What are the best 2D games on Steam?

Genre:Action / Adventure / Beat 'em Up

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Controller Support:Full

There are several jokes and silly moments throughout the game. All done without speaking any word. This keeps the game lighthearted and amusing thanks to the humor of the creators and how they infused it into the game itself. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay with a sense of humour

Top Con

Fair amount of grinding

There is a good amount of grinding that will need to take place for players to be able to advance past certain bosses. See More

Top Pro

Successfully avoids becoming repetitive and boring

Each level in the game has its own look and design which can keep the gameplay varied thanks to creating a need to explore in order to see what comes next. Ranging from deserts to ice filler terrain, there is no level that looks the same. See More

Top Pro

Co-op up to 4 players

The most fun to be had with the game is during four player co-op play. The unlockables and upgrades also keep the player wanting to come back and play just a bit more with their friends. The co-op is available as local and online. See More

Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace. See More

Terraria

Top Pro

Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace

Top Con

No tutorial and un-intuitive menus

There is no tutorial to speak of and the menu system can be a bit cumbersome and confusing. See More

Henry Arguedas's Experience

Sunk a few hundred hours into this game around the time it came out. I never saw the appeal of Minecraft but could play this game for days. I haven't played any of the others but Terraria is a great game. See More

Specs

Genre:2D platformer / Minecraft-like

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN

Controller Support:Android (MOGA / HID), Steam (Full)

Instead of building a deliberate feeling of suspense, Terraria uses bright palettes and arcade action to provide a fun experience outside of the survival elements. When those elements gradually appear one by one, each is all the more shocking from the contrast. See More

Top Pro

2D retro-platformer style

Top Con

Gameplay can feel slow

While there is little to show progress in the game over gaining many items and having many structures built, progress overall can be slow due to having to collect every item needed to craft the necessary tool, equipment and materials. This can be time consuming and may turn some people off. See More

NobleAnnaPerenna's Experience

Love the game I have 367 hours on it!!! See More

Top Pro

Extensive crafting system

The vast majority of items in Terraria can be used to create other items, often requiring specific crafting stations (which themselves must be crafted). This is the core of character advancement, since gear defines nearly everything about your character. See More

Top Con

Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game

Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring. See More

Top Pro

Large community

Terraria has a very large community as it is a very popular game. Released on just about every platform including mobile, PC/Mac/Linux, consoles, it allows for anyone to play no matter their prefered device. This also means that with many players comes many servers to play on as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. So finding content or help or just basic information on the game will be quite easy. See More

Top Pro

Multiplayer also an option with up to 8 player online co-op

Up to 8 online players can be invited to join a shared Terraria world, including worlds that are also used in single-player mode. This allows for large co-op or PvP games to be played, for those that are interested, meaning you can choose how you play. Build something big together, or destroy the other guy's base. See More

Top Pro

Encourages creativity for all ages

Terraria is like a 2D Minecraft, so you can alter the world around you and craft things, which teaches creativity and critical thinking skills. This is great for children who enjoy building and discovering new ways to tackle ideas just as it is great for adults who enjoy the same things. It also makes for a great objectiveless game where you can do just about anything you want, which allows for less stress due to being able to play at any pace the player likes. See More

Top Pro

Intriguing world

Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria. See More

Top Pro

Playing with friends allows for endless scenarios

Up to 8 players can join any Terraria world. You can progress through the game normally, build a race course and compete in it, or split into factions and wage war against each other. The scenarios are endless, you just have to let loose your creativity. See More

Top Pro

Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams

Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy. See More

Top Pro

Fun combat

It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate. There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies. See More

Limbo uses (what was once) a very unique monochromatic color scheme to give an atmospheric feel. See More

46 Other Games Considered

Limbo

Top Pro

Unique black and white aesthetic

Top Con

Keyboard controls not that good

Movement is locked to the arrow keys instead of wasd. See More

Specs

Most players die a lot in Limbo. Fortunately, this does not translate to a frustrating experience while playing the game. If you die from a trap, the game immediately reloads and takes the character right before reaching that very same puzzle. This way you can try again immediately and find a solution. See More

