The Best Indie Games of 2025 (So Far)

For evidence of how essential indie games have become to the industry, look no further than the fact that two of the best indie titles of 2025 are front-runners for the top Game of the Year honors. Granted, just about everyone expected both Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong to be incredible, given their pedigree, but this year marks the first time in quite a while that an indie game has a very strong likelihood of winning Game of the Year, not to mention sitting at the top of a lot of players’ personal lists of the best titles they’ve played in 2025. The following 20 titles represent the best of the best that the indie development scene has delivered in 2025, rightfully earning their place as some of the best games this year, period.

• Release Date — January 31, 2025
• Developer — Wabbaboy
• Publisher — Wabbaboy
• Genre — Action RPG, Soulslike
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

FromSoftware’s place as one of the most important developers working today has had the interesting effect of pushing people to go and check out its older titles, which has, in turn, resulted in a slew of new indies that are strikingly similar to the PS1 classic, King’s Field. One of the best is this year’s FlyKnight, which nails just about every aspect you’d hope for from an old-school, PS1-style first-person dungeon-crawler. Combat and exploration are great, and the visuals look era-appropriate for a game inspired by King’s Field, but it’s FlyKnight‘s impeccable atmosphere and vibes that carry the experience to be one of the year’s indie highlights.

• Release Date — January 31, 2025
• Developer — Jump Over The Age
• Publisher — Fellow Traveler
• Genre — RPG
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

2025 has seemingly been the “year of the sequel” for critically acclaimed indie games, with Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector arriving long before the official launches of either Hades II or Hollow Knight: Silksong. Like those games, Citizen Sleeper 2 follows up one of the most beloved indie titles of all time, the original Citizen Sleeper, and is able to successfully iterate and build upon the formula of its predecessor to deliver an experience that’s as good or better. I wouldn’t recommend Citizen Sleeper 2 to anyone who doesn’t have the patience for plenty of dialogue trees and behind-the-scenes RNG, but for those who do (and are looking for a game with an incredible story), Citizen Sleeper 2 is easily one of the year’s most underrated RPGs.

• Release Date — July 17, 2025
• Developer — Powehoof, Dave Lloyd
• Publisher — Powerhoof
• Genre — Adventure
• Steam User Score — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

A lot of players invest heavily in indie games because of both the unique gameplay they provide along with their willingness to delve into some uncharted narrative territory. The Drifter is a perfect example of this, blending old-school, point-and-click adventure gameplay (a genre that’s pretty much completely fallen out of vogue, even after a modern-day resurgence) with a mind-bending horror and sci-fi tale that’s bursting with personality, dark humor, and more than a few references to the heady fiction of Phillip K. Dick. Considering how great The Drifter‘s story is, and how strong its production values are, it’s practically criminal that more people haven’t played this 2025 hidden gem.

• Release Date — September 17, 2025
• Developer — Funday Games
• Publisher — Ghost Ship Publishing
• Genre — Action Roguelike, Survivor-like
• Steam User Score — 87% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Xbox Series X/S

The instantaneous success of Vampire Survivors inspired the creation of a whole new subgenre of action roguelikes that fall under the “survivor-like” or “bullet heaven” umbrella, but none of them have managed to reach the same level of quality as Poncle’s 2022 megahit. That is, until the release of this year’s Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor takes the addictive mining and extraction gameplay of Deep Rock Galactic, combines it with the “survivor-like” gameplay of Vampire Survivors, and creates one of the most addictive and rewarding action roguelikes in the process. Survivor released into Early Access a while back but celebrated its 1.0 launch just a few weeks ago, and it’s already a clear front-runner as not just one of the year’s best indies, but one of the best games in its genre.

• Release Date — June 16, 2025
• Developer — Team PEAK
• Publisher — Aggro Crab, Landfall
• Genre — Simulation, Co-op
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Leave it up to an indie multiplayer game about climbing a mountain to become one of the year’s most talked-about and successful titles. Peak is the kind of experience you almost expect to become a major hit on Steam, a physics-based multiplayer game where the potential for hilarity and stream-worthy clips is high. But Peak is also more than just meme-worthy; it just so happens to be a very solid climbing simulator with some impressive physics underpinning the whole experience. The success of Peak almost immediately led to it being copied on both Steam and in creation platforms like Roblox, but none of those facsimiles can even come close to the level of quality and fun of the original.

• Release Date — May 1, 2025
• Developer — DeadToast Entertainment
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — Action Platformer, Shooter
• Steam User Score — 96% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

After the release of Celeste, developers have understandably shied away from the precision platformer subgenre. It makes sense; after all, why would you want to compete wth a game as universally loved and critically acclaimed as Celeste? But that didn’t stop My Friend Pedro developer DeadToast Entertainment from giving it the good college try, gifting us one of 2025’s best indie games in the process: Shotgun Cop Man. Part precision platformer, part shooter, and 100% irreverent fever dream, Shotgun Cop Man packs more fun into a handful of levels than some AAA games can fit into an entire 50-60 hour experience, showcasing that sometimes, less is more, and you just need a fun premise and some minimalist visuals to keep players hooked.

