Tell me user. Tell me of a creative indie game that is not derivative of another one

Tell me user. Tell me of a creative indie game that is not derivative of another one.

Everything is derivative of something. Just like you cannot tell an original story, you cannot create an original game.
Roguelikes, even if they have platforming or dance-pad based gameplay, are all derivative of Rogue.
Platformers will always be attributed to Mario or MegaMan.
Metroidvanias have obvious inspiration.
Genres themselves exist so we can compare games in this way.
But I can try to comply anyway.
Miracle Fly. I don't think I've ever played a platformer where all you can do is shoot to propel yourself through the air in the opposite direction.

Name any game that you couldn't argue being derivative in some way.

FPS's were originally called DOOM clones

because they WERE Doom clones.

Age of Decadence

FTL maybe

>I don't think I've ever played a platformer where all you can do is shoot to propel yourself through the air in the opposite direction.
Maybe not "all you can do", but that's still been used in games before. I think No Time to Explain is one of the better known games with platformibg based on the trajectory of your weapon blasts.

doom was a clone of maze wars

>The idea for the game was inspired by tabletop board games, such as Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game,[8] and non-strategic video games, such as Star Wars: X-Wing, where the player would have to route power to available systems to best manage the situation

Considering FTL is pretty frequently (if erroneously) referred to as a roguelike, I'd say it's not a wholly original idea. More so if you look at older PC space games.

Yume Nikki

I don't think we should degrade games by saying they're derivative of other games. I think that taking inspiration in this way can be a very good thing.

Copy Kitty, for instance, is like a Gunstar Heroes + Kirby mashup of cool ideas from various games, and it's a fantastic, hectic experience fueled by the player's ingenuity and quick adaptation. Is it worse because it derives its gameplay off these classics? I'd argue it becomes better.

Yooo nice

Space Chem?

If this is going to be the answer to every game suggested in the thread then don't even fucking bother reading anything past the titles of games OP.

You can take every game and find SOME core thematic idea or mechanic that's similar to another game and say "it's derived from another game! See! I can keep this thread going on forever!"

FTL is a good indie game.
You captain a ship and blow up other ships and try not to die on your way to the end. Every playthrough is different. If you like what you see, try it out.

The Binding of Issac is also good.
It's an action roguelike game, so every playthrough is differemt as well. It derives a lot of it's theme from religious satire. Look it up a bit. Personally the theme turned me off a bit, but it's still a very good title with an understandably strong following. If you

Undertale was good.
Does it borrow elements from other games? Of course it does. It's still a good game and if you like RPGs in any form you'll like it.

The Stanley Parable...
...is an interesting introspective on game design and gameplay. If you like humor and existentialism at the cost of play time, try it out.

Crypt of the Necrodancer...
...is a fun roguelike, but is also a rhythm game. If "being a rhythm game" turns you off then don't bother, but if you're interested then try it out- it's play shell might be loosely based on DDR but it's still a fun game.

Yume Nikki?

>If you
Welp. Almost had a post without a screwup. Oh well.

OneShot, just released on Steam.

I'm not gonna say too much because it'd be a spoiler but it wouldn't really work on anything other than PC for reasons.

No Man's Sky

>The Binding of Issac
>roguelike

uplink

Consuming Shadow