Top Pro

Does not become frustrating even if you die a lot

Top Con

Has some pacing issues

The first half of the game is filled with interesting creatures that you as a player encounter on the journey. While in sharp contrast, the second half of the game takes place in a deserted industrial area devoid of any lifeforms and even though puzzles become more and more interesting as you approach the end of the game, this sharp contrast between the two halves of the game creates some serious pacing issues. The pacing issues are even more evident as you reach the ending, which while good comes quite unexpectedly. See More

Top Pro

Immerses the player fully

Since there are no cutscenes or loading screens, Limbo makes you fully immerse yourself in the puzzles and atmosphere of the game. See More

Top Pro

Artistic puzzle

Limbo has very unique environment with highly creative puzzles that offer a great experience with monochrome, b/w and other dim colors. See More

FEZ goes beyond just being a great puzzle platformer. It also has a very clever storyline and game world with a mysterious bygone civilization that fits perfectly with the mysterious puzzles of the game. See More

FEZ

Top Pro

Mysterious world with lots of depth

Top Con

Limited button mapping support on keyboard

FEZ has a couple of preset control schemes to choose from, but the buttons can't have functions assigned individually. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Brilliant puzzles

Fez has some deviously hard puzzles and mysteries that will require gathering clues from around the world to solve them. See More

Top Con

Loads of backtracking

The world is an intertwined maze that rely on specific portals to travel between. Since the entire game revolves around locating cubes -- a minimum of 32 cubes are required to reach the game's ending (64 cubes and "anti-cubes" exist in total). A considerable amount of backtracking is needed to locate the needed cubes; which are intentionally difficult to find and acquire. See More

Top Pro

Clever 2D rotation game mechanic

The core mechanic of FEZ is the ability to spin the world around in 3D, and then traverse and interact with the resulting terrain in 2D. See More

Top Con

Slow gameplay

Navigation isn't quick, and each missed jump can make ascending an area feel like a laborious chore. See More

Top Pro

Great atmospheric soundtrack

Soft synth sounds mixed with chiptunes makes for an enjoyable soundtrack that evokes a feeling of nostalgia while creating a fitting atmosphere that complements the graphics. See More

Top Con

Guess-and-check instead of intuitive puzzles

Unlike other great puzzle games like Portal or Braid, many of the levels in Fez are unpredictable. You can't just look at the map and predict exactly what to do. You have to guess and check, and not all of the results are intuitive. While guess-and-check puzzles works well for games like The Witness, it's really tedious in a game like Fez. See More

Top Pro

Charming graphics and world

The characters are interesting and expressive and the world they inhabit varies between vibrant forests and villages, foreboding caves, rainy cityscapes, and more. See More

Top Con

Very limited depth

The core gameplay loop of "jump until stuck, then rotate" is boring and repetitive within the first hour. Aside from this perspective-shifting mechanic, the game does not have much to offer. See More

Top Pro

A variety of platforms supported

This game is available on Xbox 360, Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Android, iOS. See More

Top Con

Minimal direction

The lack of clear direction + the mysteries of the foreign writing alphabet and numeric systems may overwhelm players who got in expecting a simple & cute platformer game about a white dude with a red hat (a traditional Ottoman hat, which is called a "fez"). See More

Top Con

Frequent crashes on PC

PC version of the game has stability issues. Luckily, FEZ autosaves often so no much progress is lost when the game crashes. See More

Areas are randomly generated and moves are semi-turn based. This leads to many gameplay possibilities. See More

FTL: Faster Than Light

Top Pro

True rogue-like

Top Con

Can be pretty difficult

The amount of choices to be made (many not being good ones) and the randomization of the game makes for a situation that may be too difficult for some. This is not a game that you will beat in one play session nor 10, it takes a lot of time to get in a good run that results in winning, which some people may not have patience for. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelite

Game graphics build mainly on pixel sprites, so it has pretty low hardware requirements and very distinctive old-school games ambiance. See More

