The GlobalESportNews editorial team has picked out some of the best games for you to find in the charity bundle of 600 games.
In view of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, many game developers are also showing solidarity with the people affected by the war, calling for donations and giving money to aid organisations themselves. With the proceeds from a large game bundle on the platform itch.io, donations will now be collected further:
In the meantime, almost four million dollars have been collected with the sales. If you want to take part in the campaign but don’t have time to dig through 600 articles, we’ve put together 8 personal recommendations from the bundle that are worth buying. By the way, you can find the bundle (here).
All recommendations at a glance.
- CrossCode
- Sundered: Eldritch Edition
- Cloud Gardens
- Baba is You
- Celeste
- Old Man’s Journey
- Arcade Spirits
- Hidden Folks
8 personal recommendations from the editors
Table of Contents
CrossCode
(Genre: Action Role-Playing Game – Developer: Radical Fish Games – Release: 15 March 2015)
Yes, CrossCode is already a bit older, but that doesn’t matter at all with this kind of game. Because with this action role-playing game, Saarbrücken-based studio Radical Fish Games is aiming right at the heart of 16-bit nostalgics who remember the golden years of the SNES era anyway. The pixelated look, the classic dialogue text boxes and the wild 2D battles could also come straight from 1994.
Anyone who now turns away in horror because he or she wasn’t even born in 1994: Give CrossCode a chance! Because in terms of gameplay, it doesn’t seem antiquated at all, with challenging puzzles, character skills and above all the sophisticated combat system. You gradually improve the heroine Lea’s equipment, explore dungeons and also take on fat boss opponents at the end – who of course have a weak point that you should exploit as much as possible.
During the adventure you meet countless NPCs and have conversations that are full of insider gags and allusions to the world of video and especially role-playing games. This is funny, but cannot hide the fact that the actual story (heroine with amnesia explores her past) is somewhat predictable and dull.
The game only lasts around 50 hours because many of the puzzles are similar and, for example, have different difficulty levels. This makes CrossCode seem a little stretched in places. Nevertheless, it is a successful homage and, on top of that, a very good 2D action role-playing game – so we don’t want to hold its length against it.
Sundered: Eldritch Edition
(Genre: Action – Developer: Thunder Lotus – Release: July 28, 2017)
Worth the game bundle for this game alone. Sundered is a hardcore, action-packed 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania with outstanding artwork, Lovecraft horror, huge, absolutely insane boss fights and a great soundtrack.
Three different endings and a mix of hand-created levels and procedurally generated elements provide replay value, as do the different ways to level up and play the protagonist. Random elements make for an exciting but also oppressive gaming experience. Hordes of monsters can suddenly appear out of nowhere and hunt you down, familiar paths disappear and reappear elsewhere when you die.
Defeated boss monsters leave behind upgrades that on the one hand make you more powerful, but on the other rob you of your humanity and corrupt you. Do you give in to temptation and use all the means at your disposal to destroy your enemies, or do you stand firm?
If you like very challenging games with a dark setting, the game is definitely worth a look. The Eldritch Edition included in the bundle also contains the multiplayer update, which opens up couch gaming co-op with up to three other players. The cool, hand-drawn creatures and environments in the game come from Studio Thunder Lotus, which also developed the equally stunning Jotun: Valhalla Edition. Don’t know it yet? Perfect – it’s also included in this bundle.
Cloud Gardens
(Genre: Building Strategy – Developer: Noio – Release: September 1, 2021)
Cloud Gardens ended up in my shopping cart even before colleague Géraldine could publish her fantastic column on it. The description of the game alone was enough to draw me in. In Cloud Gardens I move through small post-apocalyptic dioramas. Sometimes I’m on an abandoned highway, sometimes on a run-down playground. My task: collect seeds and bring some life back into the world.
The different types of plants give me creative freedom, so I can design my little setting the way I want it. In doing so, I bring the ugly and rusty remnants of humanity and the lush plants into an extraordinary harmony. The aesthetics of the game hit home with me, because no setting evokes as many emotions in me as the post-apocalypse.
Cloud Gardens has no story, no exciting quests or challenges. It is a game to relax, observe, appreciate. Those who long for a relaxed Zen atmosphere and a bit of melancholy will have a lot of fun with this gem!
https://www.global-esports.news/general/theres-no-building-game-on-steam-like-cloud-gardens/
Baba is You
(Genre:Puzzle – Developer: Hempuli Oy – Release:Mar 13, 2019)
Baba is You can probably best be described as a sandbox puzzle game. This is because the solutions to the individual puzzles are not predetermined. As long as you can complete the simple task of reaching the goal of the levels, everything is legitimate. And how difficult can that be? After all, you have control over the laws of reality!
You solve the puzzles in Baba is You by rearranging the sentence blocks distributed in the level with your character or by simply dissolving them completely and thus changing the rules. Is there a wall between you and the goal? Then simply dissolve the sentence Wall is Stop and you can simply walk through walls without any problems. The flag is out of reach? Then simply change the phrase Flag is Win to Baba is Win and you’ll automatically win.
