18 Best Indie Games Of The Decade (So Far)

5. To The Moon

As a 'game' - something that requires a learning curve to master and provokes repeat playthroughs or various systems of interaction - To The Moon completely fails; but it's not about that, not whatsoever.

Like how Gone Home tends to be championed as one of the first 'interactive narrative' experiences, this features even less gameplay (short of a few visual puzzles) and instead focusses on creator Ken Gao's unbelievably heart-wrenching tale of a dying man being granted his last wish.

With subject matter so loaded with the potential to go sideways, you'll play as two scientists tasked with 'doing an Inception' to convince his subconscious he's already achieved the thing he wanted most, thus letting him pass away with no regrets.

However, in delving into his mind there's far more to his story and particularly his wife than you might think, and as everything from a comment on life itself to the very delivery mechanism we're accustomed to games using to tell stories, this is an impeccable achievement all round.

Just don't expect to come out the other end of this with anything less than the overwhelming need to tell the world about it.