External Discovery
282 indie games in this list, released 2011–2026, from developers such as Squeaky Wheel, Dry Cactus, Toxic 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 Squeaky Wheel · Philippines
Political Animals is a government and election simulation set in a world of animal politicians. Players run a campaign by enacting policies and handling scandals to win over voters, with victory at the polls as the central goal. It was developed by Squeaky Wheel, a studio in the Philippines, and released in 2016 by British publisher Positech Games, the company behind the Democracy series.
By Dry Cactus · New Zealand
Poly Bridge tasks players with designing bridges sturdy enough for vehicles to drive across. Structures are assembled from steel, wood, rope and cable, hydraulic parts can make sections move, and each material has its own cost, which turns every level into a budget puzzle. It was made by Dry Cactus, an indie studio from New Zealand, with a score by composer Adrian Talens, and came out on Windows in 2016, later reaching iOS.
By Dry Cactus · New Zealand
Poly Bridge 2 is the follow-up to Poly Bridge and keeps its focus on engineering bridges that must hold up under physics-driven traffic. Players plan structures across a new run of levels, balancing materials and design choices so vehicles reach the other side. New Zealand studio Dry Cactus developed and published it, with Adrian Talens again writing the music, and it launched in 2020 on Windows, Mac and Linux as well as mobile.
By Toxic Games · United Kingdom
Q.U.B.E. is a first-person puzzle game in which the player wears gloves that manipulate specially coloured blocks, using them to open a route to the exit of each level. Its stark, white environments make the interactive blocks stand out, and it has drawn comparisons with Portal. Toxic Games in the United Kingdom grew it from a student project with backing from Indie Fund, and this Director's Cut runs on Unreal Engine 3.
By SteelRaven7 · Sweden
Ravenfield is a single-player first-person shooter rendered in a low-poly visual style. It was created by Swedish programmer Johan Hassel, who publishes under the name SteelRaven7, and it launched as an early access title on 18 May 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux. The available facts cover its genre and simple look rather than detailed mechanics, so it is best approached as a straightforward solo shooter from a one-person developer.
By Soaphog · Latvia
Rezrog is a turn-based dungeon crawler inspired by tabletop games, in which a party of adventurers sets out to bring peace back to the land. Players upgrade their skills and look for enemy weaknesses to exploit tactically as they push deeper into dangerous dungeons. It was made by Soaphog, a studio from Latvia, published by Kasedo Games, and released in May 2017 on Windows, Mac, and Linux, with a Metacritic score of 70.
By Ludeon Studios · Canada
RimWorld is a science fiction construction and management simulation in which AI storytellers steer events, so each colony becomes a generated narrative rather than a pure test of skill. It was designed by Canadian developer Tynan Sylvester, with Ludeon Studios as publisher, and began as a Kickstarter-backed early access project in 2013 under the name Eclipse Colony. Version 1.0 arrived in October 2018, and console editions followed in 2022.
By Leonard Menchiari, IV Productions, Ivan Venturi Productions · Italy
RIOT: Civil Unrest is a real-time strategy game that recreates riots drawn from actual events, letting the player take the side of either the police or the protesters. Director Leonard Menchiari, formerly an editor and cinematographer at Valve, lived through riots himself and made the game to tell those stories. Developed in Italy with IV Productions, it was funded on Indiegogo in 2014, entered early access in 2017 and fully released in 2019.
By Dapper Penguin Studios · Spain
Rise of Industry is a business tycoon game in which players construct and run an industrial empire, working to expand it during the early decades of the 20th century. It was created by Dapper Penguin Studios, an independent team from Spain, and published by Kasedo Games. After an early access period that began in February 2018, it reached full release in May 2019, and a sequel, Rise of Industry 2, arrived in 2025.
By Accidently Awesome · Austria
Roto Force is a twin-stick shooter, the kind of action game where one control moves your character and another aims your fire. It was developed by Accidently Awesome, a studio from Austria, and published by PID Games and East2West Games. The game was released in 2023 for both mobile devices and personal computers, including Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Mike Klubnika · Estonia
Released in 2025, s.p.l.i.t is a psychological horror game made and self-published by Mike Klubnika, a developer from Estonia, with Oro Interactive also credited as a publisher on Steam. It launched on Windows and Linux in July 2025. Beyond its psychological horror framing, its store and database listings place it in the action and simulation genres. The title is stylised in lowercase with full stops, while it is written as Split in plain text.
