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 2021 (Game released)
Game released: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5 → 17 November 2020
Players:
7.7/10
Steam:
83/100
Metacritic:
79/100
Five Dates is a dating simulator with elements of an interactive adult adventure and a dash of romantic comedy. Unlike most similar projects, the game offers to...
Action, Adventure, First-person view, Futurism (Future), Puzzle, Indie, Survival, Comedy, Space, Sandbox
Game released: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S → 25 February 2021
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
72/100
Metacritic:
70/100
Breathedge is a science fiction adventure action game with a first-person view and survival elements. The game tells the story of an ordinary guy and his pet who...
Game released: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS Vita → 31 March 2021
Players:
8.8/10
Steam:
82/100
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance — an expansion to the top-down arcade action game Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. The expansion includes the fan-made modification...
Action, Adventure, First-person view, Futurism (Future), Indie, Virtual Reality (VR), Survival, Open world, Horror
Game released: PC, Xbox One, Mac, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch 2 → 23 January 2018
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
83/100
A single-player adventure in a vast open world, with a first-person view, survival elements, and sandbox features. Playing the game will evoke feelings associated...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S → 4 March 2021
Players:
8.1/10
Steam:
91/100
Metacritic:
83/100
A Russian roguelike that tells the story of how the evil Lich created a time loop, erased the memory of all residents and plunged the world into chaos. The player...
Game released: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS → 17 September 2020
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
98/100
Metacritic:
93/100
Isometric action-roguelike from the creators of Bastion and Transistor. The main character is the god Zagreus (the son of the ancient Greek god Hades), who...
Game released: PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Linux → 15 September 2015
Players:
8.5/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
92/100
An RPG with a unique combat system, where each battle can be completed without a single blow. Instead of the usual violence, there are conversations, mercy, and...
Game released: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One → 16 November 2021
Players:
8.9/10
Steam:
90/100
Dysmantle is an open world RPG that combines the best ideas from Zelda, Stardew Valley, Subnautica, SteamWorld Dig and Dark Souls. The action takes place on a...
Horror, First-person view, Futurism (Future), Indie, Science fiction, Survival, Exploration, Open world, Crafting, Post-apocalyptic
Game released: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch → 28 July 2021
Players:
7.1/10
Steam:
83/100
Metacritic:
78/100
A first-person shooter with exploration elements and horror. While exploring locations, the player collects resources to build a base and craft useful items, while...
Game released: PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One → 26 August 2021
Players:
7.9/10
Steam:
95/100
Metacritic:
63/100
Townscaper is a vibrant casual strategy game in which the player builds a city on an island. The player selects colors and creates blocks of houses on a grid, and...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android → 21 January 2021
Players:
8.7/10
Steam:
92/100
Metacritic:
80/100
Skul: The Hero Slayer is a side-scrolling pixel platformer. People have attacked the demon fortress and are trying to destroy their leader. Most of the inhabitants...
Game released: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch → 5 November 2021
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
76/100
A colorful, large-scale management strategy game about building your own zoo. The owner has dozens of animal species at their disposal: rare creatures can be...
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, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Mac → 10 August 2021
Players:
9.4/10
Steam:
89/100
Metacritic:
75/100
Black Book is a mixture of an adventure game and a card RPG in the setting of Russian fairy tales. The game tells the story of a young peasant woman, Vasilisa: the...
Simulation, Arcade, First-person view, Indie, Business / Management, Sandbox, Virtual Reality (VR), Casual game
Game released: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android → 6 June 2019
Players:
7.5/10
Steam:
85/100
Cooking Simulator is a realistic simulator with management elements and a first-person view. In the game you have to become an unsurpassed chef. You will find...
Role-playing game, Strategy, Horror, Fantasy / Medieval, Turn-based, Indie, Roguelike, Side view, Dungeons
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 → 29 April 2021
Players:
7.5/10
Steam:
76/100
Metacritic:
76/100
Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager is a dark role-playing roguelike with turn-based combat and a side view in a fantasy setting. You have to build a...
Action, Adventure, Third-person view, Interactive movie, Simulation, Indie, Walking Simulator, Open world
Game released: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch → 1 September 2021
Players:
8.4/10
Steam:
86/100
Metacritic:
71/100
Lake is a story-driven postman simulator about a woman named Meredith Weiss. The heroine is forty years old, she returned home from the big city to help her father...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Android, PlayStation 5 → 21 October 2020
Players:
9.7/10
Steam:
89/100
Metacritic:
77/100
ScourgeBringer is a dynamic action-platformer with a side view and roguelike elements from the creators of NeuroVoider. The events of the game unfold in a...
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: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android → 22 May 2020
Players:
8.1/10
Steam:
88/100
Metacritic:
69/100
Adventure action set in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The story centers around a shark that has survived a brutal encounter with a hunter and is driven by a...
Action, Role-playing game, Adventure, Indie, Top-down view, Isometric, Cyberpunk, Cooperative (co-op)
Game released: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android → 29 July 2021
Players:
7.4/10
Steam:
76/100
Metacritic:
73/100
The Ascent is a dynamic action role-playing game with an isometric camera view in a cyberpunk setting. The game takes place in a future world in which the main...
Game released: PC, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 → 18 November 2021
Players:
8/10
Steam:
95/100
Metacritic:
75/100
Co-op shooter for up to four people. Players take on the role of heroes with unique abilities and go with friends to explore vast locations created at random. At...
Game released: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 → 10 October 2019
Players:
7.7/10
Steam:
90/100
A story about two companions trapped within the icy walls of an ancient citadel, where every room oozes mystery and the joker's laughter echoes through the gloomy...
Game released: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android → 11 November 2021
Players:
7.3/10
Steam:
85/100
Metacritic:
65/100
The game follows the adventures of a girl named Shelia, who is an agent of the Supernatural Research Organization (SRO). One day, the organization manages to find...
Game released: Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 → 4 July 2012
Players:
8.4/10
Steam:
92/100
Metacritic:
87/100
Spelunky is a fun adventure that takes you to explore dangerous but rich mines. You will control a rather big-nosed but cute gold digger who came to the mines for...
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, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One → 13 August 2019
Players:
9.4/10
Steam:
89/100
Metacritic:
80/100
Dicey Dungeons — an exciting card-based turn-based game with RPG elements and a simplified roguelike from the creators of Super Hexagon and VVVVVV. In the...
Game released: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch → 28 July 2021
Players:
10/10
Steam:
96/100
Metacritic:
85/100
The Forgotten City — a first-person adventure action game from the creators of the eponymous mod for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. The game's events revolve around...
