9 indie games in this list, released 2007–2020, from developers such as Zen Studios, NeocoreGames, Elasto Mania Team, Balazs Rozsa. Pick one to read our editorial note and jump to its store page.
These are editorial pages. The developers and publishers are not affiliated with The Gaming Nest unless explicitly stated.
CastleStorm is a genre mashup that combines tower defense, brawler-style fighting, and 2D physics-driven destruction. Its concept grew from the childhood fun of building toy castles and then smashing them, so defending your own stronghold and wrecking enemy walls go hand in hand. Hungarian developer Zen Studios created and self-published it in 2013; a Definitive Edition, a free-to-play mobile spin-off, a VR adaptation, and a 2020 sequel followed.
Deathtrap mixes tower defense with action RPG combat: a lone hero travels to a frontier realm inside an alternate dimension known as Ink to protect ancient strongholds from waves of invading monsters. Players set up traps, rotating blades, and other killing machines while fighting alongside them. Hungarian studio NeocoreGames released it in 2015, sharing its gothic setting with its Van Helsing games, and it carries a Metacritic score of 77.
Elasto Mania Remastered revisits a 2D motorbike game first released in 2000, in which you ride a bike with very springy suspension across platform-style levels. Most stages ask you to touch scattered waypoints before the finish becomes active, and players compete online to set record times, often by discovering new routes. The remaster comes from the Elasto Mania Team and Balazs Rozsa in Hungary, released on Steam in 2020.
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is a sci-fi real-time tactics game about commanding spaceships. Rather than gathering resources and constructing bases, it puts the weight on battlefield tactics and on managing each vessel. Its story follows megacorporations racing to colonise the solar system until a discovery at its outer edge sparks a new conflict. It was made by the Hungarian studio Mithis, reached Steam in 2007, and holds a Metacritic score of 77.
Perpetuum is a science fiction MMORPG with a player-driven persistent world, where everyone pilots customisable robots across islands linked by teleports. Some islands are protected from player attacks while others allow open PvP, and activities range from mining and manufacturing to trading, artifact hunting, and combat. Hungarian developer Avatar Creations launched it in 2010 and brought it to Steam in 2014; its servers closed in January 2018 and the server code was open sourced.
Sine Mora is a horizontal shoot 'em up in 2.5D, where movement is locked to two axes while the world around it is rendered in full 3D. Time is the central factor, feeding into a distinctive time-based mechanic alongside elaborate boss battles, and its diesel punk setting is populated by anthropomorphic characters. Hungarian studio Digital Reality co-developed it with Grasshopper Manufacture, and it holds a Metacritic score of 77.
SkyDrift is an airplane racing game where the focus falls on combat racing: pilots speed over detailed terrain while fighting rival planes for position. Several game modes are included, and players can unlock new aircraft and personalise them with racing skins. Hungarian studio Digital Reality developed it and released it in 2011; critics praised its responsive controls and online multiplayer while regretting the absence of local multiplayer.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is an action RPG that casts players as the young son of Abraham Van Helsing, the famous vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's Dracula. The adventure unfolds in Borgovia, a gothic-noir take on 19th-century Eastern Europe where monsters and mad science collide, with deliberately anachronistic gadgets and humour. It was developed and self-published by Hungarian studio NeocoreGames and released in May 2013.
Inquisitor – Martyr is an action RPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe that Games Workshop created for its wargaming franchise. Players take on the role of agents of the Inquisition, choosing between several classes and fighting in real time through the Chaos-corrupted Caligari Sector. Hungarian studio NeocoreGames both developed and published it, releasing the Windows version in June 2018, and it holds a Metacritic score of 67.