There’s something truly special about indie games. Every year sees brilliant additions of all genres, full of stunning artwork, thoughtful stories, moving characters, and boundary-pushing gameplay. These games not only prove that you don’t need a big label attached to you to show your worth whether you’re a green-thumbed witch or a possessed lamb.
We’ve got a whole host of game recommendations if you’re looking for something new. Take a peep at our picks of the best gacha games, games like Minecraft, and free Switch games for affordable fun.
Here are our picks of the very best indie games:

Chants of Sennaar
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Xbox Game Pass, and Windows handhelds
One of the most creative and thought-provoking games of 2023 is Chants of Sennaar, a game all about deciphering lost languages as you climb through a mysterious tower. You know no words and must figure out the meanings of symbols in order to communicate and find your way through the world.
Though you may not be reading conversations immediately, the bright and immersive world with its lovely soundtrack will sweep you away into the game, and you’ll be chatting with the locals before you know it.
Cult of the Lamb
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Dubbed affectionately by James Stephanie Sterling as ‘a world of sh*t’, Cult of the Lamb is an adorably monstrous roguelike slash colony sim. You take the role of the cutest little possessed lamb in town, who was saved from annihilation by an ominous stranger. It’s now up to you to repay the debt by building a loyal following in his name – that’s right, you start your own cult, venture out into mysterious and monstrous regions, and build a loyal community of woodland worshippers as you spread your Word in pursuit of becoming the one true cult.
Build your (very literal) flock, destroy the non-believers, and get your colony working like a well-oiled, poop-fuelled machine. Delightful! Check out our full thoughts in our Cult of the Lamb review.
Disco Elysium
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Disco Elysium is one of the best RPGs out there, and for good reason. It’s described as haunting, epic, and a masterpiece – the BAFTA among its achievements helps to prove this.
You take on the role of Harrier Du Bois as he wakes up with no memory of himself after suffering drug-induced amnesia. This sort of sets the tone for your time in Martinaise, a fictional world where revolutions changed everything. Off you go to investigate crimes across the isola.
There’s no combat in Disco Elysium – instead, the isometric game has skill checks and a lot of dialogue between characters, where you unlock secrets and thoughts which can change how the game pans out for you.
Dredge
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Fishing games are great, and Dredge is a fishing game, which makes it great. But it’s not any old reel-em-in game – it’s also got a sanity meter and spooky goings-on in the background for you to discover as you catch a fresh haul, sell it, upgrade your boat, and head back out to more islands. It’s a gripping gameplay loop wrapped in a pleasing art style, with plenty of fish to discover in both reefs and rivers.
Read our Dredge review here for a deeper look into this seafaring adventure, and our feature on the wonder of the deep blue in games.
Fields of Mistria
Platforms: Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
If you’re a fan of farming games with a social side, maybe some mining and fishing in there too, we can’t recommend Fields of Mistria highly enough. It could rival Stardew Valley as one of the best in the genre, even with it currently being in early access.
There’s a lot to do in this game and it all runs very smoothly, complete with a delightful art style and catchy soundtrack to boot. Spend your days learning spells and raising barnyard animals, selling crops, and getting to know the locals as you restore Mistria and help it flourish.
Hades
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Sorry, every entry on this list is just raving about the games but, hey, that’s what a best-of list is for. Now we move on to Hades. The soundtrack? Excellent. The character design? Superb. Setting? Divine and mystical. Gameplay? Phenomenal.
You are Zagreus, the son of Hades, and you want out. But to get out, you need to fight through a lot of mythical monsters and uh, gods. BOSS and BOSS are just two of the recognizable names from Greek mythology that you encounter in Hades’ halls of hell. You have a pet – Cerberus – that you can pat, friends you can talk to, and weapons you can upgrade. And it’s all bundled together with a really nicely drawn art style that perfectly captures each personality.
Night in the Woods
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Night in the Woods is an excellent sidescrolling story game by Infinite Fall. You follow Mae Borowski as she returns to her hometown and finds her childhood friends while working to get to grips with adult life – but there’s something wrong, and something strange is happening.
I, personally, really love the art style of this game, and the humor in the writing is what makes it a truly excellent experience. The characters are loveable, and it’s a nice, chill time with no strenuous combat or puzzle-solving.
Ooblets
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Ooblets is a delightful farming, creature collection, and life sim game that offers oodles of joy, all year round. With its vibrant colors, stylized art, silly-sounding words, and epic critter dance battles, it’s a truly wholesome, light-hearted experience that offers a whole heap of fun for anyone looking for some chill vibes after a hectic day.
Ooble over to our Ooblets review to find out more.
Spiritfarer
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Xbox Game Pass, and Windows handhelds
Adorable as it is emotional, Spiritfarer takes you on a journey of love, loss, and friendship through Stella and her cat Daffodil. You become Stella, the Ferrier of souls across the sea to the Everdoor, where they make their last goodbyes. As you sail, you need to fulfill their last desires and get to know them before they pass. There’s Uncle Atul, the big blue frog, Alice the hedgehog, and plenty more animal-shaped spirits that embody those you knew during their human lives.
Now, this game can will make you sad – so be warned – but there is so much joy to be found here, too as you build up your ship with farms, machines, and amenities. Take a look at our Spiritfarer review for a deeper look at this charming game.
Stardew Valley
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Steam Deck, Xbox Game Pass, and Windows handhelds
If you’re not aware of how great this game is, I implore you to read our reflective Stardew Valley review as it sums it up all nicely. If you’re in a hurry then let me give you an even quicker recap.
Stardew Valley is perhaps the best farming game turned life simulator out there. It has a friendship system, a plethora of potential romance partners, fishing, crafting, decorating, mining, and of course – a robust catalog of seeds, trees, and bushes for every season to make sure you’re busy all the time. Thanks to different farm types and layouts there’s tons of replayability here too, though there’s so much to do that you’re guaranteed to be busy for hours and hours and hours anyway.
Undertale
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Undertale, the weird, wonderful, emotional journey that it is, absolutely captured players’ hearts as soon as it appeared on PC. Creator Toby Fox brought it to Switch in 2018, just three years after its release, to open it up to a broader audience.
How do I even describe the story and setting of Undertale… you’re a pixelated young child who fell into the underground and now must work through bizarre puzzles, traps, and battles to reach the way out back to your home. You can be good and avoid combat, you can do the opposite and murderize everything, or you can do a bit of both. Whatever you do, look for secrets and pay attention to the dialogue. The wacky but loveable characters and the excellent soundtrack are what bring Undertale to life, and solidify it as a favorite to so many people.

Vampire Survivors
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, iOS, Android, Xbox Game Pass and Windows handhelds
If you like games that absolutely suck (ha, get it?) you in, we recommend Vampire Survivors. For less than five dollars, you can get hours of undead-themed survival fun while using a wide variety of weapons, abilities, and items.
You can also play with up to three people in couch co-op, and see who comes out on top. Developer Poncle keeps adding excellent DLC and expansions to this game making for $1.99 each, giving you plenty more weapons to find and scenarios to live through.
If these fantastic indies aren’t enough for you, then check out our list of the best Switch games, or the best mobile games for more of our top picks from the last 12 months.