The “IndieList” is a compilation of indie games that have caught my eye: part wishlist, part curation. Some of these I’ve played. Others I one day hope to play. The last few months have seen some incredible releases, as well as several prologues/demos, so it’s my hope you’ll be inspired by at least one of the titles featured below.
Screenshots and game descriptions are sourced from Steam/SteamDB. Notes are based on initial experiences and/or first impressions. Early access status current as of August 2022.
Last Call BBS
Boot up your Z5 Powerlance and dial into Last Call BBS, the last game from Zachtronics! The Barkeep’s loaded up his retro computer with a full set of puzzle games for you to download and play. No need to worry about copy protection, they’re all fully cracked and ready to enjoy! Steam.
Notes: Alas, all good things must come to an end, and does Zachtronics sure go out with style with this bittersweet nostalgia trip featuring eight mini puzzle games, with the flair and difficulty only Zachtronics can offer.
I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
Spend your teenage years on an alien planet in this narrative RPG with card-based battles. Explore, grow up, and fall in love. The choices you make and skills you master over ten years will determine the course of your life and the survival of your colony. Steam.
Notes: Fascinating coming of age sci-fi RPG / visual novel, with some light card-based challenges. Gorgeous art style!
Farthest Frontier – ⓘ Early Access
Protect and guide your people as you forge a town from untamed wilderness at the edge of the known world. Harvest raw materials, hunt, fish and farm to survive. Produce crafted items to trade, consume, equip and fight with as you battle for your survival against the elements and outside threats. Steam.
Notes: Graphically stunning village builder with combat, albeit poorly optimised. Not quite a Banished 2.0 just yet, but it shows immense potential.
Terra Nil Demo – ⓘ Free To Play
Terra Nil is a reverse city builder about ecosystem reconstruction. Turn a barren wasteland into an ecological paradise complete with different flora and fauna. Then clean up, leaving the environment pristine. Subverting the builder genre, Terra Nil is about the restoration of a ravaged environment. Steam.
Notes: Very interesting concept with a nice art style. Short demo available. A release date has not yet been announced, but certainly one to keep in your Steam wishlist.
Regiments
Regiments is a Real-Time Tactics game set in Germany 1989. The Cold War has gone hot, and the inferno is raging. Lead your Regiment through the fires of conflict and the fog of war. Break through the lines, call in artillery, maneuver, feign retreats, stage defenses, counter-attack. Do not relent. Steam.
Notes: I loved the incredibly underrated World In Conflict, and have been searching for its likeness in a new game ever since. Regiments has come the closest, with some truly excellent gameplay well removed from the micromanage-y minutiae that plagues similar games such as the Wargame series.
SANABI – ⓘ Early Access
SANABI is an exhilarating stylish dystopian action-platformer. Play as a legendary retired veteran and use your signature prosthetic arm to jump over cliffs and skyscrapers, zip through bullets and traps and defeat powerful enemies. Steam.
Notes: Outstanding, fast-paced platformer similar in spirit and style to Katana ZERO.
Tyrant’s Blessing
Tyberia has been turned into a paradise by the Tyrant, free from war, suffering, and death – because nearly everyone has been turned into the undead. Take charge of the last living warriors in tactical, turn-based battles and drive the Dead Army into the sea! Steam.
Notes: Unfortunately this game released around the same time as Into The Breach‘s Advanced Edition update and subsequently bore the brunt of harsh comparisons, but as far as a slimmed-down, fantasy style tactical RPG goes it’s pretty good.
Urbek City Builder
Urbek is a city building game where you can build your own neighbourhoods: from nightlife district to industrial district. Don’t exhaust your natural resources before you have an educated population to build more efficient structures. Steam.
Notes: Interesting mix of elements from your typical city builder with resource management a là Rise of Industry along with some lightweight puzzle aspects (e.g. build/adjacency restrictions). It’s not a pure sandbox experience like Cities: Skylines, but if you like resource management games you may also enjoy Urbek.
Nomori: Prologue – ⓘ Free To Play
Nomori is a mind-bending puzzle game where you need to control time and space to journey through a shattered spirit world. Take shortcuts through portals, rotate your perspective, and control the flow of time to move forward, whichever way that is. Steam.
Notes: Currently a prologue/demo, but my goodness is it an endearing one with rotatable portals and time travel. Looking forward to the main release, has the potential to be right up there with Portal and The Talos Principle.
