Since the days of the Xbox 360, independent games have been able to enter the fold in terms of sales and recognition. It's still an uphill climb with casual gamers who believe quality is tied to a $60 price tag, but services like Xbox Game Pass or PS+ are helping acclimate those who overlook indie games.
Which indie games delivered high-quality experiences over the last half-decade? Well, it's time to look at the 10 best independent games of the last five years, according to Metacritic.
10 Hollow Knight (90)
Both 2D platformers in the style of Metroidvania games and action-adventure titles seem to be a well that never dries up. Hollow Knight is a game belonging to both of those genres, developed by Team Cherry and released in 2017 and 2018 for both PC and consoles.
Its score of 90 on Metacritic is thanks to its unique art style, difficult boss fights, and a true sense of progression and exploration. A sequel for the game is set to release in 2021 and features a side character by the name of Hornet as the protagonist, who was discovered by The Knight in the first game.
9 Shovel Knight (90)
Shovel Knight is a shining gem for Kickstarter and also a tale of caution for developers. Upon release, the debut title for Yacht Club Games was met with universal praise with a score of 90 on Metacritic.
Critics and fans alike loved its dedication to an 8-bit graphical style, tight 2D platformer gameplay, and a soundtrack for the ages. Due to Kickstarter's promises, the studio is still working on post-release DLC and has yet to entirely focus on a true sequel to the game people fell in love with five years ago.
8 Spelunky 2 (91)
Unfortunately for Spelunky 2, it was released near Supergiant Games' Hades, an indie game that took the gaming world by storm in 2020. With a Metacritic score of 91, Spelunky 2 is also worth checking out and managed to deliver an experience fans had been anticipated thanks to the original being such a cult hit.
The roguelike platformer doesn't hold the player's hand and allows exploration and experimentation to be the tools that will help them succeed in their journey as a spelunker.
7 Disco Elysium (91)
Role-playing games are a genre that's hard to break into considering some of the best studios in the world with the largest budgets in video games are releasing role-playing games all the time. Disco Elysium not only managed to make a name for itself in a saturated genre, but it also delivered plenty of innovation and expert craftsmanship.
The game landed with a score of 91 on Metacritic despite featuring no combat whatsoever. Disco Elysium focuses on both dialogue and choices players navigate while exploring a post-war city.
6 Dead Cells (91)
Dead Cells is a roguelike action platformer developed by Motion Twin which was released in 2018 on all major platforms and came to mobile devices in 2019 and 2020. The game is heavily inspired by Metroidvania games and in many ways feels like a modern take in both art and gameplay.
Dead Cells' Metacritic score of 91 is largely based on how fluid the game's combat feels and how it rewards both exploration and perseverance. Dead Cells won numerous awards and is still seeing players flock to the game thanks to DLC content being released.
5 What Remains Of Edith Finch (92)
The last five for so years in video games saw the emergence of a genre of games reductively labeled as walking simulators. These titles aim at delivering a narrative-driven experience with gameplay mechanics and elements sprinkled throughout.
What Remains of Edith Finch, a game with a Metacritic score of 92. sits as one of the best experiences in the genre. It focuses on a woman returning to her childhood home where players uncover the bizarre and mesmerizing history of her assumedly cursed family.
4 Undertale (93)
Very rarely does a game like Undertale emerge out of nowhere and take the internet by storm. Undertale is a role-playing game developed by a single person named Toby Fox, who also managed to create its beloved soundtrack. The game developed a cult following online thanks to its very progressive and innovative approach to the role-playing genre.
Fox understood the genre's pitfalls and tropes and used them to his advantage. Some people scoff at a pixel-based game receiving a Metacritic score of 93 in the modern era of gaming, but it should shine a light on just how well-crafted Undertale is as a game.
3 Hades (93)
When an indie game happens to make the list of nominations for Game of the Year, it's clear it is a special game. Supergiant Games is a game developer with a track record of creating and releasing well-crafted experiences, but nothing in their catalog has received as much positive feedback as Hades did in 2020.
The dungeon-crawling roguelike with an emphasis on Greek mythology won the hearts of critics thanks to its surprisingly well-written narrative and gorgeous music. It's Metacritic average sits at a score of 93.
2 Inside (93)
Inside was the second release by developer Playdead, who burst on the scene via their Xbox Live Arcade title called Limbo. In 2016, Inside was released on the Xbox One and despite the lofty expectations put on the studio based on the reception of their first game, Inside managed to meet and exceed every one of them with critics.
This resulted in a Metacritic score of 93, which was thanks to the countless praise directed at the level of animation quality, puzzle elements in the gameplay, and the willingness to tell an artistic story.
1 Celeste (94)
Topping the list of best indie games released after the year 2015 is Celeste. It is a single-player platforming game developed by Matt Makes Games and was released in January of 2018. The game had players controlling a girl by the name of Celeste who had to climb a mountain and reach its peak.
Thematically, the game is about mental health and coming to terms with the fact that these challenges do not define you. With a Metacritic score of 94, it's clear that the merging of theme and gameplay coincided almost perfectly.