u mentioned below that you like RPGs, so if in particular party-based, tactics RPG gameplay is ur jam, im gonna recommend some of my personal hits that are mostly indies that I’ve also rec’d in the past:
Creator of Another World - $13.29, Demo Available - More roguelite than roguelike, fairly relaxing difficulty; a power fantasy that essentially an ‘isekai’ actually made into a videogame that simulates most of a game world, with inspiration from the roguelike Elona. Made by one indie Japanese dev. Has basic visual modding.
Our Adventurer Guild - $10.49, Demo Available - Assume the role of a guildmaster who is responsible for hiring adventurers and controlling them in battle to complete quests. Presentation in art and text is amateurish imo, charmingly reminiscent of like, 2000s AdventureQuest; but party-building possibilities are vast and combat is tight. Made by one indie German dev. Has basic variable modding. Will have its one DLC coming out soonTM that rounds out some of the higher-level classes and introduces spears among other things.
Together in Battle - $19.99, Demo Available - Not on sale, but promoting it anyway because it just entered 1.0 nearly two months ago and I think it’s a v well polished indie RPG that’s being slept on. You assume the role of an arena team manager, hiring, training, and controlling them in fights, but also get involved in a political whodunit to fulfill your goals. The city of TIB, Kalkerapur, receives quite a bit of love and development in ways not shown in the settings of the prior two games. Made by one dev who used to make the Telepath RPG games back in the Flash era. Has custom campaign modding.
Stolen Realm - $7.99 - Procgen RPG with multiplayer capability in which every enemy and, in multiplayer, every one of the six party members can move and act simultaneously on their side’s turn. Has a mix-and-match skill system similar to what is found in the Divinity: Original Sin series, and approximates it in environmental interactions. Chaotic enough in base game, supposedly more so with its ‘Chaos Pack’ DLC. Warning that having a high number of visual effects on the actors and field will slow down your computer, as it did for my mid-high-tier gaming laptop. Made by an indie studio.
Horizon’s Gate - $9.99 - Sailing-based, exploration-and-trading-type RPG in 16-bit artstyle. Also has extensive modding capabilities and a small modding scene. Consider also its predecessor Alvora Tactics ($4.99) which is less developed, but is more of a focused, proc-gen dungeon crawler. Made by one dev, all of their games are consistent quality.
Wildermyth -$16.24 - Tactical RPG that’s very folklore- and storybook-themed in presentation, where one adventure can happen across generations of an adventuring party. The only project of an indie studio that announced it planned to dissolve(?) in some time after achieving its goals with this game. Extensive modding capabilities, small modding scene.
Hero’s Adventure: Road to Passion - $10.79 - Wuxia-genre tactical RPG with pixel graphics and isometric view. Moderate modding scene, but most of is in Mandarin.
My Time at Sandrock - $19.99 - Farming/building simulator and action RPG, easy difficulty, set in a desert town. Made by a moderate Chinese studio. Has small modding scene. The sequel, ‘My Time at Evershine’, is currently under dev.
Kenshi - $11.99 - Jank engine, jank visuals, bleak survival squad management game in which getting the shit beat out of your homies and crawling away to live another day is the standard gameplay loop. Two of the three regional powers are unrepentant slavers, and destroying them is hard but honest work. Made by a small indie studio. Extensive modding scene.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - $6.99 Bethesda is part of Microsoft, which I believe is still on the BDS list, so consider pirating - Bethesda Games-type modding scene. Get a modlist through the program Wabbajack for either OpenMW or base engine, hit play, enjoy Bethesda’s worldbuilding at its peak.
Crusader Kings III - $14.99 - Only Paradox game I’ve played. It’s a nice ruler- and dynasty-simulator. Large modding scene.
Shooters?
Strike Force Heroes - 13.99 - Remake of a Flash game title, a 2D arena shooter, good for mindless fun and short matches. Made by an indie studio.
XCOM 2 Collection - $8.10 - Pretty much the primary “shooter” tactical turn-based game. Extensive modding, moderate modding scene.
Jagged Alliance 3 - $22.49 - The other “shooter” tactical game that I liked, with a focus on contemporary small arms and extensive weapon modding capabilities as your gang of mercenaries rampage across a fictional French African state. There’s a mod in which you can play as the PLA (I haven’t tried yet). Moderate modding capabilities and small scene.
Gunsmith Simulator - $15.49 - You’re a gunsmith who fixes, upgrade, and recolors people’s request for guns, and can shoot them at the range. I’m somewhat disappointed there’s still no machine guns to dissect and customize, but it’s a small thing. Made by small Polish studio. Small modding capabilities.
Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque - $5.09 - Qassam-Brigades, death-to-the-IDF simulator.
I’ll second Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. I wish Dragon’s Dogma 2 ran better on lower-end systems/was less intense, though the character creator received a nice bump in quality from DD:DA