External Discovery
38 indie games in this list, released 2013–2024, from developers such as Spiderling Studios, Awe Interactive, Bytten 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 Spiderling Studios · United Kingdom
Besiege is a vehicle-construction sandbox from UK studio Spiderling Studios, themed around medieval siege engines. Players assemble their own machines, and reviewers have singled out the sheer range of experimentation it allows. It left a five-year early access phase in February 2020 on Windows, macOS and Linux, and The Splintered Sea, an expansion, was revealed in April 2024.
By Awe Interactive · United Kingdom
BPM: Bullets Per Minute fuses a first-person shooter with the timing demands of a rhythm game, so shooting, reloading and moving all land best on the beat. Runs follow a roguelike structure, meaning each attempt is fresh and progress resets on death. It comes from Awe Interactive, a United Kingdom studio that both built and published it on Unreal Engine 4. The Windows version arrived in September 2020, with console editions following later.
By Bytten Studio · United Kingdom
Cassette Beasts is a role-playing game that draws on the Pokemon series, letting players record monsters onto tapes and use a cassette player to turn into those creatures in battle. The story follows the player's attempt to find a way back home. It was created by Bytten Studio in the United Kingdom and published by Raw Fury, launching on PC in April 2023. Critics responded favourably to its depth, and it earned a 2024 BAFTA Games Award nomination.
By Jump Over The Age · United Kingdom
Citizen Sleeper is a role-playing game from Jump Over the Age, a developer based in the United Kingdom, released in 2022 with publishing handled by Fellow Traveller. Its Steam listing places it across adventure and RPG categories, and it launched on Windows and Mac in May of that year before reaching consoles. The game proved successful enough to receive a sequel, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, which came out in January 2025.
By SFB Games · United Kingdom
Crow Country is a survival horror game set in 1990, in which investigator Mara Forest explores a derelict theme park while searching for its missing owner. Play revolves around exploring the grounds, cracking puzzles and fighting enemies, with a presentation modelled on 1990s PlayStation horror yet with modern aiming, movement and accessibility options. SFB Games of the United Kingdom developed and self-published it in May 2024, and it sold over 100,000 units in six months.
By Weather Factory · United Kingdom
Cultist Simulator is a card-driven simulation from UK indie studio Weather Factory, built in Unity and released for Windows, macOS and Linux in May 2018. Set amid 1920s Lovecraftian horror, it has players move cards across a tabletop to gather followers, occult texts and tools while chasing one of several routes to immortality. Staying alive means dodging starvation, despair, madness and dangerous enemies. Reviewers liked the writing, while others criticized its pacing.
By Madruga Works · United Kingdom
Dawn of Man is a survival city-builder from Madruga Works, a UK developer, released in March 2019 after a closed beta that began in October 2018. It blends settlement building with survival play, and its genre listings also point to business simulation and a historical setting. On Steam it is available for Windows and macOS under the simulation and strategy categories.
By SFB Games · United Kingdom
Detective Grimoire is a point-and-click adventure built around solving a murder in a swamp, with players questioning suspects and piecing together clues to reach the truth. It was praised for its mystery, animation, dialogue and lead character. SFB Games, a developer from the United Kingdom, created it; the mobile version appeared in 2014 and the studio later brought it to PC and Steam. A follow-up called Tangle Tower arrived in 2019.
By Boneloaf, Rocket Science · United Kingdom
Gang Beasts is a party beat 'em up from Boneloaf, a developer based in England. After an early access period on PC that began in August 2014, it arrived on Windows, macOS, Linux and PlayStation 4 in December 2017. Double Fine Presents handled publishing at first, until Boneloaf took over publishing in 2020. Its store listing pairs action and casual tags with simulation, framing it as a brawler aimed at playing with friends.
By Suspicious Developments · United Kingdom
Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle-platformer made by UK-based indie developer Tom Francis under the Suspicious Developments name, built in GameMaker and released for Windows in June 2013. As freelance spy Richard Conway, players slip into buildings, dodge guards and use gadgets like the Crosslink, which rewires electrical circuits, to bypass security. Along the way Conway tries to clear his name of a murder, and the game later opened the studio's Defenestration Trilogy.
By Foulball Hangover · United Kingdom
Hydroneer is a mining sandbox from British indie studio Foulball Hangover, released on Steam in May 2020 and built with Unreal Engine 4. Its store listing combines adventure, casual, simulation and strategy tags, pointing to open-ended play built around mining. Console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S followed in May 2026, timed to the game's sixth anniversary.
By Bossa Studios · United Kingdom
I Am Bread casts the player as a slice of bread trying to reach the toaster. Movement relies on abilities like gripping onto surfaces, and levels become puzzles about climbing across rooms while dodging dangers such as knives, pets and dirty floors that spoil the bread. Bossa Studios, based in the United Kingdom, developed and released it in April 2015, and the humorous idea later continued in a follow-up, I Am Fish, in 2021.
