External Discovery
63 indie games in this list, released 2023, from developers such as Out of the Blue Games, Little Leo Games, Naraven. 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 Out of the Blue Games · Spain
American Arcadia is a puzzle platformer centred on Trevor Hills, a man trying to break out of Arcadia, the artificial town he has lived in, which turns out to be a simulation. Along the way he is aided by Angela Solano, a stage technician, with Yuri Lowenthal and Krizia Bajos in the two lead roles. Spanish studio Out of the Blue developed the game and Raw Fury published it in November 2023.
By Little Leo Games · Brazil
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles is a digital tabletop roguelike in which dice take the place that cards hold in deck-building games, earning it the label dicebuilder from PC Gamer. Its overall run structure resembles Slay the Spire, but the rules underneath work differently. Players guide heirs of the Six-Sided Oracles against a corruption spreading through a star system. Brazilian studio Little Leo Games released it on Windows in September 2023, and critics praised its art and design.
By Naraven · Switzerland
Backfirewall_ is a comic puzzle adventure that takes place inside a smartphone, where the player works through levels to sabotage the device and stop its operating system from installing an update. Critics singled out its writing, puzzle design and unusual setting when it launched. Swiss independent studio Naraven developed the game, All in! Games published it in 2023, and it holds a Metacritic score of 82.
By FakeFish, Undertow Games · Finland
Barotrauma is a 2D side-scrolling co-op submarine simulator with survival horror and role-playing elements, set in the far future beneath the oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa. Each player takes a crew job such as steering, repairs or weapons, and some modes add a hidden traitor. Finnish studio Undertow Games developed it with FakeFish on MonoGame, and Daedalic Entertainment published the full release in March 2023.
By The Game Kitchen · Spain
Blasphemous 2 is a side-scrolling Metroidvania and the follow-up to the original Blasphemous from 2019. Steam files it under action and adventure, in line with the genre's mix of combat and exploration. It was developed by The Game Kitchen, a studio from Spain, and published by Team17, arriving on Windows and current consoles in August 2023, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions following that November. Reviews were generally positive.
By Team Reptile · Netherlands
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is an action platformer where a member of the Bomb Rush Crew skates, boards and bikes around the invented city of New Amsterdam. Players tag walls with graffiti, take on rival crews and dodge the police while trying to take over five boroughs. It was developed and published by Team Reptile from the Netherlands in 2023. Its cel-shaded style and music openly echo Jet Set Radio, including tracks by composer Hideki Naganuma.
By Bytten Studio · United Kingdom
Cassette Beasts is a role-playing game that draws on the Pokemon series, letting players record monsters onto tapes and use a cassette player to turn into those creatures in battle. The story follows the player's attempt to find a way back home. It was created by Bytten Studio in the United Kingdom and published by Raw Fury, launching on PC in April 2023. Critics responded favourably to its depth, and it earned a 2024 BAFTA Games Award nomination.
By Geometric Interactive · Denmark
Cocoon is a 2023 puzzle adventure from Danish studio Geometric Interactive, published by Annapurna Interactive. Players control a beetle able to hop between worlds, solving puzzles as they uncover the mysteries of its universe. It launched in September 2023 on Windows as well as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and critics received it generally positively, with a Metacritic score of 88.
By Toge Productions · Indonesia
Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly is a visual novel and the sequel to Coffee Talk, continuing the series' focus on conversation and café life. It was developed and published by Toge Productions, a studio in Indonesia, and released in April 2023. It started out as planned downloadable content for the first game, but its story and gameplay grew enough that the team made it a standalone release. It came shortly after the death of series creator Mohammad Fahmi.
By Stairway Games · Indonesia
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.
By Noisestorm · Ireland
Crab Champions is a third-person roguelike looter shooter in which players sweep across exotic islands, pairing fluid movement with quick, aggressive combat. It grew out of Noisestorm's viral track Crab Rave, whose music video, featuring 3D animated crabs dancing, drew millions of views. Developed and published by Noisestorm, based in Ireland, it was announced in April 2019 and entered Steam Early Access on 1 April 2023.
By Bad Seed · Italy
Crime O'Clock is a hidden object puzzle game in which the player takes on the role of a time traveler combing detailed hand-drawn scenes for clues. The aim is to prevent crimes before they are committed by spotting the right details. It was developed by Bad Seed, a studio in Italy, and released in 2023 for Windows and Mac. The game holds a Metacritic score of 69.
