Throughout the winter season, many of us are required to spend time inside, and try to stay warm. During such a time, it’s an excellent opportunity to try new things, and for many that probably means video games. Here are some of my recommendations for video games that I find particularly good, and worth playing, or at least trying (refunds exist for a reason, after all).

Roguelike:

• Risk of Rain 2 – $25 

• This is a very polished, and in-depth Roguelite 3D shooter. You arrive upon an unknown moon, and explore different areas, progressing forward through teleporters to new biomes, trying to figure out how to leave. It’s a standard Roguelike, where progress from one run to another doesn’t carry over, and you can acquire items mid-run. This game is a slow build and takes some time to learn, as you’re very much thrown in, but once you learn the mechanics of different items, characters, and the world, the game truly opens up. Furthermore, you can play in missions with up to 4 other players, or just in singleplayer, and both are equally as fun. This is truly a game for those wanting to go fast, shoot things, and explore just how many times and ways you can break the game.

FPS

• Deep Rock Galactic: – $30

• DRG is a co-op shooter where you, a dwarf under the mining company Deep Rock Galactic, descend with up to three other companions to the planet of Hoxxes IV, an inhospitable rock riddled with caverns, minerals, and bugs, oh so many bugs. This game is wonderful both with friends and alone as, despite it being a co-op, the games community is one of the most positive out there, and thanks to a wonderful development team, no microtransactions, rapid bug fixes, and regular new content releases, the game maintains a thriving and incredibly welcoming community. This game takes some time to learn the mechanics of certain weapons, biomes, and especially, player etiquette, but again, you, and your fellow miners are all equally screwed by upper management, and the rest of DRG’s player base is more than willing to teach you how to play and help you enjoy this game to its fullest potential. I highly recommend this as a game for those who enjoy teamwork, dwarves, inebriated dwarves, VERY inebriated dwarves and the extermination of hundreds of millions of insectoid wildlife with a wide variety of weaponry, Rock and Stone, miner.

Puzzle:

• Hardspace shipbreaker – $35

• Yet again, you’re working for a company in space, and again, the company isn’t the best. In fact, as thanks for agreeing to work for them, undergoing training for the intense job you must do, the safe deconstruction of spacecraft in the 24th century, you are left with literal billions in debt to the company. Indentured servitude awaits! This game is wonderfully slow-paced, you can take your time puzzling out how to safely disassemble the various ships you’re presented with, using the tools at your disposal. This game allows you to puzzle your way through at whatever pace you choose.

• Teardown – $30

Teardown is yet another well done puzzle game. In this you operate a demolition service, experiencing hard times as the need for demolition has massively declined, and you’re struggling to pay the bills. So what do YOU, the law abiding citizen do? Turn to crime of course. In Teardown, you employ your skills and the various tools at your disposal to further the goals of two rival entrepreneurs, both intent on messing with the other. This game allows itself to be fully destructible, and within it, you can fulfill the deepest criminally destructive desires you might have.

RPG:

• Death’s Door – $20

Once again, we return to the setting of a cooperation, except this time, you’re a crow. Within the game of Death’s Door, you play as a Crow, or “Reaper” whose duty is to reap the souls of the living, except your soul escapes behind a door, requiring you to explore the world to reap the souls necessary to require your assigned soul. As you travel you meet various characters, all of whom have their own unique tendencies, habits, and stories, who you familiarize yourself with as you unravel the mysteries of the doors. This game is massively in-depth, and can easily be played through casually, but to 100% is a somewhat monumental task. This game is wonderful for those who want a short, sweet playthrough of an RPG, as well as for those who want a playthrough, and to find every hidden secret, scouring the world.

Misc: 

• Cold Waters – $40

• Within Cold Waters, the Cold War has gone hot and you, as captain of a US submarine must fight as part of the warforce in the North Atlantic Ocean to defend Europe from seaborne incursion by the Warsaw Pact. This game has a somewhat steep learning curve, but is quite faithful to the realities of submarine warfare. The game has a manual that, while somewhat lengthy, is definitely useful to read, and once you overcome the initial learning curve, the game becomes much, much more fun. I highly recommend this game for those who enjoy a game that’s slow, yet quite tense at times, and requires an adept level of understanding regarding the mechanics and tactics of real-world undersea combat.

• Ultimate Chicken Horse – $15

Ultimate Chicken Horse is a wonderful party game. You and whatever (soon-to-be former) friends you have compete as a variety of animals to reach the end goal of a level, simple right? Unfortunately, no. As rounds progress, each player can place traps, walls, and various other obstacles to hinder the other players, as well as their own progress. This game is wonderful to play with friends, and is a great choice for someone who wants to spend an hour or two absolutely screwing with friends (not that way, you pervert). Overall, a very fun party game, and one that’s definitely worth a purchase to play with friends and family.

AMAZING:

• Outer Wilds – $25

• This game is amazing. Flat out, far and away, one of the best. It’s a game that can only be played ONCE. It’s an exploration game where you, as part of the space group Outer Wilds Ventures, explore your solar system and the outer wilds(outer space) and learn, learn how it works, and about the history of the star system that your species inhabits. This game is one that can be played through in about 15-25 hours, and is a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Outer Wilds teaches you silently, and allows for experimentation, learning, and eventually, a message to the player, told from the collection of experiences that the player undergoes throughout the game. Also, DO NOT look for spoilers for this game, it is a game that is completely ruined due to spoilers, simply go out play it and explore for yourself.

And with that, there’s my two cents about what games I feel are good, and that you should try and play. I hope that at least one of my half-baked descriptions of these games intrigued you enough to go and try them, and I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to explore.