External Discovery
20 indie games in this list, released 2009–2026, from developers such as PINIX, League of Geeks, LocalThunk. 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 PINIX · Taiwan
Alina of the Arena is a roguelite deckbuilder in which players build up a deck of cards and use it to defeat opponents in arena battles. Taiwanese developer PINIX self-published it in 2022 for Windows, Mac and Xbox, and DANGEN Entertainment brought it to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation consoles in 2023. Reviews at launch were generally favourable, and on Steam it sits under strategy, reflecting its tactical card-driven fights.
By League of Geeks · Australia
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.
By LocalThunk · Canada
Balatro is a poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder made by Canadian solo developer LocalThunk, with Playstack as publisher, in 2024. Each round asks the player to hit a score target by playing poker hands drawn from a standard 52-card deck, with only a few hands and discards available to spend. Drawing on the card game big two and Luck Be a Landlord, it earned Game of the Year honours from the 25th Game Developers Choice Awards.
By Weather Factory · United Kingdom
Cultist Simulator is a card-driven simulation from UK indie studio Weather Factory, built in Unity and released for Windows, macOS and Linux in May 2018. Set amid 1920s Lovecraftian horror, it has players move cards across a tabletop to gather followers, occult texts and tools while chasing one of several routes to immortality. Staying alive means dodging starvation, despair, madness and dangerous enemies. Reviewers liked the writing, while others criticized its pacing.
By Abrakam Entertainment SA · Belgium
Faeria is a digital collectible card game fused with turn-based strategy, played out on a shifting game board inside a fantasy world. Matches combine deck choices with positional play, since the board itself changes as the battle goes on. It was developed by Abrakam in Belgium and arrived on desktop in 2017, with console versions following in 2020. Critics responded well to it, and it holds a favourable aggregate score.
By Charlie Oscar Lima Tango Interactive Entertainment · Lithuania
Gremlins, Inc. is a digital board game played in turns, set in a steampunk world populated by gremlins. As a turn-based strategy title, it asks players to plan their moves carefully to get ahead of rivals at the table. It was made by Lithuanian indie studio Charlie Oscar, designed by Alexey Bokulev of Eador: Genesis, and produced by Sergei Klimov. After an Early Access period that started in 2015, it fully launched on Steam in March 2016.
By Daniel Mullins Games · Canada
Inscryption is a roguelike deck-building game from Canadian studio Daniel Mullins Games, directed by Daniel Mullins and published by Devolver Digital in 2021. Set in a cabin, it has the player face a mysterious gamemaster across a tabletop card game, gradually folding in puzzles, escape-room ideas and a cryptic metafictional story. It grew out of a Ludum Dare jam prototype and went on to win several Game of the Year awards.
By 1939 Games · Iceland
Kards is a free-to-play digital collectible card game with a World War II theme, played online against other people. You build decks from wartime cards and clash in strategic matches. It was developed and published by 1939 Games, a studio in Iceland, which put it into early access on Steam in April 2019 before its full launch in April 2020. Mobile versions for iOS and Android with cross-platform play followed in 2023.
By Curve Animation · Turkey
Liar's Bar is a card game from Curve Animation, a developer based in Turkey, that first appeared on Steam in October 2024. Its store listing groups it under casual, simulation and strategy categories, and it launched in Early Access for Windows. Available sources describe it only broadly as a card-based video game, so details of its rules and modes are best checked on its store page. It remains a notable recent indie release from the Turkish scene.
By Team Lazerbeam · South Africa
Shroom and Gloom is a first-person roguelike deckbuilder from Team Lazerbeam, a studio in South Africa, published by Devolver Digital. Players collect and grow cards across two decks at once, chaining large combos to defeat hostile fungal creatures in a moody setting. A demo was available on Steam in May 2025, and the full game entered early access in September 2026.
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 Apus Software, Three Donkeys LLC · Belarus
Spectromancer is a turn-based fantasy card game about magical duels. Rather than building a deck in advance, each player receives twenty random cards across five elements, gains mana in every element each turn and plays one card per turn until one side's life falls to zero. It was developed by Apus Software, a studio from Belarus, with Three Donkeys LLC, designed with input from Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, and released in 2008.
By Sokpop Collective · Netherlands
Stacklands is a management and construction sim played entirely with cards. Dragging cards onto one another produces resources, raises buildings and triggers fights with creatures, so a villager placed on a berry bush yields food that keeps the settlement alive. It was developed and published by Sokpop Collective from the Netherlands and came out for Windows and macOS in April 2022.
By Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon · United States
The Legend of Bum-bo is a roguelike deck-building game that serves as a prequel to The Binding of Isaac. Steam files it under adventure and strategy, and it is also categorized as a puzzle game. Designer Edmund McMillen created it with programmer James Interactive, with Ridiculon also credited, in the United States. It launched on Windows through Steam in November 2019, later reaching Android, Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
By poncle, Nosebleed Interactive · United Kingdom
This roguelike deckbuilder spinoff was co-developed by UK developers poncle and Nosebleed Interactive, with poncle publishing. It takes the action roguelike formula of Vampire Survivors and reshapes it around building a deck of cards. It released on Steam in April 2026 for Windows and macOS, and its Steam store tags pair action with strategy.
By Deadpan Games, Gaziter · United Kingdom
Wildfrost is a roguelike deckbuilder, a strategy game where players build a deck of cards over a run and restart with a new attempt after each failure. It was made in the United Kingdom by Deadpan Games together with Gaziter and published by Chucklefish. The game first came out in 2023 on Windows and Nintendo Switch, and during 2024 it was brought to mobile devices and Xbox consoles as well.
By SIV Games · Tunisia
Stacked Realms is a card-stacking survival strategy game in which every resource, building, creature and event is a card. Players drag village and structure cards onto resource cards to gather materials, unlock crafting recipes and grow a settlement, knowing that a bad stack can waste resources or trigger danger. The Tunisian studio SIV Games offers an in-development build on itch.io for Windows and in the browser.
By Morteshka · Russia
Black Book is a dark adventure RPG steeped in Slavic mythology from Morteshka, the Russian studio behind The Mooseman. You play a young sorceress in a world where people live alongside creatures from folklore, and battles are fought with cards drawn from a book of spells. It is a strong example of an indie game built directly on regional myths and folk belief.
By Project Moon · South Korea
Library of Ruina is an indie deck-building RPG from the South Korean studio Project Moon and a sequel to Lobotomy Corporation. Guests arrive at a mysterious library and fight its librarians in staged card battles, and every defeated guest becomes a book that helps the library grow. It is known for its deep combat system and dense, dark storytelling.