Indie games often have to work twice as hard to be successful. When other obstacles, such as budget cuts, skeleton crew development teams, and public obscurity, are added, success can seem impossible.
Yet despite these obstacles, many of these underdog indie games still manage to deliver unforgettable experiences that rival even their AAA counterparts. In this list, we’re going to be spotlighting some of the best indie games better than they have any right to be, so get ready to find your latest gaming obsession!
10Buckshot Roulette
Made by a One-Man Army
Buckshot Roulette
Buckshot Roulette started out as an obscure game made by a guy named Mike Klubnika, a self-made game developer just trying to come up with the year’s next big title.
Though he’d created games by himself in the past, he didn’t expect his newest release to explode in popularity the way it did, with big YouTubers like Markiplier and Jacksepticeye even giving it the green light.
Buckshot Roulette is a strategy shooter that lets you play a jacked-up version of Russian roulette for money, which is about as unique as strategy games get. This high-stakes survival game takes the nerve-wracking tension of spinning the cylinder and cranks it up to eleven, using massive shotguns instead of handguns.
Each round in Buckshot Roulette is a gamble, where the risk isn’t just about losing the game, it’s about losingyour life.No matter how far along you manage to get in the game, one wrong pull of the trigger could always mean game over, but the potential reward for not blowing your face off is always far too sweet to pass up.
It’s crazy to think that this game was made by a single person. If I dhad knownotherwise, I would’ve guessed that tit tookmonthsto develop with the help of an entireteamof developers;,not just some guy with some free time and a day job.
Difficulties in Marketing
Though many initially wrote Bugsnax off as some obscure novelty, many gamers decided to give it a chance, and it only gained more popularity once it made its debut on PlayStation consoles. Bugsnax is now a well-known and well-liked indie game in the community, proving you don’t need multi-million dollar marketing campaigns to get noticed.
Bugsnax invites players to explore the vibrant and mysterious island of Snaktooth, wherefood-themed creatures, called Bugsnax, roam free. Catching them and feeding them to your friends is the goal of the game, though it ends up being a lot more complicated than you’d think.
While hunting down delicious creatures, you’ll be tasked with uncovering the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of the island’s previous residents. With few clues and tons of Bugsnax in sight, staying focused on the mission is a lot harder than you’d think.
Regardless, the journeys that this game takes you on are like something straight out of a cough syrup fever dream. There are, quite literally, zero other games like this one; I can’t believe it had so much trouble getting noticed in the first place!
8Slaughter Horse 2
A Former Itch.io Masterpiece
Slaughter Horse 2 is a personal favorite of mine whose franchise I have been obsessed with for nearly a decade. I couldn’t tell you how I initially came across it all those years ago, only that I’m immensely glad I did.
Though some may be unfamiliar with the game, Slaughter Horse 2 received overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans after its Early Access release. Initially released on Itch.io by an incredibly talented developer, this game soon found its way to Steam and to an even larger fan base.
Catfood Mcfly, or Catsmeat Studios, was a small-time developer initially just trying to make a fun and obscure game for My Little Pony fans, but could never have expected the popularity that such a niche game would generate.
Slaughter Horse 2 is the sequel to Slaughter Horse (formally known as Pinkamena), which was a mobile game based on the world of My Little Pony. It’s no longer on the app store, unfortunately, but you’re able to still play it onItch.io.
In Slaughter Horse, players stepped into the hooves of detective Silvermane, a crime-busting pony on the hunt for a serial killer picking off townsponies left and right. Surprisingly, it was a big hit on the app store, with many fans becoming obsessed with it overnight.
Soon after, its sequel, Slaughter Horse 2, was born. This game allows its players to take on the role of the killer instead, forcing them to keep their covert deeds under wraps in fear of getting caught by the detective. From baking poisonous cakes to planting fake evidence, this game is the reverse-Clue board game we all needed growing up!
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7Return of the Obra Dinn
Judged by its Colorless Cover
Return of the Obra Dinn
A black-and-white game without any combat, action, or survival elements is surprisingly hard to market to consumers, and Return of the Obra Dinn initially paid the price for that fact.
