Hammerfight

A very addictive, physics-based vehicular combat game. Unique in that the primary control is just your mouse movement
You will need to do some tinkering (namely grabbing the v1.0005 patch from community hub, disabling windowed mode + setting resolution in config, and in-game manually setting DPI)
Once that's done you've got a very well thought out combat system that has you balancing !literally! your weapons on your flying machine to maximize damagae and ensure clean, solid hits.
for the price of free, you're getting about 4-6 hours of story mode depending on how well you adjust to the controls, plus all the extra arcade modes!

The physics are janky and the controls are a fast track to RSI town, but I can't stop myself from coming back to this game. Stylish presentation, compelling worldbuilding, high quality music, gripping plot, and unique gameplay make this game stand out for me even 15 years later.

This is one of those hallmark games that really stood out among the piles of dogshit I played as a kid. It has incredible atmosphere, such vibrant worldbuilding with such little dialog and exposition. A total of 5 paragraphs tell the rise and fall and rise of an empire, and yet with the way it's presented I feel as if I'm reading a fifty page epoch. Am I reading the thoughts of the character? A third party observer? Or the words of a historical figure, reciting the rhythms of a tragedy that rhymes with the present?
Unique and addictive physics-based combat that always brings me back when I'm really bored. The campaign gets really fucking hard, really fucking fast, a "trial-by-fire" at the end of the first chapter will force you to adapt to the controls and if you manage to pull through and survive, you will have become a much better player than you were before. In the chains you will find yourself in, circumstance will hone this initial understanding to a fine point, preparing you for the challenges ahead.
You will go from being an aspiring heir, the last living descendant of a once great clan burnt to the ground for the crimes of their ancestors to a world-renowned warrior who frees himself from slavery by the skin of his own teeth and luck immeasurable.
"Is it better to be a live dog or a dead lion?"
This game takes the saying "a horse and it's rider are one" quite literally, as every subtle spin of the mouse affects the speed and direction the weapon you have equipped spins; to block, parry, and riposte, you must master the relationship between the movement of the mouse/machine and the movement of the blade. For maces, like the simple rock you start with, utilizing the momentum gained with repeated spins of the mouse is essential for maximizing the power of your blows.
During the aforementioned trial by fire, you will miss, and miss, and miss, until you instinctively know from muscle memory the slight adjustments mid-swing you need to make to effectively guide the rock toward its target true.
Once it clicks in your head, it's insanely enthralling and no other game comes close to it. I can't think of any other game where the martial skill of the player's character and the player feel so perfectly intertwined. Except maybe Exanima, but that's a much different kind of game. It's as if when you move the mouse, you are controlling the blade in the same way a warrior controls the precision of their swings. The weapon merely becomes an extension of your body, able to flow as smoothly as the waters of a river.
Absolute gem of a game, and best of all, it became free to play a year or so before the release of it's sequel, HighFleet, which is good, but, well... it's a different kind of game.
Play it, and be patient. It takes time to master any skill.

It's the best. Need a new version with fullscreen and pvp.

Absolutely incredible game, a true piece of art. Played it through a thousand times, fought in the arena 'till my old computer couldn't handle the number of opponents no more.
Come for the wacky mouse spinning physics-based combat, stay for the really cool story about the strange oriental pepelatz-flying warrior tribes, shakespearean-dialogues (so much better in russian), political intrigue, unspeakable horrors from beyond, honor and glory.
AVE, SECHEM.

I play this since i was kid and still love it and play it till now so creative! i really like there new game "High fleet" too so good but wish they remaster it or make new version of hammer fight

Every now and then I reinstall for another run through this game. A fun little romp with satisfying impacts