External Discovery
6 indie games in this list, released 2023–2026, from developers such as Danar Dev, Fast X Play, ASD Games Studio. 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.
By Danar Dev · Iraq
Anonymous Messages is a short atmospheric adventure set in an eerie forest. You wake with no memory, carrying only a flashlight and a cassette player, and search for six tapes whose anonymous messages calm your rising heart rate while slowly restoring your past. The forest becomes more hostile with each tape. It is a game by Danar Dev, the label of Kurdish Iraqi solo developer Danar Kayfi, and it also appears on his itch.io page.
By Fast X Play · Iraq
Deep in the Dread is a first-person horror mystery set in the old Hoverfield Mansion, now a library. When her colleagues leave for a pub, librarian Stella stays behind and starts to notice paranormal activity. Players read notes and a diary to learn the lore, with a guidebook to help. It released in January 2025 as the second game from Fast X Play, a studio based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
By Fast X Play · Iraq
End Up Alone is a first-person horror thriller set after a deadly virus has spread. A young survivor tries to escape the depths of a company building, using a small bow to kill parasites and following messages left along the way. It supports a Kurdish interface and subtitles. It is the first game from Fast X Play, a studio based in Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, which later released Deep in the Dread.
By ASD Games Studio · Iraq
Entity: The Black Day is a third-person survival horror game. Former special forces operative Adam is sent into an abandoned underground bio-research lab to find proof of a government-funded viral programme that went wrong, and ends up hunting for its last survivors. It mixes psychological horror, resource management and combat. It was built by Iraqi solo developer Ali Al-Abboodi and released by his studio ASD Games in January 2026.
By Kevir Entertainment · Iraq
Operation Stutter is a first-person psychological horror game set in a top-secret Cold War research bunker. You wake with no name or memory and explore a nuclear facility, using a film camera that shifts reality to solve puzzles while facing creatures tied to paranoia and a fractured identity. It was shown at Gamescom. It is the flagship project of Kevir Entertainment, a studio founded in 2023 in Duhok, in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.
By ASD Games Studio · Iraq
Silent Realm is an upcoming free single-player action-horror game set in a non-human realm where life has ended and skeletal forms assemble and decay. Searching for a missing brother, the player explores a hostile world with scarce resources, where the environment itself is the main threat. It is the second project of ASD Games Studio, the Iraqi studio founded by developer Ali Al-Abboodi, and is scheduled for 2027.