By Minskworks · United Kingdom
Jalopy is a driving and vehicle simulation in which the player and an uncle assemble a small car called the Laika, modelled on the Trabant 601, piece by piece. The pair then set off on a long road trip from East Berlin toward Turkey, keeping the fragile machine running along the way. It was developed by MinskWorks in the United Kingdom and published by Excalibur Games, releasing on Steam in 2018.
By Hello Games · United Kingdom
Joe Danger is a stunt racing game with platforming elements, putting players in control of a daredevil who tears through courses against the clock while chasing objectives to unlock further rounds. Reviewers liked its approachable play and the option to edit tracks while playing them. It was made and published by Hello Games, a British studio, first launching in 2010, and it was nominated for the Independent Games Festival grand prize.
By Lo-Fi Games · United Kingdom
Kenshi is a blend of real-time strategy and action RPG play from UK developer Lo-Fi Games, released for Windows in December 2018 on the Ogre3d engine. Instead of a linear story, it drops players into a post-apocalyptic sandbox where they can pursue whatever role they like and customize every aspect of their characters. Development was mostly led by a single person across twelve years, and critics noted both its depth and its difficulty.
By Variable State · United Kingdom
Last Stop is an adventure game with a supernatural twist, categorised by Wikidata as a walking simulator, so it leans on exploration and story rather than combat. It was developed by Variable State, a studio from the United Kingdom, and published by Annapurna Interactive. The Windows version reached Steam in July 2021, alongside releases on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
By Ghost Town Games Ltd. · United Kingdom
Overcooked is a cooking sim from UK studio Ghost Town Games, published by Team17 and released in August 2016. Local co-op players take charge of chefs in hazard-strewn kitchens, racing the clock to prepare meals that match incoming orders. At the 13th BAFTA Games Awards it took home two prizes, Best Family Game and Best British Game, and a sequel arrived in 2018, later bundled with the original as All You Can Eat.
By Ghost Town Games Ltd., Team17 · United Kingdom
Overcooked! 2 is a cooperative cooking sim from UK developers Ghost Town Games and Team17, with Team17 handling publishing. A sequel to the original Overcooked, it launched in August 2018 on Windows, macOS, Linux and several consoles. Its focus is shared play in the kitchen, with friends cooking together as a team, and it was later bundled with the first game in the Overcooked: All You Can Eat compilation.
By Kinetic Games · United Kingdom
Phasmophobia is a cooperative paranormal horror game from Kinetic Games, a British indie studio based in Southampton, launched in early access on Windows in September 2020 with virtual reality support. Teams of one to four ghost hunters take on contracts at haunted locations, working out which type of ghost is present while tackling optional objectives. The game surged in popularity after streamers and YouTubers picked it up in October 2020, and critics praised how inventive it felt.
By Ndemic Creations · United Kingdom
Plague Inc: Evolved is a real-time strategy sim from Ndemic Creations, an independent UK studio, and a PC and console remake of the developer's earlier Plague Inc. Players create a pathogen and evolve it with the goal of wiping out humanity through a deadly plague. An epidemic model with a detailed, realistic set of variables governs how the disease spreads and how severe it becomes, a design that drew the attention of the CDC.
By Madruga Works · United Kingdom
Planetbase is a strategy and simulation game about founding a human settlement on a faraway world. Players lay out an outpost, keep colonists alive in a hostile environment, and grow the base so it can endure over time. The game was made by Madruga Works, a developer based in the United Kingdom, and it launched on Windows in October 2015. A Mac release followed in early 2016, bringing the colony-management loop to a second platform.
By Toxic Games · United Kingdom
Q.U.B.E. is a first-person puzzle game in which the player wears gloves that manipulate specially coloured blocks, using them to open a route to the exit of each level. Its stark, white environments make the interactive blocks stand out, and it has drawn comparisons with Portal. Toxic Games in the United Kingdom grew it from a student project with backing from Indie Fund, and this Director's Cut runs on Unreal Engine 3.
By Bithell Games · United Kingdom
Quarantine Circular is a text-driven science fiction adventure, where progress comes through reading and choosing responses rather than action. It serves as the sequel to Subsurface Circular and was developed and published by Bithell Games, a studio based in the United Kingdom. It reached Windows and macOS in the spring of 2018, and a Nintendo Switch edition arrived that December.
By Facepunch Studios · United Kingdom
Rust is a multiplayer survival game from UK studio Facepunch Studios, fully released in February 2018 after an early access run that started in 2013. Players scavenge or steal materials, manage hunger, thirst and health, craft gear and fortify bases, while the biggest danger comes from other players rather than wildlife. Clans, raiding and firearms drive much of the conflict, and scheduled server wipes regularly reset progress so each cycle starts fresh.