This might be a slightly unusual attempt at a prompt, but might draw some appealing unusual options.
The way it goes: Suggest games, ideally the kind that you believe would have relatively broad appeal. Don’t feel bad about downvotes, but do downvote any game that’s suggested if you have heard of it before (Perhaps, give some special treatment if it was literally your game of the year). This rule is meant to encourage people to post the indie darlings that took some unusual attention and discovery to be aware of and appreciate.
If possible, link to the Steam pages for the games in question, so that anyone interested can quickly take a look at screenshots and reviews. And, as a general tip, anything with over 1000 steam reviews probably doesn’t belong here. While I’d recommend that you only suggest one game per post, at the very most limit it to three.
If I am incorrect about downvotes being inconsequential account-wide, say so and it might be possible to work out a different system.
Oh wait I forgot my favorite of all. Although idk how popular it is because its not on a standard platform
Starsector: https://fractalsoftworks.com/
This game is incredible. Genuinely like probably the best game I’ve ever played. It simulates an economy fairly accurately (using the different colonies outputs and inputs to determine prices dynamically). In addition to this colonies can be hurt by you or other parties, affecting the prices of items on the market significantly so you can try to make your money on this margin.
There’s space fleet battles with a complex ship modification system. There’s colony management, it has an interesting early game and it keeps your interest as you get further in the game with new challenges.
It is $15 dollars and is technically in early access (which tbh is a steal). Though in practice my experience with it is not remotely reflective of it being early access. It’s a little like how dwarf fortress was in early access (although unlike df before the steam launch there is a frontend that’s really solid).