Top Pro

Pixel-art magic

Top Pro

Allows for highly strategic gameplay

The roguelike game design combined with the huge amount of choices that can be made in both encounters as well as ship management makes FTL a highly strategic game as you never quite know what the game is going to throw at you. There are many decisions that can be made in the game, such as what parts of an enemy ship to target (their shields, their weapons) or where to concentrate your defensive strategies, such as powering up an ion engine to run, or powering up one's shields to stay and fight. These choices can all affect the final outcome of the game, so it is up to the player to make the best decisions at their disposal. There are also many choices of ships to use and equipment layouts for each that can be tweaked. Depending on the ship used and what equipment is used or where it is placed, it can greatly affect how the game will play out as well as how the game will need to be played. If choosing a fast ship with low shield power, it will be best to outrun a lot of encounters. Whereas if choosing a slow ship with good gun capabilities and a high shield power, a good strategy would be to go in guns blazing for each encounter. See More

Top Pro

Stress-free timely decision making

The game can be paused at any time, which allows for one to contemplate their next move in the game. This makes for a less stressful experience since one can leisurely make their decisions without it impacting the gameplay. See More

The exploration, crafting, and combat are all both very polished and deep in terms of what you can do, especially compared to other games in the genre. This makes the sandbox very fun to play in as you're never really stuck doing the same thing over and over. See More

Starbound

Top Pro

Incredibly deep gameplay

Top Con

First few hours are boring

Initially, the player needs to amass enough coal to fuel their ship, which is a bit of a grind. See More

ProductiveBriareus's Experience

The most intriguing open world game I've played. Very entertaining all throughout, with a fun universe and story. See More

Specs

Starbound allows the player to go at their own pace while completing the tutorials. By the end of the tutorials the player will have the skills and equipment to succeed in the game and have fun doing it. See More

Top Pro

Informative and well paced tutorials

Top Con

Combat

Combat is frustrating and unfair at times, as enemies do not knock back as far as you would wish. See More

ReasonableUkeMochi's Experience

Best exploration game, better than terraria See More

Top Pro

Boss levels

For what is a procedurally generated game, Starbound offers boss levels that once beaten unlock new sectors of space to explore. See More

NobleAnnaPerenna's Experience

The game is great the only cons I'd say is the story line is strange but it's far better then bad See More

The Mark of the Ninja requires stealth throughout the whole game, getting spotted will get the player killed pretty much instantly. See More

Mark of the Ninja

Top Pro

Pure stealth gameplay

Top Con

Puzzle stages in mid game feel out of place

About midway through the game users will run into puzzle platforming sections, these feel as if they were added to add longevity to the game and feel out of place with the rest of the gameplay. See More

Specs

The art was done by the same team that did the Shank series, which itself is also known for great art. It is clean yet well illustrated, which shows a lot of polish. See More

Top Pro

Great art

Top Pro

Lets you choose your own gameplay style

Whether you want to stealthily evade everyone, silently kill everything, or stab everyone in the face, you can play how you want. The game doesn't tell you how it should be played; the choice is up to you. See More

The game actually has no dialog, meaning that the music and sound effects emote what the player should be feeling. Luckily they do their job and then some, the music is easy to listen to and works with the game well, same with the sound effects. Everything feels as though it belongs, which is quite an accomplishments due to how stylized the game is. See More

Hyper Light Drifter

Top Pro

Great sound

Top Con

Gameplay can be tough

The game can get difficult, causing a good deal of frustration due to the difficulty of enemies in the game. While no impossible, many may feel it is too tough in the later portion of the game. See More

Specs

The layout of each dungeon will change dynamically as you kill enemies contained within. So walls will move or disappear, making for a new path, depending on who you have killed. This makes for an enthralling experience that constantly asks the player to shift their strategy, making for gameplay that does not get stale. See More

Top Pro

Dynamic dungeons

Top Con

Can be difficult to figure out what to do

With no dialog it can be difficult to figure out what to do and where to go. There is no hand holding here, which is a bit of a throwback to games back in the 90s, but still can be frustrating when stuck and having no idea what to do next. This can be exacerbated by the fact that certain basses need you to be equipped with a certain upgrade in order to defeat them. Since there is no explanation of what this upgrade is, it can easily be missed leaving the player dying over and over again at the hands of certain bosses. See More

Top Pro

Many collectibles

There are many collectibles and secrets for those who like to find everything. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic pixel graphics

