4. FTL - Faster Than Light (2012)
FTL is a top-down turn-based roguelike space combat simulation with procedurally generated events akin to older RPG's. The player chooses from an array of spaceships with different perks and must travel through eight procedurally generated sectors to reach their objective. In the process of this, however, the player's ship will constantly be under attack from rebel forces out to destroy them while the game's perma-death system keeps the pressure on at all times.
As difficult as that might sound, the game involves you pausing the game to evaluate the situation, strategically operating systems on the ship, controlling your crew members to repair and man specific stations and distributing power wherever it's needed. You unlock upgrades and crew members for your ship and even new classes of ships as you progress.
In itself, FTL promises a short but intense experience of defending your precious spacecraft and the lives of your crewmembers under constant attack, without the safety net of the checkpoint system that we are familiar with in modern games. It offers an incredibly high replay value since you never know what might be at the end of a faster than light jump into the endless void of space.
FTL is also notable for being one of the first big kick-starter successes raising over 20 times what they had pledged, with the developers then putting the extra budget into better art, music and story; all of which make this game a brilliant and unique experience.
