80 indie games in this list, released 2013–2026, from developers such as Jutsu Games, Ambertail Games, System Era Softworks. 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.
112 Operator puts players in charge of emergency services, taking incoming calls and choosing which first responders to dispatch to each incident. It blends simulation with real-time strategy, and a series of downloadable content updates widened the range of emergencies, services and scenarios on offer. Polish studio Jutsu Games developed it and Games Operators published it in 2020; the game is built on Unity 2018 and received average reviews at launch.
In 911 Operator you take on the job of an emergency call handler, answering incoming calls and deciding whether police, paramedics or firefighters should be sent to each incident. Steam classes it as casual simulation and strategy. Polish studio Jutsu Games built it after a successful Kickstarter campaign in the summer of 2016, and it launched on PC in February 2017, later followed by a sequel, 112 Operator, in 2020.
Amber Isle is a social simulation game with management elements, tagged on Steam as casual, adventure and RPG. It was developed by Ambertail Games, a studio in Ireland, and published by Team17. The game launched on Windows on 10 October 2024, and a Nintendo Switch version followed in February 2025. It will interest players who enjoy relaxed simulation games built around community life and management.
ASTRONEER drops players onto alien worlds as a spacesuited explorer whose job is to settle planets, gather raw materials and put up structures. Progress comes from travelling between planets and switching on their cores, with extras such as a new suit or visor handed out along the way. American studio System Era Softworks developed and published it with Unreal Engine 4, launching in early access in late 2016 and reaching full release in February 2019.
Automation lets players found their own virtual car manufacturer and engineer the vehicles it sells. Detailed design tools cover both car bodies and engines, while business choices determine whether the company grows into a leading automaker or fades out. It is developed and published by Camshaft Software, based in New Zealand, and entered Steam in 2015 as a Windows title in Early Access.
Banished is a city-building game about keeping an isolated, growing settlement alive. Players must manage resources carefully to survive, with the balance between sustainability and efficiency at the heart of every decision. Shining Rock Software, a studio from the United States, developed and released it for Windows in February 2014. Reviewers liked its graphics and early difficulty but felt feedback on player actions was lacking, and that survival mattered less as towns grew.
Before We Leave is a city-building game in which players lay out and grow settlements, a genre focused on planning, resources and expansion. Steam classifies it as a casual simulation and strategy title. It was made by New Zealand developer Balancing Monkey Games and released by Team17 in May 2021. The available sources do not describe its setting or systems in more detail than that, so it is best approached as a straightforward builder.
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.
Cairn is a climbing simulation adventure from The Game Bakers of France, following mountaineer Aava as she attempts to reach the top of Mount Kami. Every limb is placed by hand, while hunger, thirst and body temperature must be managed alongside weather and a day-night cycle that shift difficulty. On the ascent she meets other climbers and finds traces of earlier expeditions and a vanished civilization. It launched in January 2026.
Coral Island is a farming simulation game with life-sim and adventure elements, in which days are spent tending land and taking part in island life. It was developed by Stairway Games, a studio in Indonesia, and built in Unreal Engine 4. The game entered early access on PC in October 2022 and had its full release on PC and consoles on November 14, 2023. It suits players who enjoy relaxed farm and community sims.
Released in 2020, Death and Taxes is a simulation game by Estonian indie developer Leene Künnap, released through their company Placeholder Gameworks. Players act as a Grim Reaper working through paperwork at a desk, deciding which humans will live and which will die. Aligned with the death-positivity movement, it approaches mortality with a light touch, and in March 2020 its source code was published on GitHub under the MIT License.
Deeeer Simulator is a comedic sandbox game in which the player is reborn as a deer and can either wander a stylised city or wreck it with a range of supernatural powers, including a stretchy neck that works like a grappling hook, while hunting for secrets. Taking cues from Goat Simulator, it was developed by Gibier Games in Japan and published by Playism, leaving early access in November 2021.