Sounds easy? It isn’t. Because the difficulty of the individual levels increases rapidly and you will very quickly be confronted with real brainteasers that seem almost impossible at first glance. Once you have solved all of the 231 levels, there is even an infinite number of more thanks to the level editor! And if you have a Steam deck, you can even play the game on your handheld without any problems: Valve has given it the highest compatibility rating there.
Celeste
(Genre: Jump & Run – Developer: Matt Makes Games – Release: 25 January 2018)
Celeste looks unimpressive, but is one of the best-rated games of the last three years – both on Metacritc (88%) and on Steam (97% positive reviews), where it regularly costs around 20 euros, by the way.
But somehow this fits in perfectly, because Celeste is the game’s love at second sight. The retro look seems 08/15 indie at first, but as the game progresses, it reveals a certainty of style and legibility that many 3D games could happily cut off several pixel slices from.
The movement repertoire of heroine Madeline remains the same from the beginning to the end of the game and is limited only to jumping, holding on and dashing. But the grandiose level design still confronts you with creative surprises and head-scratchers even after hundreds of levels.
With its focus on compact obstacle course screens, the second-by-second flow of try/kill/improve and the highly precise controls, Celeste initially reminds me of the genre classic Super Meat Boy, but stays in my mind mainly because of its story.
I hardly know of a game where story and gameplay intertwine as brilliantly as in Celeste. Here, too, the premise seems simple at first: Madeline wants to climb to the top of the mountain that gives the game its name. But the more obstacles I overcome, the more I realise how much more is at stake.
And at least worth mentioning in times of easy mode discussions about Elden Ring: In Celeste, the hard difficulty level is also part of the game concept, here too it’s about overcoming obstacles and the inner bastard. However, there’s also an optional help mode for those who just want to experience the story and great music. And you should experience Celeste in any case.
Old Man’s Journey
(Genre: Adventure – Developer: Broken Rules – Release:18 May 2017)
Sometimes it all just gets too much for me (who hasn’t, especially in these last two years?). Then the only thing that helps is escaping to better worlds. Either with a good book, nice music or a relaxing game. Old Man’s Journey combines the best of all three media and is therefore for me the perfect comfort game for gloomy evenings.
Do you know the film “Up”? The basic mood is quite similar, albeit a bit calmer. The simple journey through colourful picture book worlds lasts about an hour, during which we accompany an old man, poke cats, solve simple puzzles and lose ourselves completely in the sunny scenes. In the process, we gradually uncover the memories of an eventful life and you should prepare yourself for a poignant ending. The great feat that Old Man’s Journey achieves: it tells its story extremely sensitively, but entirely without words. Even the menus make do with simple symbols. So any language skills are not necessary, really everyone can enjoy this little adventure.
For me, the game is perfect to play through every now and then when I don’t have the energy for something complex. I then make myself a pot of tea or a big cup of cocoa, pack a cat on my lap and just sink into the journey for an hour. Hopefully Old Man’s Journey will touch you as much as it touched me. Definitely give it a chance!
Arcade Spirits
(Genre: Visual Novel / Dating Sim – Developer: Fiction Factory Games – Release: February 12, 2019)
This dating sim just has a great premise. It’s set in an alternate timeline where the video game crash of 1983 never happened. Now it’s 20XX and arcades are a central part of social life, all the cool kids go there.
Of course there are home consoles, PCs and smartphones, but without the social aspect they are much less popular. Even big streamers broadcast straight from the arcades with elaborate set-ups. The game does a good job of conveying the development team’s love for arcades and the culture that goes with them. But I was particularly surprised that the game comes with a little tutorial on how to make your own emulator-based arcade cabinet. Yes, even on the Switch.
At the beginning of the game, we get a new job at an arcade. There we then make friends and get to know our potential romance partners. These are interestingly written and all have different stories and personalities. After that, it’s up to us players to save the financially struggling arcade hall and create our own future.
For me, though, the best thing about Arcade Spirits is that it just lets me be me. The character editor, while rudimentary, is not limited. I can give all the features to any character, regardless of the pronouns chosen, which thankfully include a non-binary option. The pronouns are accepted by all characters regardless of the appearance chosen and no one expects me to explain anything. As long as I’m nice to everyone, everyone is nice to me. And that’s my fantasy of a perfect video game world.
I can only recommend Arcade Spirits to anyone interested in LGBT-friendly dating sims with an absurd premise.
Hidden Folks
(Genre: Hidden Folks – Developer: Adriaan de Jongh – Release: 15 February 2017)
I discovered my love for point&click adventures and hidden object games when I was about six years old and thanks to the Dandelion, as well as Pettersson&Findus games. Hidden Folks opens that nostalgia box again and reminds me how much fun I can have with a simple guess and find game.
In Hidden Folks, you have to use vague clues to find people, objects and animals in sometimes smaller, sometimes larger hidden object pictures or send people from A to B by solving little puzzles. Contrary to the simple where-is-Walter principle, some of the people and objects are hidden in trees, tents or behind grasses, which you have to click on first. The whole thing is accompanied by really fantastic and over 300 mouth-made sound effects, which are as funny as they are fabulous.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Chicken Hans.
Did you find any games in our recommendations that you really want to try out? Or have you bought the bundle and would like to add your own insider tips? Feel free to write us in the forum thread
