External Discovery
63 indie games in this list, released 2023, from developers such as Italic Pig, Recreate Games, Tour De Pizza. 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 Italic Pig · Ireland
Paleo Pines is a life simulation game in which you work as a rancher at a dinosaur sanctuary. Days are spent looking after the creatures and building friendships with the people of the nearby town. It was made by independent studio Italic Pig in Ireland and released on 26 September 2023 for Windows, Linux and a range of consoles. Its Steam listing combines simulation, RPG and adventure tags with a casual, easygoing pace.
By Recreate Games · China
Party Animals is a multiplayer party game built around physics-based brawling, developed by Chinese studio Recreate Games, with Source Technology publishing. It released in September 2023 on Windows and both Xbox One and Series X/S, with a PlayStation 5 port following in January 2025. The game runs on Unity and is listed on Steam as a casual indie action title designed for playing with others.
By Tour De Pizza · Canada
Pizza Tower is a 2D platformer by Canadian indie developer Tour De Pizza, released in 2023 and built with GameMaker. Chef Peppino Spaghetti climbs a tower to save his pizzeria, racing through 20 side-scrolling stages where collectibles and defeated enemies feed score combos. Each level ends with a timed escape back to the start, and there is no health or lives system. Its design takes cues from the Wario Land series.
By Sunna Entertainment · Costa Rica
Planet Cube: Edge is a fast action platformer with hand-drawn pixel art. You run, shoot, jump and dash through an underwater research facility while picking up weapons to push back against a mysterious invader. The game leans on precise platforming. It was developed by Sunna Entertainment, a studio from Costa Rica, and published by Balor Games in February 2023 for Windows and Mac.
By RyseUp Studios · France
Roboquest is a roguelite first-person shooter from RyseUp Studios, an indie developer from France, built in Unreal Engine 4. It combines first-person gunfights with the run-based structure of the roguelite format. It spent time in Steam early access from 2020 before its full launch on PC and Xbox in November 2023. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions followed in May 2025.
By Accidently Awesome · Austria
Roto Force is a twin-stick shooter, the kind of action game where one control moves your character and another aims your fire. It was developed by Accidently Awesome, a studio from Austria, and published by PID Games and East2West Games. The game was released in 2023 for both mobile devices and personal computers, including Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Sabotage Studio · Canada
Sea of Stars is a role-playing game from Canadian studio Sabotage Studio, released in 2023 as the team's next project after The Messenger. Players control Solstice Warriors Valere or Zale, who wield sun and moon powers to hunt monsters called Dwellers across a fantasy archipelago. Its isometric pixel art recalls Super Nintendo era RPGs, combat mixes strategic and real-time elements, and it won Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2023.
By Sloclap · France
Sifu is a beat 'em up from Sloclap, a studio in France, built in Unreal Engine 4. Set in China, it casts you as the child of a martial arts master seeking revenge for their father's murder. A magical talisman revives you after each death but ages you, raising attack power while lowering health, and growing too old means permanent death and a level restart. It launched in 2022 and was reviewed positively for its combat, environments and story.
By Pixelpogo · Germany
Super Catboy is a platformer starring the title character, a cat in human form who fights through a cast of other animal characters. His goal is to stop the villainous Dr. Ungefug. The game was developed by Pixelpogo, a studio in Germany, published by Assemble Entertainment, and released for Windows and macOS in 2023. On Steam it is filed under action and adventure, and it will appeal to fans of classic character platformers.
By Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn · South Africa
Terra Nil flips the usual city-building formula: instead of expanding and consuming resources, players place structures to rebuild damaged ecosystems and bring nature back. The game draws on the climate crisis and on the ideas of the rewilding movement. It was developed by the South African studio Free Lives together with Clockwork Acorn, published by Devolver Digital, and released on March 28, 2023, with mobile versions offered through Netflix Games.
By Rain Games · Norway
Teslagrad 2 is an action-adventure that borrows ideas from Metroidvania games while keeping a mostly linear route. Players control a young girl with electromagnetic abilities as she tries to make her way back home. This follow-up to Teslagrad was developed by Norwegian studio Rain Games, with a 2023 release. The electromagnetism at its core shapes both how players move through the world and how they overcome obstacles.
By CreSpirit, GemaYue, Ein Lee · Taiwan
TEVI is a side-scrolling action-adventure classed as a Metroidvania, following a rabbit-eared girl named Tevi on a quest for Astral Gears, mana-storing devices her father is obsessed with. It was developed and published by CreSpirit, a studio from Taiwan, with GemaYue and Ein Lee also credited. After a demo in early 2023, the game launched on 29 November 2023 for Windows and Nintendo Switch, with Xbox and PlayStation versions arriving in 2024.
