External Discovery
60 indie games in this list, released 2017, from developers such as SteelRaven7, Soaphog, Aether Studios. 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 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 Aether Studios · United States
Rivals of Aether is a competitive platform fighter that critics commended for the depth of its gameplay. It was created by Dan Fornace, released through Aether Studios in the United States, built in GameMaker, and arrived on Windows in March 2017. The game grew into a wider series set in the shared Aether fantasy world, including a dating sim, a deck-building game, a roguelike, a comic series and a full sequel, Rivals of Aether II, in October 2024.
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 VR · Croatia
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope is a 2017 virtual reality first-person shooter from Croteam VR, a specialised division that Croatian studio Croteam set up to explore VR development. Alone or with a second player, you hold off waves of enemies and bosses across five themed planets, dual-wielding weapons within a limited play space as foes close in from a 180-degree arc. Devolver Digital published it after an early access period.
By Kaigan Games OÜ · Malaysia
SIMULACRA is a horror game played entirely through the phone of a woman who has gone missing. The player digs through her messages, apps and other content on the device, piecing together clues much like a detective to work out what became of her. Malaysian developer Kaigan Games made and published it in 2017, building it with Unreal Engine 4 and libGDX, and it reached Windows and Mac on Steam alongside consoles and mobile.
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 Lapovich Team · Belarus
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.
By Thunder Lotus · Canada
Sundered is a Metroidvania action game developed and self-published by Thunder Lotus Games of Canada, first released in July 2017 for PC and PlayStation 4. It belongs to a genre that typically centres on exploring an interconnected map and unlocking new abilities. A definitive release, the Eldritch Edition, reached Switch and Xbox One consoles in December 2018, and Steam lists the game under Action and Adventure.
By Locomalito, Gryzor87, Abylight · Spain
Super Hydorah is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up in which the pilot of a lone space fighter, the Delta Lance, battles the alien Meroptians to save humanity. It imitates the look of 16- and 32-bit era games and adds a CRT screen effect. Created in Spain by Locomalito, with Abylight Studios publishing it in September 2017, it expands the developer's earlier freeware Hydorah; critics liked its visuals and music but found its difficulty harsh.
By Spooky Doorway · Ireland
The Darkside Detective is a point-and-click adventure with a detective theme, focused on investigating cases through classic adventure-game interaction. It was developed by Spooky Doorway, a studio in Ireland, and published by Akupara Games, launching on July 27, 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux before reaching consoles. It was later followed in 2021 by a sequel titled A Fumble in the Dark.
By Team17, Mouldy Toof Studios · United Kingdom
The Escapists 2 is a strategy role-playing game from UK developer Mouldy Toof Studios, published by Team17 as the sequel to 2015's The Escapists. It launched in August 2017 for Windows, macOS, Linux and consoles, with Nintendo Switch and mobile versions following in later years. Its store listing leans on simulation and strategy, while its genre listings also include role-playing.
By Blue Brain Games · Slovakia
The House of Da Vinci is a 3D puzzle adventure from Blue Brain Games, an independent studio in Slovakia, first released in 2017. Players work through intricate mechanical contraptions, hunt for hidden objects and escape locked rooms while searching for their missing master. The fictional story takes place during the Renaissance, and the game went on to receive three follow-ups from the same studio, including a VR entry.
By Yangyang Mobile · Philippines
The Letter is a horror visual novel in which seven people are caught up in a deadly curse and must struggle to survive it. The story places as much weight on the characters' own darker impulses as on the supernatural threat stalking them, asking how far each will go to stay alive. It was developed by Yangyang Mobile, a studio based in the Philippines, and released in July 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Hinterland Studio Inc. · Canada
The Long Dark is a survival game from Canadian studio Hinterland, fully released in 2017 after an early access period that began in 2014. Players take on the roles of bush pilot Will Mackenzie and doctor Astrid Greenwood, stranded in the freezing Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. Development was backed by seed money from the Canada Media Fund and by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013.
By CINIC Games · Italy
The Wardrobe is a point-and-click adventure game from C.I.N.I.C. Games, a studio based in Italy, and was first released in 2017. This Steam version is the Even Better Edition, available on Windows and Mac. It belongs to the classic graphic adventure genre and holds a Metacritic score of 72. The verified facts available here give little detail about its story or specific mechanics, so this summary sticks to its genre and origins.
By Smiling Buddha Games, LLC · Canada
Use Your Words is a party game developed by Smiling Buddha Games, a studio from Canada, and published by Screenwave Media. It launched in April 2017 on PC, Mac, Wii U, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch version arriving in August 2017. Built as a party game for groups playing together, it is listed on Steam as a casual indie title rather than a solo experience.
By Fatbot Games, s. r. o. · Slovakia
Vaporum is a grid-based dungeon crawler from Fatbot Games, a studio in Slovakia, released in 2017 and modeled on old-school entries in the genre. It is set in an original steampunk world, where the hero finds himself stranded before a colossal tower rising from the middle of an ocean. Exploring the tower means uncovering what the place is, what happened inside it and who the protagonist really is.
By Giant Sparrow · United States
What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person exploration game about seventeen-year-old Edith returning to her family's old house after seven years away. Wandering its rooms, she pieces together a string of deaths that brought down the family, each told as a separate vignette from a different perspective in a magical realist anthology. Giant Sparrow in the United States developed it on Unreal Engine 4, Annapurna Interactive published it in 2017, and it took Best Game at the 2017 British Academy Games Awards.
By SONNORI Corp · South Korea
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is a survival horror remake of a 2001 Korean game, developed by South Korea's ROI Games, also known as Sonnori, together with Gachyon Soft. Players control a high school transfer student who slips into his school at night to leave a White Day gift for his crush, only to be locked in with supernatural threats. Surviving means hiding from enemies, managing items and solving puzzles before dawn. The PC version arrived in 2017.
By UPLAY Online · Spain
Youtubers Life blends life simulation with business simulation, and Steam also tags it as a casual, strategy and adventure title. It comes from U-Play Online (listed on Steam as UPLAY Online), an independent company based in Spain that also handled publishing. The game first appeared in Steam Early Access in May 2016 before its full release in February 2017, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Light Studio | نقش الضوء · Saudi Arabia
Wojdan is an adventure visual novel with puzzles that change the path of the story. It follows 11-year-old Jawad, his father Adel and sister Sara as they leave their village for the city to find a doctor who can cure him, only to learn the doctor has vanished. The title is an Arabic word for the soul or inner strength. It was released in 2017 by Light Studio (Naqsh Al-Daw), the Saudi team that later made Lefty.
By Inkline Ltd. · Lebanon
Ayo: A Rain Tale is a puzzle platformer about a young girl who crosses the harsh lands of sub-Saharan Africa to fetch water for her family during a drought. Players push boulders, solve puzzles, face enemies and deal with heat and a day-night cycle along the way. The game was made to raise awareness of water scarcity. It is the debut of Inkline, a studio based in Beirut, Lebanon, and launched on PC before coming to mobile.
By RABABA Games · Jordan
DUB Hunting (Duban Hunter) is a casual mobile game about a hunting trip in the desert. Players drive across sand and dunes looking for spiny-tailed lizards and other desert animals, keeping an eye on fuel and water supplies while they explore. It is developed by Rababa Games, a game studio based in Jordan that is best known for its HAJWALA driving series.