La Mulana or Anodyne?

I never played Anodyne, but to me La Mulana is worth even full price.

You can make it through Anodyne 100% in under two hours. It's cute, got a nice ambient soundtrack and has some interesting game mechanics. La Mulana is hard as fuck and a throwback to classic sidescroller games. La Mulana has an amazing soundtrack and even better game mechanics. La Mulana every time.

La Mulana is not for the faint of heart. It's HARD!

If you're looking for a brutal Metroidvania game with elements of Indiana Jones and Spelunky (minus the randomly-generated levels, of course), then La Mulana is right up your alley. If Zelda-style RPGs with an intriguing story are more your style, then pick up Anodyne.

In either case, both are excellent games (and they both have incredible soundtracks, as well), and you really can't go wrong with either of them. Ultimately, it's your call.

From what I've seen, however, Anodyne is about $2 cheaper than La Mulana at the moment, so that may have made the choice a bit easier.

La Mulana will sodomise you repeatedly. It's a game that deliberately skimps on the info and has a solid difficulty. You can't just randomly go hopping around and spamming attack, you have to be wary of the environment and actually think about the puzzles / world layout. It's the opposite of the "hold your hand" type of games, and a retro-styled metroidvania at that. It will grow on you, but it's not for everyone. Plus, I don't know how the recent release holds up compared to the free version (which has 'true' retro audio and visuals, not glossy HD sprites and stuff).

The artsy hipster kid in me loved Anodyne. The masochist in me went absolutely gonzo for La Mulana. I'd say La Mulana, but heed all the warnings here, that game will anal rape your soul without any lube and do it so good that you keep coming back begging for more until you can literally shit pancakes. ie. It's really hard (yet somehow fair, always fair and loving, in an abusive alcoholic dad kind of way)

I love Anodyne so much, but I've never played the other, so I guess I can't technically say it's better.