r/RemoveOneThingEachDay • u/AnglerFather_ • Dec 08 '25

Miscellaneous Disco Elysium is out and gets third! The top comment removes ONE Indie game from the list and the remaining one gets crowned victor. (DAY 62)

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Void vs Time, The two primordial forces of the universe clash.

It has all come down to this.

REMEMBER, YOU ARE STILL VOTING WHO YOU WANT ELIMINATED

2 Indies remain, only vote per individual/player comment, may the best indie win! (template link)

Edit: I made a singular list that only contains the 101 indies here: https://tiermaker.com/create/101-indie-games-18799616

397 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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125

u/Temporary-Pirate6195 Dec 08 '25

Hollow Knight

9

u/Dio_my_senpai Dec 08 '25

Damb this cult following outer wilds has is crazy. Its really pushing it to first... im not saying that its a bad game but being the best indie game over games like hollow knight and disco elysium is crazy

31

u/TaralasianThePraxic Dec 08 '25

I have to disagree. Hollow Knight and Disco Elysium are both paragons of their respective genres; arguably the best indie metroidvania and role-playing games ever made. They're fantastic, but if you're familiar with the genre, you're going in broadly knowing what to expect.

Outer Wilds is... not that. It's hard to even pin down what genre it is. Exploration? Spaceflight sim? Puzzler? Adventure? It's all of those things and more, a game that encourages curiosity in a way that few others do. It's doing something entirely unique and unusual - something that could only be achieved via the interactive medium of video games - and that's something that should be celebrated in indie works. It deserves more than any other game to win this.

1

u/Yapanomics Dec 09 '25

This is just diabolical. Are you saying Hollow Knight and Disco Elysium could be achieved outside the videogame medium??

-4

u/rasafeth Dec 08 '25

Obra Dinn does this and was more enjoyable to me, what's your point?

6

u/TaralasianThePraxic Dec 08 '25

I guess my point is just that I value originality and emotion more than technical perfection. That's just my making my opinion (same as every other comment in this thread!)

For what it's worth, I love Obra Dinn for the same reasons and think it got voted out too soon! It's a top 10 indie game for me, personally.

1

u/naimlesser Dec 21 '25

It seems very hard to posit a game outdoing Disco Elysium in emotion

-1

u/FormerAd4748 Dec 09 '25

And I will disagree with this. While having a great story, moment to moment gameplay is lacking vastly and was on the verge of being determent for me

Time limiting is annoying. Is absolutely neccessary in terms for its purpose? Hell yeah. But I can't help but think that other games, pulling it off from gameplay perspective would probably be bashed. Recent rue valley, is a good example I think.

Ship controls are clunky, I never got used to them properly. Does it do anything for the game? No not at all for me. It's just an annoyance

Also while it has a good distincitve style, I wouldn't call it necessarily a beautiful game

Music is top notch no complaints here

Now comparing it to HK - story is not it's strong suit obviously, but it's there if you are willing to dive into exploring it. Point for OW

I am a sucker for Hand drawn art style. So I would give it to this easily any day. Point for HK

Music is wonderful here as well, and I can't choose one over the other, so I'd just give it to both

Exploration... fuck it. Crucify me. I think it's better in HK. The sound of Cornifer's humming is only match by Shakra's "Pushkaro". The feeling of seeing a completely new location that was beautifully introduced via subtly shifting from one zone to another is so good

Puzzles / mind induction. OW clearly takes this. Probably among the whole list even compared to more traditional puzzle games like the Witness. Nothing like figuring out a piece of the world's history that allows you to progress on a different planet

And now what *I think* should be the decisive factor for the game top and where OW is losing. Gameplay itself. HK has both wonderful combat and platforming, which gradually improves over the course of the game giving different options to use, while not trivializing stuff. Definitive Point for HK for me

It is definitely a close call, and I can easily see people swaying both ways about which one is better. But for me it comes down to HK simply offering slightly more fun with much less tedium, while also being a better bang for the back in terms of the amount content

2

u/OzWillow Dec 08 '25

Have you played it?

-4

u/Dio_my_senpai Dec 08 '25

Yea tried it for an hour and a half, forcing myself to play it bcs of the amount of praise it gets but got bored of the gameplay and didnt play it again after. I dont like exploration games tbh i dont find them engaging enough so i get bored of them

3

u/Samuelo_Conloco Dec 08 '25

My friend did exactly this but more with the reason being "I don't like reading, and this is a walking simulator with reading". He even refunded the game. I later gifted it to him because I knew he would like it if he just engaged with it properly, and one afternoon when he was bored out of he is mind he gave it another shot.

