External Discovery
65 indie games in this list, released 2019, from developers such as Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios, Askiisoft, Yangyang Mobile. 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 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.
By Askiisoft · United States
Katana Zero is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash platformer about Subject Zero, an amnesiac sword-wielding assassin who can slow time and foresee what comes next. Each level asks the player to clear every enemy without taking a hit, bending time, dodging and exploiting hazards, while dialogue-tree conversations between stages tell a neo-noir story. American studio Askiisoft built it in GameMaker, and Devolver Digital published it in 2019.
By Yangyang Mobile · Philippines
Love Esquire mixes a visual novel, a dating sim and RPG elements in a comedic fantasy tale. Instead of a hero, the player controls a humble squire with only a few months to win someone's heart before being sent off to war, which gives the romance a ticking clock. It was developed and published by Yangyang Mobile, a studio based in the Philippines, and released in October 2019 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
By quicktequila · India
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.
By Bombservice · Brazil
Minoria is a Metroidvania with 2.5D graphics and a gothic horror mood, following warrior nuns who venture into the ruined Kingdom of Ramezia to rescue princesses captured by heretical witches. It serves as a spiritual successor to the Momodora series. Brazilian studio Bombservice developed it and DANGEN Entertainment published it on Windows in August 2019. Critics liked its combat and graphics but found the quality uneven and the game short.
By Triternion · Slovenia
Mordhau is a multiplayer medieval melee fighting game focused on skill-based competition and deep character customisation. Its close-quarters combat draws loosely on historical techniques such as feints and redirects, and battles also involve ranged weapons, siege engines and mounted fighting. It was developed by independent Slovenian studio Triternion, partly funded by a 2017 Kickstarter, and launched on Windows in April 2019.
By peropero · China
Muse Dash is a rhythm game that fuses music timing with side-scrolling action, so hitting notes also means attacking enemies as your character runs through each stage. It uses a 2D anime art style. The developer, PeroPeroGames, is based in China, and the game first appeared on mobile in 2018 before reaching Windows and macOS in June 2019, with hasuhasu handling publishing.
By DeadToast Entertainment · Sweden
My Friend Pedro is a run and gun action game built around shooting through its levels. It grew out of an earlier Flash game, MFP: My Friend Pedro, released in 2014 by Adult Swim Games. Swedish developer DeadToast Entertainment built the full version, which Devolver Digital published for Windows and Nintendo Switch in June 2019, with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ports following. It holds a Metacritic score of 81.
By Massive Monster, Tasselfoot · Australia
Never Give Up is a 2D platformer about Blue, a stick figure who wakes inside a strange facility and tries to get out. Levels are grouped into sets, each replaying the same layout in steadily harder variations that test persistence. Developed by Massive Monster from Australia with Tasselfoot and published by Armor Games in August 2019, it reboots the Give Up series and features voice acting by Arin Hanson.
By Monkey Moon, BlackMuffin · France
Night Call is a noir adventure co-developed by Monkey Moon and BlackMuffin in France and published by Raw Fury. You drive a taxi through Paris after surviving a serial killer's attack, and must crack a murder case by talking with passengers. Alongside the investigation, a management layer tracks the need to earn a living from each shift. Released in July 2019, it was praised for setting and characters but criticised as repetitive.
By Odders Lab · Spain
OhShape is a virtual reality rhythm game in which players strike poses and move their whole body to fit through shapes cut into walls, all set to music and dance choreography. Its creators took the concept from Hole in the Wall, a television game show. Spanish studio Odders Lab released it into early access in August 2019 and fully in December 2019, supporting PC headsets including the Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
By Klei Entertainment · Canada
Oxygen Not Included is a survival simulation game developed and self-published by Canadian studio Klei Entertainment. It blends the survival and simulation genres, and Steam files it as an indie simulation title. The game spent a long stretch in Steam early access starting in February 2017 before reaching its full launch in July 2019, and it holds a Metacritic score of 85 on the platforms it covers.
By Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation · Romania
PC Building Simulator has players running a repair shop that assembles and services computers, with an emphasis on gaming machines. Jobs involve diagnosing faults, swapping hardware and building custom rigs from licensed parts made by real brands. Romanian developer Claudiu Kiss began it as a solo project before The Irregular Corporation joined in 2017; it entered early access in 2018 and fully released on Windows in 2019.
By Amanita Design · Czech Republic
Pilgrims is a graphic adventure made and self-published by Czech studio Amanita Design. It is classed as a point-and-click puzzle adventure with an art-game sensibility, offering relaxed, casual play rather than action. Released in October 2019 for Windows, macOS, Linux and Apple Arcade, it was among the earliest games offered through Apple Arcade and later came to Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.
By Craneballs · Czech Republic
Planet Nomads is a 2019 science fiction sandbox game from Czech studio Craneballs. Its store listing combines the action, adventure and simulation genres, framing it as an open-ended sandbox with a sci-fi theme rather than a linear campaign. It was released in May 2019 for Windows, macOS and Linux, with Craneballs acting as both developer and publisher of the game.
By Pixelatto · Spain
Reventure is a comedic action-adventure that sends players to save a princess from the Dark Lord while poking fun at role-playing games, especially The Legend of Zelda. Its open world reacts to what the player does, and those choices can lead to any one of 100 different endings. Spanish studio Pixelatto released it in June 2019 as an expanded take on its Ludum Dare jam entry Lonk's Greedy Adventure, and critics singled out its humor.
By Leonard Menchiari, IV Productions, Ivan Venturi Productions · Italy
RIOT: Civil Unrest is a real-time strategy game that recreates riots drawn from actual events, letting the player take the side of either the police or the protesters. Director Leonard Menchiari, formerly an editor and cinematographer at Valve, lived through riots himself and made the game to tell those stories. Developed in Italy with IV Productions, it was funded on Indiegogo in 2014, entered early access in 2017 and fully released in 2019.
By Dapper Penguin Studios · Spain
Rise of Industry is a business tycoon game in which players construct and run an industrial empire, working to expand it during the early decades of the 20th century. It was created by Dapper Penguin Studios, an independent team from Spain, and published by Kasedo Games. After an early access period that began in February 2018, it reached full release in May 2019, and a sequel, Rise of Industry 2, arrived in 2025.
By Double Dash Studios · Brazil
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.
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 Keen Software House · Czech Republic
Space Engineers is a voxel-based sandbox game made and self-published by Keen Software House, an independent developer from the Czech Republic. Built on voxels, it leans on the simulation and strategy elements highlighted in its store genres, and from 2015 the studio officially shared the game's source code for about a year and a half to help modders. It joined Steam early access in 2013, entered beta in December 2016 and fully launched in February 2019.
By Starni Games · Ukraine
Strategic Mind: The Pacific is a strategy game played in turns, covering the Second World War in the Pacific, pitting the United States against the Empire of Japan. Players take command of one side and direct forces across the ocean theatre, with a focus on historical detail. It was developed and published by Starni Games, a studio based in Ukraine, and released for Windows in October 2019.
By Supra Games · Germany
Supraland is a first-person metroidvania in which you control a small toy figure roaming a set of themed zones built inside a child's sandbox. Progress follows the genre's guided non-linearity, with new abilities opening previously blocked routes and puzzles gating exploration. It comes from Supra Games in Germany, led by founder David Münnich, runs on Unreal Engine 4, and left early access in April 2019 before later getting a standalone expansion, Six Inches Under.
By Leonard Menchiari, Daniele Vicinanzo, Giulio Perrone · Italy
The Eternal Castle Remastered is a cinematic platformer and adventure presented as a remaster of a 1987 game that never actually existed. Set in a distant future, it follows a colonist whose ship goes down on Earth while trying to escape the planet. Leonard Menchiari led development alongside Daniele Vicinanzo and Giulio Perrone in Italy, and it was released in 2019. It holds a Metacritic score of 73.