An Indie Backlog curated overview. We round up the best indie RPGs and how professional critics and players received each one — the scores and quotes below are theirs, linked to the source.
A wordless, neon-soaked action-RPG of brutal combat and aching beauty — the game that put Heart Machine on the map.
At a Glance
| Developer | Heart Machine |
| Release year | 2016 |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| Subgenre | Action RPG |
| Length | ~9 hours (main story) |
| Metacritic | 84 / 100 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (~93%, 18,000+ reviews) |
| Steam Deck | Verified |
| Languages | 6 |
About the Game
Hyper Light Drifter, from Heart Machine, is an action RPG that tells its entire story without a single line of dialogue. You play the Drifter, a wanderer in a gorgeous, decaying world, afflicted by an illness and chasing fragments of forgotten knowledge. The narrative is told purely through environments, imagery, and brief wordless vignettes.
The combat is fast, precise, and unforgiving — a blend of Zelda-like exploration and the tense, read-and-react demands of a souls-like. You chain sword strikes, dashes, and gunfire against enemies that punish hesitation, across four distinct regions guarded by brutal bosses.
Designer Alx Preston drew on his own experience with a congenital heart condition to give the game its melancholy mood, and Disasterpeace’s synth score makes the whole thing feel like a half-remembered dream. It’s pixel art at its most painterly, and a landmark of the 2010s indie scene.
Screenshots
Screenshots: official Steam media for Hyper Light Drifter.
Why It Made the List
Hyper Light Drifter made the list as a high-water mark for atmosphere and combat feel. It proves an RPG can tell a moving story with no words at all, and its influence — on art direction and dash-heavy combat alike — is everywhere in the indies that followed.
What the Critics Say
Hyper Light Drifter holds a Metacritic score of 84. Critics praised its art direction, soundtrack, and razor-sharp combat, with the most common reservation being its deliberately cryptic, guidance-light design.
What Players Say
On Steam it’s rated Very Positive across more than 18,000 reviews — about 93% positive. Players love the atmosphere and combat; the difficulty and lack of hand-holding are the usual sticking points.
Praise & Criticism
Praise
- Stunning, painterly pixel art
- Tense, precise combat
- Haunting Disasterpeace soundtrack
- Wordless storytelling that genuinely works
Criticism
- Genuinely difficult
- Very little guidance
- Story is opaque by design
Games Like This
- CrossCode — precise, demanding action-RPG combat
- Children of Morta — gorgeous pixel-art action
- Moonlighter — Zelda-flavored dungeon combat
Where to Buy
Plain store links for now — swap in your affiliate-tagged URLs once you’ve joined Amazon Associates and the eBay Partner Network. (Steam has no affiliate program; that link is for convenience.)
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