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 Channel37 Ltd · Finland
The Last Caretaker is a survival crafting game played in first person, from Channel37, a studio in Finland, which entered early access on Windows in November 2025. Players control the final active Caretaker, a self-governing robot that wakes up on a flooded Earth after the apocalypse. Its mission is to recover human seeds, bring the Lazarus Complex back online, grow new humans and send them into orbit so that humanity can endure.
By Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon · United States
The Legend of Bum-bo is a roguelike deck-building game that serves as a prequel to The Binding of Isaac. Steam files it under adventure and strategy, and it is also categorized as a puzzle game. Designer Edmund McMillen created it with programmer James Interactive, with Ridiculon also credited, in the United States. It launched on Windows through Steam in November 2019, later reaching Android, Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
By Yangyang Mobile · Philippines
The Letter is a horror visual novel in which seven people are caught up in a deadly curse and must struggle to survive it. The story places as much weight on the characters' own darker impulses as on the supernatural threat stalking them, asking how far each will go to stay alive. It was developed by Yangyang Mobile, a studio based in the Philippines, and released in July 2017 for Windows, macOS and Linux.
By Sever, Schisma Games · Russia
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is a narrative role-playing game told almost entirely through text, where progress depends on the decisions the player makes. Each choice sends the story down a different branch, so the life that unfolds can change from one playthrough to the next. It was made by the Russian team Sever together with Schisma Games, published by 101XP, and came out on Windows in 2021. A follow-up about Prince Jerian arrived in July 2026.
By Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH · Austria
The Lion's Song tells, across four point-and-click episodes, the stories of artists and thinkers in early twentieth-century Vienna, each wrestling with creativity, ambition and what society expects of them. Decisions in one chapter link the four stories together and can change details that appear later. Austrian studio Mi'pu'mi Games grew it out of a Ludum Dare jam entry by designer Stefan Srb, and it took the indie game prize at the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis in 2016.
By Hinterland Studio Inc. · Canada
The Long Dark is a survival game from Canadian studio Hinterland, fully released in 2017 after an early access period that began in 2014. Players take on the roles of bush pilot Will Mackenzie and doctor Astrid Greenwood, stranded in the freezing Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. Development was backed by seed money from the Canada Media Fund and by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013.
By Red Barrels · Canada
The Outlast Trials is a first-person psychological survival horror game from Canadian studio Red Barrels, serving as a prequel to both Outlast and Outlast 2. Players take the role of test subjects drafted against their will into a secretive Cold War experiment. After a period of early access on Windows in 2023, it fully launched across PC and consoles in March 2024 and was generally well received by critics.
By Tale of Tales · Belgium
A psychological horror art game from Belgian studio Tale of Tales, The Path reworks the Little Red Riding Hood tale and broader folklore in a present-day setting. Players pick one of six sisters, each sent by their mother to visit a sick grandmother, and decide whether to keep to the path or stray into woods where wolves wait. It came out for Windows in March 2009 in English and Dutch, using the Quest3D engine, with a Mac OS X port arriving later.
By Draw Me A Pixel · France
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is a puzzle adventure from Draw Me A Pixel, a company based in France. It is played in point-and-click style, with casual puzzle solving at its core. The game grew out of creator Pascal Cammisotto's 2015 game jam winner There Is No Game, and is often treated as a sequel or expansion of it. It launched on Windows and macOS in August 2020, reaching mobile and Switch later.
By Color Gray Games · Latvia
The Rise of the Golden Idol is a detective puzzle game and the follow-up to The Case of the Golden Idol from 2022. Like its predecessor it centers on reasoning through mysteries by examining evidence and drawing conclusions. It comes from Latvian studio Color Gray Games, runs on the Godot engine and was published by Playstack in 2024. Reviews were generally positive, and four downloadable expansions arrived during 2025 to extend the story.
By Rare Reversee, Beaztek · Vietnam
The Scourge is a first-person horror game with puzzle and adventure elements, inspired by Vietnamese urban legends of the 1990s. Set in Ho Chi Minh City, it follows Nhat Huy as he is pulled into strange events in an apartment block while investigating his family's deaths. It was co-developed in Vietnam by Rare Reversee, which also publishes it, and Beaztek Studio, and released in March 2026.
By Sengi Games · Ukraine
The Serpent Rogue is a roguelike in which players take the role of The Warden, a plague doctor from an order of alchemists who guard the world against a consuming force called Corruption. Studying the surroundings lets the player brew many kinds of potions, and fights play out as real-time action. It was developed by Sengi Games in Ukraine and published by Team17 in 2022, and the team finished it during the Russian invasion of their country.