While pixel graphics have seen a revival of late being that they are cheap to make, which lends itself well to the indie scene, Hyper Light Drifter is a step above any of the best offered in this style before. Everything is hand drawn and beautifully detailed. The color pallets used stand out on just their own, as the backgrounds are all quite detailed, with different color choices being used in order to differentiate each area. All the animations in the game are pretty detailed too, even for pixel graphics. T See More

Top Pro

Tells the story through pictures

With no dialog in the game (including text), the game is told through the use of pictures. When talking to an NPC, they will tell their story through a series of pictures. This goes for all interaction in the game. Which is an interesting way to go about telling a story and is pretty unique. Luckily the game tells its story successfully through this method, making for an enjoyable story overall. See More

Top Pro

Level design full of choices

Much like older Zelda games, there are different paths that can be taken in each level, there are hidden areas as well. This allows for a good bit of exploration in the game, giving a sense that you are the one exploring and discovering this world. See More

Top Pro

Good combat

The combat in the game is action based in real time. Each enemy has a different attack pattern that can be learned meaning that with time the player knows when and where to hit an enemy. While the combat can be tough at time when multiple enemies are on screen, the challenge can be worth it for the enjoyment of accomplishment. See More

The game world is enormous, with a massive amount of secret areas that really reward you for sniffing them out. See More

Hollow Knight

Top Pro

Rewarding exploration

Top Con

Slow first 2 hours

Game feels slow until you acquire an important upgrade. See More

Specs

Genre:Metroidvania, Action

Has a very dedicated Aesthetic that works beautifully. See More

Top Pro

Amazing art and sountrack

Top Con

Choppy on certain hardware

Even on powerful hardware, the game seems to have choppiness issues. Users report that this issue happens more often on Nvidia cards. See More

Top Pro

Difficult

Top Pro

Amazing story and lore

Top Pro

Has character

The visuals, music and sound effects are both quirky and charming. You may stay for the gameplay, but you come in for the lovable world. See More

Top Pro

Fun, challenging boss fights

With a couple exceptions, the boss fights are challenging in a way that does not feel cheap. If you die, it is because you screwed up and not because the game didn't feel like keeping you alive anymore. See More

Top Pro

Tight and fluid movement

Every movement in the game makes you feel like you are in control. See More

Top Pro

Mysterious story/lore

Makes you wanna explore more to find out whats going on and you may find secrets with NPCs that will tell you more or add to the mystery. This keeps things interesting. See More

Top Pro

Large amount of content

Over 30 hours of gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Amazing art and soundtrack

Has a very dedicated aesthetic that works beautifully. See More

Top Pro

Has free DLC

Two DLCs have been released, adding additional quests for free. See More

u 've to paly & enjoy it See More

Rayman Legends

Top Pro

Great music, especially in music levels

Saeed Khalili's Experience

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Platformer

Co-Op:Local Wireless

Controller Support:Full

The visual mechanics in the boss stages are pretty impressive as they use 3d rendering but still hold to the 2D graphical look of the game. This allows for bosses that weave in and out of stages as well as attacks that can come from the foreground or background depending on where the boss is located. See More

Top Pro

Visually impressive boss stages

Top Pro

One of the best platformers released in years

From the beautiful design of the 2D cartoon graphics to the level design, soundtrack and multiplayer, Rayman Legends is on par with the best of platformers. See More

Top Pro

Up to four player local Co-Op so you can help children through hard parts

Up to four local players can play sharing a single screen at the same time in Rayman Legends which is great for when kids get stuck on hard parts as another sibling or parent can jump in and help them out. See More

The game uses an interesting way of telling the story through a narrator, which has an exceptional effect. Has an odd universe, something like a post-apocalyptic "Alice In Wonderland" during the cowboy era. See More

Bastion

Top Pro

Great story

Top Con

Combat is mundane

Like a lot of hack and slash titles, the combat itself can be pretty repetitive and Bastion is no different here. There is a lot of button mashing going on in this game, which can get boring pretty quick. See More

