With 2020 now upon us, we have officially reached a brand new decade. The 2010s was filled with lots of stuff worth remembering, and it’s amazing to see how far the gaming industry has come from 2010 to 2019. However, I want to remember one thing in particular: the indie game titles of the past decade. Although there are plenty of games I could mention, here are my personal, and possibly very biased, favorite games of the decade, in no particular order:

1. Stardew Valley

Starting the list off is Stardew Valley, a farming and life simulator created and developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone. He completely created the game solo, which is very impressive considering how polished the game is. Originally released in 2016, Stardew Valley continues to get updated with new content, as of 2019, at least once a year. The description of “farming simulator” may sound boring, but I can assure you that Stardew Valley is far from a boring experience. Definitely a game you do not want to miss.

2. Bug Fables

Bug Fables is considered by most to be a spiritual successor to the first two Paper Mario games, and just one look at the game can help anyone see why. Developed by Moonsprout Games and published by DANGEN Entertainment, Bug Fables is an exploration-based RPG adventure game which, evident by the title, takes place in a land full of bugs. Despite its inspiration from the Paper Mario games being very obvious, it never really threw me off or distracted me from focusing on Bug Fables as an individual game. It’s fun game I can see many people enjoying for one reason or another.

3. A Hat in Time

A Hat in Time, developed by Gears for Breakfast, was a game I knew about for years, even before it was released, back when it was just a kickstarter pitch. Inspired by collect-a-thon platformers like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, A Hat in Time stars Hat Kid, a kid from space who has to explore an unfamiliar planet to get back the time pieces, the main collectable item in the game, that fell out of her spaceship. A very cute game with fantastic writing and fun game mechanics that makes it a game worth playing. Also, it has full voice acting, and with a fantastic cast of voice actors to boot.

4. OneShot

OneShot is an RPG maker game developed by Little Cat Feet that continues to blow me away. It’s very hard to describe what makes this game as good as it is without going into spoilers, but I will say this: Take what you expect from an RPG and throw it out the window. OneShot is truly unique in more ways than one, and I still remain fascinated by the game as a whole, even with the game being as short as it is. With a gorgeous yet slightly eerie atmosphere, mixed with a phenomenal soundtrack and unique gameplay, this is, for me personally, one of the greatest video games I’ve ever played.

5. Hypnospace Outlaw

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to browse the internet during the 90s? Or relive that experience for those who already know what it’s like? Introducing Hypnospace Outlaw, a video game published by No More Robots about an alternate version of the 90s where people were able to browse the internet at night through the power of Hypnospace. Your job as the player is to explore the in-game internet and crack down on what Hypnospace considers “illegal activity.” It starts out as a simple enough and pretty silly detective game, but gets more complicated, and more mysterious, the more you play. A very unique game with an interesting story.