Pixel games have been around for years, and now they are more popular than ever. As more games come out, it seems that developers try to replicate the old-school style and come up with new ideas that make either the gameplay or graphic style very unique.
From the games that came out 10 years ago to the ones that came out in the past year, there are so many cheap pixel games that you can pick up and play right now. We will be telling you about the top 10 pixel games under $10.
We will put the price of each game on screen when we are talking about it and keep in mind that all these games are very different from each other. There are plenty of pixel games out there so if we did miss your favorite one, then I am sorry about that.
10. Escape Goat $4.99
Released back in 2011, Escape Goat is a puzzle platformer where you basically take control of a goat who has been imprisoned for witchcraft, hey we don’t make these things up. You need to use everything the game gives you to escape the Prison of Agnus, but you will come across a lot of enemies and traps you need to either destroy or avoid.
It sounds super weird and dumb, but it is honestly really fun. If you like puzzles and platformers, then you might really enjoy this game, even though it might sound like the dumbest game in the world. All these games can be found on Steam and a lot of times, they are usually on sale for even cheaper. You might even be able to get these games for 80% off at times if you catch the sales right.
9. Butcher $9.99
Released in 2016, it is a fast-paced 2D shooter. If you can compare it to other games, it is more along the lines of a 2D doom. It is super bloody and gory, and we are always impressed when a development team can pull of violence within a pixel game.
We don’t know much about the story, but what we do know is that it is super violent and fun. If anyone knows what Zombotron is, it is a more polished and violent version of that. I actually would be very surprised if you have played Zombotron before so comment down below if you have. You can also play Butcher on Switch if you have one too.
8. Pixel Piracy $9.99
Released in 2015, Pixel Piracy is a side-scrolling pirate adventure game. It puts you in the shoes of a pirate captain whose main goal is to take out the 4 pirate lords, but you can explore the world however you please. You can build your ship with whatever blocks you want and as you progress, your ship and crew get bigger and bigger.
You can choose where the boat goes on your map and you can stop and fight other pirate ships while you are sailing. Your crew also has morale and hunger so you have to keep your crew full and happy or else they might start a mutiny. It is actually a pretty underrated game. The developers behind Terraria also made this game as well.
7. Devil Daggers $4.99
Released in 2016, Devil Daggers is a first-person shooter that puts you in the depths of a demonic location. The game gives you a dagger, and it is your job to try and survive as long as you can. That is pretty much it. Obviously, the longer you survive, the more creatures will spawn.
Your survival time will be posted on a global leaderboard for everyone to see and you need to try and get close to the max survival time. It is not a game that you play for hours on end, it is a game where you play a few rounds and see how long you can survive. A lot of people say the gameplay feels a lot like older games like Quake 2 and the old doom games. If you really enjoyed those games, go check this one out for yourself.
6. The Last Door – Collector’s Edition $9.99
Started as a kickstarter in 2012 and finally fully released in 2016, The Last Door is a point-and-click adventure game. A man by the name of Jeremiah Devitt receives a letter from an old friend and immediately rushes to help him. You go to the house of your friend and it is your job to figure out what exactly is happening.
Along the way, many supernatural and terrible things happen to you on your journey and you are in for a treat if you play this game. There is also a second game with even more story if you enjoy this one enough. There are only really subtitles in this game, but we feel that is what makes it unique. If you enjoy mysteries and puzzles, then you will enjoy this one.
5. Deadbolt $9.99
Released in 2016, Deadbolt is a side-scrolling action game. It was developed by Hopoo games who also created the Risk of Rain series which are some other great games to check out as well. The game centers around the main character who is the Reaper, or death himself, and your goal is to complete whatever objective the mission you are currently playing has.
There are many objectives like eliminating a certain person within a large mass of enemies, finding a certain item, or even eliminating everything in your path. You can also find cassette tapes with recordings of your previous victims to find out more of the Reaper’s story. It is a very unique game.
4. Hotline Miami $9.99
Released in 2012, Hotline Miami is a top-down shooter with some really fun gameplay. This is another one of those really violent games that actually works very well in pixel graphics. The plot of the game is a man wakes up in his apartment and there are messages on his answering machine.
He then listens to them and they tell him to do some really bad things like eliminating everyone in different locations. Basically, the goal of each mission is to eliminate everyone and defeat the boss at the end of each stage. There are also other objectives as well but the game is pretty much a massive blood bath. There is also a second game if you like this one a lot. A lot of people know what this game is, but if you don’t, go check it out.
3. Post Void $2.99
Released in 2020, Post Void is a chaotic first-person shooter. There isn’t really a story to the game, but that is not a bad thing because a game does not need a story to be good. It is just pure chaos and if you don’t like that, you won’t like this game.
You can use all sorts of weapons to defeat your enemies and really your only goal is to complete the levels. An honorable mention is Project Warlock, which we have made a video about before. This game feels very similar to that game and both of them are very good. We love it when developers can give life to a game that has no talking or story whatsoever and Post Void definitely does that for us.
2. VVVVVV $4.99
Released in 2010, VVVVVV, yeah it’s a mouth full, is a very underrated game. This game is mostly nostalgic for us, but it is a 2D platformer. The game follows a crew of a spaceship and everyone but the captain gets teleported away in a weird dimension called VVVVVV.
The name also represents the six crew members of the ship so you could take it both ways. The goal of the game is to find and rescue the five other crewmates so you can finally get out of that dimension. It is a very different game and it also came out more than a decade ago from when we made this video. It is a unique and well-developed game that is totally worth looking into if you like platformers.
1. Terraria $9.99
C’mon, you can’t have a cheap pixel game video without mentioning Terraria. If you don’t know what this game is, I am sorry for your loss. Released in 2011, Terraria is probably the most well-known 8-bit game on the planet. It is a game that a lot of people compare to Minecraft, but they have no right to since they are entirely different games.
I don’t really have to explain what the game is other than the fact that it is a 2D survival game. If you don’t buy any games on this list, at least get this one because it is a game you might get 100x your money’s worth out of. If you get bored of the vanilla game, there are also a ton of mods to play to. It is definitely the best pixel game out there as of right now.
Conclusion
I hope you found some great games to play that are cheap and fun at the same time. Make sure to tell us about all the other pixel games you play because there are so many more we could have put into this list. Make sure to like and subscribe and also check out our Discord Server. We have a gaming podcast as well if you like to listen to any podcasts. All links are in the description and thanks for watching.
