#12
Emberward is one of the more genuinely fresh ideas to come out of the genre recently. You place tetromino-shaped path pieces to build the maze yourself before the waves begin, then seed that maze with towers and synergistic upgrades as a roguelite run unfolds. The pathing design and the tower placement are the same decision, which is unusual. It is PC-only and relatively new, which is the main reason it sits here rather than in the top 10. Worth tracking if you want a modern indie that takes the fundamentals seriously rather than coasting on them.