List of Best 2D Games That You Must Absolutely Play!

2D games have always been charming in a weird sense. Especially with a magical background and a beautiful music, they have the potential to caress us into a fantasy realm and delivers us a mind blowing gaming experience.

Here are some of the best of the best 2D games that out shined all the other games of their time in terms of story and gameplay. I've also made sure to include some hidden gems that are so good, but not so popular. So, if you're a hardcore gamer who have played almost all the "good" games out there, there's still a chance that you'll get to discover some amazing games here! Now that the intro is out of the way, let's jump into the listing of the best 2D games that you must absolutely play~

10. Towerfall Ascension

Towerfall Ascension is a classic archery combat game that was considered the best multiplayer game of 2013. This game does not have any story or whatsoever. We just have to beat the levels by surviving the waves of enemies and crushing the boss monsters.

Simple though it may be, this game is still is a ton of fun to play, especially with a gaming partner. We could have a little "who killed the most" contest or simply just kill each other (yes, there is friendly fire). Regardless, this game is absolutely one of the best multiplayer arcade games there is.

9. Magicka

Magicka is a fantasy-adventure game that, as the name suggests, allows us to cast various combinations of magic. I really loved how we could combine different elements and conjure our own unique magic. Not to mention there are a variety of classes we could choose from. It has from knights, gunslingers and wizards to a super cyber robot that throws cyber discs and is immune to lightning attacks. This game has them all.

Again, this game is a really amazing multiplayer game that allows up to 4 players.

8. Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers is a fun beat 'em up game that was initially released in 2008. It is an award winning 2D arcade adventure game that was widely popular for being one of the best multiplayer games ever. This game supports up to 4 players and is available for PC, Xbox and PS3.

7. Salt and Sanctuary

Salt and Sanctuary is an adventurous, side-scrolling platformer game with some amazing game mechanisms like the 'upgrade tree'. You can spend your upgrade points on multiple points, gather your own ingredients and craft your own weapon, go on an adventure, slaying monsters and gaining new abilities.

This game supports up to 2 players. If you're a solo player, you can hire your own AI sidekick too. The more you play this game, the more you fall in love with it.

6. Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town

Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town is a pretty old game that was initially released for Gameboy Advanced (GBA). However, this game is still considered as one of the best farming simulators ever. Here you'll get to own a farm, plant crops, raise animals, participate in town festivals, date girls and marry one, build new buildings, forage goods, cut woods, gather stones, go fishing, cook, etc.

You are free to build your own farming empire and become a billionaire. This game has no definite end, that is, you can play this for as long as you want.

5. Stardew Valley

Starew Valley is the indie game that took the world by a storm. This game is a lot similar to Harvest Moon, but better. I addition to what you can do in Harvest Moon, you can fight monsters in dungeons and gather drop items from them, play in the arcade, hire harvest sprites, go to the next town and explore the map, etc. Not to mention, Stardew Valley has an amazing story and interesting characters as well.

This game has a lot of buildings you can construct and a lot of products you can create. Unlike Harvest Moon, you're not limited to dating the opposite sex, you can date the same gender.

4. Graveyard Keeper

Graveyard Keeper is the best game that has the same style as Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. I can't stress it enough, but this game is absolutely amazing!! It has the best ever story and upgrading system. If there's one thing that you don't have in this game, it is the girls and the dating system.

This game is pretty unique to begin with. You somehow get transported into a different world with different a culture, and you are entrusted with the task of being the graveyard keeper. You have to give ceremonies in church, gain more followers, build graves and make the graveyard more pleasant. You can do autopsies on the dead bodies and bury them, or burn them, or take their flesh and sell it in the market, or just throw them into the river. Or, of course, you can use the bodies to create zombies that'll do all the hard work for you.

If this isn't enough, there's fishing, cooking, dungeon crawling, crafting, mining, alchemy, farming, writing books, burger stalls, etc.

This game is pretty hard to get used to in the beginning. You will have to use some online guide to get the hang of this game (because there's not much tutorial), but once you understand how things work, you are assured to have a blast. I could keep talking about this game, but at this rate, this post'll become a rant about Graveyard Keeper, so I'll stop myself here.

3. Starcraft Brood War

Starcraft Brood War is the only RTS in this game listing. This game is really popular and is still played by several gamers. They even hold several gaming tournaments where veteran players face each other off in this game. Originally, this game was released in 1998, and has recently gotten a remastered version in 2017.

You can either be Terrans (humans), Protos (high tech aliens), or Zerg (an alien biological life form). This game has a variety of units in each races (personally, I like Protos) and has a lot of maps for you to choose from. This game is especially great to play with another player, but the single player mode is as amazing as well. If you like strategy games like age of empires and civilization, this game is for you.

2. Secrets of Grindea

Secrets of Grindea. The only way to describe this game is - Perfection. It is a classic styled, 2D RPG game with a grand map to explore, varieties of enemies to slay, different monsters to tame, amazing armors and weapons to equip and insane magics to cast.

It has an excellent story and interesting characters. In addition to this, you can do various side activities like, fishing, treasure hunting, crafting etc.

This game also supports up to 4 player multiplayer, which just doubles the fun!

1. Undertale

We all knew this game was going to be in this listing. Undertale is the weirdest game there is, but that is exactly what makes this game so amazing. This game has an amazing story, awesome characters, unparalleled sense of humor, diverse soundtracks and a good gameplay.

This is the game where you don't have to kill any monsters (but you can though.) You are given an option to either slay an enemy or befriend them, and your decision will reflect through out the game. Your actions have weight. This the feature that differentiates this game from the rest of the RPGs.