Cult of the Lamb
Start your own cult in a land of false prophets, venturing out into diverse and mysterious regions to build a loyal community of woodland Followers and spread your Word to become the one true cult. Steam.
Notes: Great action roguelike blending combat with life sim elements.
Sokochess
SokoChess is a minimalistic puzzle game about pushing chess pieces. Use your pieces to push the black figures to their destination, but be careful! The opposing pieces will capture yours if you give them the chance! Steam.
Notes: It’s Sokoban but the blocks fight back! Excellent blend of Chess and Sokoban with an elegant, minimalist presentation.
Circadian Dice
Circadian Dice is a game inspired by single-player deck-building games, but instead of upgrading a deck, you build up a set of dice! Use 10 different heroes and 60 game-warping relics to take on 13 hand-crafted scenarios, in runs that take 10-30 minutes. Lots of secrets and unlocks to discover! Steam.
Notes: Innovative concept which sees you modify the faces of your dice, which you then roll to determine what actions you can play. Thank goodness you get some free re-rolls each time. Surprising depth and variety.
Heat Death – ⓘ Early Access
Build your deck, re-write your cards, and join in epic space battles! Heat Death is a single-player deckbuilder which takes card customization and power scaling to the extreme, as you battle against sentient stars and black holes. Steam.
Notes: As a fan of roguelike deckbuilders, there’s simply no way I could look pass this trove of cosmic horror. Sentient stars and black holes you say?
Exodemic
Destroy aliens, dash between planets, and buy powerful upgrades. Exodemic is a compact roguelike that combines frenetic shoot ’em up gameplay with a procedurally generated overworld filled with vendors, trading hubs, and combat encounters. Race against the clock to save the human race. Steam.
Notes: Procedural, top-down action roguelike that has quite a lot to offer, with heaps of impactful upgrades and a simple, minimalist design.
Clanfolk – ⓘ Early Access
Clanfolk is a medieval colony sim set in the Scottish Highlands. Harness your environment to survive – fish, gather, hunt, and farm as you prepare for the harsh winter. Build an inn, trade with other clans, have children and marry them off – live life and prosper across the generations. Steam.
Notes: Essentially a stripped down, medieval Rimworld clone with dynastic elements. Quite barebones at the moment, but definitely one with potential.
Dinkum
G’Day! Get ready to start a new fair Dinkum life and build your new home out in the bush. Explore tropical eucalyptus forests, scorching deserts and cool billabongs on an Island inspired by the wild Australian outback. Take care of giant wombats, play with friends and get ready for a ripper time! Steam.
Notes: Finally, a life sim set in Australia!
Fabular: Prologue – ⓘ Free To Play
Cross blades with space knights in an epic roguelike where the futuristic and the medieval collide! Battle, loot and upgrade your way across the galaxy, defeating rival ships in gripping melee combat on a quest to save your kingdom from destruction. Steam.
Notes: Interesting, hardcore roguelike with spaceships and melee (that’s right) combat. If that’s piqued for interest, there’s a free demo.
Spellbook Demonslayers: Prologue – ⓘ Free To Play
Slay thousands of demons with powerful magic to protect the Cosmic Library! Choose new spells and upgrades every run to create overpowered builds with each character, and steal the powers of defeated enemies to destroy the demonic horde. Steam.
Notes: Great horde survival game with an extensive magic system. Free demo.
Star Valor
Choose your own destiny as you explore an open-world procedurally generated galaxy where anything is possible. Become a miner, a trader, a bounty hunter, a pirate, or perhaps a jack of all trades. Start off small and build your way to the top but remember with every action, comes consequences. Steam.
Notes: Outstanding space sandbox similar to Starsector with an incredible amount of ship upgrades and customisation as well as intriguing places to explore.
Turbo Golf Racing
Turbo Golf Racing is an arcade-style sports racing game for up to eight players online. Slam into oversized golf balls and race your friends in an explosive dash to the finish flag. Steam.
Notes: Fantasy golf meets arcade racing and the exhilarating gameplay of Rocket League.
Beltex
Beltex is a casual factory game played on a hex map. Extract numbers. Combine them using mathematical operations. Deliver them using belts across a huge map. Unlock new buildings and upgrades. Steam.
Notes: Similar gameplay to shapez albeit on a hex grid and with mathematical operations.