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 Parodie Games · Turkey
Slots & Diapers is an absurdist incremental game about growing a gambling fortune from very humble beginnings. Players spin slot machines for jackpots, bring on hired gamblers to automate the spinning, and buy permanent upgrades that speed up later runs. It comes from Parodie Games, a developer based in Turkey, was published by Lazy Otter, and launched in June 2026 on Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Tactical Adventures · France
Solasta II is a tactical role-playing game from Tactical Adventures, a studio based in France, published together with Kepler Interactive. It follows on from Solasta: Crown of the Magister, which came out in 2021. Its Steam tags place it across RPG, strategy and adventure, in line with the tactical focus of its genre. An early access version launched on Windows in March 2026.
By Frictional Games · Sweden
SOMA is a science fiction survival horror game in which Simon Jarrett wakes inside an underwater research station full of machines that seem to have personalities of their own. Play centres on sneaking past threats, solving puzzles and uncovering the station's past, with less weight on inventory and more on story and character. Swedish studio Frictional Games developed and published it in 2015 using its HPL Engine, and it holds a Metacritic score of 84.
By Endnight Games Ltd · Canada
The sequel to 2018's The Forest, Sons of the Forest delivers survival horror set on a mysterious island. Players are sent there to find a missing CEO and his family, confronting cannibalistic creatures while uncovering an ancient secret hidden underground. Canadian studio Endnight Games developed it, with Newnight publishing, and it entered early access on Windows in February 2023 before its full release in February 2024.
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 Apus Software, Three Donkeys LLC · Belarus
Spectromancer is a turn-based fantasy card game about magical duels. Rather than building a deck in advance, each player receives twenty random cards across five elements, gains mana in every element each turn and plays one card per turn until one side's life falls to zero. It was developed by Apus Software, a studio from Belarus, with Three Donkeys LLC, designed with input from Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, and released in 2008.
By DoubleDutch Games · Netherlands
SpeedRunners is a side-scrolling multiplayer racer in which up to four players run, jump and swing through levels while trying to knock rivals off the screen. Weapons and pickups add chaos, and matches can be played locally or online. It was developed by Dutch studio DoubleDutch Games on Microsoft XNA, published by tinyBuild, and fully released in 2016 after early access; the Electronic Sports League recognised it as an esport in 2015.
By Neverjam · Latvia
SpiderHeck is a party brawler starring spiders armed with laser swords. Players duel friends to the death or team up to hold off swarms of hostile enemies, swinging, stabbing, and shooting while pulling off acrobatic parkour moves. It was developed by Neverjam, a studio from Latvia, published by tinyBuild, and launched on Windows in September 2022, with Steam tagging it as a casual action game.
By Mike Klubnika · Estonia
Released in 2025, s.p.l.i.t is a psychological horror game made and self-published by Mike Klubnika, a developer from Estonia, with Oro Interactive also credited as a publisher on Steam. It launched on Windows and Linux in July 2025. Beyond its psychological horror framing, its store and database listings place it in the action and simulation genres. The title is stylised in lowercase with full stops, while it is written as Split in plain text.
By Die Gute Fabrik · Denmark
Sportsfriends is a party game compilation from Die Gute Fabrik, an independent developer collective in Denmark, bundling four titles: Hokra, BaraBariBall, Super Pole Riders and Johann Sebastian Joust. That last one needs no screen at all, as players try to keep their PlayStation Move controller steady while jostling rivals' controllers. Super Pole Riders is a pole-vaulting game by Bennett Foddy, and the project raised more than US$150,000 on Kickstarter.
By Offworld · Canada
Squad is a tactical first-person shooter centred on military realism, built by Canadian indie developer Offworld Industries in Unreal Engine 4. Players join large-scale battles between military and paramilitary factions on expansive maps, with the design aiming to capture realistic modern combat. It is seen as a spiritual follow-up to the Project Reality mod for Battlefield 2, and it left Steam Early Access for a full release in 2020.
By Sokpop Collective · Netherlands
Stacklands is a management and construction sim played entirely with cards. Dragging cards onto one another produces resources, raises buildings and triggers fights with creatures, so a villager placed on a berry bush yields food that keeps the settlement alive. It was developed and published by Sokpop Collective from the Netherlands and came out for Windows and macOS in April 2022.
