Indie Games To Try Out!

Indie games are independent games that aren’t from a large publisher. These games usually have passion and creativity built into them to create an experience for their users. Some indie games are created by a solo developer and others are created by a small team. This makes their budget a lot lower than most companies and forces them to be innovative.

For a while now, large companies have been making terrible games with no real soul or passion imbued into them. Now, it is flooded with collabs, terrible quality, over-saturated content, repetitive nature, and more. Games are supposed to be a form of art that allows people to explore, learn, and have fun with. However, with the rise of new passionate indie games, there have been tons of new media people could try out from all sorts of genres. The games below were selected to explore some unique categories of games that more people should try out and others have already enjoyed. So what are you waiting for? Check them out!

Stardew Valley was released on February 26, 2016, by solo developer Eric Barone also known as ConcernedApe. It is a very fun and chill farming game with tons of things to do. The mechanics are designed very well with even an option for multiplayer. There are tons of options, replayability, and an expansive modding community. Stardew Valley is a type of game everyone should try out at least once, either to calm down or just relax.

Art & Inspirations

Stardew Valley was inspired by other casual farming games such as Harvest Moon and the Story Of Seasons series. The developer uses pixel art to give a simpler tone to the game while also using cartoonish art for character dialogue. The gameplay consists of farming, fishing, dungeon exploring, romance, and other things players can do. There is also multiplayer which allows people to chill with their friends with the benefit of having more hands to do tasks during the day. It’s definitely a fun game that is very unique.

R.E.P.O. is a comedic horror game that was created by Semiwork. It was released on February 26, 2025. This game revolves around a group of tiny gremlin robots finding loot to make your company rich. This game is an absolute mess in a good way. Especially when playing with friends, the amount of chaos even one monster can bring is hilarious. I do recommend this if you enjoy horror games and have friends to play with. It is best to go in the game blind and mess around!

Art & Inspirations

R.E.P.O. was heavily inspired by Lethal Company with the goal of making as much money as you can from salvaging materials from abandoned monster-filled buildings. It has a very retro feel to it along with a dungeon-like atmosphere. The game features content such as unique abandoned buildings, shops, funny voices, and more. It leaves so much to explore and unique ways in navigating through the dungeons.

Omori was created on December 25, 2020 by OMOCAT. Omori has a very deep storyline with many twists and turns. The early impressions were rather simple being a puzzle game with a darker undertone but further in there is more of a darker more complex storyline. It’s a really good one to check out especially if you enjoy puzzles, turn-based combat, and physiological horror.

Art & Inspirations

Omori was heavily inspired by Yume Nikki, an rpgMaker where a character dreams. In the case of Omori, the game takes place in two parts which are the dream world and reality. It dives heavily into the main character’s life, their struggles, and dreams with the help of their friends. The game talks heavily about being a shut-in, depression, and the hope of getting better. Overall, it is a very emotional and heart touching game.

MiSide was created by AIHASTO and was released on December 11, 2024. MiSide is basically a darker twist on the virtual romance genre. Although, this isn’t a personal suggestion. It takes a wider perspective about the concepts and openly displays the problems behind the scene with these types of games. It dives into the problems and horrors that other games haven’t really discussed. Examples such as what happens if you turn off the game, what happens to the faulty programs, what happens if such a game breaks, etc. It is a pretty interesting experience if you do want to try something like this. 

Art & Inspiration

MiSide took inspiration from virtual romance games and the darker aspects of these pieces of media. The game takes place in a virtual world that changes depending on the user’s actions. There are multiple areas that can be seen along with various endings with surprises and deeper meanings. The art is pretty interesting and there are many things you could explore. There are also some concepts that are similar to horror phenomena such as clipping through objects like in the Backrooms and other features that makes this game unique. Even as one who doesn’t really play romance games, this one didn’t disappoint!

Limbus Company was released on September 26, 2024 by the indie company Project Moon. Limbus company is very story driven. It dives deep into trauma and heavy experiences. The game is a gacha but there is no need to interact with it if said player doesn’t want to. I really enjoyed the animation and art that the people created for this game and with deep and touching music makes it so much better. All of these aspects combined makes me highly recommend anyone who isn’t sensitive to gore to play this game.

Art & Inspiration

Limbus Company takes inspiration from literary classics such as The Wings by Yi Sang, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, and much more. Limbus uses oil based art that gives it a unique look from most video games. The story telling and world building leaves a large impression and it is radiating in creativity and genuine passion. Definitely a must try!