External Discovery
An editorial guide from The Gaming Nest to indie games from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, MENA and Oceania — each with original notes and a link to its store page.
These are editorial pages. The developers and publishers are not affiliated with The Gaming Nest unless explicitly stated.
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 Chasing Carrots · Germany
Halls of Torment is a role-playing game with action roguelike elements, developed and self-published by Chasing Carrots in Germany. Its genre tags combine action combat with RPG progression inside a run-based structure. It launched in early access in May 2023 and reached its full release in September 2024 on Windows and Linux. Mobile ports and later PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions followed.
By Konstantin Koshutin · Russia
Hammerfight is a 2D action game built on physics, created by Russian developer Konstantin Koshutin and released on Windows in 2009 through publishers KranX Productions and 1C. It later reached a wider audience in 2011 as part of the third Humble Indie Bundle, when its underlying Haaf's Game Engine became open source and gained cross-platform support. A version titled Age of Hammer Wars also appeared on PlayStation minis and iOS.
By Defiant Development · Australia
Hand of Fate is an action RPG that combines deck building with roguelike dungeon runs. A mysterious Dealer lays out each randomized dungeon from cards on a tabletop, narrating events and asking for choices, and when a fight breaks out the game shifts into third-person brawling that rewards well-timed attacks, blocks and dodges. It was developed and published by the Australian studio Defiant Development, entering early access in 2014 and fully releasing in February 2015.
By Destructive Creations · Poland
Hatred is an isometric shooter in which the player controls a misanthropic killer on a violent rampage against civilians. Polish studio Destructive Creations developed and self-published it in 2015 using Unreal Engine 4, pitching it as a response to trends such as political correctness and games as art. Its reveal trailer drew controversy, Valve briefly pulled it from Steam Greenlight before restoring it, and critics largely called the finished game repetitive.
By The Game Bakers · France
Haven is a role-playing game developed and self-published by The Game Bakers, a studio from France. It combines role-playing systems with adventure, as listed in its Steam tags. The game arrived in December 2020 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, with PlayStation 4 and Switch versions following early in 2021. Critical reception was mixed, with reviewers split over its story.
By Terri Vellmann, Doseone · Brazil
Heavy Bullets is a first-person shooter that follows roguelike rules, combining gunplay from a first-person view with the structure of a roguelike. It was made by Terri Vellmann, an independent developer based in Brazil, with Doseone also listed as a developer on its store page. Devolver Digital published it for Windows, OS X and Linux in September 2014.
By Dynamic Pixels · Russia
In the stealth horror game Hello Neighbor, players control Nicky Roth as he tries to sneak into the basement next door and uncover what his neighbor, Theodore Peterson, is hiding. The neighbor's AI adapts to earlier attempts, laying bear traps, bucket traps or cameras along routes the player has favoured. Russian studio Dynamic Pixels developed it with Unreal Engine 4, tinyBuild published it in 2017, and it grew into a wider franchise.
By Wispfire · Netherlands
Herald: An Interactive Period Drama is a single-player adventure with visual novel elements and a branching story. Players decide how the protagonist Devan Rensburg acts and talks to others, which reshapes the plot, and the game tackles colonialism and other social themes. It was the debut of Wispfire, an indie studio in Utrecht, Netherlands, released in 2017. It won the Indie Prize Showcase award for Best Narrative at Casual Connect in 2015.
By Okomotive · Switzerland
Herdling is a wordless puzzle adventure in which a girl named Via leaves a grimy city to guide furry creatures called calicorns up a mountain to their home. With no combat available, players rely on stealth to slip past predators and hazards, and can rescue injured calicorns found along the route. Swiss studio Okomotive made it as its first 3D game, published by Panic in 2025, and it won the SGDA Swiss Game Award for Best Entertainment Game.
By Hidden Folks · Netherlands
Hidden Folks is a hidden object game set in a series of animated scenes that react when you poke at them. Players scan each busy picture and interact with it to track down specific characters, creatures and items. Its creators, Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg, are based in the Netherlands, and it launched in February 2017 on Windows, Mac and Linux as well as mobile. The appeal is patient searching rather than any time pressure or combat.
