10 indie games in this list, released 2013–2026, from developers such as Carlsen Games, Awe Interactive, RobTop Games. 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.
140 is a minimalist platformer from Carlsen Games, a developer based in Denmark, released for Windows, Mac and Linux in 2013. Players travel through four levels, each paired with its own electronic soundtrack, as music and visuals combine into a synesthetic experience layered over tough platforming. Critics compared its music-synced play to the Bit.Trip series and Sound Shapes. Its director, Jeppe Carlsen, had earlier worked on Playdead's Limbo.
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.
Geometry Dash is a rhythm-driven action game where players steer a simple icon through obstacle-filled stages timed to music. Most of its official levels scroll automatically, while a few use free platforming, and a built-in editor lets the community build, share and play custom stages. Swedish creator Robert Topala made it under his company RobTop Games using Cocos2d-x; it launched on mobile in 2013 and reached Steam in December 2014.
Giraffe and Annika blends action-adventure exploration with rhythm-driven battles. Annika, a catgirl with no memory, wakes up stranded on the island of Spica and teams up with a boy named Giraffe to find three star fragments that can restore her past. Encounters are nonviolent, resolved by hitting notes in time with the music. It was made by Japanese indie studio Atelier Mimina, published by Playism among others, and released on Windows in February 2020.
Muse Dash is a rhythm game that fuses music timing with side-scrolling action, so hitting notes also means attacking enemies as your character runs through each stage. It uses a 2D anime art style. The developer, PeroPeroGames, is based in China, and the game first appeared on mobile in 2018 before reaching Windows and macOS in June 2019, with hasuhasu handling publishing.
OhShape is a virtual reality rhythm game in which players strike poses and move their whole body to fit through shapes cut into walls, all set to music and dance choreography. Its creators took the concept from Hole in the Wall, a television game show. Spanish studio Odders Lab released it into early access in August 2019 and fully in December 2019, supporting PC headsets including the Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Beats of Fury is a rhythm bullet hell in which every shot the player fires contributes to the music. Players can turn any song into a battle, dodging patterns and firing in time with the beat, a design built around 2D rhythm-based play. It first appeared on Steam in April 2020 and its store page now lists a 2026 release. It is developed by Bubble Head Games from Egypt, with Gamera Games also listed as a publisher.
Dance Dance Detective is a murder mystery set on a private cruise ship in 1986, where you play Detective Gene Burning undercover as the ship's ballroom dance teacher. You design dance routines, teach suspects to move on the beat, and combine the clues they reveal to find who killed a chocolate company's chief scientist. It is the third game from Blue Tango Street, a studio based between London and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
No Straight Roads is a rhythm-driven action adventure from the Malaysian independent studio Metronomik. An indie rock duo takes on an EDM empire to free Vinyl City, and boss fights are built around listening to the music to read when enemies attack. The Encore Edition is the updated version of the original 2020 release.
Rhythm Doctor is a one-button rhythm game from 7th Beat Games, set in a hospital where you treat patients by pressing in time with their heartbeats. Each patient has a unique rhythm to learn, and the game keeps finding clever ways to test your timing with nothing more than a single key. It has received favorable reviews for its music and inventive level design.