Specs

Genre:Action RPG

Top Pro

Beautiful art style

Bastion has a hand-painted art style that is very colorful and unique. See More

Top Con

Story could be better

The story feels a bit lacking and does not really make great use of making the player care. See More

Top Pro

Incredible soundtrack

Bastions soundtrack sets the atmosphere perfectly. It's so good that although supergiant games had no intentions of releasing the soundtrack, demand from fans resulted in it being released and some tracks having over a million plays on Spotify. See More

Top Pro

Fun, varied gameplay

The RPG elements combined with the battle mechanics make the core gameplay fun and varied as the weapons/items/abilities/upgrades play out very differently from each other. See More

Top Pro

Innovative narration

The games narration is dynamic based on what you're currently doing. See More

Just like the simple but pleasant graphics in the game, the music matches this with a lo-fi score that is very fitting. See More

Undertale

Top Pro

Incredible soundtrack

Top Con

Extremely boring and repetitive random encounters

The boss fights are well-done, but outside of them everything else is a snooze-fest. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

The first time going through the game it's a nice experience, especially when we know nothing about the game. A different story is when we try going the same route and try changing one thing. Not only all the jokes and plot points have already been experienced, it can take a while to get to the point when we decide to do something different. See More

Top Pro

Unique battle concept

Top Con

Replaying can be a chore

Top Pro

Unforgettable characters and story

A game that is very immersive. See More

Top Con

Can be frustruating

The battles can be upsetting See More

Top Pro

Full of interesting easter eggs

There are many secret mechanics to be discovered in the game. It may take a couple of playthroughs to discover them all, but when found it will make for a mind bending discovery. How the game appears is not how the game is actually being played. See More

Top Con

Banal themes

Top Pro

True choices

In-game choices have lasting consequences. See More

Top Con

Art could be better

Much of the game is plain looking with simple graphics, and some with downright bad looking graphics. While it can be appreciated this was all created by one person, the graphics could use some polish in order to really make the game shine. See More

Top Pro

Story-rich

Top Con

Story is bland

2/3 endings end in a cliffhanger, the only ending that ties anything up is the True Pacifist Route. See More

Top Pro

Amazing characters

The characters in the game are written well, each with their own personality. One may be too nice, and will lower their hit points when you attack, just to not offend you. Another may have personal goals of validation from their friends and family. This well fleshed out world works thanks to the characters contained within, making for an enjoyable story filled with humor. See More

Top Pro

Tons of geeky references

Papyrus & Sans for one. See More

Top Pro

Unpredictable gameplay

Various ways too tackle the game that depends solely on the choices you make. See More

Top Pro

Witty humour

Top Pro

Your choices lead you down different story paths

Depending on your choices, your playthrough can change in drastic ways. If you don't want to kill enemies in battle, you can choose to have a dialog with them instead. Doing this consistently is basically a pacifist playthrough where you don't kill anyone, and characters respond to you in certain ways based on that. Or you can go for a genocide playthrough, which is basically what it sounds like, where you kill everyone you come across whenever you get the chance. This can have serious consequences, since the game does its best to make you feel bad about this approach, by having certain characters hate you. It's an interesting way to get to see the world and story from different angles. See More

Top Pro

Many interesting secrets to find

There are many secrets to discover in the game, like hidden mechanics that might take you by surprise. It may take a couple of playthroughs to find them all, but once you do, it may completely change how you see the story, the characters, and a lot more. There's a lot more to Undertale beneath its simple-looking surface. See More

SpeedRunners is an intense race around a 2d course. The camera follows the player in the lead, so if you get too far behind you will go off the screen and instantly die. To stay in the lead you will need to dodge obstacles, use a grappling hook to move faster and intelligently use power-ups. See More

SpeedRunners

Top Pro

Fun and intense races

Top Con

Difficult to play without a controller

Using a keyboard to play can be difficult as it is mainly designed around using a controller, so for those without a controller they may be handicapped playing against others that do. See More

Specs

There are 4 slots per game, and each slot can be filled with a local player, a bot, a friend over the internet, or a random internet stranger. See More

Top Pro

4 Player simultaneous, combined local and online

Top Con

Buggy

Like most Early Access games, bugs are to be expected. The game may crash to desktop and players may fall through the level, hopefully these get fixed before the full release. See More

