Small studios, big ideas: games made away from the big publishers, often bolder, more personal and more playful than the next sequel.
How to find games that really suit you: Select up to 5 games you have played and enjoyed. Playalike compares 36 traits such as combat, story and atmosphere and suggests games that hit exactly the same spot, even across genres.
A relaxing farming sim with village life, friendships and a co-op mode.
A 2D sandbox adventure where you dig, build and craft while ever-tougher bosses unlock new gear tiers and biomes. Its huge item pool and hidden secrets make it a near-endless experience, especially with friends.
Escape from the underworld as a roguelike with fast-paced combat and a story that grows with every run.
Cosy, great for unwinding
A relaxing farming sim with village life, friendships and a co-op mode.
A relaxing farming sim with village life, friendships and a co-op mode.
Lots to discover
A 2D sandbox adventure where you dig, build and craft while ever-tougher bosses unlock new gear tiers and biomes. Its huge item pool and hidden secrets make it a near-endless experience, especially with friends.
2 Terraria
A 2D sandbox adventure where you dig, build and craft while ever-tougher bosses unlock new gear tiers and biomes. Its huge item pool and hidden secrets make it a near-endless experience, especially with friends.
Runs that play out differently every time
Escape from the underworld as a roguelike with fast-paced combat and a story that grows with every run.
3 Hades
Escape from the underworld as a roguelike with fast-paced combat and a story that grows with every run.
Lots to discover
A hand-drawn Metroidvania in a ruined insect kingdom full of secrets.
A hand-drawn Metroidvania in a ruined insect kingdom full of secrets.
Strong character progression
A minimalist auto-attacking roguelite where you only steer while your weapons fire on their own, snowballing through clever upgrade synergies into a screen-clearing force against thousands of monsters. Short runs and constant unlocks make it wildly addictive.
A minimalist auto-attacking roguelite where you only steer while your weapons fire on their own, snowballing through clever upgrade synergies into a screen-clearing force against thousands of monsters. Short runs and constant unlocks make it wildly addictive.
Jumping and platforming
A precise platformer about climbing a mountain and overcoming inner fears.
6 Celeste
A precise platformer about climbing a mountain and overcoming inner fears.
Lots of humour
A chaotic physics battle sandbox where you place wobbly units from eras ranging from the Stone Age to fantasy and watch them hilariously clash. Figuring out the perfect army on a tight budget meets glorious slapstick absurdity.
7 Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
A chaotic physics battle sandbox where you place wobbly units from eras ranging from the Stone Age to fantasy and watch them hilariously clash. Figuring out the perfect army on a tight budget meets glorious slapstick absurdity.
Strong, story-driven narrative
A charming indie RPG where every fight can be resolved without violence, blending turn-based menus with bullet-hell dodging. Its quirky humor, memorable monsters and a story that remembers your choices made it a cult classic.
A charming indie RPG where every fight can be resolved without violence, blending turn-based menus with bullet-hell dodging. Its quirky humor, memorable monsters and a story that remembers your choices made it a cult classic.
Lots to discover
Stranded on an ocean planet, you dive ever deeper into a gorgeous yet terrifying alien sea. You build bases and submarines while piecing together the planet's mystery, and the dark depths themselves become the real source of dread.
Stranded on an ocean planet, you dive ever deeper into a gorgeous yet terrifying alien sea. You build bases and submarines while piecing together the planet's mystery, and the dark depths themselves become the real source of dread.
Sandbox with your own goals
An endless physics sandbox on the Source engine where you spawn, weld and pose props, ragdolls and contraptions however you like. Its legendary status comes from countless community game modes like Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt that deliver chaotic multiplayer fun.
10 Garry's Mod
An endless physics sandbox on the Source engine where you spawn, weld and pose props, ragdolls and contraptions however you like. Its legendary status comes from countless community game modes like Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt that deliver chaotic multiplayer fun.
Dark, serious atmosphere
A wordless, oppressive puzzle-platformer in which a boy slips through a bleak dystopia, controlling bodies with his mind along the way. Masterful atmosphere and a disturbing finale make it unforgettable.
