28 indie games in this list, released 2009–2026, from developers such as Paper Cult, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Uppercut Games Pty Ltd. 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.
Bloodroots is a hack-and-slash action game developed by Canadian studio Paper Cult. Drawing on the Western genre, it casts the player as Mr. Wolf, a man chasing revenge after a betrayal. It first launched in February 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows, followed by an Xbox Series X/S version in July 2021. Steam lists it as an indie action title, and it holds a Metacritic score of 76.
Bunch of Heroes is an action title from Nimble Giant Entertainment, a developer based in Argentina that also self-published it. It arrived on Windows through Steam in September 2011, and the store lists it under the action and indie categories. Little verified detail about its missions or systems is available, though the store page references an optional Horror Pack add-on that was once given away during a seasonal sale.
City of Brass is a first-person, single-player dungeon crawler set in a procedurally generated city inspired by the Arabian Nights. Playing as a thief, you fight through winding corridors, courtyards and rooms full of traps and enemies in search of treasure hidden at the city's heart. It was developed by Uppercut Games, an independent studio from Australia, using Unreal Engine 4, and entered Steam Early Access in September 2017 before its 2018 release.
Played in 2D from a side-on, scrolling view, Cortex Command is an action game that Steam also files under strategy. It comes from Swedish studio Data Realms, which has worked on it since 2001, and it launched on Steam in September 2012 for Windows and Mac. The available facts describe its format and long development rather than specific systems, so it is best seen as a side-view action title with strategic elements and a long history in development.
En Garde! is a third-person action game developed by Fireplace Games, a studio from France. Players take on the role of Adalia de Volador, a swashbuckling heroine in a 17th-century setting, with sword-driven action at the centre of play. Its Steam listing also tags it as an adventure. The game was released for Windows in August 2023.
Hammerfight is a 2D action game built on physics, created by Russian developer Konstantin Koshutin and released on Windows in 2009 through publishers KranX Productions and 1C. It later reached a wider audience in 2011 as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle, when its underlying Haaf's Game Engine became open source and gained cross-platform support. A version titled Age of Hammer Wars also appeared on PlayStation minis and iOS.
Luxuria Superbia is an abstract game in which players stroke and stimulate colourful, flower-like tunnels, using the controls as a metaphor for sexual arousal. Critics valued its unusual concept, design and touch input, while some felt the levels lacked variety or reasons to finish them. Made by Belgian studio Tale of Tales and released in 2013, it received the Independent Games Festival's Nuovo Award, was an IndieCade finalist, and has drawn academic attention.
Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior is an action game from Sand Door Studio, a developer in France, published under Quantic Dream's Spotlight label. You control a warrior who can battle alongside copies of herself recorded from earlier attempts, layering past runs into each encounter. Its Steam tags add a strategy element to that loop. The game was released in February 2024.
Nimbus INFINITY is a fast mech combat game from GameCrafterTeam and GameTomo, a team based in Thailand, released in 2023. It takes place on a future Earth that is only starting to recover from war. Players fit mechanical Battle Frames with weapons to tailor their fighting style, fly across varied battlefields and follow the story of a new generation of pilots.
Project Nimbus: Complete Edition is a fast-paced mech action game from GameCrafterTeam and GameTomo, developed in Thailand. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it puts players in control of Battle Frames, humanoid combat suits carrying a wide arsenal of weapons, in high-speed battles. This Complete Edition was released on Steam in 2017 for Windows and Mac.
The Falconeer is an aerial combat game in which players take to the air and duel enemies in dogfights. It pays tribute to the niche dogfighting genre with a strongly personal vision. It was created by Tomas Sala in the Netherlands and published by Wired Productions, releasing in November 2020 on Windows, and it was among the games available when the Xbox Series X/S launched. An enhanced Warrior Edition later came to other consoles.
The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia combines bullet hell dodging with typing, asking players to type out exorcism texts while weaving through enemy fire. Its hero is a former priest who now works as a freelance exorcist. It was developed by Morbidware, a studio in Italy, and released on Steam for Windows on February 14, 2019. Reviews were mostly positive, singling out its music, theme and art, and it holds a Metacritic score of 78.
