External Discovery
56 indie games in this list, released 2022, from developers such as PINIX, Thomas Happ Games LLC, Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda). 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 Thomas Happ Games LLC · United States
Axiom Verge 2 is a Metroidvania and the sequel to Axiom Verge. It follows billionaire Indra Chaudhari, who heads to Antarctica after a mysterious message suggests she may see her missing daughter again. American indie developer Thomas Happ Games made it, first releasing it in August 2021 on Switch, PlayStation 4 and the Epic Games Store before a Steam release in August 2022. Critics gave it generally favourable reviews.
By Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda) · Germany
Chained Echoes is a role-playing game modeled on 1990s Japanese RPGs, pairing turn-based battles with 16-bit style pixel art and a story told through several characters. Its unlikely heroes try to halt a war between three kingdoms. The game was created by Matthias Linda, credited on Steam as Umami Tiger, a developer from Germany, and published by Deck13 in 2022. Reviewers felt it matched the classics that inspired it while adding modern improvements.
By Jump Over The Age · United Kingdom
Citizen Sleeper is a role-playing game from Jump Over the Age, a developer based in the United Kingdom, released in 2022 with publishing handled by Fellow Traveller. Its Steam listing places it across adventure and RPG categories, and it launched on Windows and Mac in May of that year before reaching consoles. The game proved successful enough to receive a sequel, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, which came out in January 2025.
By TRAGsoft · Netherlands
Coromon is a monster-taming RPG in which a newly hired researcher at Lux Solis explores the Velua region, catching and battling creatures while seeking out six powerful Titans. Its fights draw on a stamina system, and difficulty can be customised to suit the player. It was developed by TRAGsoft in the Netherlands and published by indie.io, arriving on Windows and macOS in March 2022. Critics have frequently compared it to Pokemon.
By Tag of Joy · Lithuania
In Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit, a classic point-and-click adventure, players work to unravel a mystery tied to Lithuanian history. As in the classic genre, progress comes from investigating locations and working through the puzzles the story puts in the way. It was developed by Lithuanian studio Tag of Joy and published through Headup, with a release in May 2022 on Windows, Mac and Linux. Further details of its plot are not covered by the available sources.
By Massive Monster · Australia
Cult of the Lamb is a roguelike that splits its time between combat and community building. As a lamb spared from execution by an imprisoned god, you raise a devoted cult and head out on crusades through dungeons to defeat four bishops, then return home for calmer stretches of managing your followers. Made in 2022 by Massive Monster, a studio from Australia, with Devolver Digital publishing, it was nominated three times at the 19th BAFTA Games Awards ceremony, Best Game among them.
By Bippinbits · Germany
Dome Keeper is a tower defense game from Bippinbits, a studio in Germany, published by Raw Fury and made with the Godot engine. You protect a glass dome from waves of alien attackers, then use the short gap between waves to dig for resources below. Those materials buy upgrades that strengthen your defences for the next assault. It launched on Windows, macOS and Linux in September 2022 to generally positive reviews.
By Toukana Interactive · Germany
Dorfromantik is a strategy puzzle game in which you lay hexagonal tiles to build a peaceful rural landscape. Matching edges and completing fields, forests, villages and quests earns points and fresh tiles, and a creative mode allows free building. It was made by Toukana Interactive, founded in Germany by four students from HTW Berlin, and fully released in 2022. A board game version won the Spiel des Jahres in 2023.
By Herobeat Studios · Spain
Endling: Extinction is Forever is a survival adventure about a mother fox, the last of her kind, trying to keep her cubs alive in a world after the apocalypse. It sits between action-adventure and simulation according to its listed genres. Barcelona studio Herobeat Studios developed it, and it launched in July 2022 on Windows and consoles, later reaching Android and iOS and being offered free to PlayStation Plus subscribers in July 2023.
By Okomotive · Switzerland
Okomotive, a studio from Switzerland, followed FAR: Lone Sails with FAR: Changing Tides in 2022, a side-scrolling adventure with puzzle elements published by Frontier Foundry. The atmospheric journey follows a young boy and the ship he sails as he sets out across a post-apocalyptic world to find a new home. Keeping the vessel moving and navigating obstacles along the way forms the heart of the experience.
By Byte Barrel · Poland
Playing as either a priest or a journalist, you battle plague-ridden zombies and cultists through the strange town of Pestisville in Forgive Me Father, a first-person shooter. Polish developer Byte Barrel built it with Unreal Engine 4 and released it in 2022, with Fulqrum Publishing handling publishing. The game did well enough to lead to a sequel, which entered early access in 2023, and it holds a Metacritic score of 74.