Top Pro

Easy to pick up and play but doesn't get boring

You can get up to speed in just a few minutes as the controls are very simple to learn, but the game still has plenty of depth, as mastering when to use different skills on different levels keeps it fresh. See More

Top Pro

Level designer for extended gameplay

There is an included level designer so users can design their own levels making for endless playtime through inventing and playing ones own levels. See More

Top Pro

Short matches

Matches are quick and only take a few minutes to play, so it's a great game to play on your lunch break, or when you just have a few minutes of free time. This also makes for a good game to play with friends that have limited time to play online. See More

Top Pro

Gives everyone a chance to win

The game is balances up in a way where it's naturally harder for the player in front to see upcoming obstacles, giving players behind great opportunities to get back ahead. This makes the game fun to keep playing in a group as you're unlikely to keep losing to the one over-competitive friend that tries too hard. See More

Top Pro

Fun power-ups

The game includes powerups like homing rockets, freeze rays and magma balls that can quickly change the game and add a level of randomness to each match making for a unique experience every time. See More

Top Pro

Interesting movement mechanics

The game has a freeing walljump mechanic as well as a grappling hook that can be used to swing across obstacles, pull towards ledges, etc. This makes for movements that are intuitive and fun as well as well controlled. See More

The hits are impactful, the controls are super-responsive, and it's overall very fluid. See More

Dead Cells

Top Pro

Satisfying combat

Top Con

Shallow story

The story feels totally inconsequential. You feel motivated by the progression of the game rather than any emotional connection to the story. See More

LikableChronos's Experience

Great game! See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike, Metroidvania, Action, Platformer

The game has a good variety of weapons, skills and enemies that all change how the game plays out. Some weapons work best if the enemy is bleeding, some skills hurl enemies at you, some enemies are immune to attacks from the front. Which items you find and decide to keep will change what approach to combat you need to take. See More

Top Pro

Combat has a good amount of depth to it

Top Con

Frustrating to fail

The game gives you one life (except with a certain perk) so if you die then your whole run is over. This would be fine if it wasn't so easy to lose all your health in an instant. At least in Dark Souls you go back to a bonfire so you can fight a boss again, in this game it's back to level 1. This makes it frustrating if you spend a lot of time on a run only for it to all go down the drain from a small mistake. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful pixelart graphics

Top Pro

Presents a good challenge

Making one mistake can mean death, which makes the game challenging but also fun as you learn how to take on certain enemies with different sets of weapons and skills. See More

Top Pro

Supported by developers and community

The creators of the game are consistently updating the game with new features, adding entirely new areas and weapons each time. The game could have honestly been released a while ago and fared decently but they keep making it better. Even more importantly though, the developers have taken player feedback into account many times. The devs love the game and the community and it shows through their work. See More

Top Pro

Brilliant game design

All the little details come together to make Dead Cells incredibly rewarding to play with very little frustration. You die a lot, but you're constantly permanently progressing as well. Also every level is procedural generated, so even when you die and have to restart it feels unique and different every time. See More

In cave story you have access to tons of upgradable weapons with unique properties for different situations. See More

Cave Story+

Top Pro

Tons of fun and unique weapons

Top Con

Getting the best ending is almost impossible without a guide

Getting the best ending requires a few highly counter-intuitive if not nonsensical actions to be taken. See More

SuccinctNgai's Experience

Best game so far See More

Specs

Cave Story offers a pretty deep storyline, more than one would think by just taking a quick glance at the game. There is a reason this game is still so popular after being around for so many years and it's story is it. See More

Top Pro

Great storyline

Top Pro

Incredibly challenging, with hard mode for veterans

Cave Story is hard and the hard mode even harder, which makes this game great for players looking for a new challenge. See More

Top Pro

Multiple versions available

After the initial release in 2004, the game has been ported to other platforms and updated along the way by various fans and indie devs. See More

Makes for fun interesting scenarios, as there is a portal on each side of the screen that allows arrows flying off the left side to come in on the right. It also allows for trick shots by utilizing one side of the screen to shoot enemies on the other. This adds to the challenge, as you need to be conscious of your partners placement as they can be hit with your shots. See More

