5 Amazing Games You’ve Probably Never Heard of from 2019

by Jonathan Lansang / December 30, 2019

These games are no less entertaining than big budget games, and are available for a fraction of the cost of other games.

It’s a good time to be a gamer. While big production companies may easily grab your attention with limit-pushing graphics and ad campaigns for new tech, what we’re highlighting today are the works of smaller studios. They may not have the same budget, but these developers often make up for it with innovative gameplay, or gorgeous applications of the humble pixel, resulting in games which are no less entertaining, if less known, than their “triple-A” counterparts, yet are often available for a fraction of the cost.

1. Oxygen Not Included

Oxygen Not Included just got out of Early Access midway through the year. The game has you manage a small colony of clones called Duplicants, who are tasked with turning a tiny asteroid into a habitable space station.

As the title implies, oxygen, as well as other precious resources, are in low supply. At the start of the game, you’ll need to turn water into oxygen, synthesize dirt into food, and use treadmills for electricity. Survive, and you’ll be eating gourmet alien food, breathing sweet O2 from your own purified urine, and researching even more tech to survive the even more dangerous biomes of your tiny asteroid. 

The game may require some practice so that you can get a hang of the most efficient ways to help your Dupes survive, but there’s an indescribable satisfaction in seeing your once dirt-eating minions powering their now high-tech base with solar power as they prepare to send rockets off to the stars.   

2. They are Billions

Zombies are possibly the most popular fodder enemy in popular culture nowadays. Numbers are the name of the enemy’s game in this Base Building/Strategy hybrid. 

The main campaign has you expanding the reach of your kingdom across the world by building outposts along a railway. You have a few days of in-game time to explore, taking out the stray undead which may cross your path, but you have to mind your defenses simultaneously as the noise that is generated may attract a pack to your location. 

While any of your soldiers can handle a lone walker on their own, your civilians are defenseless. A solitary zombie that gets near a building can take kill and turn all the inhabitants in a matter of seconds leading to a chain reaction that’ll wipe you out. Survive, and you’ll face one last challenge: a horde coming from all directions. How many? It’s in the title. 

3. Katana Zero

Katana Zero has you playing a semi-amnesiac assassin with the ability to slow down time. The concept is simple, but beautifully executed (pun intended). Both you and your enemies die in one hit, but each room plays out as first a prediction then a security tape. You run through, finding the best way to dodge knives, deflect bullets, and slash anyone in your way. 

Fail, and your character concludes that that method won’t work and tries again. Succeed, and you’re treated to footage of you (sans slowed time) cutting a swath through your foes to reach your goal. 

4. Blasphemous

Blasphemous certainly lives up to its name, graphically speaking. As the Penitent One, this Metroidvania sets you on a quest to break a curse which has befallen the land of Cvstodia. There’s a nice flow between timing your attacks while anticipating the enemy’s so you can either dodge or parry them before performing a powerful counter. 

The game also uses a modified version of Dark Souls’ bonfire system where if you die, you don’t lose your currency, but instead receive it at a lower rate and reduce your maximum magic meter. What sets the game apart most from others in the genre though may also be a point of contention for some. The game is full of twisted forms of religious iconography which can be quite gruesome. Flagellants and deranged nuns swinging heavy bells are just the tip of the iceberg.

The gothic world is beautifully rendered in detailed in pixel-art, but the gory visuals may be off-putting. If you’re fine with that though, you’ll find an enjoyable platformer with tight, satisfying combat, and one of the most unique-looking games of the year.

5. Disco Elysium

While most RPGs take place in a fantasy world, Disco Elysium takes place in the dystopian city of Revachol. You take on the role of an allegedly skilled, if somewhat a train-wreck of a detective, who has also lost his memories in the middle of his case. As you try to solve the murder which brought you to the city in the first place, you also develop your character’s personality through his interactions with others. Do you try to get the punk kid contaminating your crime scene to stop through fear? Or get him drugs so he’ll help you out? Help from the shady businessman? That’s sure to come with a cost down the line. 

Combat is virtually non-existent in the game. Like a pen-and-paper RPG, everything comes down to a combination of luck and stats (which you can modify with clothing items found throughout the game). After choosing your words or actions, a skill check and literal dice roll determines how events will pan out. A more empathic you may be able to sympathize with the local workers and convince them to help you. A more muscle-bound version can threaten them to get a similar result, though the literal dice rolls still make things interesting with critical successes and failures. 

Even with a fun system and beautiful environments that look like oil paintings though, the real star of Disco Elysium is the story. It’s genuinely engaging, and filled with a diverse cast of characters who provide choices that are very rarely black and white. The game can unfold in several ways, while leaving it to you to determine the best path, just as a great RPG should.