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 Secret Exit Ltd. · Finland
Released in 2014, Turbo Dismount is a vehicle simulator from Secret Exit Ltd., a developer in Finland, and the follow-up to Stair Dismount. Players strap a crash test dummy into one of many vehicles and aim for maximum destruction to push up their score, then review each crash through an adjustable replay. Custom courses can be built and shared online, and the game left early access to fully release on Steam on May 21, 2014.
By Brainy Studio LLC · Russia
TurnOn is a single-player platformer starring Turnon, an alien electrical spark trying to bring power back to a city that has suddenly gone dark. It stands out for its distinctive visual style and was built in Unity3D by the Russian team Brainy Studio. A 2014 prototype of the game won the Games category at Microsoft's Imagine Cup, and the full release arrived on June 1, 2016.
By Arsi "Hakita" Patala · Finland
Ultrakill is a first-person shooter by Finnish developer Arsi Patala, known as Hakita, published by New Blood Interactive and available in Steam early access for Windows since September 2020. Its retro visuals recall games from the early PlayStation era, while its fast movement draws on modern shooters such as Titanfall and Doom Eternal. Its combat also borrows ideas from stylish action games like Devil May Cry.
By Alien Pixel Studios · Romania
In Unbound: Worlds Apart you guide Soli, a mage who can open portals into alternate realities, each with its own effect such as bending time, reversing gravity or transforming Soli himself. These portals drive the puzzle-platforming as you gather crystals that unlock gates to the dark world. Romanian studio Alien Pixel Studios developed and published it in 2021 after a Kickstarter campaign, and it received generally favorable reviews.
By Stygian Software · Serbia
Underrail is a role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic science fiction world. It was developed and self-published by Stygian Software, a studio from Serbia, and released for Windows in 2015 after first appearing in early access in late 2012. Two expansions followed, Expedition in 2019 and Heavy Duty in 2023, and a sequel titled Underrail 2: Infusion is in development.
By tobyfox · United States
Undertale is a role-playing game about a child who tumbles into the Underground, a hidden realm of monsters sealed beneath the surface. Battles play out as small bullet-hell dodging sequences, and players can talk their way to sparing foes rather than killing them, choices that reshape story and characters. Toby Fox, an American developer, made almost all of it himself, including script and music, and it launched in 2015 using GameMaker.
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 @unepic_fran · Spain
UnMetal is a stealth action-adventure that parodies Konami's Metal Gear series, starring Jesse Fox, a wrongly accused inmate trying to break out of a military prison while exposing a nuclear plot. Its play recalls the early Metal Gear games, updated with crafting, mostly non-lethal weapons and moments where narration and player choices shape events. It was made by Spanish developer Francisco Téllez de Meneses and released for PC and consoles in September 2021.
By Witch Beam · Australia
Unpacking is a relaxed puzzle game with simulation elements, built around a calm, casual pace rather than pressure or combat. It was developed by the independent Australian studio Witch Beam and released in 2021 across PC and consoles. The game was widely celebrated, winning two BAFTA Games Awards and Eurogamer's Game of the Year, plus a D.I.C.E. honour recognising outstanding achievement by an independent game.
By Indoor Astronaut · Switzerland
Unrailed! is a cooperative construction game from Indoor Astronaut, a Swiss developer, built with MonoGame and published by Daedalic Entertainment. Players work together to build railway track through endless, procedurally generated worlds, dealing with random encounters, upgrading the train and keeping it from running off the rails. After an early access period that began in 2019, the full release came in September 2020.
By Studio Pixel Punk · Brazil
Unsighted is a Metroidvania adventure where players control Alma, an amnesiac automaton in a world left by war between humans and robots. Everyone, including the player, has a draining time limit, and scarce meteor dust can extend it for Alma or for other characters before they turn unsighted. It was the 2021 debut of Studio Pixel Punk, formed in Brazil in 2017 by Fernanda Dias and Tiani Pixel, and critics praised its use of time, visuals and combat.
By House House · Australia
Untitled Goose Game is a comic stealth puzzle game in which you play a troublesome goose loose in an English village. Using the goose's abilities, players move objects and manipulate the villagers to tick off a list of objectives, all without any violence. Developed by the Australian studio House House and published by Panic in 2019, it took Game of the Year at both the D.I.C.E. Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards.