• Release Date — May 23, 2025
• Developer — Studio Koba
• Publisher — Studio Koba
• Genre — Action Platformer, Shooter
• Steam User Score — 100% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Aside from Shotgun Cop Man, the year’s best action-platformer is another of 2025’s best indie games, Haneda Girl. Like Shotgun Cop Man, Haneda Girl comes from a talented developer (in this case, Studio Koba, the minds behind the excellent Narita Boy), and is a blend of tough-as-nails shooting sections with zero margin for error and precision platforming. But unlike Shotgun Cop Man, Haneda Girl really pulls out all the stops when it comes to its visuals and presentation, delivering one of the most artistically unique and visually distinctive games of 2025, indie or otherwise. Thankfully, Haneda Girl happens to have plenty of substance to back up all of its immense style.

• Release Date — March 21, 2025
• Developer — Francis Coulombe
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — RPG, Survival Horror
• Steam User Score — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Survival horror has been having such a widespread renaissance over the last few years that you could easily separate “indie survival horror” into its own distinct subgenre and not come up empty-handed with incredible experiences. One that doesn’t get nearly enough love, though, is this year’s Look Outside, which takes the survival horror genre back to its origins as an RPG by emulating what many consider to be its progenitor: Capcom’s Sweet Home. Look Outside is part survival horror game, part adventure game, and part turn-based RPG, and its one-of-a-kind monster designs and oppressive sense of existential dread make it a game that will stick with you long after you’ve rolled credits.

• Release Date — February 12, 2025
• Developer — Hakababunko
• Publisher — Shueisha Games
• Genre — Adventure, Visual Novel
• Steam User Score — 89% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

Indie games are great at taking formerly niche subgenres and making them more accessible. Case in point: the visual novel. The strides made by indie games toward making the visual novel more appealing and engaging have gifted us some of the more unique and rewarding titles of the last few years, including this year’s excellent Urban Myth Dissolution Center. Part of what makes UMDC so great is how it’s much more than just a standard visual novel experience, blending elements of an adventure game, survival horror, and even some light RPG-style progression into its gameplay loop to deliver something that’s equal parts Danganronpa and Case of the Golden Idol.

• Release Date — May 28, 2025
• Developer — Pocket Trap
• Publisher — PM Studios
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Metroidvania
• Steam User Score — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

By the time we get to the end of 2025 and people have compiled their lists of the year’s best games, it would be no surprise at all to see Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo land on several. This top-down blend of Metroidvania and old-school Legend of Zelda gameplay is bursting with charm at every seam, standing tall as one of the year’s tightest and most content-rich indie games where the developers clearly put an immense amount of love and passion into the project. For just its puzzles alone, Pipistrello is a game that deserves to be talked about as one of the year’s best titles, indie or otherwise.

• Release Date — July 28, 2025
• Developer — FUMES Team
• Publisher — FUMES Team
• Genre — Vehicular Combat
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The resurgence of love and admiration for the 5th console generation and all of its low-poly glory has paved the way for plenty of games emulating the classics in the PS1 library, and it’s hard to think of one that deserves more recognition than FUMES. An obvious homage to classics like Twisted Metal, FUMES is an action-packed vehicular combat game that puts a little bit more emphasis on atmosphere than any of the older Twisted Metal games did, resulting in an experience that calls to mind the classic Mad Max films as much as it does SingleTrac’s iconic PlayStation franchise. That you can get a new vehicular combat game that’s as good as FUMES for less than $15 feels like highway robbery (pun intended).

• Release Date — July 17, 2025
• Developer — Chronocle
• Publisher — Hooded Horse
• Genre — Roguelike, RPG, Auto-Battler
• Steam User Score — 86% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

As someone who fell hard into the auto-battler roguelike gameplay of Loop Hero, He Is Coming immediately caught my eye, and that it ended up being almost better than its most obvious inspiration is impressive. He Is Coming wastes no time in letting the player get right to the action, setting you loose on a sprawling map reminiscent of the oldest of old-school RPGs as you wander, collect loot, and fight incoming threats while preparing for the bigger, badder monsters that head your way in the nighttime. It relies on a familiar gameplay loop compared to other games in the auto-battler genre, but it executes it with near perfection and a visual aesthetic that should appeal to anyone who grew up with Ultima or the classic “Gold Box” D&D games.

• Release Date — January 22, 2025
• Developer — Adglobe, Live Wire
• Publisher — Binary Haze Interactive
• Genre — Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Steam User Score — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

When the dust settles on 2025, most players will talk about Hollow Knight: Silksong as the year’s best indie Metroidvania, but Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist deserves its flowers, too. Like Silksong, Ender Magnolia is a sequel to one of the better indie Metroidvanias of the last several years (in this case, Ender Lilies), and it improves upon everything that made its predecessor great to deliver a sequel that far surpasses the original. Ender Magnolia is gorgeous, has some incredible combat (bolstered by a system eerily reminiscent of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia), and smooths out all the rough edges that made Ender Lilies a bit of a polarizing title. And were it not for Silksong, it would easily be the year’s best Metroidvania.

