External Discovery
51 indie games in this list, released 2013–2025, from developers such as Sherman3D, Metal Head Games, Moonsprout 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.
By Sherman3D · Malaysia
Alpha Kimori 1 opens an episodic trilogy of sprite-based role-playing games drawn in an anime-influenced style. It pairs a story with philosophical ambitions and a mix of science fiction and fantasy with classic turn-based battles in the Japanese RPG tradition. The series is an independent project by Sherman Chin and his Malaysian studio Sherman3D, built with the RPG Maker engine, and this episode came to Windows on Steam in 2014.
By Metal Head Games · China
Back to the Dawn is a narrative-driven role-playing game from Chinese studio Metal Head Games, published by Spiral Up Games and fully released in 2025. Playing as Thomas the Fox or undercover agent Bob the Panther, you spend 21 in-game days inside Boulderton Prison. Time only moves when you act, so choosing activities, conversations and hours of sleep carefully is central, and those choices lead to several different endings.
By Moonsprout Games · Panama
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling is a role-playing game whose art and combat take cues from the early Paper Mario games. Three bugs, Vi, Kabbu and Leif, travel through the land of Bugaria searching for a sapling said to grant eternal life, facing rival teams along the way. It was developed by Moonsprout Games in Panama, published by Dangen Entertainment, and released in 2019. Critics praised its characters, battles and amount of content.
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 Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda) · Germany
Chained Echoes is a role-playing game modeled on 1990s Japanese RPGs, pairing turn-based battles with 16-bit style pixel art and a story told through several characters. Its unlikely heroes try to halt a war between three kingdoms. The game was created by Matthias Linda, credited on Steam as Umami Tiger, a developer from Germany, and published by Deck13 in 2022. Reviewers felt it matched the classics that inspired it while adding modern improvements.
By Snapshot Games Inc. · Bulgaria
A remake of the 1985 title Chaos: The Battle of Wizards, Chaos Reborn is a tactical role-playing game played in turns. It expands the original with a role-playing meta layer and gear such as armour, staves and talismans that grant extra spells and abilities. Snapshot Games, based in Bulgaria, partly funded it on Kickstarter, opened early access in December 2014 and released the full game in October 2015.
By Behold Studios · Brazil
Inspired by tokusatsu television, especially Super Sentai and Power Rangers, Chroma Squad plays as a tactical RPG that channels the feel of those costumed hero shows. It was developed by Brazilian team Behold Studios, financed through Kickstarter, and released in April 2015 for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Console and mobile versions arrived in the following years, including a Nintendo Switch edition in 2019.
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 TRAGsoft · Netherlands
Coromon is a monster-taming RPG in which a newly hired researcher at Lux Solis explores the Velua region, catching and battling creatures while seeking out six powerful Titans. Its fights draw on a stamina system, and difficulty can be customised to suit the player. It was developed by TRAGsoft in the Netherlands and published by indie.io, arriving on Windows and macOS in March 2022. Critics have frequently compared it to Pokemon.
By DoubleBear Productions · United States
Dead State: Reanimated is a turn-based survival role-playing game set during a zombie apocalypse. Players lead a group of survivors sheltering in Splendid, a fictional town in Texas, and must keep them alive as the outbreak unfolds. DoubleBear Productions in the United States developed it together with Iron Tower Studio, releasing it in December 2014 after an early access period. An enhanced edition in May 2015 gave the game its Reanimated title.
By Snowhound Games · Finland
Deep Sky Derelicts is a dungeon crawler that blends classic role-playing structure with the card-driven systems of roguelike deckbuilders. Players assemble their own crew and send it to search abandoned spaceships, scavenging whatever the wrecks still hold. It was made by Snowhound Games, a studio from Finland, and published by Fulqrum Publishing. The game launched in 2018 and reached consoles two years later.
By tobyfox · United States
Deltarune is a chapter-based role-playing game following Kris, a human teen, together with the monster Susie and Ralsei, a prince of the Dark World, on a quest to save the world. Fights are turn-based with bullet-hell dodging, and encounters can end peacefully or violently, now with a full party. Toby Fox, an American developer, created it in GameMaker as a parallel to Undertale, with the paid release arriving in 2025.
By Larian Studios · Belgium
Divinity: Original Sin is a role-playing game and the fourth main entry in the Divinity series, set as a prequel to Divine Divinity. Partly funded through Kickstarter, it ships with the same editor the developers used, so players can create solo or multiplayer adventures of their own and share them online. It was developed and published by Larian Studios from Belgium and released for Windows in June 2014, earning critical acclaim for modernizing the RPG genre.
By Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd. · Finland
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest, a tactical role-playing game, comes from Ctrl Alt Ninja, a developer based in Finland that also handled publishing. Its Steam listing places it across the adventure and strategy genres, pointing to squad-based tactical encounters wrapped in a fantasy quest. The game was released for Windows in May 2019 as a self-published PC title from the Finnish team.
By Dark Crystal Games · Russia
Encased is an isometric role-playing game with turn-based combat, set in a science fiction post-apocalyptic world. Its design draws on classic computer RPGs such as Fallout and Wasteland, along with the Strugatsky brothers' Soviet novel Roadside Picnic. It was developed by Dark Crystal Games in Russia, entered early access in 2019, and reached its full release in September 2021 under publisher Prime Matter.
By Shiro Games · France
Evoland is a role-playing game from Shiro Games of France, built on the Heaps engine and first released in 2013. It borrows from Final Fantasy, Diablo and The Legend of Zelda and is packed with nods to film and gaming history. As you advance, you unlock new technologies and graphical upgrades that reference successive eras of the games industry. A sequel, Evoland 2, came out in 2015.
By Logic Artists · Denmark
Released in 2013, Expeditions: Conquistador is a tactical role-playing game about squad combat in which players take charge of a Spanish expedition to Hispaniola and Mexico, set between 1518 and 1520. Alongside its tactical combat, it features resource management, a branching story and interactive fiction segments. It was made by Logic Artists in Denmark, partly funded through Kickstarter, and first released for Windows, Linux and Mac by BitComposer before THQ Nordic acquired the series in 2018.
By Logic Artists · Denmark
Expeditions: Viking, from Logic Artists, is a tactical role-playing game built around squad combat, made, a studio based in Denmark and released on Windows in 2017 and published by THQ Nordic. Players take on the role of a Danish viking heading a voyage to Great Britain around the year 790 AD, directing a band of warriors through tactical encounters. It is the second entry in the Expeditions series after Expeditions: Conquistador, and the series later continued with Expeditions: Rome in 2022.
By Jozef Pavelka, Vlado Ganaj · Slovakia
Felvidek is a role-playing game that plays much like a classic JRPG, set in a low-fantasy, alternate-history take on medieval Slovakia in the region of Felvidék. Its visuals are realistic yet low-resolution, heavily dithered and monochrome, echoing fifth-generation console hardware. The game was made in RPG Maker MV by Slovak developers Jozef Pavelka and Vlado Ganaj, published by Tutto Passa, and released for Windows in March 2024.
By The Game Bakers · France
Haven is a role-playing game developed and self-published by The Game Bakers, a studio from France. It combines role-playing systems with adventure, as listed in its Steam tags. The game arrived in December 2020 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, with PlayStation 4 and Switch versions following early in 2021. Critical reception was mixed, with reviewers split over its story.
By CINEMAX GAMES · Czech Republic
Inquisitor is a role-playing game from Czech company Cinemax, first released in 2009 after close to a decade in development. Bringing it to English-speaking players took another three years of translation work, which led to a GOG.com release in September 2012. It was later greenlit on Steam in 2013 and arrived there that August, where it holds a Metacritic score of 64.
By Unfrozen · Russia
In Iratus: Lord of the Dead, tactical role-playing meets a roguelike structure, drawing on both RPG and strategy traditions. Available sources describe it only in broad genre terms, so the finer details of its campaign are best discovered in play. It was developed by the Russian studio Unfrozen and published by Daedalic Entertainment in 2020 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Behold Studios · Brazil
Knights of Pen & Paper is an RPG from Brazilian developer Behold Studios, released with publishing support from Paradox Interactive and Seaven Studio. It first appeared on iOS and Android in October 2012 and came to Windows, OS X and Linux in June 2013 as the +1 Edition. A Nintendo Switch version called the +1 Deluxier Edition followed in 2018, alongside releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
By Kyy Games · Finland
Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is a role-playing game from Kyy Games, a studio based in Finland, published by Paradox Interactive as a follow-up to the original Knights of Pen & Paper. After launching on iOS and Android in May 2015, it reached Windows, OS X and Linux via Steam that October. Critics liked its art and the improvements to gameplay and story, but felt it stayed too close to the first game while being shorter and easier.