By Ares Dragonis · Greece
The Shore is a horror adventure in the Lovecraftian tradition that centers on exploring an isolated, mysterious island. The protagonist is a father who comes ashore looking for his missing daughter, and the unsettling environment drives the tension. It was developed by Ares Dragonis, an independent developer from Greece, who shared a demo in July 2020 before releasing the full game on Windows in February 2021.
By House On Fire · Denmark
The Silent Age is a point-and-click adventure from Danish indie studio House on Fire. It follows a janitor pulled into a mission to save humanity from an apocalyptic event, using time travel and glimpsing the future that awaits if he fails. Originally released as two episodes and later sold together, it reached Windows and Mac on Steam in 2015 and was positively reviewed by critics.
By Galactic Cafe · United States
The Stanley Parable is a story-driven game in which players steer a silent protagonist named Stanley while a British narrator, voiced by Kevan Brighting, describes what he ought to do. Ignoring those directions is allowed and gets folded into the story, leading down branching paths to many endings before the game starts over. Davey Wreden and William Pugh rebuilt Wreden's Half-Life 2 mod on the Source engine as Galactic Cafe, a studio from the United States, releasing it in 2013.
By Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert, Carlo Castellano · Finland
The Swapper is a 2013 science fiction puzzle-platformer from Facepalm Games, an indie studio based in Helsinki, Finland. Stranded on an abandoned research station, the player finds a device that creates clones and lets her shift her mind between them, using it to solve puzzles and uncover what happened to the researchers. Its story explores consciousness and identity, and critics met the game with wide acclaim.
By Pelikan13 · Greece
The TakeOver is an indie beat 'em up that openly pays tribute to the Streets of Rage series, copying its style of play and graphics. It even includes some music by Yuzo Koshiro, composer of those games. The game was made by Greek developer Pelikan13, the alias of Antonis Pelekanos, and after early access it saw full release in 2019. Critics were mixed on its writing and polish but broadly considered it a worthwhile homage.
By Croteam · Croatia
The Talos Principle is a puzzle game released in 2014 by Croatian studio Croteam, published by Devolver Digital and built on Serious Engine 4. Its puzzles sit inside a philosophical story whose title refers to an argument by a fictional Greek philosopher that a conscious machine implies humans are machines too. It later gained the Road to Gehenna expansion, a 2023 sequel and a 2025 remaster called Reawakened.
By Morbidware · Italy
The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia combines bullet hell dodging with typing, asking players to type out exorcism texts while weaving through enemy fire. Its hero is a former priest who now works as a freelance exorcist. It was developed by Morbidware, a studio in Italy, and released on Steam for Windows on February 14, 2019. Reviews were mostly positive, singling out its music, theme and art, and it holds a Metacritic score of 78.
By Colibri Games · Russia
The Tiny Bang Story is a point-and-click adventure built around puzzle solving, with hidden object play among its listed genres. It was developed and self-published by the Russian studio Colibri Games and first appeared on Steam for Windows and macOS in 2011. In the following years it was ported to a wide range of platforms, including iOS, Android, Linux, Apple TV and Nintendo Switch.
By CINIC Games · Italy
The Wardrobe is a point-and-click adventure game from C.I.N.I.C. Games, a studio based in Italy, and was first released in 2017. This Steam version is the Even Better Edition, available on Windows and Mac. It belongs to the classic graphic adventure genre and holds a Metacritic score of 72. The verified facts available here give little detail about its story or specific mechanics, so this summary sticks to its genre and origins.
By Puzzling Dream · Poland
A 2D cinematic platformer from Polish studio Puzzling Dream, The Way follows a space explorer who cannot come to terms with his wife's death. After discovering ancient texts about eternal existence on one of his final expeditions, he returns to that site hoping to bring her back. PlayWay published it for Windows in 2016, and its play combines platforming with puzzle solving.
By Eight Points · Russia
The Wild Eight is a survival game about a group of people left stranded in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Players have to work together to stay alive, and the game combines action and adventure with role-playing and simulation elements. It was developed by Eight Points, a studio from Russia, and published by HypeTrain Digital, with its full Steam release arriving in October 2019.
By Noble Muffins · Poland
Thief Simulator is an open-world stealth game about working as a burglar. Players scout targets to learn their routines, break into homes to take valuables, fence the loot and reinvest the money in better equipment for tougher jobs. It was developed by Noble Muffins from Poland, published by PlayWay, and released on Windows in November 2018 before arriving on Switch, PlayStation 4 and Quest 2.