Most reviews around here are met with "post this where people read reviews," but if you aren't aware that something exists you aren't going to go looking for reviews. I hope my short summaries bring attention to these titles so they don't get lost in the sea of shovelware on Steam and other modern marketplaces.

I made a post like this before. I am also interested in hearing what games you would recommend.

Aeruta

PC

There has been a trend of games where you fight for ingredients and run a shop. The sprites got me into this one and I ended up sticking with it due to the charming cast and polished combat. The game is lighter on the management side of things than others and I like not having a million chores to do. It is more dialogue-heavy than most of its competition, but the text boxes go by fast.

Vivid Knight

PC, Switch, Mobile

I tend to drop auto-battlers pretty quickly, but this one managed to hold my interest. It's turn based which makes it easier to see how your strategy is working out. There is an "upgrade" system that makes use of duplicates, but upgraded units simply apply their traits after being removed rather than becoming stronger, so you'll end up shifting your team around rather than focusing on getting the most value out of a single strong unit.

Road to Ballhalla

PC, PS4, Xbox One

This is a rhythmic avoidance game similar to the Bound custom maps from the Starcraft UMS days. The maps are fun and there's not much more to say about it. If you're into the genre, you'll enjoy Road to Ballhalla.

Moékuri: Adorable + Tactical SRPG

PC

I initially thought the tiles made the game look cheap, but then I realized the simple art allows the game to easily include terraforming effects. The game has an astounding amount of mechanics in addition to terraforming and allows for a very large assortment of strategies. It is also a game where strategy is important and not a braindead RPG with grid based movement.

Kamifuda

PC

This is a singleplayer deckbuilder in the vein of old school portable card video games like Pokemon TCG for Gameboy rather than modern rogue-lite stuff. That said, it feels like a puzzle game as the protagonist canonically rewinds time after losing to an opponent and builds a deck to counter their strategy. The gameplay is solid and I personally enjoyed the eldritch setting.

Brave × Junction

PC, PS5

While this is tagged as "adults only" on Steam, there's only 1 version and it's listed as Teen on the PlayStation store. The gameplay is Blackjack and whoever wins the round gets to deal damage. Each character has a variety of skills to skew the odds in your favour or deal more/take less damage. It's simple but way more fun than it has any right to be.

I Am Fish

PC, Xbox One

It's a physics-based platformer in which you play as a fish and use various means of locomotion to escape captivity and reunite with your fish friends in open waters. It's reasonably challenging but not rage-bait; the mechanics aren't weird or wonky. Simple, but fun.

Disc Room

PC, Xbox One, Switch

This is like a bullet hell but without monsters to fight, so more of a bullet survival. While the core gameplay is simple the game includes a ton of gimmicks to make the content feel sufficiently varied.

Crown Trick

PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

In this roguelike there is a boss after every main floor, so you can both plan around them and not worry about having to grind your way through several floors to stumble upon one. Minor mobs have a ton of gimmicks to keep things interesting but go down quickly so fighting your way through them doesn't become a slog. This is a solid roguelike that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Road to Empress

PC

I've enjoyed watching some Asian television dramas and the quality here makes it feel very much like watching one of those. This FMV game has the structure of a largely linear visual novel with frequent, quick dead ends. If you're into palace intrigue and don't mind a lack of gameplay in your games, Road to Empress is quite good.