By SAFE HAVN STUDIO · Japan
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.
By Fractal Projects · Brazil
Save Room - Organization Puzzle turns survival horror inventory management, in the style of Resident Evil 4, into a series of puzzles about fitting items into a briefcase. Space can be freed by combining items, healing with them or reloading weapons. Brazilian developer Fractal Projects released it on Windows in April 2022, and critics liked how cheap and carefully detailed it was while noting it was simple and brief.
By Team Eleven · United States
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.
By Egidijus Bachur, Alexey Davydov · Lithuania
Scrap Garden is a puzzle platformer following Canny, a solitary robot who wakes up in a ruined world where every other machine has stopped working. The player guides him through platforming stages and environmental puzzles while trying to learn what happened to the city and whether anyone else survived. Egidijus Bachur and Alexey Davydov are credited as developers, with Flazm publishing; the team is from Lithuania, and the Steam release arrived in 2016.
By Crackshell, Croteam · Sweden
Serious Sam's Bogus Detour is a twin-stick shooter that takes the Serious Sam series into a top-down format, with one to four players fighting enemy waves across Egypt, Greece and the Moon. Weapons are found in levels, and stars earned by exploring or gaining experience buy character upgrades. Deathmatch and survival modes support up to twelve players. Swedish studio Crackshell made it with approval from Croteam, and Devolver Digital published it in 2017.
By Croteam · Croatia
Released in 2011, Serious Sam 3: BFE is a first-person shooter from Croatia-based indie studio Croteam, published by Devolver Digital and running on Serious Engine 3.5. A prequel to Serious Sam: The First Encounter, it is set in 22nd-century Egypt as Mental invades Earth. It offers 16-player online play plus a four-player split-screen co-op campaign, and it later arrived on OS X and Linux.
By Pine Studio · Croatia
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell is a first-person platformer from Croatian developer Pine Studio, released on Steam in July 2016. Players dash through levels against the clock, relying on an assortment of power-ups to shave time off each attempt. Its design takes cues from speedrunning in games such as Quake and Super Meat Boy, and the odd name comes from ColloSEUM, the working title used during development.
By Dead Mage · Iran
Shadow Blade: Reload is an action platformer starring Kuro, a ninja racing through trap-filled stages and cutting down enemies along the way. It is the PC counterpart of the mobile game Shadow Blade, and its developers planned additional levels, a full story campaign and Steam features such as leaderboards and workshop support. It was developed and published by Dead Mage, a studio based in Iran, and released in August 2015.
By Double Dash Studios · Brazil
Sky Racket mixes block-breaking with shoot 'em up action in bright cartoon worlds, a blend its creators call a Shmup Breaker. It began in 2015 as RacketBoy during Indie Vs Gamers, a 72-hour jam hosted by Game Jolt, and was later shown at PAX East 2019. Brazilian independent developer Double Dash Studios released it for Windows, macOS and Linux in October 2019.
By Mega Crit · United States
Slay the Spire is a roguelike deckbuilder in which one of four characters climbs a procedurally generated tower, fighting enemies and bosses along the way. Combat is driven by cards, and new cards won from battles let players shape a deck strong enough to reach the top. It was made by Mega Crit, an independent American studio, on libGDX, released fully in January 2019, and is credited with popularising the genre.
By Mega Crit · United States
Slay the Spire 2 is a roguelike deckbuilder where players pick a hero and climb the Spire floor by floor, gathering cards and using them to beat monsters. This follow-up to the 2019 original adds two new heroes beside three returning ones and brings co-op for up to four players. It is developed and published by Mega Crit, an American studio, runs on the Godot engine, and entered early access in March 2026.
By Monomi Park · United States
Slime Rancher is a life simulation about running a ranch full of slimes, blending farming routines with first-person action and exploration. Players catch and raise the colourful creatures while building up their farm. It was developed and published by Monomi Park, an independent studio in the United States, which put it into early access in January 2016 before a full launch in August 2017. A sequel, Slime Rancher 2, followed.
By Parodie Games · Turkey
Slots & Diapers is an absurdist incremental game about growing a gambling fortune from very humble beginnings. Players spin slot machines for jackpots, bring on hired gamblers to automate the spinning, and buy permanent upgrades that speed up later runs. It comes from Parodie Games, a developer based in Turkey, was published by Lazy Otter, and launched in June 2026 on Windows, macOS and Linux.