11 Inside
A wordless, oppressive puzzle-platformer in which a boy slips through a bleak dystopia, controlling bodies with his mind along the way. Masterful atmosphere and a disturbing finale make it unforgettable.
Strong, story-driven narrative
As photography student Max, you discover you can rewind time and dig into a disappearance in a sleepy coastal town, with your choices shaping friendships and fates. It's a heartfelt coming-of-age drama with an unforgettable indie soundtrack.
As photography student Max, you discover you can rewind time and dig into a disappearance in a sleepy coastal town, with your choices shaping friendships and fates. It's a heartfelt coming-of-age drama with an unforgettable indie soundtrack.
Sci-fi setting
You play a stray cat lost in a decaying, robot-inhabited neon city, climbing, sneaking and poking around to uncover what happened to it. Its charming feline interactions and dense cyberpunk atmosphere make this short adventure stand out.
13 Stray
You play a stray cat lost in a decaying, robot-inhabited neon city, climbing, sneaking and poking around to uncover what happened to it. Its charming feline interactions and dense cyberpunk atmosphere make this short adventure stand out.
Runs that play out differently every time
A fast, fluid 2D roguelite with Metroidvania structure, where tight, punchy combat and a huge arsenal of weapons make every run feel different. Permanent unlocks and new routes give you a real sense of progress even as you die again and again.
14 Dead Cells
A fast, fluid 2D roguelite with Metroidvania structure, where tight, punchy combat and a huge arsenal of weapons make every run feel different. Permanent unlocks and new routes give you a real sense of progress even as you die again and again.
Cards and deck-building
A deckbuilding roguelike in which every run demands new card combinations and strategies.
A deckbuilding roguelike in which every run demands new card combinations and strategies.
Cosy, great for unwinding
As rancher Beatrix, you vacuum up adorable slimes on a distant planet, feed them and sell their plorts to expand your ranch. It pairs a laid-back farming loop with relaxed exploration of a colorful world full of secrets and new slime species.
As rancher Beatrix, you vacuum up adorable slimes on a distant planet, feed them and sell their plorts to expand your ranch. It pairs a laid-back farming loop with relaxed exploration of a colorful world full of secrets and new slime species.
Lots of humour
Toby Fox's follow-up to Undertale mixes menu-based party battles with bullet-hell dodging, and enemies can be spared instead of fought. A charming, funny cast, a standout soundtrack and an unsettling meta-mystery sit beneath its colorful surface.
17 Deltarune
Toby Fox's follow-up to Undertale mixes menu-based party battles with bullet-hell dodging, and enemies can be spared instead of fought. A charming, funny cast, a standout soundtrack and an unsettling meta-mystery sit beneath its colorful surface.
Runs that play out differently every time
A frantic top-down roguelike shooter where Isaac fires tears through randomly generated basements. Hundreds of items stack into wild combinations, making every run different and grotesquely strange.
18 The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
A frantic top-down roguelike shooter where Isaac fires tears through randomly generated basements. Hundreds of items stack into wild combinations, making every run different and grotesquely strange.
Co-op or multiplayer
Play as gruff space dwarves carving through fully destructible procedural caves with up to three friends, mining minerals and holding off massive alien swarms. Complementary classes, dry humor and a famously wholesome community make every dive a blast – Rock and Stone!
Play as gruff space dwarves carving through fully destructible procedural caves with up to three friends, mining minerals and holding off massive alien swarms. Complementary classes, dry humor and a famously wholesome community make every dive a blast – Rock and Stone!
Cards and deck-building
An addictive poker roguelike where Jokers, card upgrades and wild synergies push your scores to absurd heights. Every run plays differently, and the hunt for the perfect build never gets old.
20 Balatro
An addictive poker roguelike where Jokers, card upgrades and wild synergies push your scores to absurd heights. Every run plays differently, and the hunt for the perfect build never gets old.
Lavish presentation
A brutally tough boss-rush shooter animated like a 1930s cartoon, where precise dodging, parrying and shooting decide every fight. A swinging big-band jazz score and local co-op round it out.
21 Cuphead
A brutally tough boss-rush shooter animated like a 1930s cartoon, where precise dodging, parrying and shooting decide every fight. A swinging big-band jazz score and local co-op round it out.