By Chucklefish · United Kingdom
Starbound is a 2D action-adventure from UK studio Chucklefish, set across a procedurally generated universe that players roam freely. Exploration yields new weapons, armor and items, and journeys lead to towns and villages populated by a variety of intelligent species. It left early access in July 2016 on Windows, OS X and Linux, and its genre listings point to sandbox and RPG elements alongside its science-fiction setting.
By Kodo Linija · Lithuania
Stardeus casts the player as the artificial intelligence of a wrecked starship carrying drones and human survivors in hibernation. Play centres on directing those drones to patch the damaged vessel, keep the sleeping crew alive and eventually move the ship onward between the stars. It blends colony simulation with strategy and RPG elements. The game comes from Lithuanian studio Kodo Linija, was published by Paradox Arc and launched on Steam in 2022 for Windows, Mac and Linux.
By Schine GmbH · Germany
StarMade is an open-world sandbox set in space, built in the mould of Minecraft and blending science fiction with building and exploration. It was developed by Schine GmbH, a company based in Germany, which first released it in 2012 as a public alpha on Windows, macOS and Linux. On Steam it is listed under action, adventure, simulation and strategy, and it remains an early access title there, having appeared on the store in 2014.
By THE BROTHERHOOD · South Africa
Stasis is a science fiction horror adventure played point-and-click style from an isometric viewpoint, built around using computers, combining items and solving puzzles. John Maracheck wakes from stasis aboard the abandoned spaceship Groomlake and must search for his missing wife and daughter as the ship sinks deeper into Neptune's methane clouds. It was developed by the South African studio The Brotherhood with the Visionaire Studio engine and released in August 2015.
By Lapovich Team · Belarus
State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem is a casual action game that combines bullet hell shooting with reckless driving through a town in chaos, with aliens attacking from above. Steam categorizes it as action, casual and indie. The Belarusian developer Lapovich Team made and self-published it, releasing it in March 2017 for Windows, Mac and Linux. Beyond that premise, few further gameplay details are verified.
By Image & Form Games · Sweden
SteamWorld Dig is a platforming action-adventure starring Rusty, a steam-powered robot who inherits a mine beneath the Western steampunk town of Tumbleton. Players dig ever deeper, solving puzzles and platforming past traps and enemies while exploring the underground. Swedish studio Image & Form made it as the second entry in the SteamWorld series, launching first on Nintendo 3DS in 2013 and reaching Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam that December.
By Bad Viking · United Kingdom
Strange Antiquities puts players in charge of a shop selling occult curios, where each visitor arrives with a need that must be worked out through puzzles. Identifying the right item for a customer is the heart of the game, blending adventure with a relaxed simulation of shopkeeping. It was developed by Bad Viking in the United Kingdom, published by Iceberg Interactive in 2025, and follows the studio's earlier title, Strange Horticulture.
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 BlueTwelve Studio · France
Stray is a third-person adventure in which you play a stray cat trapped in a walled city of robots, machines and mutant bacteria. You leap between ledges, climb obstacles and interact with the world, while the drone B-12 carries items and hacks devices to solve puzzles. Hostile Zurks and Sentinels must be evaded along the way. It was built in Unreal Engine 4 by BlueTwelve Studio from France and released by Annapurna Interactive in 2022.
By Unknown Worlds Entertainment · United States
Subnautica is a survival adventure set on an ocean world, where the player, Ryley Robinson, is stranded after a spaceship crash. Exploring beneath the waves, you collect resources, cope with the local wildlife and work toward a way off the planet. Unknown Worlds Entertainment, an American studio, developed and published it, leaving early access in January 2018; it sold more than 5 million copies by January 2020.
By Friedemann · Germany
Summerhouse is a relaxed sandbox town-building game where you assemble villages and dress up the scenery from a kit of building pieces and decorations. There are four environments to work in, a day-night cycle and extras that unlock as you play, such as animated objects. It is the first solo release of German developer Friedemann Allmenröder, published by Future Friends Games in 2024, and critics liked its open-ended design and visuals.
By Thunder Lotus · Canada
Sundered is a Metroidvania action game developed and self-published by Thunder Lotus Games of Canada, first released in July 2017 for PC and PlayStation 4. It belongs to a genre that typically centres on exploring an interconnected map and unlocking new abilities. A definitive release, the Eldritch Edition, reached Switch and Xbox One consoles in December 2018, and Steam lists the game under Action and Adventure.