By Siege Camp · Canada
Foxhole is a cooperative, massively multiplayer action-strategy game from Toronto-based Canadian studio Siege Camp, built in Unreal Engine 4. Viewed from a top-down perspective, it places each player in one of two factions as a single soldier in a persistent war inspired by early 20th century conflict. Players gather and manufacture supplies, haul them to the front, fight, and build fortifications to seize enemy territory.
By Broken Rules · Austria
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a 2D adventure game with hand-drawn art that follows a lost gibbon on a risky journey through unknown lands in search of home. Its story draws on real ecological issues and was shaped in collaboration with local people and experts from Southeast Asia. It was developed and published by Broken Rules, a studio from Austria, launching first on Apple Arcade in 2022 and reaching Windows in May of that year.
By Passion Republic Games · Malaysia
GigaBash is a brawler about giant monsters, drawing on the kaiju tradition for its towering fighters and destructive battles. Its roster includes guest appearances from the Godzilla, Ultraman and Gamera franchises, alongside its own creatures. Passion Republic Games, an independent studio from Malaysia, both made and published it, arriving on Windows in August 2022 with additional console versions following a year later.
By Petit Depotto · Japan
Gnosia is a visual novel built on social deduction, set aboard a spaceship threatened by a parasitic affliction called gnosia that takes over its hosts. The amnesiac player either investigates which crewmates may be infected or plays as one of the infected, while also working to break a time loop with the help of a silver key. Japanese studio Petit Depotto first released it in 2019, and the Windows version came in January 2022.
By Liquid Pug · Belarus
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.
By Mister Morris Games · Estonia
Haiku, the Robot is a Metroidvania in which a small robot explores a mechanical world overrun by corrupted machines. Play mixes combat with exploration of interconnected areas as you piece together the mysteries of a post-apocalyptic setting. Estonian studio Mister Morris Games developed and self-published it, launching it for PC and Mac in April 2022, with a Switch version later that year.
By kouri · Japan
Ib is an adventure horror game viewed from above, in which the title character is trapped inside an eldritch art gallery and joins forces with Garry and Mary to find a way back to the real world. It was the debut of Japanese creator kouri, first released in 2012 as freeware made in RPG Maker 2000. This commercial remake, rebuilt in RPG Maker MV with refreshed visuals, music and mechanics, came out through Playism in April 2022.
By Tanuki Creative Studio · Netherlands
Jitsu Squad is a beat 'em up in which players fight their way through stages packed with enemies at close range. It follows the classic side-scrolling fighting format of the genre. It was developed and self-published on Windows by Tanuki Creative Studio from the Netherlands, launching in March 2022. ININ Games then handled the console editions, which arrived on Switch, PlayStation and Xbox systems in December of that year.
By Lapovich Team · Belarus
Kapital: Sparks of Revolution is an economic simulation about class conflict. You serve as mayor of a capital city in a European country gripped by crisis, balancing policy against growing social unrest and deciding what compromises are worth making to avoid collapse. Steam lists it under simulation and strategy. It was developed by Lapovich Team from Belarus and released by Fulqrum Publishing in April 2022.
By Ogre Pixel · Mexico
Lonesome Village is a gentle adventure starring a coyote, mixing puzzle-solving with life-sim activities and leaving combat out entirely. Players explore the town, work through its puzzles and gradually learn about its magical history while trying to rescue it from a malevolent force. It was developed and self-published by Ogre Pixel, a studio based in Mexico, and launched in 2022 for Windows, Mac and Linux.
By Happy Juice Games · Israel
Lost in Play is a point-and-click adventure about siblings Gal and Toto, whose make-believe game turns their home and neighbourhood into a fantastical world. With no readable dialogue, it tells its story through cartoon visuals, and players move between loosely linked scenes solving puzzles and minigames with clues and gathered items. Israeli studio Happy Juice Games made it as its debut in 2022, and it earned IndieCade's 2022 Developer Choice Award.
By BLOODIOUS GAMES · Argentina
MADiSON is a first-person horror game built around a cursed instant camera. Players follow Luca, a teenager who receives the camera for his sixteenth birthday, and use it to work through puzzles while piecing together the dark story behind it. Developed by the Argentine studio Bloodious Games, it began as a 2016 project with an early demo in 2017 and launched in July 2022, drawing praise for its puzzle quality and carefully balanced tension.