The best indie games rarely behave as though they were designed by a committee. One gives you a tiny deck of playing cards and turns it into an obsession. Another sends you exploring a miniature solar system with a clock that will not stop ticking. Others make a simple jump, a farming routine or one more attempt at a boss feel like the only thing you want to do tonight.
We are treating “indie” as games created by independent studios, not as a visual style or a synonym for tiny budgets. Some are polished multi-platform hits; others are stranger, quieter or much harder to explain. The ten picks below are available now and cover different moods, with a reason to try each one and a warning about who may not enjoy it.
Best indie games at a glance
| Game | Best for | Where to play |
|---|---|---|
| Hades II | Fast action and memorable characters | PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Hollow Knight: Silksong | Challenging metroidvania exploration | PC and major consoles |
| Balatro | Brilliant strategy in short sessions | PC, consoles, mobile |
| Outer Wilds | Discovery and mystery | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| Stardew Valley | Cosy farming and community | PC, consoles, mobile |
| Celeste | Precision platforming with heart | PC, consoles |
| Blue Prince | Inventive puzzle-box exploration | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Slay the Spire | Turn-based deckbuilding | PC, consoles, mobile |
| Vampire Survivors | Chaotic inexpensive action | PC, consoles, mobile |
| DREDGE | Eerie fishing and exploration | PC, consoles |
1. Hades II: Fast action and memorable characters
Supergiant builds on the first Hades with Melinoë, the Princess of the Underworld, and an entirely different set of relationships, gods and routes. Every escape attempt involves choosing boons and weapons, but conversations back at the Crossroads make failures feel like progress.
The combat rewards precise movement, good timing and learning which abilities work together. There is a great deal of story hidden behind repeated runs, so impatient players may tire of seeing familiar regions. If you like one more attempt turning into an entire evening, Hades II is among the best indie games for that particular addiction.
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong: Challenging metroidvania exploration
Hornet moves differently from the Knight in the original Hollow Knight, using swift acrobatic attacks and tools while travelling through Pharloom. The environments have distinct identities, with bosses and traversal challenges that encourage you to learn every part of her movement.
The difficulty is not an incidental detail. Expect to repeat routes while figuring out patterns and discovering which tools suit an encounter. That makes success intensely satisfying but can also test your patience. It earns a place among the best indie games for players who enjoy hard-earned exploration rather than a guided tour.
3. Balatro: Brilliant strategy in short sessions
Among the best indie games for quick sessions, Balatro takes a familiar deck of cards and changes the rules through Jokers, scoring modifiers and increasingly absurd combinations. You recognise poker hands, but winning has much more to do with building a scoring engine than knowing how to bluff.
A simple-looking run can become a wonderfully complicated optimisation problem. It is perfect for a train ride or a quick break that quietly becomes an hour. There is little narrative to speak of, and luck remains part of its structure. If chasing combinations is your idea of fun, this might be your personal winner on the list.
4. Outer Wilds: Discovery and mystery
Outer Wilds gives you a spacecraft and a miniature solar system that hides the remnants of an ancient civilisation. The planets have surprising physical behaviours, and what you learn in one place can completely change your understanding of another.
Knowledge is your main upgrade. There are no traditional levels or expensive swords to collect. The time loop can make an unsuccessful expedition feel frustrating, especially when you have almost solved a mystery. Yet it is one of the best indie games for anyone who loves the moment when several discoveries suddenly fit together.
5. Stardew Valley: Cosy farming and community
Few of the best indie games make a daily routine as rewarding as Stardew Valley, which starts with a run-down farm and gradually becomes a place shaped by your choices. You can focus on crops, animals, fishing, mining, festivals or getting to know the people in Pelican Town. It is generous about letting you make your own routines.
The days are short enough to create gentle pressure, but there is no need to play perfectly. Cooperative multiplayer also lets friends share the work, although support varies by platform. If you dislike managing inventories or repeating seasonal chores, the magic may wear off. Otherwise it is a wonderful game to keep returning to.
