2025 has been without question one of the best years in gaming, and even with the absurd amount of Game of the Year contenders like Blue Prince, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, there are still so many games to explore. We’ve gathered a list of 12 excellent indie games that released this year that we think haven’t quite gotten the attention they deserve, with some cuts so deep you can’t see the bottom.
Stray Children
This new alternative RPG from the creators of famous anti-RPG Moon: RPG Remix Adventure will be unlike anything else you’ve played this year. A boy finds himself whisked away to a fantastical world where children have built up a fortress to keep out “The Olders” – in this world, adults are horrible child-eating monsters, dragging around the weight of their own inadequacies and eating children just to feel again. Travel through this dark world to find a way home, battling adults with both words and weapons, and discover a world that might not be as different from our own as we’d like to think.
Disaster Arms – Impact Project BAHN
This arcade bullet hell game brings a new level of intensity to the Shoot ‘Em Up genre, tossing the player into a world of lasers, aliens, robots and really big bugs at 100 miles an hour. As the apocalypse looms, a single boy rushes towards the company that has manufactured weapons of mass destruction that is currently being invaded by aliens. Disaster Arms has a particularly cool feature in that it normally has limited continues like a real arcade game – if you are a more casual player however, an Unlimited Mode is available.
Steam Page | itch.io Page | GOG Galaxy Page
Super 10 Pin
Super 10 Pin is an extremely simple arcade bowling game with a few twists. Unlock new abilities for your bowling ball like jumping, explosions, fire, and more. Timing your bowl right will give you control over the bowling ball as it bounces around wondrous environments with Nintendo 64 graphics, making it a perfect recommendation for those who enjoy the Super Monkey Ball games.
Airborne Empire
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Airborne Kingdom, Airborne Empire expands the city-builder to great new heights. In this open world RPG meets city-builder, you’ll create a flying city that travels the world while managing not only fuel, food, and water for your city, but also balancing lift, thrust, propulsion, and other physics principles. Explore a wondrous world, find hidden treasures, engage in combat with fortresses and pirates and even rival cities, and build a castle in the sky to rival Studio Ghibli.
Shotgun Cop Man
From the makers of smash hit side-scrolling shooter My Friend Pedro comes an equally absurd action game. As the titular Shotgun Cop Man, you’ll blast your way through hell in pursuit of arresting Satan himself. This arcade precision platformer feels great to play, utilizing a physics-based approach to movement by steering your character with the blowback from shotgun blasts. Justice and glory awaits!
Candy Rangers
This colorful on-rails shooter brings players through 3D environments with retro-style graphics. The arcade controls are simple but deceptive – each of the four Candy Rangers shoots differently. Candy shoots bullets sideways, Mint shoots vertically, Plum shoots back and forth, and Lemon shoots diagonally. Hot swap between and reorganize your character formations to take down the armies of robots and save the world!
Steam Page | Nintendo eShop | Xbox Store
and Roger
and Roger is similar to the hit indie game from a few years ago, Florence. Through small mini-games, puzzles, and simple environment interactions, you’ll explore the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find that her father is gone. A stranger is in her home, and voice in her head insists she get ready for the day. You’ll have the best experience with and Roger if you learn nothing more about it. It’s a short game that you can and should finish in one contemplative evening.
Preserve
Preserve is a cozy strategy game where you are tasked with building out environments and ecosystems for flora and fauna to thrive. Start with a single tile, build both horizontally and vertically to create new climates, and make a network of interconnected habitats that depend on one another. With five worlds including the Forest, Savanna, Ocean, Prehistoric, and Ice Age, each with a completely different ruleset for building, there’s no shortage of fun to be had trying to get a high score. There’s also a creative mode as well as puzzle mode for after you’ve finished the main game, so chill out and watch your biomes flourish and thrive any way you like.
Steam Page | Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Discover the World
You’re not going to get any more niche than this turn-based RPG platformer, as Discover the World isn’t even on Steam – only on itch.io. This retro pixel art game comes with a PDF manual, as there is little in the game to explain what’s going on or what you should do. Although it is turn-based, combat involves tactical placement and positioning as well to add some depth. This whimsical adventure is sure to be unlike anything else you play this year.
Cat Detective Albert Wilde
The smell… yeah I knew that smell. It was the smell of justice, and my own butt. This comedy adventure game puts players into the shoes of broke private investigator Albert Wilde, a cat who’s deep in debt and has nothing to lose on his last case. This linear narrative experience is a well-written parody of old film noir, with a few interactive elements and mini-games along the way. Mostly, it’s a very funny game that doesn’t outstay its welcome, and will be great for anyone looking for a dame down at the docks with stars in her eyes and a bullet in her brain.
to a T
From the creator of Katamari Damacy comes a new puzzle game that is somehow equally as weird. This colorful adventure follows a teenager whose body is stuck in a T-pose, accompanied by their loyal dog. This incredibly absurd game features everything from a house with five giant tongues to sandwich artist giraffes to a magical unicycle. Find collectibles, meet the locals, and find out what it means to really have to fight to fit in.
Steam Page | PlayStation Store | Xbox Store
Primal Planet
If you’ve been running down this list and trying to decide whether you want dinosaurs, aliens, pixel art, or a heartfelt story about family, you’re in luck – Primal Planet is all of those things and more! This solo-developed metroidvania brings together survival, crafting, platforming, and action in a prehistoric world as a caveman fights to protect what he loves, but with a sci-fi twist! No longer will you have to decide between an alien abduction and fighting a T-Rex! You can have it all!
Steam Page | PlayStation Store
There’s still time to grab these indie delights before winter sales end, so make sure to support your new favorite developers by checking out these games you probably missed! Any games this year you want to shout out that didn’t get the spotlight they deserved? Let us know in the comments below!
