Come one, come all! Got a game that's not AAA (or god forbid AAAA) but you loved anyhow? Welcome to show and tell. Talk about your favorite, why people should play it, and what you love most about it. And yes, I'm aware this may just be end up being 25 comments about stardew valley.
I want to start by recommending Kingdom, a series with relatively simple (but elegant) graphics and side scrolling tower defence style gameplay. It doesn't sound like much but the presentation encourages this beautiful sense of exploration of mechanics. Amos Roddy did the music, which tells you just how much I love the soundtrack I didn't even have to look up his name. There are a few games, but I specifically recommend Kingdom: Two Crowns as it includes co-op and has some nice style options (European, Japanese, and more comprehensive Norse DLC that changes more than looks)
If that's not your speed maybe you'd the better known Stanley Parable. I won't say much on it as it's a fantastically written experience I'd recommend to anyone with a pulse. The less you know going into it the better, and it's very accessible in terms of design because it's largely a (hilarious and witty) walking simulator.
Finally, I'd recommend the Mount and Blade series. Bannerlord is the most recent but it's predecessor, Warband is a very loved game too. Essentially this series drops you into a grounded medieval sandbox world as a character you define, then you just go play. Want to be a merchant and make all the money managing a bunch of stores and contending with the unrest and banditry caused by warring kingdom? You can do that. Want to /be/ that bandit raiding caravans? You can. How about the classic Lancelot experience of being a tournament fighting, seige winning, lady wooing, knightly machine? Absolutely. And better yet, when the king shafts you of that territory you really wanted to be granted you can just rebel and become a king in your own right (long term results and stability of your kingdom may vary by circumstance). It's definitely worth a peek if you haven't looked at any of the games in the series.
And that's what I've got today. Hope you guys have some fun recommendations, stories and anecdotes for trade!
Are VR games allowed? I have several indie games I just love to play.
RFVR is an RPG by a small dev team that are very active on Discord and attentive to players feedback. They just introduced voice commands, you can hire mercenaries all over the world, then later you can hire apprentices that level with you (5 levels below yours). There is crafting of food and spells, improving of weapons at a forge, mining and a tonne more. They have a small demo so you can get the feel of the game.
Virtual Hunter is by another small dev team. There is one map at the moment (recently reworked and expanded massively) with Red Deer, Fallow Deer, Boar, European Hare, Fox, and Pheasant with particular ammo/weapon for most ethical kill and you are penalised financially (as in no reward or trophy) for not being ethical, the guns are a .303, .223, .44, an over under shotgun with 3 types of ammo, and a bow with 3 or 4 types of arrows. The game takes into account sight, sound, and scent and animals act accordingly.
Cyube (recently released on psvr after being on Steam for several years) has a single dev who is active on discord and attentive to the community. This is an excellent peaceful voxel building game with lots of mods. There is a limited amount of included blocks but any moron can make new blocks (said moron made a few blocks hehe) there is also a whole modding system for more intricate and involved modding all available through the Steam Workshop.
Ever wanted to be GOD? Decide the fate of humans and rain love or destruction down on them? Check out Deisim. A flat earthers dream (sorry, had to) build your world 1 tile at a time ensuring your people have the resources they need and watch civilisations emerge, evolve and eventually go to war!
If this is received well I may drop another list on ya's. Very few AAA+ games are in my library and the indie ones I've listed have way more playtime.