By Konstantin Koshutin · Russia
HighFleet, also titled HighFleet: Deus in Nobis, is a strategy game with action sequences in which the player commands a fleet of heavy metal airships. The campaign unfolds on Elaat, a dieselpunk post-apocalyptic world, where the goal is to take a rebellious region said to hold a nuclear reactor. It was created by Russian developer Konstantin Koshutin, published by MicroProse in 2021, and spent over ten years in development under the working title Hammerfight 2.
By Yangyang Mobile · Philippines
High Times is a dating sim and visual novel with a cooking twist from Yangyang Mobile, an independent studio in the Philippines. Players work as a Mood Confectioner at The Hotbox, a doughnut shop set in the invented city of San Mazo, baking treats laced with mood enhancers that shift how customers feel. Released in July 2026, it marks Yangyang Mobile's fifth commercial release and was partly funded by a 2024 Kickstarter campaign.
By Team Cherry · Australia
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a Metroidvania and the follow-up to Hollow Knight, starring Hornet after she is captured and carried to the unfamiliar kingdom of Pharloom. Players explore a large web of connected regions, fighting enemies, clearing platforming challenges and taking on quests with an expanding set of skills, tools and movement abilities. It was made by Team Cherry, an independent studio from Australia, and released in September 2025 after growing from a planned expansion into a full sequel.
By Dennaton Games · Sweden
Hotline Miami is a violent top-down shooter set in 1989 Miami, following a silent masked killer as he wipes out the Russian mafia. Every level must be cleared of enemies by any means available, and each animal mask grants its own ability. Swedish duo Dennaton Games, programmer and writer Jonatan Söderström with artist Dennis Wedin, built it in about nine months with GameMaker. The 2012 release is frequently named among the indie titles that shaped the decade that followed.
By Dennaton Games · Sweden
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a top-down shooter that expands on the first game's story, covering events before, during and after Jacket's rampage through several different playable characters. Levels are still about eliminating every enemy using whatever works, and the Steam version includes a level editor for sharing custom stages. Swedish studio Dennaton Games originally planned it as DLC before it grew into a full sequel, released in March 2015.
By Empyrean · Poland
House Flipper is a simulation game whose title points to its theme of renovating homes. Steam lists it under simulation, casual and strategy among other tags. Polish developer Empyrean made it, with Frozen District and PlayWay as publishers, launching in May 2018. A mobile edition came out in 2020 and a sequel, House Flipper 2, followed in December 2023, though the available sources do not describe its mechanics in detail.
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 No Brakes Games · Lithuania
Human Fall Flat is a comedic puzzle platformer whose levels can be tackled again and again in different ways. Critics gave it mixed reviews overall, but the replay value of its puzzles and its funny character animations earned praise. It comes from No Brakes Games, a studio based in Lithuania, was published by Curve, and launched on PC in July 2016. It has since sold over 58 million copies, ranking it among the best-selling games of all time.
By Foulball Hangover · United Kingdom
Hydroneer is a mining sandbox from British indie studio Foulball Hangover, released on Steam in May 2020 and built with Unreal Engine 4. Its store listing combines adventure, casual, simulation and strategy tags, pointing to open-ended play built around mining. Console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S followed in May 2026, timed to the game's sixth anniversary.
By Bossa Studios · United Kingdom
I Am Bread casts the player as a slice of bread trying to reach the toaster. Movement relies on abilities like gripping onto surfaces, and levels become puzzles about climbing across rooms while dodging dangers such as knives, pets and dirty floors that spoil the bread. Bossa Studios, based in the United Kingdom, developed and released it in April 2015, and the humorous idea later continued in a follow-up, I Am Fish, in 2021.
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 Binx Games, Croteam Incubator, Croteam · Croatia
I Hate Running Backwards is a 2018 vertically scrolling shoot 'em up developed by Croatian team Binx Games with Croteam, with Devolver Digital as publisher. Solo or with a partner, players run backwards through procedurally generated, partly destructible levels, fending off enemies advancing from the bottom of the screen with two weapons, a melee attack and a charged ultimate ability. Series hero Sam Stone is playable, and it was the first Croteam Incubator release.