13 indie games in this list, released 2014–2026, from developers such as Yangyang Mobile, Winter Wolves, Nikita Kryukov. 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.
High Times is a dating sim and visual novel with a cooking twist from Yangyang Mobile, an independent studio in the Philippines. Players work as a Mood Confectioner at The Hotbox, a doughnut shop set in the invented city of San Mazo, baking treats laced with mood enhancers that shift how customers feel. Released in July 2026, it marks Yangyang Mobile's fifth commercial release and was partly funded by a 2024 Kickstarter campaign.
Loren The Amazon Princess blends a visual novel with fantasy role-playing, pairing story-driven scenes with RPG systems. It was created by Winter Wolves, an independent studio in Italy, using the Ren'Py engine, and first released on April 30, 2012 before its Steam launch in 2014. An expansion, The Castle Of N'mar, came later in 2012, and a 2014 spin-off in the Tales of Aravorn line carried the subtitle Seasons of the Wolf.
Love Esquire mixes a visual novel, a dating sim and RPG elements in a comedic fantasy tale. Instead of a hero, the player controls a humble squire with only a few months to win someone's heart before being sent off to war, which gives the romance a ticking clock. It was developed and published by Yangyang Mobile, a studio based in the Philippines, and released in October 2019 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
In Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk, an unnamed woman heads to a nearby shop to buy a bag of milk while struggling with severe trauma, and the player acts as the voice inside her head, sharing her inner monologue. This psychological horror visual novel was made by Russian developer Nikita Kryukov using Ren'Py and released on Steam in August 2020, with a sequel following in 2021.
A direct sequel to its 2020 predecessor, Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk continues the story of the same unnamed heroine, exploring her unsettling dreams through themes of isolation, trauma and depression. This psychological horror visual novel was developed and published by Russian indie creator Nikita Kryukov using Ren'Py, and it arrived on Steam and itch.io in December 2021.
Monster Prom is a dating sim in which players play a student at Spooky High, a school whose pupils are all monsters, with the goal of landing someone to take to prom. It was made by Beautiful Glitch, a Barcelona studio started by Julián Quijano, and launched on Windows, macOS and Linux in April 2018. A Second Term expansion followed in 2019, along with a string of sequels beginning with Monster Camp in 2020.
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp is a visual novel in which players once again try to romance a cast of monsters, continuing the formula of the first Monster Prom. Steam categorises it as a simulation title. Beautiful Glitch, a studio from Spain, both developed and self-published it, releasing it in October 2020 for Windows, macOS and Linux as the second entry in its monster romance series.
Planet Stronghold is a science fiction visual novel with role-playing elements and a turn-based combat system. It was developed and published by Winter Wolves, a studio in Italy, using the Ren'Py engine. The game first launched in February 2011 for Windows, Mac and Linux, later came to Android and iOS, and arrived on Steam in May 2014.
SAEKO: Giantess Dating Sim is a dark visual novel and dating sim from Japanese developer Safe Havn Studio, published by Hyper Real. Players are Rin, a captive of Saeko, a young woman who can shrink people and secretly preys on them. Rin must look after the other miniaturized prisoners while his relationship with his captor slowly develops. The game launched on Windows and Linux in May 2025, pairing its unsettling premise with choice-driven adventure storytelling.
SC2VN is a free visual novel taking place in South Korea in the first competitive years of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Players follow Mach, a hopeful who wants to turn professional, through a story praised for portraying esports honestly, including its emotional cost and the real chance of failing. It was developed by Team Eleven, a studio from the United States, released on Windows in September 2015, and a prequel titled Don't Forget Our Esports Dream came later.
The Letter is a horror visual novel in which seven people are caught up in a deadly curse and must struggle to survive it. The story places as much weight on the characters' own darker impulses as on the supernatural threat stalking them, asking how far each will go to stay alive. It was developed by Yangyang Mobile, a studio based in the Philippines, and released in July 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
VA-11 Hall-A is a cyberpunk visual novel in which the player works behind the counter of a small bar in a bleak city. Instead of choosing dialogue, you mix and serve cocktails, and those orders shape where the nonlinear story goes as regulars share their lives. It was made by Sukeban Games from Venezuela in GameMaker and released in 2016. The project grew out of an entry for a 2014 cyberpunk game jam, and its look draws on PC-98 era games and anime.
Sips and Sonnets is a visual novel about Ms Meadows, a retired journalist who runs a small tea shop in the English countryside while preparing for a visit from an old friend. You brew different teas, listen to the stories of customers, and turn each day's conversations into a poem at night. The voice cast includes Bethan Dixon Bate and Lenval Brown, and it was made by London and Jeddah based Blue Tango Street.