Clash: Mutants Vs Pirates is a free-to-play third-person MOBA in which space pirates fight mutants for control of the world. Players pick a side and battle in team matches as either faction. It is one of the earlier projects of NewGen, the Tunisian studio behind West Hunt, and sits under the same Steam developer account.
City Monsters is a free-to-play action game in which the player controls a giant creature and smashes a city. The monsters include a giant ape, a T-rex, a boxer and a Celtic warrior, and they fight police, the army, tanks and helicopters while flattening buildings. It is an early PC release from NewGen, the Tunisian studio later known for West Hunt, and appears under the same developer account on Steam.
Arabian Hero is a mobile archery action game with an Arabian setting in which the player's hero fights waves of enemies using bows, swords and axes. Victories unlock and upgrade abilities such as freezing, poison and speed boosts, letting players build their own combat strategy. It is developed by Mad Hook, a game studio based in Amman, Jordan, and is linked from the studio's own website.
Futurocco 2121 is a sci-fi action thriller set in a dystopian, Moroccan-punk version of Casablanca. The player is a scientist hunted by a megacorporation and has to use stealth, parkour and tactical combat, while managing resources, to survive the city. BJR Pixels Agency, one of the 11 Moroccan studios in Morocco's first Gamescom delegation in 2026, is developing it, and it has a Steam page ahead of release.
Intertwine is a narrative action game made for the Bahrain Game Jam around the theme Twist. On a stormy night, young Timothy is drawn out of his bedroom by a voice that offers him the power to twist time and space, and players use those two powers to explore a mansion and find out what the voice really wants. It supports keyboard and controller. It is listed as a project of Regnum Studio, an indie game development studio based in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Keytamine is a keyboard-themed action game in which you battle waves of enemies shaped like keycaps through rhythmic clicking, combos and ASMR-style sound design. Its Chaos System offers 11 levels of difficulty, from a deathless relaxed mode at level 0 to a demanding mode at level 10 that adds new mechanics. It was made by Nabokov, a developer featured in Steam's Games Made in KSA bundle of Saudi indie games.
Khawi is a mobile action runner that ties progress to real-world walking: steps counted by the phone become the energy needed to play. In each run the player leads a soldier up a vertical road, choosing which numbered barrels can be shot through in time while fighting enemy waves and growing a squad through boosting gates. Its ten levels are modelled on Qatar landmarks such as Souq Waqif and The Pearl. It was developed by COREGAME Studios, a Media City Qatar licensed studio in Doha.
Mini Tank Blitz: PvP Battle is a multiplayer tank game with small, fast tanks fighting in Battle Royale and Capture the Flag modes. Players battle real opponents online or AI tanks offline, and climb a leaderboard. It is developed by Maysalward, a mobile game studio founded in 2003 and headquartered in Amman, Jordan, which also runs training and ecosystem programmes for local developers.
Operation Candy Land is an upcoming wave-survival action game set in a candy world overrun by hostile sweets such as gummy bears, lollipops and marshmallows. Players run, shoot and build towers to survive increasingly difficult waves. It is developed and published on Steam by Mad Hook, a game studio based in Amman, Jordan, best known for its driving and chase games on mobile.
Puppeteer: No Strings Attached is a boss-rush action game set on a theatrical stage. You control a puppet fighting reimagined villains from classic fairy tales, learning each boss's patterns and your own abilities to break free from the Puppeteer, alone or with a friend in co-op. It is the lead title of Sandouq Studio, an independent Saudi studio founded in 2024.
Rooftop Run is a mobile parkour game in which players run, jump, roll and slide across city rooftops to get from one building to the next as fast as possible. It is built around a large number of short levels with simple controls that take practice to master. The game is one of the best-known mobile titles from Mad Hook, a studio based in Amman, Jordan, whose Google Play listing gives an Amman address.
Slappingrot is a first-person action game in which you fight a string of absurd brainrot bosses in a ring using nothing but slaps. Each boss has its own attack patterns, so you wait for vulnerable moments, strike, and spend coins at a vending machine on upgrades between fights. The game leans fully into internet meme humour and was developed by Limeless Studio, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.