Economy and management
A colony sim where an AI storyteller turns raids, famines and your settlers' personal dramas into unique, often darkly funny emergent stories. Its deep simulation and per-colonist management make every run unpredictable.
22 RimWorld
A colony sim where an AI storyteller turns raids, famines and your settlers' personal dramas into unique, often darkly funny emergent stories. Its deep simulation and per-colonist management make every run unpredictable.
Choices with consequences
As a border inspector in the fictional Eastern Bloc state of Arstotzka, you scrutinize paperwork under time pressure while balancing duty, your family's survival, and the fates of desperate travelers. A bleak, morally gripping game with many endings.
As a border inspector in the fictional Eastern Bloc state of Arstotzka, you scrutinize paperwork under time pressure while balancing duty, your family's survival, and the fates of desperate travelers. A bleak, morally gripping game with many endings.
Cosy, great for unwinding
Play as Claire, a young bird climbing and gliding through a charming park toward its summit, chatting with quirky hikers and stumbling on little secrets everywhere. A short, heartfelt, pressure-free adventure with a lovely pixelated low-poly look.
24 A Short Hike
Play as Claire, a young bird climbing and gliding through a charming park toward its summit, chatting with quirky hikers and stumbling on little secrets everywhere. A short, heartfelt, pressure-free adventure with a lovely pixelated low-poly look.
Strong, story-driven narrative
An episodic superhero workplace comedy from former Telltale developers: as a dispatcher you assign a chaotic crew of reformed villains to city emergencies while making choices that shape relationships and the story. Sharp writing, a strong voice cast and a cartoon-like animated look carry the experience.
25 Dispatch
An episodic superhero workplace comedy from former Telltale developers: as a dispatcher you assign a chaotic crew of reformed villains to city emergencies while making choices that shape relationships and the story. Sharp writing, a strong voice cast and a cartoon-like animated look carry the experience.
Building and crafting
Stranded on an alien world, you grow a crude mining operation into a sprawling automated factory, endlessly optimizing belts, production chains and logistics. All the while you must defend it from native creatures angered by your spreading pollution.
26 Factorio
Stranded on an alien world, you grow a crude mining operation into a sprawling automated factory, endlessly optimizing belts, production chains and logistics. All the while you must defend it from native creatures angered by your spreading pollution.
Action-packed real-time combat
A brutally fast top-down shooter where one hit kills and every floor is mastered through rapid trial, error and instant restarts. Its neon visuals, pulsing synthwave soundtrack and unsettling, surreal story about violence make it unforgettable.
A brutally fast top-down shooter where one hit kills and every floor is mastered through rapid trial, error and instant restarts. Its neon visuals, pulsing synthwave soundtrack and unsettling, surreal story about violence make it unforgettable.
Strong, story-driven narrative
What starts as a sugary anime dating sim about a school poetry club gradually turns into unsettling psychological horror that breaks the fourth wall and even toys with the game's own files.
Shooting and gunplay
An infamous first-person shooter where you spend a week as the Postal Dude running mundane errands in a small town, either peacefully or by unleashing total mayhem. Crude, provocative humor and an open sandbox town define the experience.
29 Postal 2
An infamous first-person shooter where you spend a week as the Postal Dude running mundane errands in a small town, either peacefully or by unleashing total mayhem. Crude, provocative humor and an open sandbox town define the experience.
Dread and tension
As a defenseless journalist armed only with a night-vision camcorder, you creep through a nightmarish asylum where hiding and running are your only options. Relentless, unfiltered terror with no way to fight back.
30 Outlast
As a defenseless journalist armed only with a night-vision camcorder, you creep through a nightmarish asylum where hiding and running are your only options. Relentless, unfiltered terror with no way to fight back.
Economy and management
A quirky first-person crime sim where you grow from small-time dealer to drug kingpin in Hyland Point. You experiment with recipes, hire staff, buy property and dodge the cops, ideally with friends in co-op.
31 Schedule I
A quirky first-person crime sim where you grow from small-time dealer to drug kingpin in Hyland Point. You experiment with recipes, hire staff, buy property and dodge the cops, ideally with friends in co-op.