Eco is a cooperative simulation in which players have to join forces to build a civilization on a virtual planet. Its design rewards a gentle, careful use of natural resources, and it serves as both entertainment and an educational tool. Steam lists it as an early access adventure and simulation title, and it is also described as a survival sandbox game. Strange Loop Games, a studio from the United States, created Eco, and arrived on Steam in February 2018.
Factorio is a factory simulation game from Czech studio Wube Software, which both developed and published it. After crash-landing on an alien planet, an engineer gathers resources and builds increasingly automated industry with the goal of launching a rocket, and play can carry on once that goal is met. It supports single-player and multiplayer, began as a 2013 Indiegogo campaign, and reached full release in August 2020 after early access.
Fields of Mistria is a farm life sim with role-playing elements, set in the fictional town of Mistria as it rebuilds after an earthquake. Alongside farming, players get to know the villagers, and the game also mixes in combat and magic. NPC Studio in the United States developed and published it, starting work in 2019 and drawing inspiration from Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon and Rune Factory. It entered early access in August 2024 and reached full release exactly two years later.
Ace Maddox, a developer based in Slovakia, built Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China as an aerial combat game, and released it on Windows in May 2017. It draws on the history of the Flying Tigers, the volunteer pilots who fought for China against Japan during World War II. Players fly in first- or third-person view through a mission-based single-player campaign, and multiplayer supports up to 16 people in co-op and competitive modes.
Game Dev Tycoon is a business simulation in which you run your own video game company. Starting small, players design and release games, shaping each project and steering the business as it grows, in a strategy loop that critics often compared with Kairosoft's Game Dev Story, which inspired it. It was created by Greenheart Games, an Australian company that the brothers Patrick and Daniel Klug founded in 2012, and first released in December 2012.
Goat Simulator is a comedic sandbox game in which the player controls a goat and tries to cause as much chaos as possible across an open map, without any larger objective. Its developer likens the flow to skateboarding games, and the team deliberately kept many harmless bugs for their comic value. Swedish studio Coffee Stain Studios grew it from a joke prototype made at an internal game jam, released it in 2014 and built it in Unreal Engine 3.
Godlike Burger is a darkly comic restaurant management game set in space. You run an eatery for alien customers and secretly dispatch some of them in creative ways, turning them into ingredients for the menu while keeping the rest coming back. Steam lists it as simulation and strategy. It was developed by Liquid Pug, a studio from Belarus, and published by Daedalic Entertainment in April 2022 for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Going Medieval is a colony simulation in which the player guides a band of survivors rebuilding after a Black Death-like plague. It takes place in an alternate-history version of 14th-century Britain and is often likened to RimWorld and Dwarf Fortress for the depth of its building and simulation systems. The game comes from the Serbian independent developer Foxy Voxel, entered early access in 2021 and fully launched in March 2026.
House Flipper is a simulation game whose title points to its theme of renovating homes. Steam lists it under simulation, casual and strategy among other tags. Polish developer Empyrean made it, with Frozen District and PlayWay as publishers, launching in May 2018. A mobile edition came out in 2020 and a sequel, House Flipper 2, followed in December 2023, though the available sources do not describe its mechanics in detail.
Real estate flipping is the theme of House Flipper 2, a casual simulation built around the business of renovating homes for resale. It follows the original House Flipper from 2018 and was released for Windows in 2023. Development was handled by Polish studio Frozen District together with Empyrean, with Frozen District and PlayWay sharing publishing duties. The sequel holds a Metacritic score of 79.
Hydroneer is a mining sandbox from British indie studio Foulball Hangover, released on Steam in May 2020 and built with Unreal Engine 4. Its store listing combines adventure, casual, simulation and strategy tags, pointing to open-ended play built around mining. Console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S followed in May 2026, timed to the game's sixth anniversary.
By Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios · Germany
Islanders is a minimalist city-builder from German indie studio Grizzly Games, whose members made it over seven months while studying game design at HTW Berlin. You score points by positioning buildings on a procedurally generated island, and points refill your stock, unlock new structures and let you move to fresh islands. A session ends when nothing more can be placed. It launched on Steam in April 2019.