By Deconstructeam · Spain
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a narrative adventure starring a witch living in exile. Its central mechanic has players design a personal tarot deck and then use it to perform divinations for fellow witches, so the cards they create shape the readings they give. It was developed by Deconstructeam, a studio from Spain, and published by Devolver Digital, releasing on Windows in August 2023.
By KOTAKE CREATE · Japan
The Exit 8 is a horror walking simulator set in an underground passage of a Japanese metro station, where players must watch for anomalies, subtle changes in the corridor, to find their way out. It drew on the eerie feel of liminal spaces and on the anomaly hunting of I'm on Observation Duty. Developed in nine months by Kotake Create in Japan, it launched on Steam in November 2023 and won at the Japan Game Awards and CEDEC Awards.
By Vanimals · China
Undying is a 2023 survival game developed by Chinese studio Vanimals, with Skystone Games publishing. Set during a zombie apocalypse, it follows a mother who has been bitten and must pass on survival skills to her child before she loses her humanity. Its central tension is that race against time. Steam lists it as an indie adventure, and it holds a Metacritic score of 74 from critics.
By Sad Owl Studios · United Kingdom
Viewfinder is a puzzle game from UK developer Sad Owl Studios, published by Thunderful Publishing. It debuted on Windows and PlayStation 5 in July 2023, with later releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch through 2025. Store tags also place it in the adventure genre, critics gave it a generally positive reception, and it holds a Metacritic score of 84.
By System Erasure · Finland
Released in 2023, Void Stranger is a sokoban-style puzzle game from System Erasure, an independent developer in Finland made up of Eero Lahtinen and Antti Ukkola. Players guide a character toward the bottom of a labyrinth, solving block-pushing puzzles to advance, while layered secrets and shifting mechanics gradually transform how it plays. It is known for its difficulty and intricate story, and it followed the pair's first game, ZeroRanger.
By Digitality Games · Portugal
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire follows the youngest son of Dracula, who turns his back on the family tradition to grow plants instead. By day players look after an eerie farm, and by night they protect those crops from waves of enemies in roguelite action, unlocking new abilities and many plant varieties along the way. It was developed by Digitality Games of Portugal, published by indie.io, and released for Windows in 2023.
By Owlcat Games · Russia
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a story-driven isometric role-playing game set in the grim Warhammer 40,000 universe. It follows the classic computer RPG model, with an emphasis on narrative, and was made in close partnership with Games Workshop. Owlcat Games, based in Russia, developed and published it in December 2023 for Windows and macOS as well as consoles, and several expansions have followed.
By Shiro Games · France
Wartales is a tactical role-playing game from Shiro Games, a studio based in France. Players lead a band of mercenaries trying to stay alive in a low-fantasy setting still recovering from a plague, combining tactical fights with the upkeep of the company. Its genre tags also point to survival and adventure elements. The game was released in 2023 on Windows, with Switch and Xbox Series versions as well.
By Deadpan Games, Gaziter · United Kingdom
Wildfrost is a roguelike deckbuilder, a strategy game where players build a deck of cards over a run and restart with a new attempt after each failure. It was made in the United Kingdom by Deadpan Games together with Gaziter and published by Chucklefish. The game first came out in 2023 on Windows and Nintendo Switch, and during 2024 it was brought to mobile devices and Xbox consoles as well.
By panstasz · Poland
Set in the fictional Japanese town of Shiokawa during the year 198X, World of Horror asks players to explore eerie locations and battle otherworldly creatures to stop an approaching apocalypse. Its 1-bit pixel art was drawn in Microsoft Paint by Polish creator Paweł Koźmiński, whose influences included H. P. Lovecraft and Junji Ito. After an early access period starting in 2020, the full release arrived in October 2023 to generally favourable reviews.
By Nankidai · Japan
Your Turn to Die -Death Game by Majority- is an episodic horror adventure presented as a visual novel and built around a death game premise. It was created by Nankidai, a manga artist from Japan, and first appeared in 2017, later gaining a cult following along with manga and light novel adaptations. An English translation arrived in 2019, and the game came to Steam in early access in February 2023.
By 鬼谷工作室 · China
Tale of Immortal is a role-playing game with a sandbox open world rooted in Chinese mythology and Taoist folklore, drawing on the Classic of Mountains and Seas. As a cultivator competing with rival characters, you train martial skills over time with the goal of ascending to godhood. Chinese developer Ghost Valley Studio made it, co-published with Lightning Games, and the full release followed early access in May 2023.