Co-op or multiplayer
You and your friends scavenge dangerous abandoned moons for scrap to meet the Company's quota. Proximity voice chat, lethal monsters and chaotic mishaps blend real tension with slapstick laughs.
Action-packed real-time combat
A blistering neo-noir action platformer where one hit kills and each room plays like a puzzle solved with your katana, slow-motion and deflected bullets. It's wrapped in a twisted, fragmented story with dialogue choices and a superb synthwave soundtrack.
33 Katana Zero
A blistering neo-noir action platformer where one hit kills and each room plays like a puzzle solved with your katana, slow-motion and deflected bullets. It's wrapped in a twisted, fragmented story with dialogue choices and a superb synthwave soundtrack.
Building and crafting
After a plane crash you build shelters and traps in a dense forest while tribes of cannibals stalk and attack you. Creepy mutant-filled caves and the mystery of your missing son drive the exploration, and it's best played with friends in co-op.
34 The Forest
After a plane crash you build shelters and traps in a dense forest while tribes of cannibals stalk and attack you. Creepy mutant-filled caves and the mystery of your missing son drive the exploration, and it's best played with friends in co-op.
Puzzles and brain teasers
A pixel-art puzzle adventure in which you help a child named Niko relight the dead sun of his world. The game breaks the fourth wall, involving your computer and your own decisions in touching and clever ways.
35 OneShot
A pixel-art puzzle adventure in which you help a child named Niko relight the dead sun of his world. The game breaks the fourth wall, involving your computer and your own decisions in touching and clever ways.
Turn-based combat
Turn-based RPG with real-time parrying and dodging, set in a melancholic Belle Époque–inspired fantasy world.
36 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Turn-based RPG with real-time parrying and dodging, set in a melancholic Belle Époque–inspired fantasy world.
Puzzles and brain teasers
Helltaker is a short sokoban-style puzzle game where you push through Hell to collect a harem of demon girls. Slick art, a driving soundtrack and dry humor make it stand out.
37 Helltaker
Helltaker is a short sokoban-style puzzle game where you push through Hell to collect a harem of demon girls. Slick art, a driving soundtrack and dry humor make it stand out.
Cards and deck-building
A creepy card game played against a shadowy figure in a dark cabin, mixing deckbuilding with escape-room puzzles while constantly breaking its own rules. Beneath the surface lies a surprising, fourth-wall-bending mystery.
38 Inscryption
A creepy card game played against a shadowy figure in a dark cabin, mixing deckbuilding with escape-room puzzles while constantly breaking its own rules. Beneath the surface lies a surprising, fourth-wall-bending mystery.
Cosy, great for unwinding
A poetic platformer about grief, almost wordless and with a watercolour look.
39 Gris
A poetic platformer about grief, almost wordless and with a watercolour look.
Action-packed real-time combat
Ultrakill is an extremely fast retro first-person shooter that blends style-ranking from character action games with brutal carnage. You heal by bathing in enemy blood and must fluidly chain weapons, movement and combos.
40 Ultrakill
Ultrakill is an extremely fast retro first-person shooter that blends style-ranking from character action games with brutal carnage. You heal by bathing in enemy blood and must fluidly chain weapons, movement and combos.
Playing together in co-op
A chaotic online co-op game for up to six players where you haul fragile valuables through procedurally generated levels while monsters hunt you. Physics-driven slapstick mishaps and proximity voice chat blend big laughs with real tension.
41 R.E.P.O.
A chaotic online co-op game for up to six players where you haul fragile valuables through procedurally generated levels while monsters hunt you. Physics-driven slapstick mishaps and proximity voice chat blend big laughs with real tension.
Driving or flying
A relaxed trucking simulator where you haul freight across the American landscape, grow from hired driver to company owner, and simply enjoy the open road.
A relaxed trucking simulator where you haul freight across the American landscape, grow from hired driver to company owner, and simply enjoy the open road.
Strong, story-driven narrative
MiSide traps you inside a mobile life simulation where your seemingly sweet companion grows increasingly unsettling. A short, story-driven horror adventure that surprises with genre shifts and stylish presentation.