By Epic Llama Games · Argentina
Unusual Findings is an adventure game that follows three young friends investigating strange events during the 1980s, a decade the game fills with synth music, video rental shops and eight-bit gaming references. Choices made along the way shape how the story develops, and the plot involves an alien conspiracy. It comes from Argentine studio Epic Llama Games and was published by ESDigital Games in 2022 on Windows, Mac and Linux.
By Smiling Buddha Games, LLC · Canada
Use Your Words is a party game developed by Smiling Buddha Games, a studio from Canada, and published by Screenwave Media. It launched in April 2017 on PC, Mac, Wii U, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch version arriving in August 2017. Built as a party game for groups playing together, it is listed on Steam as a casual indie title rather than a solo experience.
By Sukeban Games · Venezuela
VA-11 Hall-A is a cyberpunk visual novel in which the player works behind the counter of a small bar in a bleak city. Instead of choosing dialogue, you mix and serve cocktails, and those orders shape where the nonlinear story goes as regulars share their lives. It was made by Sukeban Games from Venezuela in GameMaker and released in 2016. The project grew out of an entry for a 2014 cyberpunk game jam, and its look draws on PC-98 era games and anime.
By Funatics Software · Germany
Valhalla Hills is a city-building strategy game in which you guide a tribe of Vikings as they build up and sustain a settlement. Each map ends with the goal of reaching a portal at the top of a mountain that leads to Valhalla. Funatics Software, a studio in Germany, developed it in Unreal Engine 4, and Daedalic Entertainment published it in 2015. Two expansions, Sand of the Damned and Fire Mountains, later added new locations and enemies.
By Agate · Indonesia
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story mixes a management sim with role-playing, putting you in charge of a school that trains adventurers. As students progress, they are sent out on quests, linking the running of the academy to RPG-style adventuring. The game was developed by Agate, a studio in Indonesia, and published by PQube, with its Steam release in 2018. Steam lists it under action, strategy, simulation and RPG.
By Devespresso Games · South Korea
Vambrace: Cold Soul is a dark fantasy roguelike RPG in which Evelia Lyric, bearer of a mysterious magical vambrace, leads expeditions into Icenaire, a haunted city buried beneath ice. Between runs players return to the safe district of Dalearch to craft gear and assemble parties of procedurally generated adventurers. Exploration happens in real time while fights are turn-based, and every trip wears down the group. South Korean studio Devespresso Games released it in 2019.
By poncle, Nosebleed Interactive · United Kingdom
This roguelike deckbuilder spinoff was co-developed by UK developers poncle and Nosebleed Interactive, with poncle publishing. It takes the action roguelike formula of Vampire Survivors and reshapes it around building a deck of cards. It released on Steam in April 2026 for Windows and macOS, and its Steam store tags pair action with strategy.
By poncle · United Kingdom
Vampire Survivors is a roguelike shoot 'em up from poncle, the studio name of UK-based developer Luca Galante, which launched fully in 2022 after an early access period. Your character attacks automatically while you steer through endless waves of monsters, trying to last as long as possible and unlock new characters, weapons and relics for later runs. Widely seen as an early example of the bullet heaven genre, it won two British Academy Games Awards, for Game Design and Best Game.
By Fatbot Games, s. r. o. · Slovakia
Vaporum is a grid-based dungeon crawler from Fatbot Games, a studio in Slovakia, released in 2017 and modeled on old-school entries in the genre. It is set in an original steampunk world, where the hero finds himself stranded before a colossal tower rising from the middle of an ocean. Exploring the tower means uncovering what the place is, what happened inside it and who the protagonist really is.
By BlackMill Games · Netherlands
Verdun is an online first-person shooter built around squads and set in the First World War and inspired by the 1916 battle of the same name. Teams fight over trench lines in attack and defence rounds, using period weapons, uniforms and maps modelled on real Western Front battlefields. Built in Unity by independent studios M2H and the Netherlands-based BlackMill Games, it left Steam Early Access in April 2015 and later reached consoles.
By Haemimont Games · Bulgaria
Victor Vran is an isometric action role-playing game where player skill matters as much as gear and builds, with dodging, jumping and ability use at the center of combat. Its world blends gothic fantasy and fairy-tale elements, with room for both magic and science. Bulgarian indie developer Haemimont Games released it in July 2015, with EuroVideo Medien publishing it on Steam; later ports reached consoles.
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.