• Release Date — May 23, 2025
• Developer — Sad Socket
• Publisher — Hooded Horse, INSTINCT3
• Genre — Strategy, RPG, Roguelike
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Against the Storm proved that a roguelike city-builder could not only work, but be one of the best new games in the genre, to which Sad Socket apparently said “hold my beer” and decided to combine that idea with both a deckbuilder and an auto-battler to create the incredibly addictive 9 Kings. On the surface, you might think that 9 Kings‘ combination of so many disparate influences into a single roguelike experience might lack cohesion, but the way that all of its different gameplay branches synthesize into a unique and engaging whole is impressive. Just beware — once you start playing 9 Kings and get a grip on its core gameplay loop, it might be hard to break away.

• Release Date — September 18, 2025
• Developer — Sam C
• Publisher — Oro Interactive
• Genre — Driving, Simulation, Cozy
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Out of all the PS1-style indie games to launch in 2025, few would’ve expected a low-poly, chill driving simulator to become one of the year’s best. That’s exactly what happened with Easy Delivery Co., which, bolstered by the strength of its excellent Steam Next Fest demo, was able to drum up a ton of hype ahead of its release and land with a strong reception among players eager for a low-stakes, cozy experience about delivering packages in a small, remote mountain town. Easy Delivery Co. definitely lives and dies by its vibes, but it’s worth mentioning that its driving physics are actually pretty solid, and its soundtrack and visuals make it feel like an unearthed hidden gem from the PS1 library.

• Release Date — April 10, 2025
• Developer — Kaizen Game Works
• Publisher — Kaizen Game Works
• Genre — Adventure, Simulation
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

The best thing you could say about Promise Mascot Agency is that it is absolutely unlike anything else you will play in 2025. Similar to Easy Delivery Co., Promise Mascot Agency seems, at least on the surface, like it’s little more than a delivery driving simulator with some humor sprinkled in. But the more you play Promise Mascot Agency, the more the game slowly reveals its many layers to you, and getting to peel back the curtain and see what’s underneath ranks as one of the year’s best gaming experiences. The less you know going into Promise Mascot Agency, the better; just know that it’s an absolute must-play for fans of offbeat gaming auteurs like Suda-51 or Swery, and has plenty of Yakuza energy.

• Release Date — April 10, 2025
• Developer — Dogubomb
• Publisher — Raw Fury
• Genre — Puzzle, Adventure, Roguelike
• Steam User Score — 86% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

With the releases of both Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong now in the rearview, it can be easy to forget that the first major indie title this year to earn potential Game of the Year nods was Blue Prince. Frankly, it’s just as likely to still take home those honors, depending on how the nominations shake out, and it’d be more than deserving of any of them. Blue Prince is a mystery game that only increases in complexity the more you dig into it, with layer after layer of intrigue waiting to be discovered, even after nearly a hundred hours spent exploring the ever-shifting rooms of the mansion.

• Release Date — May 21, 2025
• Developer — Shiny Shoe
• Publisher — Big Fan Games
• Genre — Roguelike, Deckbuilder
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

When it comes to roguelike deckbuilders, players tend to point to Slay the Spire as the genre’s pinnacle (and rightfully so). That said, Monster Train is a very, very close alternative, and its sequel from this year is easily one of the best roguelike deckbuilders ever made. In a lot of ways, Monster Train 2 now holds the crown as the best game in the genre, teeing up the upcoming Slay the Spire II to hopefully steal back its crown when it launches next year. Until then, though, we have Monster Train 2 to keep us busy with one run after another as we pit the forces of Heaven and Hell against one another in one of the year’s best roguelikes.

• Release Date — September 25, 2025
• Developer — Supergiant Games
• Publisher — Supergiant Games
• Genre — Action Roguelike
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2

When Hades II launched into Early Access last year, the amount of content it had (combined with Supergiant Games’ signature level of polish) made it already feel like it could have been released as a full retail game. So imagine most of our surprise when the game only continued to grow by leaps and bounds over the last year to surpass the original Hades and launch into 1.0 as what’s arguably the greatest action roguelike ever made. Like its predecessor, Hades II blends an incredibly rewarding and flexible combat sandbox with some addictive progression elements, an engaging narrative, and some stunning visuals and animations to prove that, try as they might, no developer can come close to matching Supergiant Games’ finger on the pulse of the action roguelike.

• Release Date — September 4, 2025
• Developer — Team Cherry
• Publisher — Team Cherry
• Genre — Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S

Of course, right up there with Hades II as one of the year’s best indie games is 2025’s other most anticipated sequel: Hollow Knight: Silksong. Truthfully, that we have Silksong, can play it, and can readily attest to it being one of the year’s best games feels almost too good to be true after more than 5 years of waiting. But it’s here, and it is, proving that our faith in Team Cherry to deliver a sequel that outdid the iconic Hollow Knight was justified. Hollow Knight: Silksong packs more content and better gameplay into a single act of its three-act story than most indie Metroidvanias can into an entire game, and that it does so while staying under $20 sets a high bar for devs to clear in terms of delivering more value-per-dollar.