For a long time after its release, this game flew under the radar for most gamers. It’s only now-well-known popularity comes from word of mouth and popular streamers.
It may not sound like the most exciting game ever, but if you’re as feral as me about maritime mysteries and ghost ships, then there is nothing that you wouldn’t love about Return of the Obra Dinn. This incredible indie gem places you in the role of an insurance investigator (yes, really) armed with a magical pocket watch and a ship full of ghosts—what’s not to love??
The Obra Dinn, a merchant vessel thought to be lost at sea, has drifted into port without its crew, leaving you to piece together what happened through freeze-frame snapshots of their final moments. Piecing together their individual demises isn’t easy, but it’s also weirdly satisfying to see how the story starts piecing together along the way.
Part detective mystery and part paranormal investigator, Return of the Obra Dinn is easily one ofthe best indie gamesto be released in the last decade. This game redefines the entire interactive storytelling genre; it’s frankly unbelievable that this gem was created by such a small team of developers
6Outer Wilds
Struggled to Get Off the Ground
Outer Wilds
Is it a little ironic that a game about zero-gravity space had trouble getting off the ground? Maybe, but don’t let that fool you! Despite initial challenges with marketing its niche concept to consumers, Outer Wilds ended up taking the gaming world by storm once people found out about it.
If you’re a fan ofthe time loop trope, then Outer Wilds is going to be right up your alley. This game follows the story of an astronaut doing their best to save a planetary system from its inevitable demise; over, and over, and over again.
As a newly minted astronaut from an alien civilization, you’re tasked with unraveling the mystery of why a 22-minute time loop keeps resetting the sun’s ultra-destructive, supernova explosion from destroying the entire planetary system.
Is it low-key kind of annoying that every time you make some progress, you get launched back to square one, firework style? Yeah, kind of. But that’s also what makes the game so great; each time you restart, you take the knowledge that you’ve gained with you, unraveling the cosmic mystery one loop at a time.
5The Banner Saga
A Kickstarter Success Story
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga is the first of a trilogy of games under the same name. Though it’s a popular franchise now, back in 2014 when the original game was released, the developers faced a ton of struggles trying to get it off the ground.
Starting out as a mere idea on Kickstarter, The Banner Saga gradually accumulated a fan base that allowed the developers to gain the funding they needed.
Despite this, they still had a lot of trouble during development; working with a skeleton crew of developers who all had day jobs definitely proved to be an obstacle, in addition to having to be extremely frugal with their donations.
This caused numerous delays in development that put even more pressure on the poor developers, though they still managed to pull through and create one of the most well-received indie franchises ever.
The Banner Saga is like if Vikings met Dungeons & Dragons. This Norse-based RPG is a story-driven journey that combines tactical combat, resource management, and tough decision-making that affects the player’s whole party.
Players lead a caravan of people across a bleak, crumbling world, making choices that directly impact both their group’s and their own survival. The Banner Saga is like the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book in video game form.
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Delay, Delay, Delay
Omori is one of the most easily recognized titles in the indie community, but despite its success today, Omori actually had a pretty turbulent journey during development.
Originally announced in 2013 asan RPG Maker project, the game’s creator, Omocat, and their team encountered numerous challenges, including budgeting issues, extended delays, and the immense pressure of meeting fan expectations after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Despite this, they marched on, and after many years of development, Omori was finally released to the public.
Omori is a psychological horror game that lures players in with its charming, hand-drawn art style before unraveling a deeply unsettling, yet emotional story.
The game follows the story of a young boy named Sonny, who has a dream-world alter ego named Omori. You get to explore the environments of both the real world and a surreal dream world, weeding through bizarre environments based on repressed memories and childhood fears.
Balancing whimsical, childlike humor with heavy themes of guilt, grief, and depression, Omori delivers an experience that’s as intriguing as it is haunting.
Thank God for 2020
Even though it was released in 2018, Among Us didn’t really become well-known until 2020.
The game lingered in obscurity for two long years, with its small but dedicated player base being the only thing keeping it afloat. Everything changed in 2020, however, when the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world’s attention to online multiplayer games.
