19 indie games in this list, released 2011–2023, from developers such as Exceed, Aurora Punks, Free Lives, Dani. 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.
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.
Broforce is a side-scrolling run-and-gun game in which players control a roster of bros modeled on famous action movie heroes such as John Rambo and Ellen Ripley. Missions revolve around freeing captured bros while tearing through environments that can be heavily destroyed. Its development began as a game jam entry in April 2012 by the South African studio Free Lives, went through early access, and was published by Devolver Digital in October 2015.
Crab Game is a free multiplayer party game inspired by the Netflix series Squid Game. Players face off across a string of minigames, and the goal is to be the final one still standing. Its creator and publisher is Daniel Sooman, a Norwegian indie developer known online as Dani. The game launched on Steam for Windows in October 2021 after an itch.io release for Linux and macOS, with those versions reaching Steam that November.
Heavy Bullets is a first-person shooter that follows roguelike rules, combining gunplay from a first-person view with the structure of a roguelike. It was made by Terri Vellmann, an independent developer based in Brazil, with Doseone also listed as a developer on its store page. Devolver Digital published it for Windows, OS X and Linux in September 2014.
Hotline Miami is a violent top-down shooter set in 1989 Miami, following a silent masked killer as he wipes out the Russian mafia. Every level must be cleared of enemies by any means available, and each animal mask grants its own ability. Swedish duo Dennaton Games, programmer and writer Jonatan Söderström with artist Dennis Wedin, built it in about nine months with GameMaker. The 2012 release is frequently named among the indie titles that shaped the decade that followed.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a top-down shooter that expands on the first game's story, covering events before, during and after Jacket's rampage through several different playable characters. Levels are still about eliminating every enemy using whatever works, and the Steam version includes a level editor for sharing custom stages. Swedish studio Dennaton Games originally planned it as DLC before it grew into a full sequel, released in March 2015.
Lovely Planet 2: April Skies combines first-person shooting with platforming, following on from the original Lovely Planet from 2014. Levels mix gunplay with jumping as you move through stages. It was developed by Quicktequila, an indie developer from India, and published by tinyBuild, arriving on Windows, macOS and Linux in June 2019. Critics gave it mixed reviews, and it holds a Metacritic score of 69 on its store listing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is a casual action game that combines bullet hell shooting with reckless driving through a town in chaos, with aliens attacking from above. Steam categorizes it as action, casual and indie. The Belarusian developer Lapovich Team made and self-published it, releasing it in March 2017 for Windows, Mac and Linux. Beyond that premise, few further gameplay details are verified.
A 2020 follow-up to Superhot, Mind Control Delete keeps the series in first-person shooter territory while layering roguelike elements onto the mechanics of the 2016 original. It was developed and self-published by Superhot Team, an independent studio based in Poland, and released on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux. The game carries a Metacritic score of 78 and is tagged on Steam as an indie action title.
The Final Station is a side-scrolling shooter that layers train simulation and exploration on top of its combat. It was developed by the Russian studio Do My Best Games, and brought to Steam by publisher tinyBuild in late August 2016. Critics praised its originality and world-building while pointing to its linear structure, and a DLC called The Only Traitor followed in 2017 with a new lead character whose story runs alongside the main one.
THOTH, an abstract shoot 'em up, comes from Carlsen Games in Denmark, released for Windows and Mac in 2016 under the Double Fine Presents label. It was created by Jeppe Carlsen, who had served as lead gameplay designer on Playdead's Limbo and Inside. In keeping with its genre, play revolves around shooting and evading enemies, all presented in a stripped-back, abstract visual style that suits its minimal approach.
Titan Attacks! is a fixed shooter in the arcade tradition, where the player's craft slides along the bottom of the screen and fires upward at descending waves of alien invaders. Critics liked its art style and moreish flow but noted a limited amount of content. It was developed and self-published by Puppy Games, a studio in the United Kingdom, first appearing in 2006, and it was followed by Revenge of the Titans in 2010.
Verdun is an online first-person shooter built around squads and set in the First World War and inspired by the 1916 battle of the same name. Teams fight over trench lines in attack and defence rounds, using period weapons, uniforms and maps modelled on real Western Front battlefields. Built in Unity by independent studios M2H and the Netherlands-based BlackMill Games, it left Steam Early Access in April 2015 and later reached consoles.
Lovely Planet is a fast first-person shooter platformer by the Indian indie developer Quicktequila, set in a bright, abstract world that looks cute but plays hard. Levels are short, precise runs where you jump and shoot targets in quick succession, often retrying until your timing is perfect. It is a small, sharp game about flow and precision.
Superhot is a first-person shooter from the Polish studio Superhot Team with one big idea: time only moves when you move. That turns every firefight into a slow, deliberate puzzle where you plan each step, grab weapons from enemies and dodge bullets in slow motion. Its minimalist red-and-white style is instantly recognizable.