TowerFall Ascension

Top Pro

Old-school arcade-like design

Top Con

Limited to local multiplayer only

For a game that thrives on multiplayer, to limit it to local only really hampers the fun that can be had, especially on PCs. Not many PC gamers own four controllers nor have the space and company to play four player local co-op. See More

Specs

Genre:Action / Indie

Co-Op:2 Player Local

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

More powerups and arenas

TowerFall Ascension features more powerups and arenas than its previous title as the game has been refined as well as expanded making for a better experience in this newest offering. See More

Top Con

Co-op quest mode is short

Probably 7 hours tops to get through the co-op quest, so for those looking for a longer game with full co-op quests, this may not fit the bill being a bit short on that front. Luckily, it's not the only aspect of the game, leaving some replay value. See More

Top Pro

Fun co-op quest mode

While not the core of this local multiplayer shooter there is an inclusion of a 2 player local co-op quest mode that features two players fighting against hordes of bad guys. Friendly fire is on, so without communication may be difficult, which is what makes this such a fun mode for local co-op play as both players need to communicate well to succeed. See More

Top Pro

Simple to learn, hard to master

Anyone can pick up the game and be playing competently in a minute but there is a lot of technique and strategy to lean to keep players engaged. While the gameplay keeping itself pretty basic and easy to grasp, there is a level of skill needed here that can be learned through repeated gameplay, as practice makes perfect. See More

Top Pro

Balanced risk reward with limited ammo

Players are limited with three arrows at the beginning of each match with each shot being able to be collected by whoever grabs it first making for the need for strategical analysis as to whether the arrow can be used without falling into the wrong hands to then be used by another player to their advantage. See More

Players can risk destroying checkpoints for loot, which means if one does die after destroying their checkpoints they will have to start from the beginning of the stage. Basically this is a gambling system that can pay off or cause a crushing blow. See More

Shovel Knight

Top Pro

Risk reward system

Top Con

Enemy design is not always great

Some of the more recurring enemies often have just a pallet swap in order to differentiate them, which comes off as a bit lazy and uninspired. See More

Specs

Genre:Action, Platformer

Co-Op:2 Player Local

Shovel Knight has very colorful pixelated graphics, a decent chiptune soundtrack, excellent 8-bit sound effects, and the controls feel really fluid and responsive. So whether you’re just running through a castle, shoveling away at gems in a tunnel, or even jumping on a dragon’s head, Shovel Knight is a blast to play. See More

Top Pro

Feels great to play

Top Pro

Combination of the best gameplay elements of retro pixel games of the NES era

Combining elements from Mega Man, Mario 3, Duck Tales, Zelda II and Castelvania Shovel Knight excels over the rest of the games trying to cash in on the 2D pixel art revival of recent years. See More

Top Pro

Competent loot system that allows for purchasing upgrades

User can upgrade their armor and weapon through earning loot drops from enemies or digging. The earned cash allows one to purchase upgrades that help the player advance in the increasingly difficult game. See More

Top Pro

Retains an original feel despite clear influences

The art design, music and writing maintain a very original feel to the game despite its obvious influences, which is what helps the game stand out, which makes it enjoyable in its own right. See More

What really drives the well crafted story home is the wonderful narration done by British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television, Danny Wallace. Not many indie small budget games receive the polish this game has in their voice acting, which really adds to the experience when playing the game. See More

Thomas Was Alone

Top Pro

Enjoyable professional narration

Top Con

Some puzzles can be difficult

Here an there are a few really tough puzzles in the game which can be frustrating, luckily they are few and far between as the gameplay does not tend to repeat itself too often. See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer

For what is a pretty simplistic looking game, Thomas Was Alone offers a truly great story that actually gets the player to care about what are basically squares and rectangles. See More

Top Pro

Great story

Top Con

Short

The gameplay only lasts about 3 or 4 hours. See More

Top Pro

Polished ethereal soundtrack

Haunting guitar strums mixed with beautiful piano chords and bits of chiptune creates a very fitting soundtrack that allows for an experience of polish not often found. See More