282 indie games in this list, released 2009–2025, from developers such as Bubblebird Studio, Carlsen Games, Exceed, Aurora Punks. 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.
Haven Park is a relaxed adventure about caring for a nature park. Players wander its grounds, gather materials and put up buildings that help draw visitors in, with exploration encouraged at every turn. It was the debut release of Bubblebird Studio, published by Mooneye Studios in 2021 as the first title in its Mooneye Indies line for smaller creators. Reviewers enjoyed its presentation and gentle tone but were less taken with its mechanics and puzzles.
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.
1993 Space Machine is a shoot 'em up that finally saw release in 2016 on Windows and Mac. Its roots go back to an abandoned Amiga project called Shenandoah: Daughter of the Stars, which had been planned for 1993 before work stopped. Exceed and Aurora Punks, working from Sweden, are credited as developers, with Aurora Punks publishing. Details on its stages and systems are not part of the available facts, so it is best understood as a revived retro-style shooter.
6180 the moon is a short puzzle platformer in which the player guides the Moon on a search for the missing Sun, whose absence has left Earth stuck in endless night. It was made by South Korean developer Turtle Cream together with Miara Sung, and first appeared on Windows in March 2013 through an Indie Royale bundle. The Steam release followed in 2014 on Windows, macOS and Linux, with PokPoong Games also credited on the store page.
7 Days to Die is a survival horror game set in a post-apocalyptic open world, and its Steam listing spans action, RPG, simulation and strategy categories. It was developed by The Fun Pimps, a studio from the United States, and spent a long stretch in early access starting in December 2013. After years of updates, its finished 1.0 release arrived in July 2024 on PC as well as current PlayStation and Xbox hardware.
99Vidas, whose name means 99 Lives in Portuguese, is a retro-inspired side-scrolling beat 'em up. QuByte Interactive, a studio from Brazil, both developed and published it, bringing it to Windows, macOS and Linux toward the end of 2016. Sony console versions for PS3, PS4 and Vita came in 2017, and a Nintendo Switch edition followed in November 2018.
Agatha Knife is a darkly satirical point-and-click adventure whose protagonist founds a religion in order to persuade animals to accept being slaughtered. It belongs to the Psychotic Adventures universe shared with MechaNika, an earlier title by the same team. Spanish independent developer Mango Protocol first built it in Java and released it in 2017, later moving it to Unity for consoles; reviewers liked its look and dark tone but were split on its puzzles.
American Truck Simulator brings the Truck Simulator series to a scaled-down United States, with American conventional semi-trucks and recognizable locations. The loop centers on taking cargo contracts and driving them to their destinations. Czech studio SCS Software developed it on the Prism3D engine and released it in February 2016 as a counterpart to Euro Truck Simulator 2, and it has sold over 6 million copies.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror adventure in which Daniel explores the grim Castle Brennenburg while trying to hold on to his sanity. Rather than fighting, players avoid monsters and disturbing events, a design widely credited with influencing horror games that followed. Swedish studio Frictional Games developed and published it in 2010 using its HPL Engine; it won several awards, holds a Metacritic score of 85 and helped popularise Let's Play videos.
And Yet It Moves is a puzzle platformer in which you can rotate the entire game world at will, turning walls into floors to steer your character through dangerous environments. Its levels are designed around that single idea and presented in a paper-collage visual style. Developed by the independent Austrian studio Broken Rules, it began in 2007 as a student project in computer science at the Vienna University of Technology and was released in April 2009.
Anthology of the Killer gathers nine short horror comedy games starring BB, a student in a city full of serial killers who hunts for spooky material for her zine. Each episode drops her into strange, dangerous encounters, mixing surreal humor with dread. The series is by Irish solo developer Stephen Gillmurphy, known as thecatamites, and won the Nuovo Award at the 2024 Independent Games Festival, where it was also up for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Antichamber is a first-person puzzle platformer set in a space that breaks the normal rules of geometry. Corridors can lead somewhere different depending on which way you face, and many puzzles rely on structures that could not exist in ordinary three-dimensional space, with short messages offering hints and life advice. It was created by Australian developer Alexander Bruce, built on Unreal Engine 3, and released for Windows on Steam in January 2013.
