The best indie games on Xbox One

Hollow Knight is so packed with ideas that gamers of all kinds can find something to appreciate here, from those who enjoy challenging metroidvanias to those who love hand-drawn games packed with characters both cute and horrifying. The different worlds are unique and beautiful, and the music reliably follows suit. The story is a little vague, but your goals are to explore an ancient underground kingdom, learn new abilities, uncover secret areas, and fight challenging bosses. Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to upgrade as you go — and once you get started, you’ll be pulled to the very end.

Despite multiple awards and a huge amount of buzz, Supergiant’s Hades still qualifies as an indie game, and a classic example of just how good a game can be when everything lines up right. Here, you play the defiant son of Hades trying to escape the underworld. Your adventures are roguelike, spanning a variety of dungeon sections across several kingdoms, and if you die you have to start over…but don’t expect to get bored. There are numerous ways to level up, collect different weapons, unlock abilities, or change how you fight (especially when it comes to boons from friendly gods). Add the near-perfect level design, and it’s no surprise so many players were captured by the game.

Oxenfree is a classic example of a game that’s hard to describe unless you play it: You follow a group of teen friends exploring a forbidden island, who find a strange radio signal and quickly unlock a terrifying paranormal maze made from both the past and other dimensions. Players are encouraged to actively participate in every conversation and puzzle, as choosing how — and when — to answer will affect your relationships, decisions, and even who survives. You’ve probably never played anything like it, but it’s sure to suck you in.

Inside’s puzzle/platformer gameplay will be familiar to those who played Playdead’s Limbo, but this title expands on the gameplay and worldbuilding in numerous, fascinating ways. You play as a young boy attempting to outrun a host of macabre enemies that appear to have taken over the world. Every new setting or mechanic does more than introduce new, challenging gameplay mechanics: They hint at larger, ever-unapproachable secrets about the story that will have you captured until the very end — and beyond.