Don't Starve vs Hollow Knight
Don't Starve
Don't Starve is a pretty dreary and dark survival game set in a rich world filled with plenty of animals/game to hunt, monsters to kill, and resources to gather. With a gothic-like theme, the game's best feature is perhaps the way it hands the reins to its players and let these players decide what sort of survival game they'd want to play and how difficult will the game be. You can literally customize everything in the world you'll be playing in, ranging from the weather, how frequent lightning strikes, how long a season lasts, how much resources are spawned and many more.The game also has a very nice selection of characters that you can gradually unlock as you play the game. Each character will even have their own specialty that you can then make use of when the situation calls for it.
Don't Starve is a survival game that's as punishing as it is vicious. Expect to die a lot in the game and turn all those deaths into useful lessons that you can then build upon. If you fancy surviving with your friends in tow, then you might want to get the multiplayer version of the game, Don't Starve Together, instead.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a cartoonish yet somewhat hardcore 2D side-scrolling action game that will see you travelling across the dark yet wondrous world of the Hallownest, filled with huge hallow caverns, ancient ruined cities, deadly wastelands and more. Unlike most games, the combat system in this one is based on precision and timing, rather than blindly hacking and slashing, and of course, different enemy types will require different strategies. Your character will also have access to some really powerful skills and abilities by equipping Charms.Not to mention, as opposed to simply giving you a map of sorts, you actually need to chart your own journey with mapping tools which can be bought in the game. And if that's not enough, the game even has a super challeging difficulty level, the Steel Soul Mode, which will truly put your skills to the test.
Despite being developed by only 2 people, Hollow Knight somehow managed to nail everything right on the head, be it its gameplay, the melancholic atmosphere of the game which helps to tell the story of a ruined civilization, a beautiful, dark world to explore, as well as a robust and in-depth character progression system. If this sounds like something you'd like, you might want to drop by and take a look.