Indie
Indie is short for the English word independent, which means "not dependent." Independent developers usually create games without investments from publishers, and therefore have a very limited budget. As a result, the games do not feature AAA-level graphics, but in each of these projects, the developers strive to realize their boldest fantasies and apply risky ideas. Often, indie games are not well-received by hardcore players due to their experimental gameplay. The most prominent representatives of the indie game genre are: Minecraft, Super Meat Boy, Super Meat Boy , and perhaps Fez.
Years
Platforms
Statuses
Best Games in the Indie genre of 2016 (Game released)
Game released: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Mac, Linux → 26 February 2016
Players:
8.8/10
Steam:
98/100
Metacritic:
88/100
Stardew Valley is a farming simulator with role-playing elements, an open-world sandbox with an isometric camera and the visual style of 90s arcade games. After...
Game released: PC, iOS, Mac, Android, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 → 14 November 2014
Players:
8.5/10
Steam:
92/100
Metacritic:
82/100
This War of Mine is an atmospheric adventure with survival elements and a side view. The game allows you to plunge into the life of ordinary civilians trying to...
Game released: PC, Mac, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Linux → 15 October 2015
Players:
9.1/10
Steam:
93/100
Metacritic:
76/100
Human Resource Machine is an indie puzzle game from the developer World of Goo. We have to use office workers to solve the next puzzle and get promoted to the next...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS → 31 March 2016
Players:
7.6/10
Steam:
93/100
Metacritic:
82/100
Hyper Light Drifter is a top-down action-adventure RPG. The main character of the game suffers from a strange disease and goes to amazing countries to find a...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS → 5 April 2016
Players:
9.2/10
Steam:
95/100
Metacritic:
85/100
Enter the Gungeon is a top-down arcade shooter from the developers at Dodge Roll. The roguelike takes place in the ever-changing fortress of Gungeon, which is a...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch → 14 January 2014
Players:
8.9/10
Steam:
88/100
Metacritic:
81/100
Banner Saga is a tactical role-playing strategy with turn-based combat and a top-down view. The game combines amazing visual style and Nordic atmosphere. Banner...
Arcade, Role-playing game, Action, Adventure, Platformer, Indie, Simulation, Survival, Sandbox, Space
Game released: PC, Mac, Xbox One → 22 July 2016
Players:
8.5/10
Steam:
88/100
Metacritic:
81/100
Starbound is an indie adventure role-playing arcade game with platformer and action elements. You are forced to flee your planet by hijacking a ship. Fleeing from...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch → 9 October 2016
Players:
7.7/10
Steam:
66/100
Shadows of Kurgansk is an action shooter with a first-person view and horror elements in a post-apocalyptic world. You have to survive in a Zone where zombies live...
Game released: Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S → 29 June 2016
Players:
8.8/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
91/100
Inside is an arcade side-scrolling indie platformer with survival elements from the creators of Limbo. The plot centers on a lonely boy who is hiding from...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS → 2 August 2016
Players:
8.4/10
Steam:
73/100
Metacritic:
67/100
This Is the Police is an adventure strategy game with management game elements and an isometric camera view. Scandals, intrigues, investigations are commonplace for...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One → 23 April 2015
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
95/100
Metacritic:
86/100
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a unique indie game where everything moves to the rhythm of the music of Danny Baranowski, the composer of Super Meat Boy and the...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, PS Vita, Xbox One → 4 October 2013
VGTimes:
7.0/10
Players:
8.4/10
Steam:
88/100
Metacritic:
57/100
Knock-knock is an adventure puzzle game with horror elements and a side view. In the depths of a dense forest there is a wooden house. A man lives in this house...
Game released: Mac, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Android, Linux → 18 November 2011
Players:
8.3/10
Steam:
93/100
Metacritic:
87/100
Super Meat Boy is a hardcore 2D side-scrolling platformer. You have to help the meat cube save his beloved, who was kidnapped by the evil scientist Dr. Fitus. The...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S → 24 June 2011
Players:
8.4/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
80/100
Kerbal Space Program is a sci-fi simulator with well-developed physical laws. You have to manage the space program of a certain planet. Everything needed to build a...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch → 15 August 2013
Players:
5.7/10
Steam:
77/100
Metacritic:
86/100
Gone Home is an atmospheric adventure with a first-person view. The game tells the story of Caitlin Greenbriar, who returned home from a trip to Europe. She soon...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch → 9 February 2016
Players:
9/10
Steam:
89/100
Metacritic:
81/100
Firewatch is an indie adventure with a first-person view, developed by former developers of The Walking Dead and BioShock 2. The action takes place in the forests...
Game released: Xbox 360, PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Linux, Mac → 20 July 2011
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
100/100
Metacritic:
89/100
Bastion is an action-adventure RPG with an isometric camera view in a fantasy setting. You will go to a fairy-tale world, which, by the will of fate, is gradually...
Game released: PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Linux → 14 January 2016
Players:
8.6/10
Steam:
91/100
Metacritic:
80/100
Oxenfree is a mystical adventure with a side view about teenagers who decide to spend a weekend on a mysterious island. The main character, along with her friends...
Role-playing game, Action, Adventure, Horror, Futurism (Future), Indie, Survival, Top-down view, Crafting
Game released: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One → 21 January 2016
Players:
9.7/10
Steam:
79/100
Subterrain is an action-horror adventure with RPG elements and a top-down view. In the game you will play as one Doctor West, apparently the only survivor of an...
Game released: PC, Mac, Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Linux → 13 December 2013
Players:
7.7/10
Steam:
83/100
Metacritic:
79/100
Teslagrad is an arcade quest with platformer elements and futurism style. In this game, you use the power of electromagnetism to solve puzzles and battle horrors as...
Role-playing game, Action, Strategy, Adventure, In real time, Top-down view, Futurism (Future), Fantasy, Medieval era, Indie, Roguelike, Tower Defense (Tower Defense)
Game released: PC, Xbox One, Mac, iOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android → 11 June 2020
Players:
7.7/10
Steam:
87/100
Metacritic:
79/100
A hardcore roguelike in which a group of prisoners suddenly become explorers of a hostile world. After a prison ship crashes on the mysterious planet Auriga, the...
Game released: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch → 20 December 2016
Players:
10/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
81/100
This side-scrolling fantasy platformer builds its heroine’s actions around belly dancing and hair-whipping. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is an HD adventure starring...
Game released: iOS, PC, Linux, Android, Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch → 30 March 2016
Players:
10/10
Steam:
90/100
Arcade action platformer with pixel graphics about a daring prison escape. The main character must overcome many obstacles, fight enemies, and solve puzzles to win...