26 indie games in this list, released 2013, from developers such as Carlsen Games, Alexander Bruce, Starbreeze Studios AB. 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.
140 is a minimalist platformer from Carlsen Games, a developer based in Denmark, released for Windows, Mac and Linux in 2013. Players travel through four levels, each paired with its own electronic soundtrack, as music and visuals combine into a synesthetic experience layered over tough platforming. Critics compared its music-synced play to the Bit.Trip series and Sound Shapes. Its director, Jeppe Carlsen, had earlier worked on Playdead's Limbo.
Antichamber is a first-person puzzle platformer set in a space that breaks the normal rules of geometry. Corridors can lead somewhere different depending on which way you face, and many puzzles rely on structures that could not exist in ordinary three-dimensional space, with short messages offering hints and life advice. It was created by Australian developer Alexander Bruce, built on Unreal Engine 3, and released for Windows on Steam in January 2013.
In Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a fantasy adventure, two young brothers travel through a land of orcs, trolls and other creatures seeking a cure for their sick father. It leans heavily on its story and is often cited as an example of artistry in the medium. Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios made it in Unreal Engine 3, and 505 Games published it in 2013 to positive reviews, with sales passing 800,000 units by early 2015.
CastleStorm is a genre mashup that combines tower defense, brawler-style fighting, and 2D physics-driven destruction. Its concept grew from the childhood fun of building toy castles and then smashing them, so defending your own stronghold and wrecking enemy walls go hand in hand. Hungarian developer Zen Studios created and self-published it in 2013; a Definitive Edition, a free-to-play mobile spin-off, a VR adaptation, and a 2020 sequel followed.
Dark Matter is a science fiction Metroidvania with survival horror elements, combining exploration of interconnected areas with tense, horror-tinged encounters. It was developed by InterWave Studios in the Netherlands and published by Iceberg Interactive. The game launched in 2013 for Windows, Mac and Linux. It stands as an independent attempt to mix the backtracking structure of the Metroidvania genre with a darker, horror-driven atmosphere.
Don't Starve is a survival game from Canadian studio Klei Entertainment, first released on PC in 2013. The player must keep the scientist Wilson alive, fed and sane in a gloomy parallel world called the Constant while fending off strange and supernatural creatures. An Adventure mode pits him against Maxwell, and the game is known for its distinctive art style as well as its difficulty and permanent death.
According to its genre listings, this Snowbird title, Eador: Masters of the Broken World, leans mainly on strategy while mixing in role-playing elements. It is a remake of an earlier title, Eador: Genesis, and available sources say little more about how it plays. The game was made by the Russian company Snowbird Game Studios and released in 2013, and it holds a Metacritic score of 74.
Evoland is a role-playing game from Shiro Games of France, built on the Heaps engine and first released in 2013. It borrows from Final Fantasy, Diablo and The Legend of Zelda and is packed with nods to film and gaming history. As you advance, you unlock new technologies and graphical upgrades that reference successive eras of the games industry. A sequel, Evoland 2, came out in 2015.
Released in 2013, Expeditions: Conquistador is a tactical role-playing game about squad combat in which players take charge of a Spanish expedition to Hispaniola and Mexico, set between 1518 and 1520. Alongside its tactical combat, it features resource management, a branching story and interactive fiction segments. It was made by Logic Artists in Denmark, partly funded through Kickstarter, and first released for Windows, Linux and Mac by BitComposer before THQ Nordic acquired the series in 2018.
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.
Gomo is an adventure played in the point-and-click tradition, made by the Slovak company Fishcow Studio. Available descriptions say little beyond its genre, so the specifics of its story and puzzles are left for players to discover. It was published by Daedalic Entertainment and released on Steam in December 2013 for Windows and Mac, and it holds a Metacritic score of 50.
Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle-platformer made by UK-based indie developer Tom Francis under the Suspicious Developments name, built in GameMaker and released for Windows in June 2013. As freelance spy Richard Conway, players slip into buildings, dodge guards and use gadgets like the Crosslink, which rewires electrical circuits, to bypass security. Along the way Conway tries to clear his name of a murder, and the game later opened the studio's Defenestration Trilogy.
