Wow! Thanks so much for the love on the last post. Good to see all the love from the community immediately. To follow up on that post and an effort for you to get to know me better as gamer and person, I figured I would talk about the indie games that have shaped me into who I am.

Musings of an indie game fan

Bassicfun

·

October 22, 2025

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Each one of these games have pushed me more into the indie gaming space. I would not be where I am at without these 5 games. Hope you enjoy the read!

Celeste

I’ve played a fair amount of Souls Games (Dark Souls 1, 2 , 3 and Bloodborne) so I am no stranger to hard challenges and difficulty. When it comes to platformers, my heart wasn’t in it. Sure I played Mario like most kids my age, but I barely beat most of them.

When I was searching for indie games to play, Celeste kept coming up. I put it off for a while and then finally purchased it after I saw a sale on it (shoutout Steam Sales lol).

So I put on my Souls pants once again and started the climb up the mountain.

I died ALOT, but through it all, Celeste taught me to slow down and learn the patterns of each level. The movement is precise and one wrong move can be death, but it is so satisfying to see a level I spent so long on be completed because I took the time to (say it with me now) “GIT GUD”. Celeste taught me that even though my character stats do not increase, my skill does as a player.

It also helps that Celeste has a gripping narrative about mental health and an amazing soundtrack. This opened my eyes to the fabulous work of Lena Raine. Let me know your favorite song from the soundtrack in the comments!

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Gris

I’ve grown really fond of games that tell a story without using words. Gris is one of the reasons why that is the case. If you you’ve played the game before, you know exactly how beautiful this game is. Nomada Studios really nailed the presentation.

Without dialogue, the music and the art carry the whole narrative and it worked out really well.

The only thing that would have made it great for me is a little combat. I’m an action nerd. Fortunately, Nomada’s follow up game Neva does exactly that. Neva was actually my GOTY for 2024. Check out my review of Neva for more context as to why. I’m so grateful to Gris for laying that foundation.

Sea of Stars

I’m going to out myself. I did not play Chrono Trigger. I started it, but I did not finish. I might one day cause the contemporary of that game Sea of Stars was my GOTY for 2023 so I’m pretty sure I would love it.

Sea of Stars has everything I love about RPGS. A cast of fun and unique characters, a compelling narrative, excellent music, and an engaging combat system.

It also trims down the bloat that can be expected from RPGs. In this game, there are no random encounters, no sense of needing to grind, shared XP between party members, and a 30-40 hour run time. I’m married and a father of three with two jobs so I appreciate when a game doesn’t need to overstay it’s welcome.

You can also see the love and passion poured into this game by the developers at Sabotage Studios. Sea of Stars is an outright banger of an RPG. Now is a perfect time to play the game. The free DLC Throes of the Watchmaker came out this summer and it does a great job expanding the world. I hope we see more from this game in the future.

I’ve made a few videos about Sea of Stars on YouTube including spoiler free and spoiler filled videos. Let me know what you think!

A Short Hike

Before I talk about this game, I want to mention the Gaming Club created by my buddy Sey aka Good Game Lobby. Every month, the community chooses a game to play and we talk about it at the end of the month. Like a book club! We are closing in on the end of October, but there’s still time to join us this month in playing A Short Hike. Join the Discord!

A Short Hike was actually my first real indie game review on YouTube so it has a special place in my heart. I’ve never played a cozy game before this one and it really opened my eyes to the refreshing nature of an easy going low poly adventure game.

Like I said I am an action heavy nerd, but sometimes it is nice to get away from all the challenges, fast paced action, and high stakes quests to something way more relaxing and calm.

I didn’t think I would like this game at first given the quality, but I gave it a shot and now understand the charm behind the art. There’s also a fair a amount of humor from every character that you encounter and has a satisfying payoff at the end when you reach your goal.

I’m on my third playthrough and loving every second of it. Join the Discord if you want chat more about it!

Hades

Where can I even begin to talk about this game? In my first post, I mentioned that I’ve been a gamer all my life. Back in 2018-2019 I kind of fall off gaming for a bit. I only had a PS4 at the time and it console gaming didn’t fit my life as a new dad. So I sold it for a Nintendo Switch. The only game I got was Breath of the Wild. The second game I got was Hades and WOW this game had a profound impact on me.

Hades was my introduction to roguelikes and little did I know at the time that this was the cream of the crop. I spent so many hours and late nights saying to myself “one more run” or “that’s it for tonight” only to get a few more runs in.

Supergiant Games cooked in everyway possible. Music. 10/10. Art. 10/10. Gameplay. 10/10. Characters. 20/10.

This game (along with Monster Hunter Rise) revitalized my gaming passion in my adult life. Let me emphasize a few things.

Without Hades, I would not have learned more about indie games.

Without Hades, Roguelikes would not be one of my favorite genres.

Without Hades, my love of gaming would not burn as bright as it does now.

Without Hades, I would not have made a YouTube channel.

Without Hades, I would not have learned more about video game music.

Without Hades, Bassicfun does not exist.

Conclusion

I am truly thankful to all of these games for shaping me into the gamer I am today. Each one of these embodies a core aspect of the games I choose to play. Gaming is a special kind of medium to me and indie games are leading the way in my journey to share that with others.

Thanks so much for reading. My posts won’t normally be this long, but these games deserve so much for what they have done for me.

What are your most influential games? Could be anything from AAA to indie. Let me know in the comments! Have a great one!