ARIDA: Backland's Awakening is an adventure with survival mechanics, originally known as Projeto Sertao during development. Players follow Cicera, a young woman from the countryside who must endure hunger and drought in the backlands of Brazil during the 19th century. It was developed by Brazilian studio Aoca Game Lab and released on Steam for Windows in August 2019.
Armello is a digital board game that blends role-playing with turn-based strategy in a fantasy kingdom of animal clans. Up to four players each take control of a hero competing to become the next ruler, using dice rolls and cards drawn from a deck, so every move shapes how the match plays out. It was developed by League of Geeks in Australia with support from Screen Australia and Film Victoria, partly funded through Kickstarter, and released in 2015.
Asylum is an atmospheric horror adventure set inside the Hanwell Mental Institute, a fictional asylum laid out according to the historical Kirkbride plan. Players are free to explore the whole institute as its unsettling story unfolds, with the focus on mood and slow-building dread rather than action. It comes from Senscape, an independent developer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and authored by Agustin Cordes, and was funded partly through a 2013 Kickstarter before finally releasing in March 2025.
Axiom Verge 2 is a Metroidvania and the sequel to Axiom Verge. It follows billionaire Indra Chaudhari, who heads to Antarctica after a mysterious message suggests she may see her missing daughter again. American indie developer Thomas Happ Games made it, first releasing it in August 2021 on Switch, PlayStation 4 and the Epic Games Store before a Steam release in August 2022. Critics gave it generally favourable reviews.
Aztez pairs side-scrolling brawler combat with a turn-based strategy layer, set in the Aztec empire in the years before the Spanish invasion. Players fight their way through areas across the empire, switching between hands-on action and turn-based planning. It was made by Team Colorblind, a studio from the United States, and released on August 1, 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux, where Steam files it under action and strategy.
Barotrauma is a 2D side-scrolling co-op submarine simulator with survival horror and role-playing elements, set in the far future beneath the oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa. Each player takes a crew job such as steering, repairs or weapons, and some modes add a hidden traitor. Finnish studio Undertow Games developed it with FakeFish on MonoGame, and Daedalic Entertainment published the full release in March 2023.
Bear with Me is an episodic point-and-click adventure from Croatian developer Exordium Games, with its first episode arriving in August 2016. Drawing on film noir, it follows Amber and her detective companion Ted E. Bear as they search for her missing brother, Flint. The story unfolded across three episodes that were later gathered into a Complete Collection, and a prequel called The Lost Robots followed in 2019.
Beautiful Desolation is an isometric point-and-click adventure set in a post-apocalyptic future version of South Africa. After alien technology hurls two brothers forward in time, they have to find a way to return home. It was made and self-published by The Brotherhood, a South African studio, and released in February 2020 for Windows, Mac and Linux, earning a Metacritic score of 76.
Beholder is an adventure game about life under a totalitarian regime where the state watches everything. Players act as a landlord appointed by the government, planting bugs, sneaking into tenants' flats and deciding whom to report to the authorities, with the moral cost left to the player. It was developed by Warm Lamp Games in Russia, published by Alawar in November 2016, and released for Windows, Mac and Linux.
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 Tiger and Squid, Team17 Digital Ltd · Netherlands
Beyond Eyes is an adventure game from Tiger and Squid, a developer from the Netherlands, published by Team17. It was released on Steam in August 2015 for Windows, Mac and Linux. Available sources describe it simply as an adventure title, so its gameplay details are best confirmed on its store page. It sits among the smaller independent releases to come out of the Dutch indie scene during that period.
Blackhole is a puzzle-platform game from independent Czech company FiolaSoft Studio, built with GameMaker and first released for Windows in February 2015. The developers collaborated with Let's Players and YouTubers when writing the story and shaping its characters. A Complete Edition in 2016 bundled three DLCs, including Testing Lab and Challenge Vault, and was later ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.