43 MiSide
MiSide traps you inside a mobile life simulation where your seemingly sweet companion grows increasingly unsettling. A short, story-driven horror adventure that surprises with genre shifts and stylish presentation.
Turn-based combat
A surreal RPG that contrasts bright dreamlike worlds and childhood friendship with psychological horror and heavy themes. Its emotional story and memorable soundtrack stand out, and turn-based battles use emotions as a core mechanic.
44 Omori
A surreal RPG that contrasts bright dreamlike worlds and childhood friendship with psychological horror and heavy themes. Its emotional story and memorable soundtrack stand out, and turn-based battles use emotions as a core mechanic.
Open world
A merciless survival game with a gothic, Tim Burton-esque hand-drawn style, where you scavenge, craft and fend off hunger, insanity and monsters in a procedurally generated wilderness. Death is permanent, but every run teaches you something new.
45 Don't Starve
A merciless survival game with a gothic, Tim Burton-esque hand-drawn style, where you scavenge, craft and fend off hunger, insanity and monsters in a procedurally generated wilderness. Death is permanent, but every run teaches you something new.
Jumping and platforming
A frantic, chaotic 2D platformer starring the manic pizza chef Peppino, built around momentum-based movement, score chasing and wildly hand-drawn animation. Its zany humor and driving soundtrack turn every level into a spectacle.
46 Pizza Tower
A frantic, chaotic 2D platformer starring the manic pizza chef Peppino, built around momentum-based movement, score chasing and wildly hand-drawn animation. Its zany humor and driving soundtrack turn every level into a spectacle.
Co-op or multiplayer
A chaotic, hilarious cartoon brawler best enjoyed with up to four friends on the couch. Light RPG hooks like leveling, weapons and animal orbs keep you coming back between its absurd boss fights.
A chaotic, hilarious cartoon brawler best enjoyed with up to four friends on the couch. Light RPG hooks like leveling, weapons and animal orbs keep you coming back between its absurd boss fights.
Lots of humour
A hilariously irreverent platformer from The Behemoth where you play a prisoner forced through tricky block-based stage levels, solo or in co-op. The sarcastic narrator, cartoon style and chaotic fun with friends define it.
Lots to discover
Explore a solar system caught in a 22-minute time loop and unravel a cosmic mystery.
49 Outer Wilds
Explore a solar system caught in a 22-minute time loop and unravel a cosmic mystery.
Jumping and platforming
A charming 3D collectathon platformer in the vein of N64 classics, where a tiny girl uses magical hats to bounce through varied, wonderfully weird worlds. Its chapters, from a mafia-run town to dueling bird film studios, overflow with humor and creativity.
A charming 3D collectathon platformer in the vein of N64 classics, where a tiny girl uses magical hats to bounce through varied, wonderfully weird worlds. Its chapters, from a mafia-run town to dueling bird film studios, overflow with humor and creativity.
Puzzles and brain teasers
You climb a Babel-inspired tower and decipher the distinct languages of its peoples by observing symbols and deducing meanings yourself. The striking comic-like art and the satisfying feeling of truly learning to communicate make it special.
You climb a Babel-inspired tower and decipher the distinct languages of its peoples by observing symbols and deducing meanings yourself. The striking comic-like art and the satisfying feeling of truly learning to communicate make it special.
Sandbox with your own goals
A physics-driven sandbox where you freely experiment with weapons, machines and odd gadgets on ragdoll characters. The fun comes from creative tinkering and the unexpected, chaotic results.
Puzzles and brain teasers
A tactile puzzle game where you twist, slide and inspect an ornate safe full of hidden compartments and clever mechanisms. Its moody, occult-tinged atmosphere makes every discovery feel eerie and satisfying.
53 The Room
A tactile puzzle game where you twist, slide and inspect an ornate safe full of hidden compartments and clever mechanisms. Its moody, occult-tinged atmosphere makes every discovery feel eerie and satisfying.
Action-packed real-time combat
A fast speedrunning first-person shooter where card-based guns double as movement abilities. You optimize routes through short levels, wrapped in anime style, dating-sim-style dialogue and a driving soundtrack.
