Hidden Gems...Stop keeping them to yourself and post them here

ZedClampet

Community Contributor

Drone Strike Engineer Simulator--$1.19 (but currently on sale for .95)​


This is a stealth shooter. It just released two days ago, and I've asked them if it's really supposed to cost a dollar because it's very high quality.

Okay, so it's very light on the "engineer" part. You basically just click on the parts you want, and it puts it together for you.

What it is, though, is a series of missions. I haven't gotten too far into it yet, so maybe there aren't that many missions, which could be the reason for the price. You basically infiltrate areas with your drone. Missions can involve picking up packages, taking stealth photos, delivering things, shooting people, etc.

The graphics are excellent for a $1 game, and the controls are TIGHT and feel great. There's no clunkiness to this at all. You earn money to buy new parts for your drones so that you can do different types of missions, so there's a bit of an economy side to it.

My only complaint is that many of the missions require you to make it back to a mission launch area, and it's a bit boring if there isn't any more stealth left to do, just flying back to the starting point. The reason you have to do this is because you are managing your drone's battery. You have to have enough juice left to get home.

If it sounds interesting to you, I can't help but to recommend this at this price. It feels worth quite a bit more.

 
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Zloth

Community Contributor
Heh, most of the games I play aren't known by the average PC gamer.

Very complex space economic/war simulation. If it's your kind of game, it's a one-of-a-kind wonder. If not, it's a ticket to Hell.

The story in the first game is kinda terrible, but passible in the second. The gameplay is great fun, though! It plays a little bit like XCOM, but its 3D.

Really fun for a while. It eventually starts re-using levels , but this game goes on sale for CHEAP! If you enjoyed Thief, get this for sure. Buy it on sale, play it until it makes itself boring, and you'll easily get your money's worth.

Terrible idea for the easily offended and not meant for kids AT ALL, but these two games are surprisingly well done RPGs! Actually, 'easily offended' isn't the right term. If you don't get offended at something, I have to wonder if you have any values at all. Maybe I should warn you off if being offended really bothers you, stay away.

That other game using D&D 5e rules like Baldur's Gate 3. It looks similar to BG3, too, but don't assume it's a smaller studio's version of the same game. BG3 has far more story and character development. This one has a lot more battles, you create all your characters, and has support for player-made campaigns.

It's an RPG pinball game. Enough said.

An interesting game where you solve various puzzles around a weird little solar system. It tells an excellent story in the process, too.
 

ZedClampet

Community Contributor
Heh, most of the games I play aren't known by the average PC gamer.

Very complex space economic/war simulation. If it's your kind of game, it's a one-of-a-kind wonder. If not, it's a ticket to Hell.

The story in the first game is kinda terrible, but passible in the second. The gameplay is great fun, though! It plays a little bit like XCOM, but its 3D.

Really fun for a while. It eventually starts re-using levels , but this game goes on sale for CHEAP! If you enjoyed Thief, get this for sure. Buy it on sale, play it until it makes itself boring, and you'll easily get your money's worth.

Terrible idea for the easily offended and not meant for kids AT ALL, but these two games are surprisingly well done RPGs! Actually, 'easily offended' isn't the right term. If you don't get offended at something, I have to wonder if you have any values at all. Maybe I should warn you off if being offended really bothers you, stay away.

That other game using D&D 5e rules like Baldur's Gate 3. It looks similar to BG3, too, but don't assume it's a smaller studio's version of the same game. BG3 has far more story and character development. This one has a lot more battles, you create all your characters, and has support for player-made campaigns.

It's an RPG pinball game. Enough said.

An interesting game where you solve various puzzles around a weird little solar system. It tells an excellent story in the process, too.
We have very different standards for what is well-known. All of those but one have either thousands or tens of thousands of user reviews. Probably the only one of those that fits my definition of "hidden" would be Rollers of the Realm, but it's a great list anyway, and not everyone keeps up with games like we do. Thanks.

This is probably along the lines of Zloth's games. It has 17000 user reviews, but this one never gets any publicity that I'm aware of, so you have to be looking for it to find it.


It's an insanely deep city builder with Phd levels of economic simulation. The people who love it really love it. Everyone else is terrified of it.
 
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We have very different standards for what is well-known.

That was my thought as well. I would say it at least shouldn't have an article on the PC Gamer website (or the article should mention it's an obscure game).

So my pick is:


I guess the closest game I can compare it to is Heroes of Might and Magic, but you can't control your units during the battles and the neutral enemies wander around, often taking your resource posts and sometimes even your (last) capital.

It looks terrible, but it has a ridiculous amount of content which more than makes up for the lack of graphics.
 
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I went through my Steam games, but all of the other hidden games I've played aren't really gems. More like neat stones.

I did remember a semi-hidden game from Epic though (it has two articles on PCGamer):


As a fan of roguelike deckbuilding games, this was a pretty fun one. It's fairly short and simple, but it was a freebie on Epic and made for a nice palate cleanser.

I suppose it's not a particularly shiny gem, but if you already own it I would recommend giving it a try.
 
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One of my favorites in recent years is Transport Fever 2


Hidden gem? I'm not sure, but I don't see many people ever mention it.

Pentiment has substantially fewer reviews and I think it's one of the best games of the last several decades.


Fewer overall reviews than even Transport Fever is Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront. There's nothing else like this game (unless you count Men of War, which GoH spawned from, which also isn't very popular)


Cultic is easily one of the best FPS games I've played since the 90's and I absolutely can't wait for the next couple of episodes.


Broodstar is a fantastic Roguelike Schmup and one of the very few Roguelikes that have ever captured my attention enough to actually complete several runs


Maybe Strife: Veteran Edition? A classic 90's FPS that was doing something different at the time on the Doom engine. Wander around a town, talk to NPC's, get "quests", etc. Incredibly interesting and one of my favorites from the time.


How'd I do?
 
Cosmo D’s Off-Peak series
Cosmo D is a solo developer making some of the weirdest yet most charming games I’ve ever played. I have posed them above in the order of release, but they are only loosely connected, there is not a single main plot line that runs between them all.

His games can be very simply described as strange, puzzle adventure walking simulators. He often throws in new features in each game, like pizza making in Tales From Off-Peak City, or dice rolls to perform actions in Betrayal At Club Low, which keeps each game fresh if you decided to play them all. His art style is very unique, characters don’t have voice acting but have an Animal Crossing style mumble, the games are often confusing in ways that require you to figure out what is going on by yourself, and they are all fantastic. Puzzles, strange character, the ever present nagging feeling of something isn’t quite right but I can’t put my finger on it, these games got it all. They are almost detective games as you’re trying to uncover some kind of plot Each game is a grander evolution is the past, and they just keep getting better.

It’s honestly hard for me to describe the games because I either want to spill my guts and go into great detail about all the cool features and mechanics and writing and comedic moments, but on the other hand it’s best if you go in blind.

I personally recommend starting with The Norwood Suite as the first Off-Peak is a bit unpolished, it was more of a “concept” game for the larger connected universe he made for the following games.
 

ZedClampet

Community Contributor

Engineering game. You can play through a sort of progression which serves as the tutorial or you can play the sandbox. Build just about any ground vehicle and different types of engines. Several tracks are available to test your vehicles. They keep track of your times. Steam Workshop support.


Low poly, cozy colony sim. Reminds me a little of Timberborn without the disasters and beavers.


This one actually has about 6000 user reviews, but I'd never heard of it. It's a Slay the Spire-like with better graphics and characters you walk around the map. Difficulty seems higher than StS.
 
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