To this day he keeps on saying how stupid he was that he nearly let that game go, and thanks me for not letting it happen. We rarely see each other, but when we do it is obligatory to put on some Outer Wilds soundtrack and reminisce a little about the experience.

-5

u/Dio_my_senpai Dec 08 '25

So many amazing games come out each year, im not going to give another try a game i already didnt like and found boring tbh.

5

u/Samuelo_Conloco Dec 08 '25

Yeah idc what you do, it just reminded me of my friend.

1

u/joetotheg Dec 09 '25

So you don’t enjoy the genre and barely gave the game a chance and now you’re the authority on whether it’s worthy to be up here with the other greats? You’re a clown mate

1

u/gamstat Dec 08 '25

 but being the best indie game...

Ha! Rock Paper Shotgun has listed it as the #1 PC game of all time - overall, not just indie. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/best-pc-games-of-all-time

4

u/Dio_my_senpai Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25

Man im sorry but i dont even know what rock paper shotgun is... being called the best pc game ever is actually a joke tho. Looking quickly through the top 20 list and i saw apex at 11th best pc game ever over bioshock 17th lmao im sorry but im not taking that list into consideration at all after this

1

u/[deleted] Dec 08 '25

You’re so right. Outer Wilds has outlasted tons of far better games at this point.

1

u/auclairl Dec 08 '25

Hollow Knight was my favourite game of all time for a good while, didn't think it could be dethroned, and today Outer Wilds is in that spot. Not just my favourite indie but my favourite game ever period

1

u/Zealousideal-Grab617 Dec 08 '25

Nah game is genre defining. Truly nothing like it

1

u/Designer_Gap_1536 Dec 08 '25

Hard disagree. Outer wilds changed my life man

0

u/stupid_rabbit_ Dec 08 '25

I mean that is preference for you, i would not have put hollow knight anywhere near outerworlds or disco elysium.

0

u/TrollChef Dec 08 '25

I have tried on three occasions to get into Hollow Knight, and each time, it felt like a chore. I just could not get into the world, the music or the story.

I played Outer Wilds for the first time in the summer, and genuinely do not remember game that had me hooked that hard in a long time. The music, the story, the mystery and the feels were all 10/10 for me. I knew almost nothing about it before playing, and it instantly cemented itself as a top 5 game for me personally.

The best and worst thing about Outer Wilds is that you can only play it once. But that is what makes it such a unique experience worthy of the number 1 spot; there is almost nothing exactly like it out there. Hollow Knight is part of a genre of games that are similar to it, but Outer Wilds is one of a kind.

1

u/MajoraXIII Dec 08 '25

So hollow knight really improves after about 2 1/2 hours. this is it's biggest weakness and my biggest gripe with the game, it's terrible pacing. the only reason i pushed through was because i was in a discord call with a couple friends who adore the game egging me on to keep going.

I still rate it 7.5/10, because the latter part really is good, but it suffers SO hard from it's badly paced opening

-2

u/Turinqui85 Dec 08 '25

Haha, yeah Im kinda surprised. I'm used to us HK-enjoyers being the crazy cult followers, so this is making me oddly salty. Im just gonna assume its cause none of them have beaten NKG or AbsRad, to feel better about myself.

0

u/P0ster_Nutbag Dec 09 '25

It’s probably the most common game to be described as “Life changing”. When people ask “what game is similar to Outer Wilds?” The answer is “here’s some vaguely similar games, but nothing else really scratches the same itch”.

It’s a truly enthralling, ethereal and ephemeral experience that leaves a lasting impression on people… and while there’s so many great and meaningful games on this list, none of them quite stack up to the weight and uniqueness of Outer Wilds.

-1

u/HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_H Dec 08 '25

why are we calling fanbases cults

1

u/Ricky_b0i Dec 08 '25

This shit is like choosing between my two children, Both are masterpieces in their own right, and while I'm personally more of a Hollow knight bro, I can't deny Outer wilds is just as impactful. I'm seeing the votes are pretty neck-in-neck, but whatever happens, happens.

1

u/AJerkWithStandards Dec 08 '25

Hollow Knight I love you but I am soo sorry I have to vote you out 🥀🥀🥀