54 Neon White
A fast speedrunning first-person shooter where card-based guns double as movement abilities. You optimize routes through short levels, wrapped in anime style, dating-sim-style dialogue and a driving soundtrack.
Cosy, great for unwinding
Toem is a laid-back photography adventure set in a hand-drawn black-and-white world, where you help quirky locals by snapping pictures and solving small tasks. Charming, friendly and completely stress-free.
55 Toem
Toem is a laid-back photography adventure set in a hand-drawn black-and-white world, where you help quirky locals by snapping pictures and solving small tasks. Charming, friendly and completely stress-free.
Strong, story-driven narrative
A moving narrative game where you wander the sprawling Finch family home and relive each relative's final moments through short vignettes, each with its own inventive gameplay twist. Melancholic, creative, and unforgettable in just a couple of hours.
56 What Remains of Edith Finch
A moving narrative game where you wander the sprawling Finch family home and relive each relative's final moments through short vignettes, each with its own inventive gameplay twist. Melancholic, creative, and unforgettable in just a couple of hours.
Action-packed real-time combat
A chaotic run-and-gun platformer starring parodies of action movie heroes, where nearly everything is destructible and explosions tear levels apart. With up to four friends in co-op, the mayhem becomes gloriously over-the-top fun.
57 Broforce
A chaotic run-and-gun platformer starring parodies of action movie heroes, where nearly everything is destructible and explosions tear levels apart. With up to four friends in co-op, the mayhem becomes gloriously over-the-top fun.
Puzzles and brain teasers
As an insurance investigator, you use a magical pocket watch to relive the final moments of a ghost ship's crew and deduce the identity and fate of every sailor. Its striking 1-bit visuals and brilliant deduction design make it a one-of-a-kind detective game.
As an insurance investigator, you use a magical pocket watch to relive the final moments of a ghost ship's crew and deduce the identity and fate of every sailor. Its striking 1-bit visuals and brilliant deduction design make it a one-of-a-kind detective game.
Economy and management
A deep colony sim inside an asteroid where you keep your Duplicants alive by managing oxygen, heat, food and waste through interlocking physics-like systems. Spectacular failures are part of the fun, often with dark humor.
Co-op or multiplayer
You and your friends play ghost hunters, using EMF readers, spirit boxes and cameras to work out which kind of ghost haunts a location. Voice recognition and sudden hunts make for genuine panic and plenty of hilarious co-op moments.
60 Phasmophobia
You and your friends play ghost hunters, using EMF readers, spirit boxes and cameras to work out which kind of ghost haunts a location. Voice recognition and sudden hunts make for genuine panic and plenty of hilarious co-op moments.
Nothing matches this selection.
Indie games tend to commit to one strong idea and build everything around it. That is why the genres here range from cozy farming to punishing platforming to card-based strategy. The first thing to decide is what kind of experience you want: relaxed, challenging, or just silly.
If you want a calm pace, Stardew Valley is a pixel-art farming sim with co-op and a relaxing tone. Subnautica suits players who like exploring an atmospheric open world, though its tags include horror, so expect some tension. If difficulty appeals to you, Hollow Knight is a hand-drawn Metroidvania tagged as difficult, and Celeste is a precision platformer that also has a story-rich side. Both are tagged difficult, so they reward patience.
For short, repeatable sessions, look at the roguelikes. Hades combines fast action with a story-rich mythology setting, while Slay the Spire and Balatro are deckbuilders built on strategy and turn-based decisions. If you prefer to laugh, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is tagged comedy and strategy. Check platforms too: almost everything here is on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but Garry's Mod is listed for PC only.
Stardew Valley is the most obvious choice, with its cozy farming, pixel art and co-op option. Subnautica is also an option if you prefer exploring, but note its horror tag.
Hollow Knight, Celeste and Slay the Spire are all tagged as difficult. Hollow Knight tests exploration and combat, Celeste tests platforming precision, and Slay the Spire tests deckbuilding strategy.
Stardew Valley, Vampire Survivors and Garry's Mod all carry co-op tags. Garry's Mod is listed for PC only, while the other two are also on consoles.
Tell us your favourite games and we'll find recommendations that fit you exactly.
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