10 Amazing Games With Tiny Budgets

We often hear about AAA publishers throwing ungodly amounts of cash into their projects to ensure success.

Ironically, often the games that manage to live rent-free in our hearts aren’t the ones backed by huge budgets, but rather those fueled by the blood, sweat, and passion of a small group of people – or sometimes, just one person.

Whether through clever game mechanics, captivating stories, or unique art styles, some games show how far a little can go.

Talent, passion, hard work, and inspiration are more important than any budget, and these ten games are an example.

10 Blasphemous

Ungodly Levels of Good

Blasphemous turned many heads when it first launched on Kickstarter due to its unique tone and theme. This 2D Metroidvania featured iconography and settings heavily inspired by Catholicism and religious themes. While some consider it distasteful, most find it interesting and captivating.

The campaign was a major success, raising over 300,000 dollars – annihilating the asking price of $50,000 and unlocking multiple stretch goals in the process.

The Spanish development team has certainly delivered on its promises. Blasphemous received critical and user acclaim for being one of the most visually striking titles on the market, leading to the development of a sequel.

9 Undertale

A Game Full of Determination

Undertale is certainly considered one of the most impactful games in recent memory.

Toby Fox managed to tug at our heartstrings with minimal technical details, instead focusing on memorable characters, captivating music, and, of course, the game’s unique interactions between the user and the game, not shying away from breaking the fourth wall.

The original Kickstarter campaign only sought 5,000 dollars but ended up raising ten times that amount. While the campaign’s success exceeded the creator’s expectations, $50,000 is still a relatively modest budget by video game industry standards.

Especially considering that Undertale is now often cited as a prime example of video games as a true art form.

8 Hollow Knight

The Kind of Bugs We Love to See

It’s amazing to think that a game universally regarded as a cornerstone of its genre was created by such a small team with such a tiny budget. Yet, that’s exactly what happened with Hollow Knight.

Even years after its original release, Hollow Knight is considered one of the best Metroidvanias out there. It punches far above its weight, sparking a revival of the genre with many new Metroidvania titles emerging as a consequence of its success.

While its Kickstarter campaign was successful, it wasn’t by a huge margin. The developers asked for AU$35,000 and ultimately raised AU$57,138, hitting about half of their stretch goals.

The campaign reached its objective, but it’s incredible that it led to a title that had such a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole.

7 Vampire Survivors

Satisfaction to the Point of Addiction

Vampire Survivors is a prime example of how simplicity and a strong focus on mechanics are often enough to make a game engaging and addictive.

The deceitfully simple gameplay loop – walking around, dodging monsters, and collecting power-ups – keeps hundreds of thousands of players glued to the screen every month.

It’s no surprise that the developer has a background in the gambling industry, as his experience in that field clearly influenced the core design concepts of Vampire Survivors.

In an interview, the developer revealed that the entire monetary cost of the game amounted to around £1,100, mostly spent on game assets. It’s safe to say that the money was well spent.

6 Papers, Please

Bureaucracy Is Fun!

Who would have thought that spending time checking documents and stamping rims of paper could be so enjoyable?

Papers, Please is a shining example of pure game design. It takes a single mechanic and expands it into an entire game, seamlessly integrating challenging moral choices and a captivating narrative.

A single person developed the entire game, and its success enabled them to create Return of the Obra Dinn. All this in their own time and using their own money, resulting in a title whose ripples are still visible in the industry to this day.

Not bad for what is essentially a paper-pusher simulator.

5 Return of the Obra Dinn

The Dead Talk

Sometimes, lightning does strike twice.

After the success of Papers, Please, Lucas Pope delivers again with a game that has lived rent-free in the minds of many players ever since.

Return of the Obra Dinn offers one of the most captivating premises in gaming to date, offering one of the finest detective game formulas in recent memory.

The entire concept of unraveling a mystery by investigating the moment of death of each person involved, as if you were there, is both unique and enthralling.

Despite (or maybe because of) its 1-bit esthetics, Obra Dinn is visually stunning and plays beautifully with its mechanically straightforward approach.

It’s hard to believe this impressive result has been achieved by one person working alone, even factoring in that the creator is a veteran of the video game industry.

4 The Binding of Isaac

Rebirth (of a Genre)

The Binding of Isaac catalyzed the resurgence and evolution of a long-forgotten genre: Roguelikes. Its release is, by many accounts, a pivotal moment in indie game development history.

Remarkably, it was developed in just three months of part-time work by two people, which, in hindsight, sounds absolutely incredible.

The morbid adventures of our little protagonist exploring the depths of his own home have inspired many people to tackle the daunting task of creating games as a hobby. Consequently, the game is partially responsible for the huge selection of awesome indie games available today.

Over time, The Binding of Isaac has continued to improve, with numerous DLCs and an updated version keeping it fresh and engaging.

3 Dwarf Fortress

I Need a Flowchart for This

Most of the time, you can keep project costs down by reducing its scope and keeping things simple. If you’re a madman, you can go in the exact opposite direction—creating an unbelievably complex game across more than two decades and make it all about dwarves.

Dwarf Fortress is a passion project that became the life’s work of a remarkably dedicated duo of developers. What started as a game about managing a dwarf colony has evolved into a juggernaut of endless interactions, where no two game sessions are alike.

For its first few years, the project survived on donations and built a dedicated community of supporters, eventually leading to its very successful release on Steam.

2 Stardew Valley

It Ain’t Much, But It’s Honest Work

Talking about passion projects, we can’t exclude Stardew Valley from the conversation.

Developed by a single person over four and a half years, Stardew Valley is now one of the most known and beloved exponent of the “cozy games” genre.

The game resonated with the public pretty much immediately, achieving explosive success. Over the years, it has evolved with a plethora of free updates and mods, keeping it relevant to this day.

People love how the game seamlessly blends farm management and social interactions with the discovery of the many hidden secrets it has to offer.

After years of additional content, Stardew Valley allows you to take care of animals, explore ancient ruins, and decorate your farm with about a bazillion items – all while petting your dogs and cats and smooching your spouse.

1 Minecraft

Industry-Shaking Cube-Placing Action

We all know Minecraft for the multimedia franchise Juggernaut it is today, but it’s easy to forget that Mojang, the development studio, just counted a handful of people when the game entered beta. Before that, the game existed as the work of a single person.

The simple core mechanic of moving colorful cubes around in a sandbox and using them to build stuff struck a chord with the players, who couldn’t stop experimenting and eagerly awaited for every update.

From there it was only a matter of expanding the game with new mechanics, NPCs, biomes, and more, turning what started as a small solo project into one of the most recognizable brands of all time.