Ask Lemmy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(film)

Disco Elysium

https://store.steampowered.com/app/972660/Spiritfarer_Farewell_Edition/

Its fantastic.

What Remains of Edith Finch. Is that a 'small' enough game? Affected me deeply, tho.

Hollow Knight! Got me into indie games.

Cube.

https://youtu.be/shcK9b-TQIo

Made for $365,000 Canadian.

Disco Elysium

Journey!

Primer. Like $12k budget, mostly cost of film.

Games:

• To the Moon
• Gris
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
• This War of Mine
• Inked: A Tale of Love
• Papers, Please

Movies (this list I had to think about for a while...):

• 50/50 (2011)
• Amour (2012)
• The Station Agent (2003)
• Columbus (2017)
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Books:

• The Bookshop
• The Lives of Others

Edit: spelling

Most indie games will end up better than pretty much every AAA title. The best games I've played in the last decade were either indie or AA.

Roboquest, Pathfinder WotR, Dyson Sphere Program, Outer Wilds, Balatro, Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Rogue Trader, Darktide, Abiotic Factor, Rimworld, Stellaris, DV Rings of Saturn, Hardspace Shipbreaker, Voices of the Void, Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Tiny Glade, Witchfire, Instruments of Destruction, Heart of the Machine, Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon, A Webbing Journey, Planet Crafter, Kenshi, X4, Ultrakill, Schedule 1, the list goes on.

All amazing games, none of them AAA.

Thomas was alone. Never have I had such strong feelings for a bunch squares and rectangles

TUNIC
It's a good game in general, but

Dear Esther

Man from Earth.

Coherence.

Unpacking (game)

Small indie film? Dear Zachary is a documentary produced on a shoestring budget, and it is an absolutely devastating piece of art. Just thinking about the film puts a lump in my throat.

17776, especially the start and end (you do not need to care about American football at all to enjoy this story)

Before Your Eyes. I was going through some major stuff at the time and I'll associate the game with that summer forever. It has a very unique mechanic and it ties into the game really well without feeling like a gimmick. Takes about 3 hours to complete, so not a huge investment either.

SIGNALIS (indie horror game). Very good, scary, I cried. Strongly recommend.

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Games: INSIDE, We Happy Few

DELTARUNE. toby's been changing my brain chemistry for 10+ years now

John Langan's "The Fisherman". Its a cosmic/folk horror novel but also a powerful meditation on loss and grief.

Applying the term "Indie" to a book feels interesting to me, because almost all books, even ones that are part of intensely popular franchises, are written by a single author - so in a sense, all books are Indy.

Of course team size is only one aspect. There's also budget and commercial involvement. But budget doesn't have to be a constraining factor for books the way it is for movies. And if you're the only person pushing the keyboard keys then you are the one with ultimate creative control.

If you are a penniless author and publish a hit and get rich, does your next book then stop being indie, even though it's still just you? Or maybe it's no longer indie because your circumstances have changed.

Chappie might be borderline, but it goes so hard emotionally for a movie that basically had no critical reception.

This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren't put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.

I thought a game like To The Moon would have been high up, but everyone has their own tastes.

Though, I will say, the sequel, Finding Paradise, is definitely worth it and is my choice. Even with the little bits of comedy and things that take away from the seriousness of the story, it's still an amazing story. Just as good as To The Moon, if you ask me.

Honestly, all of them.

I remember feeling the feels when I first saw Garden State. I don’t know what it is about that film, but this quote:

Andrew: “You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone.

Sam: “I still feel at home in my house.”

Andrew: You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”

This hits hard.

Game no one's mentioned yet: Look Outside

The game I wanted to say was already said, so I'll go with a movie! The 2018 Korean film "Burning".

Mine is music and the answer is essentially literally any Indy band that I like, I like WAY more than any mainstream artist.

but like I have several Indy bands that do different styles, so I don't know what my actual taste is.
here's my recent plays if anyone wants to tell me :)

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Harveys neue Augen, Edna bricht aus