Among Us isa multiplayer social deduction gamethat tasks players with working together as Crewmates to complete tasks on a spaceship, all while secretly trying to unmask the Impostors working to sabotage them.
Streamers on platforms like Twitch and YouTube began showcasing Among Us during quarantine, as it was cheap and widely available to most people on a lot of platforms. These gamers began publicly highlighting the game’s chaotic and hilarious group dynamics, sparking a viral explosion in the gaming community.
Seemingly overnight, even though it’d already been out for two years, millions were playing the game, using it as a way to connect with friends during the isolation of quarantine. Pretty soon, Among Us became a cultural phenomenon, spawning memes, merchandise, and even collaborations with other games.
This game’s delayed success proved that even overlooked gems can shine when given the right spotlight.
Difficulty Gaining Financial Footing
You may have noticed that Cuphead isextremelywell-detailed, in addition to its beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds and characters. Well, it turns out all that stuff isn’t cheap, and neither are voice actors, animators, game developers, or marketing campaigns.
Cuphead’s creators struggled to continue the game’s development despite the major financial strain, but in the end, the game proved to be well worth the stress. Cuphead is now one of the most well-known indie games of the decade, having paid for itself several times over soon after its release.
Move over, Elden Ring, because RPGs don’t get any more frustrating or hair-pulling than Cuphead. Cuphead isn’t just a 2D indie platformer—it’s an interactive 1930s cartoon that also wants to destroy your soul and everything you hold dear.
This game is well-known for its difficulty, but you really can’t understand what it’s like until you actually pick up a controller and play it yourself.
The heart of Cuphead’s ingenious gameplay lies in its boss battles, which are equal parts maddening and exhilarating. Every encounter that you fail leaves you sweaty, frustrated, and yelling at your screen, but every victory? Pure bliss.
Cuphead manages to perfectly balance its brutal difficulty with rewarding gameplay, making it nearly impossible to put down (even when you swear you’re done for the day). If you’re up for a challenge wrapped in one of the most stunning, nostalgic art styles ever, this game is a must-play.
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An Overnight Nintendo Nightmare
It wouldn’t surprise many to learn that Palworld was met with skepticism when its trailers debuted, mainly due to its tonal whiplash andmanycontroversial mechanics.
Many were unsure whether to consider it a satirical take on creature-collecting games or a serious take on something else entirely. Additionally, the developers faced many technical challenges during development, balancing a large open-world design with the demands of running the game smoothly on multiple platforms.
The project’s sheer ambition led tomanydelays, and many fans wondered if Palworld would ever live up to its unique premise. Despite these hurdles, Palworld has managed to carve out a niche for itself among indie enthusiasts.
However, its troubles didn’t stop after its development. I’m sure everyone’s heard of Nintendo’s lawsuit against PocketPair, alleging that Palworld infringed on the intellectual property of its Pokémon franchise. While the games may share superficial similarities, PocketPair has defended Palworld as its own distinct experience.
Despite the legal drama though, Palworld continued to gain traction, with its bold premise attracting players looking for something out of the ordinary. If you’ve ever wondered what Pokémon would be like if it had machine guns, capitalism, and a whole lot of moral ambiguity, then all you need to do is pick up a copy of Palworld.
This open-world survival game takes the creature-collecting formula of Pokémon and turns it on its head; you can choose to befriend adorable Pals, make sanctuaries where they can work lightly and live happily, or… sell them off to pay your bills. Or eat them. Or harvest their organs to craft stuff.
The game doesn’t care much what you do with them, but in the end, you’ve got to live with your own choices, so do what you’ve got to do.
The world of Palworld isn’t all sunshine and daisies, but itisa choose-your-own-adventure book in game form; you can do pretty much whatever you want in this game, so if you don’t want to become a warmongering, Pal-poaching maniac, then that’s entirely up to you!
Pocketpair really outdid themselves with Palworld. Eventheywent on record as saying they couldn’t believe the amount of attention their game got, but ultimately, what started out as a passion project turned into a globally recognized RPG worth its weight in gold.
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