Inquisitor is a role-playing game from Czech company Cinemax, first released in 2009 after close to a decade in development. Bringing it to English-speaking players took another three years of translation work, which led to a GOG.com release in September 2012. It was later greenlit on Steam in 2013 and arrived there that August, where it holds a Metacritic score of 64.
Joe Danger is a stunt racing game with platforming elements, putting players in control of a daredevil who tears through courses against the clock while chasing objectives to unlock further rounds. Reviewers liked its approachable play and the option to edit tracks while playing them. It was made and published by Hello Games, a British studio, first launching in 2010, and it was nominated for the Independent Games Festival grand prize.
Knights of Pen & Paper is an RPG from Brazilian developer Behold Studios, released with publishing support from Paradox Interactive and Seaven Studio. It first appeared on iOS and Android in October 2012 and came to Windows, OS X and Linux in June 2013 as the +1 Edition. A Nintendo Switch version called the +1 Deluxier Edition followed in 2018, alongside releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
MirrorMoon EP is a space exploration game with puzzle elements, built on Mirror Moon, a 2012 prototype that began life at a game jam. It takes inspiration from Noctis IV, another Italian indie title. Santa Ragione, a Milan studio in Italy, both developed and published it in 2013. By October 2013 it had sold 8,000 copies, and it holds a Metacritic score of 73.
Outlast is a first-person psychological survival horror game from Canadian independent studio Red Barrels, released in 2013 and built on Unreal Engine 3. Players follow freelance journalist Miles Upshur as he investigates Mount Massive Asylum, an isolated psychiatric hospital in the mountains of Colorado. Critics responded well to its atmosphere and horror, and the series later grew with a sequel, a prequel and comics.
SteamWorld Dig is a platforming action-adventure starring Rusty, a steam-powered robot who inherits a mine beneath the Western steampunk town of Tumbleton. Players dig ever deeper, solving puzzles and platforming past traps and enemies while exploring the underground. Swedish studio Image & Form made it as the second entry in the SteamWorld series, launching first on Nintendo 3DS in 2013 and reaching Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam that December.
Teleglitch is a roguelike action game from Test3 Projects, a developer based in Estonia, that folds survival horror features into its design. The Die More Edition, released in 2013 and published by Paradox Interactive, is an expanded version that bundles free extra content added after the original launch. It is available on Windows, Mac and Linux, and holds a Metacritic score of 78.
Teslagrad is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer built around magnetism and electromagnetic abilities. Players rely on these powers to solve its puzzles while uncovering a plot involving a tyrannical king. It was developed and published by Norwegian studio Rain Games and released in 2013 to generally positive reviews. A sequel, Teslagrad 2, followed a decade later in 2023, continuing the focus on electromagnetism.
A dark graphic adventure, The Cat Lady comes from Polish developer Harvester Games and was first released in 2012. It forms the second chapter of the Devil Came Through Here trilogy, following Downfall from 2009 and preceding Lorelai, which closed the series in 2019. The game was built with Adventure Game Studio and published by Screen 7, and it holds a Metacritic score of 81.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is an action RPG that casts players as the young son of Abraham Van Helsing, the famous vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's Dracula. The adventure unfolds in Borgovia, a gothic-noir take on 19th-century Eastern Europe where monsters and mad science collide, with deliberately anachronistic gadgets and humour. It was developed and self-published by Hungarian studio NeocoreGames and released in May 2013.
The Stanley Parable is a story-driven game in which players steer a silent protagonist named Stanley while a British narrator, voiced by Kevan Brighting, describes what he ought to do. Ignoring those directions is allowed and gets folded into the story, leading down branching paths to many endings before the game starts over. Davey Wreden and William Pugh rebuilt Wreden's Half-Life 2 mod on the Source engine as Galactic Cafe, a studio from the United States, releasing it in 2013.
By Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert, Carlo Castellano · Finland
The Swapper is a 2013 science fiction puzzle-platformer from Facepalm Games, an indie studio based in Helsinki, Finland. Stranded on an abandoned research station, the player finds a device that creates clones and lets her shift her mind between them, using it to solve puzzles and uncover what happened to the researchers. Its story explores consciousness and identity, and critics met the game with wide acclaim.