with their own character and characteristics. This is how Syberia appeared – a quest adventure game where you need to think a lot, memorize and experiment in snow-swept locations. Those who are not ready to solve puzzles and break through barriers to the cherished answer will definitely not like the original trilogy (there is also a fourth part), but, as sales and audience ratings have shown, the genre still has ardent fans.
Subnautica
The video game market is literally full of “survivors”, but the authors of Subnautica approached the issue with imagination, eventually discovering a gold mine. The whole point is that the gamer is sent to a fictional planet that is almost completely covered with water – accordingly, you need to survive under it, extracting resources, hunting, running away from huge monsters and completing exciting tasks near a nuclear reactor. Along the way, you need to control the level of oxygen, look for other survivors, and even build a personal base on the reef. Under normal circumstances, the game probably wouldn’t have taken off, but thanks to the pervasive water setting, success was guaranteed.
Source: Trash Box
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