By KeokeN Interactive · Netherlands
Deliver Us Mars is a 2023 science fiction action-adventure and the follow-up to Deliver Us the Moon. It comes from KeokeN Interactive, a studio in the Netherlands, and was published by Frontier Foundry. Its genre listings point to a post-apocalyptic setting and puzzle elements alongside the adventure. Beyond these basics, public sources give few specifics, so the store page is the best guide to its structure and story.
By QCF Design · South Africa
Desktop Dungeons is a single-player game that blends roguelike dungeon crawling with puzzle design in a condensed form. Players clear a monster-filled dungeon and face a final boss, working out how best to spend items, spells and upgrades while preserving their health. Made by the South African studio QCF Design, it won an Excellence in Design award at the 2011 Independent Games Festival, and a remake, Desktop Dungeons: Rewind, arrived in April 2023.
By Fireplace Games · France
En Garde! is a third-person action game developed by Fireplace Games, a studio from France. Players take on the role of Adalia de Volador, a swashbuckling heroine in a 17th-century setting, with sword-driven action at the centre of play. Its Steam listing also tags it as an adventure. The game was released for Windows in August 2023.
By yeo · Russia
Fading Afternoon is a beat 'em up with action, adventure and role-playing elements, released for Windows in September 2023, with a Nintendo Switch version following in 2024. Yeo made it as a third project, following The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Arrest of a Stone Buddha, and it shares their themes and visual style. The developer is based in Russia, and IndieArk co-published the release.
By Andrii Bychkovskyi · Ukraine
Farlanders is a turn-based city-building strategy game about founding a colony on Mars, with puzzle elements on 2D grid maps that are procedurally generated. Every structure must link back to the base through wires, pipes or tunnels, terraforming is central to success, and limited space forces careful trade-offs between food, water and energy. It was created by Andrii Bychkovskyi in Ukraine, published by Crytivo, and released in January 2023.
By Brainwash Gang · Spain
Friends vs Friends is a first-person shooter that mixes deck-building into its design, pairing card-driven play with gunfights. Steam lists it as an action title. It was made by Brainwash Gang, an independent studio from Spain, and published by Raw Fury. The Windows version arrived in May 2023, with versions for Sony and Microsoft's current consoles following in September 2025, extending it from PC to current consoles.
By Frozen District · Poland
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.
By Spytihněv · Czech Republic
Hrot, stylized HROT, is a first-person shooter from Czech developer Spytihněv, released in full in May 2023. It pays tribute to 3D shooters from the 1990s, naming Chasm: The Rift and Quake as its main inspirations. The game spent time in early access from January 2021, starting with the first of its three episodes, and reviewers singled out its level design and atmosphere for praise.
By Zeekerss · United States
Lethal Company is a cooperative horror game in which players work as employees of a shadowy firm, scavenging scrap on abandoned industrial moons. Teams must avoid traps, hazards and hostile creatures while selling salvage to hit ever-rising profit targets, until an inevitable failure resets the run. It was made and self-published by Zeekerss, a developer from the United States, and entered early access on Steam in October 2023.
By Stuffed Wombat, Silkersoft, Lukke, Rollin'Barrel · Austria
Mosa Lina is a 2D physics puzzle platformer that bills itself as a hostile take on the immersive sim. Each puzzle is open-ended, and players must improvise using a random selection of special tools and items to find a way through. It was created by Stuffed Wombat from Austria with contributors Silkersoft, Lukke and Rollin'Barrel, launched on PC in 2023, and later came to macOS and Nintendo Switch.
By SMG Studio, Devm Games · Australia
Moving Out 2 is a cooperative simulation game and a sequel to Moving Out. Players work together to carry objects through a series of levels without crashing into obstacles, in a mix that draws on strategy, puzzle and party game ideas. It was developed by SMG Studio from Australia together with DevM Games, published by Team17, and released in 2023 for PC and a range of consoles.
By GameCrafterTeam, GameTomo Co., Ltd. · Thailand
Nimbus INFINITY is a fast mech combat game from GameCrafterTeam and GameTomo, a team based in Thailand, released in 2023. It takes place on a future Earth that is only starting to recover from war. Players fit mechanical Battle Frames with weapons to tailor their fighting style, fly across varied battlefields and follow the story of a new generation of pilots.