Hidden Gems of Game Design Volume 37

Plenty of amazing games go unnoticed and are not played widely for various reasons. Maybe it’s a diamond in the rough, or the marketing wasn’t there, or it could be a game ahead of its time. For this monthly series, I’ve asked my fellow writers on SUPERJUMP to pick a game they think is deserving of a chance in the spotlight. Let us know your favorite hidden gems in the comments.

Josh Bycer

Teocida (2021)

What if you combined a puzzle platformer with the imagery of H.R. Giger? You would probably get Teocida, one of the more interesting, disturbing, and confusing games around.

You play as someone taking part in an experiment - or are you trying to understand a mysterious religion? The game, within a game, was challenging players with puzzles within puzzles long before the likes of Tunic and Animal Well became famous for it. The basics involve you exploring different areas, complete with puzzles and disturbing imagery. While you can censor the game, it was designed to look and feel like a program someone would find hidden somewhere on the internet, with weird sights, flashing images, and a lot of photosensitivity warnings to go with it.

If you’re still good to go on the ride, the first layer of puzzles involves hitting switches by using totems you can place down to open the exit door. But once you solve the first set of rooms, the game’s additional layers of puzzles become known. To open up the remaining doors, you’ll need keys, and said keys are hidden behind further puzzles. Even the room that the game is taking place in becomes a set of puzzles unto themselves, and the game within the game design gets more and more interesting/confusing. “Boss fights” have you trying to survive enemy patterns while either staying in front of the autoscroller or powering up switches with your totems to strike them.

Like the aforementioned Animal Well, just getting good at the platforming and puzzle logic isn’t enough to see this game all the way through. This and the visual design are major roadblocks and why you probably haven’t heard of Teocida. This is the third game from the developer, Vikintor, whose previous games on Steam are also chock-full of disturbing imagery and original premises.

We’ve seen an uptick in games pushing through to the mainstream in the last couple of years that are not meant to be relaxing or simple plays, like Fear and Hunger. If you’re someone who likes original games and doesn’t mind being weirded out by what you’re looking at, then you want to check out these games.

Ben Cantrell

Orbital Bullet (2021)

With fewer than 500 reviews on Steam, Orbital Bullet hasn’t made much noise, but it’s a cool little game that deserves more attention. It’s a side-scrolling action roguelite with a clever twist: the levels are built on rotating cylinders. You move left or right around the ring, hopping between multiple layers while blasting through rooms filled with sci-fi creatures in a twitchy, platforming-heavy flow. If you’ve played Resogun, it feels a bit like that, reimagined as a roguelite shooter rather than a shmup.

The art style in particular works really well, blending chunky 3D environments with crisp 2D enemy sprites, and the occasional 3D model to keep things visually fresh. It’s a clean look that feels both retro and modern. Each area has its own distinct atmosphere, shifting from tech-filled underground tunnels to dense jungles, sky platforms above the ocean, and crumbling sci-fi cities.

While the core structure of the levels sticks to the same cylindrical format, there’s enough variety to keep things engaging. Movement also evolves as you progress, with later levels introducing more variety, including ziplines, teleporters, and jump pads to keep traversal dynamic and interesting.

Combat is snappy and satisfying. The guns feel weighty, and enemies explode with a nice crunch. The soundtrack pairs perfectly with the action, too. It's mostly loud, gritty industrial techno that swells during fights and dips into a deep, filtered groove once a level is cleared. It’s a small touch, but it really adds to the game's sense of rhythm.

You start with basic weapons, but you’ll pick up new ones as you go, along with perks and upgrades. There are shops and challenge rooms scattered throughout the levels, so there’s plenty of opportunity to experiment with builds. Like most roguelites, death sends you back to the start, but you can use the currency you’ve collected to unlock permanent upgrades across a big skill tree. It’s the classic roguelite loop of a slow and steady power climb that makes repeating runs feel more manageable over time.

Orbital Bullet isn’t trying to reinvent the genre, but it does a lot of things well. The 360° level design gives it a unique identity, and if you’re into roguelites and looking for something a little different, yet still satisfyingly fun in that ‘blast everything that moves’ kind of way, it’s well worth a look. It’s not the deepest or most innovative roguelite out there, but it’s a blast to play and deserves a bit of time in the spotlight. That’s why it’s my hidden gem pick this month.

Antony Terence

Crackdown (2007)

A super-soldier hopping around a city and disposing of gang leaders is an idea that fits like a glove with Xbox 360-era action games. Lobbing cars through mafia hideouts and thereby destroying more of the city than the bad guys might not be everyone’s idea of relaxing, but it sure was mine as a kid. While many purchased Crackdown (2007) for access to Halo 3’s multiplayer beta, plenty grew to love the debut game from developer Realtime Worlds. 

With GTA creator David Jones at the helm, Crackdown naturally leans into freeform cel-shaded action as you tussle with criminal syndicates. In Pacific City, you’re an Agent tasked with bringing three crime families down. Bunkered down in conveniently designed islands, their bosses are bolstered by weaker generals scattered across their bases. Like a poor man’s Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor, taking these targets down would make the final confrontation easier. 

While you might be a super-powered cop, you’re an easy target when you start the game at the Agency Tower. To become an overpowered menace to your enemies, you’ll need to level up five skills: firearms, strength, explosives, agility, and driving. Simply performing actions and clearing events tied to these stats will raise them. Pepper foes with bullets to raise your Firearms skill, blow stuff up for Explosives, and drop some punches for Strength. Agility is tied to green orbs found on buildings all over the city. 

Having to meticulously haul your Agent across the height of a skyscraper in a series of jumps before hearing that characteristic ping made each orb feel like an achievement. And while driving might not seem as important, leveling it up grants you a neat perk: Agency vehicles transforming as you step in. Floor the pedal often enough and your sports car could turn into a Batmobile lookalike, complete with machine guns.

For better or worse, the Crackdown stories you’ll be sharing with your friends won’t be about its stale plot. They’ll be about Mario-like leaps between rooftops on Agility orb hunts, the Agency director’s commentary oozing satire, and jumping off ramps in an upgraded SUV. Crackdown’s gunfights against a shooting gallery of stereotypes are merely an excuse to let loose in Pacific City, and few games make blowing stuff up as comedic. While its sequels lost much of the original’s flavour, Crackdown remains an excellent classic that frontloads the fun you’d expect from a video game.