When time is not at a premium, and I have the freedom away from those pesky adult responsibilities, I love nothing more than strapping myself in for an epic adventure with a well-told and nuanced story.
10 Badly Reviewed RPGs That Are Actually Pretty Good
Critics tend to get most things right, but occasionally, they slip up and doom games to a bleak fate, as seen here.
However, as modern life is a bummer sometimes, and time is precious, there often isn’t enough time to commit and immerse myself in a complex narrative. This is where games that don’t rely on storylines come to the fore.
These games don’t concern themselves with plot, character depth, or world-building and instead focus on fun, pick up, and play action, which is perfect for a quick gaming session.
So, if you, too, need a game to play when your brain simply refuses to take on information, these are top-tier options.
10Pepper Grinder
Drilling is Thrilling
Pepper Grinder
Provided you can overlook the opening cut scene that showcases your would-be adversary dropping you into a chasm. Pepper Grinder is a game devoid of any plot points and is only concerned withoffering fun, precision platforming with a twist.
The game offers platforming where, instead of running and jumping, you’ll be burrowing, drilling, and rising like a salmon from the earth to get from one place to the next.
It’s a game that requires you to plan your path with precision, always be thinking one step ahead, and a game that requires you to get into a flow state to breeze through each level without hitting a snag.
Very few games can achieve this satisfying flow, and even fewer can do it in such a unique and engaging way. This is more than enough reason to drill down into the heart of this platforming epic.
Bullet Hell Brilliance
If you were an arcade rat in your youth, or perhaps someone too young to remember arcades, but someone who loves classic video games. Then, you’ll love what Resogun has to offer.
This game is effectively Space Invaders on steroids, offeringfrantic and frenetic bullet hell madnesson a scale that only experts of the genre like Housemarque could cook up.
The key is to always stay moving, always be firing, and always be on the lookout for the little green men you need to save in each stage.
It’s classic, high-score-chasing arcade chaos. But with the caveat that you don’t need to put a quarter in every time you lose.
8Untitled Goose Game
A Honking Menace
Untitled Goose Game
Speaking of games that have you go through bespoke areas checking off a to-do list, Untitled Goose Game is a title where you do exactly that. Only, in this game, you wander around a little Shropshire village causing mischief.
Playing as the titular goose, you’ll need to be a menace to the residents of this sleepy village and honk with careless abandon to aggravate them, send them into a tailspin, and trigger some sort of comical event.
It’s a sandbox playgroundwith a bucketload of memorable moments. Then, when you’re done, you can take on the time trial challenges to prove you are the silliest goose in the gander. It’s a stupid, irreverent game, but it’s one that we wholeheartedly recommend.
Next-Gen Lemmings
If you were around in the halcyon days of gaming, you may remember a rather primitive but genius puzzler called Lemmings. It is a game where you have to give instructions to guide your little lemmings to their end goal, avoiding obstacles and traps along the way.
Well, Humanity is the modern spiritual successor where you, an ethereal Shiba Inu, must guide humanity by altering the world around you, using direction tiles, gusts of air, speed boosts, and more to get them where they need to go.
Why are you a Shiba Inu leading the masses? I don’t know. And quite frankly, it doesn’t matter, as this game succeeds off the back ofits excellent puzzle design.So, if you fancy giving your brain a workout, this is the one for you.
6Tricky Towers
Tetris Without Guard Rails
Speaking of genius puzzle game design, it doesn’t get much better than Tetris. This is something that Tricky Towers knows all too well, and doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel. Instead, taking what’s great about the classic game and adding a competitive factor.
Tricky Towers effectively combines the principles of Tetris and Jenga, asking players to stack the tallest tower possible without causing everything to collapse, and while simple, much like Tetris, this game is infinitely replayable.
There’s no story to be found here. There’s no motivation to stack blocks. You just do it because it’s fun, and because your competitive instinct will kick in when you see someone stack a better, higher tower than you.
Are YouDownFor This One?
Most platformers are concerned with jumping higher and higher toward a summit, but Downwell is a game that sees you dig down toward the Earth’s core via a well inexplicably packed to the brim with monsters.
This Roguelike has to strive to fall with style, adding power-ups and items to your arsenal to ensure you don’t end up making this mysterious well your permanent residence.
It’s essentially bullet hell twin-stick madness but through the lens of aclassic 2D-pixel platformer.It’s simple, addictive, and doesn’t need a thoughtful narrative to keep you entertained for hours on end.
4Vampire Survivors
Power-Ups Galore
Vampire Survivors
Aside from the fact that you are given the role of a survivor who must push back the vampiric hordes of monsters you encounter, there isn’t much more depth to the narrative of Vampire Survivors than that.
Your goal is simply to gather XP gems, upgrade your build, and turn your screen into an epileptic’s nightmare with the variety of power-ups that are concurrently popping off. Which is a rather passive experience, but one that is also deeply satisfying.
It’s one of the more accessible and hands-off gaming experiences I’ve ever had, but it still someone manages to keep your attention across long gaming sessions.
Plus, thanks to all the DLC and crossover content, Vampire Survivors is one of those games that keeps on giving.Bullet Heavens are definitely an acquired taste, but if they’re your thing, there isn’t one better than Vampire Survivors.
3Beat Saber
Obi-Wan Would Be Proud
Beat Saber
Who needs a story when you may wield lightsabers akimbo and slice up colorful blocks as they rush toward you?
For those somehow still unaware of Beat Saber, it’sone of the few breakout VR games, marrying the rhythm format of games like Guitar Hero with the precision chopping of games like Fruit Ninja.
It’s a very intuitive and fluid VR experience that just about anyone can jump into without missing a beat. Plus, there is a wealth of original tracks and licensed hits to choose from, meaning you will always have something that gets your heart racing and your feet moving.
There’s a very limited campaign mode for those who really want some structure, but all in all, this is geared toward those who love setting high scores and playing to perfect their craft. So grab a saber and chop to your heart’s content.
The Joker In The Pack
Who would have thought that the age-old game of poker could be tweaked ever slightly to becomethe breakout indie game of 2024?Balatro is a game that I would only urge players to boot up if they have time to spare, as this game sinks its hooks in deep and becomes an obsession you’ll struggle to break away from.
It’s all about playing high-scoring hands,using your jokers as a way to build up chips and multipliers.This is easy in principle, but it takes tactical planning and a little bit of RNG to truly make the systems bend to your will.
It’s a game with infinite replayability, steady and rewarding progression, and not a single plot device in sight. Just don’t blame me if this plucky little card builder takes over your life.
1Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2
Do A Kickflip!
While some of thelater Tony Hawk’s titles featured a story mode, the same can’t be said of the older THPS titles, which were an arcade-focused race against the clock to get high scores, combos, collect the letters of S.K.A.T.E., and much more.
This time attack format meant that there was no need for a story. Yousimply had a level that would act as your playground, and you had a to-do-list to work through to move on to the next.
It’s a setup that is still as addictive as ever decades on, and thanks to the modern remaster of the first two games, you don’t have to deal with grainy PS1 graphics. You know, unless you want to.