6. Celeste: Precision platforming with heart
Celeste follows Madeline as she climbs a mountain, with every screen built around a tiny set of reliable movement abilities. Dashing, climbing and jumping become beautifully expressive, while the story treats anxiety and self-doubt with compassion rather than reducing them to a cheap twist.
You will fail often, and the game expects that. Instant restarts remove much of the irritation, and Assist Mode makes it possible to adapt the challenge without spoiling the adventure. Among the best indie games, few marry difficult mechanics and emotional storytelling so well.
7. Blue Prince: Inventive puzzle-box exploration
The best indie games often begin with one striking idea. Blue Prince is about exploring a mansion where choosing rooms changes the layout as you proceed. Getting further requires paying attention to patterns, clues and the relationship between seemingly ordinary spaces. A good discovery can transform the meaning of something you passed hours earlier.
You should resist the temptation to look up every answer. The act of noticing and making connections is the experience, and spoiling those connections would leave very little of the magic. This is for players who enjoy taking notes and thinking between sessions, not those who want constant action.
8. Slay the Spire: Turn-based deckbuilding
Among the best indie games for deliberate strategy, Slay the Spire is brutally simple to describe and wonderfully complex to master. Choose a character, collect cards and relics, and try to build a deck capable of surviving increasingly difficult encounters. Every card picked now changes what you can do several fights later.
It rewards learning enemy patterns, understanding probabilities and resisting the temptation to add every exciting card. Losses can be painful, but your growing knowledge makes each run better. The lack of a conventional storyline is a feature if you mostly want tactical decisions.
9. Vampire Survivors: Chaotic inexpensive action
Vampire Survivors reduces the immediate controls to moving your character while weapons attack automatically. What looks like a very simple survival challenge quickly becomes a flood of enemies, evolving abilities and increasingly ridiculous screen-filling effects.
There is far more progression than the first run suggests, with characters, combinations and stages to unlock. It can feel repetitive if you need direct control over every strike, but the pace of discoveries is addictive. One of the best indie games for short, satisfying sessions.
10. DREDGE: Eerie fishing and exploration
DREDGE gives you a small fishing boat, a collection of islands and a steadily growing feeling that something is wrong beneath the water. By day you fish, sell your catches and improve the vessel; after dark, unfamiliar shapes and strange events turn routine journeys into terrible ideas.
The blend of inventory puzzles, upgrades and cosmic horror is unusual without being difficult to understand. If you want a harsh survival simulator it is quite forgiving, and the horror is more atmospheric than relentless. For something quieter and distinctly unsettling, it is excellent.
When deciding between the best indie games, focus on the kind of experience you want rather than the number beside each title. The right choice can be very different for someone who wants a quick session and someone planning a long campaign.
Best indie games for a short play session
Balatro, Vampire Survivors and Slay the Spire are the strongest choices for repeatable sessions, although a full run can still last longer than you intended. Celeste breaks its platforming into short challenges. If you have only half an hour, these games give you something worthwhile to attempt without demanding that you remember an enormous plot.
Part of what makes the best indie games worth revisiting is that they reward different habits: exploration, experimentation, timing, persistence or playing with a group. None of those has to be your favourite.
Which indie game has the best story?
Outer Wilds is our choice when you want discovery to be the narrative. Celeste tells a more direct and personal story, while Hades II rewards repeated play with character conversations and world-building. Stardew Valley is gentler, letting its community become familiar over time. The best indie games are proof that memorable storytelling need not look like a cinematic blockbuster.
One strength of the best indie games is how much variety sits inside the category. A recommendation here is not a promise that every player will enjoy the same mechanics.
Where to start with indie games
Start with Stardew Valley for low-pressure creativity, Hades II for action or Balatro if you enjoy strategic combinations. Choose Blue Prince and Outer Wilds only when you are ready to slow down and investigate rather than follow objective markers. Each is a different answer to what makes the best indie games worth playing.
Official source: Supergiant Games: Hades II.
