Amanda’s Top 11 Indie Games of 2025

When I look back on the year, I think of how stressed out I was — working too much, moving to a new state, picking up a second job, worrying about family stuff, being really tired, somehow shocked at how tired I was — and the indie games I played. Because boy oh boy, were the indie games good this year.

There was one Saturday I spent all day solving mystical crimes in The Séance of Blake Manor, stopping only to order a pizza. There was a period where I could only play a game for about 15 minutes every few days, but I got to “get a drink” with my friends at the speakeasy in Best Served Cold. I loved laying on the couch like the grandparents in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my husband and our pets while we took turns playing Blue Prince rounds. Even when I worked ’til 1am, I still took time to finish a shift as a superhero project manager in Dispatch.

It’s been such an incredible year of indie games. I love playing big, AAA games as much as the next person, but I find games from independent developers particularly inspiring. (And yes, I know that defining an indie is complex, but that’s a separate conversation worthy of research.) It takes so much energy, pain, time, money, and faith to make art, and all the while, you never know how people will receive it, much less if you’ll ever really finish it or if you can make a living off of it. As a writer, I am energized by seeing people commit to their vision and make it a playable reality!

For a potion of reasons, 2025 has been an absolutely stunning year for indie games. Most of the titles below weren’t even nominated for Best Indie Game or Best Debut Indie Game at the Game Awards. (By comparison, the U.K.-based Golden Joystick Awards featured many indie titles across all categories.) Well, no matter — I will right that wrong! For my approach to our annual Game of the Year coverage, I decided to feature the best indie games of 2025 from a variety of genres, locations, and styles. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

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The 11 Best Indie Games of 2025

Listed in alphabetical order

• and Roger
• Best Served Cold
• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Citizen Sleeper 2
• Dispatch
• PEAK
• Promise Mascot Agency
• The Alters
• The Séance of Blake Manor
• Tiny Bookshop

Notice a few names missing? Check out the four notable exceptions at the end.

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and Roger

In August, fellow editor Sam Martinelli wrote, “and Roger is amazing, but go in blind.” At his recommendation, I bought the visual novel without reading anything else about it. I played it all in one sitting over the course of an hour and a half — I laughed, I screamed in panic, I literally sobbed, and I came away hopeful. and Roger is a beautiful, excellent video game made by the small Japan-based TearyHand Studio.

The intimacy of the hand-drawn art combined with instrumental music and compelling interactives makes and Roger one of the most powerful gaming experiences I’ve had in years. Similar to Sam, I won’t say anything else — except to encourage you to try it.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $4.99
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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Best Served Cold

It’s been a long day. I walk down the dark city streets, knowing there’s at least one place where the lights will always be on and I’ll be welcomed in like a regular. I can imagine the strong, perfectly made drink. Is it real life? I wish. No, it’s a fictional speakeasy below a bookstore in Rogueside’s bartending, crime-solving visual novel Best Served Cold.

I stumbled upon Best Served Cold in a less romantic way than one might find a speakeasy: simply by scrolling through the Nintendo eShop’s new releases page in July. The cover art immediately appealed to me. At first, I thought that it might be random garbage (as much of the eShop unfortunately is), but I was pleasantly surprised to find a hidden gem. In Best Served Cold, players take on the role of a bartender at the only speakeasy in town. A detective discovers the illegal bar, but rather than arrest the bartender, the detective suggests they team up to catch criminals. In exchange for not shutting the bar down, the detective asks the bartender to continue to serve drinks, trying to spill their customers’ secrets in the process. It’s a surprisingly cozy experience considering you’re having cocktails with a potential murderer.

The game is set in an alternate history of a Vienna-like place, set perhaps in the 1920s. The aesthetics are peak, probably in no small part due to Rogueside being based in Belgium. Because of this made-up universe, Rogueside is able to get away with a lot in terms of societal relationships and technological anachronisms.

The bartending gameplay itself is pretty simple, but the vibes hit. Charming artwork and moody jazz make for an engaging noir experience. But ultimately, it’s the characters that brought me back each night. Everyone in Best Served Cold has hopes. As their friend on the other side of the counter, you’d be surprised how much closer to their dreams you can help get them.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $17.99
Played on Nintendo Switch

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Blue Prince

This incredible puzzle game took the gaming world by storm in April. In Blue Prince, a young man inherits a strange mansion with rooms that change every day, based on floor plans decided on by the player. (Blueprints. Get it?) He must make it to the final room to learn more about what happened not only to claim his fortune, but to learn more about his missing mother. The story is strong but subtle as players discover the narrative in objects hidden around the house. Fans of Return of the Obra Dinn will love this game.

I was entranced by Blue Prince. It is an amazing feat of atmosphere and puzzle design. One of the greatest gaming joys of my year was playing this game with my husband where we took turns on runs, building out the strange and mysterious mansion room by room. We even took notes! It reminded me of playing my beloved Nancy Drew games with my mom and sister.

I don’t really care about the Game Awards, but I can say without a doubt that Dogubomb’s debut indie game was unrighteously snubbed throughout, especially since it was created by one person in Los Angeles. Luckily, developer Tonda Ros is “still in his Blue Prince era” so we’ll get to see more soon. I can’t wait for Blue Prince to get a wider audience when it inevitably launches on the Nintendo Switch so that my mom can play it.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
MSRP: $29.99
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

Given how great the rest of 2025 was for indie games, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector came out this past January. This exceptional DnD-inspired cyberpunk space adventure is one of my favorite games in recent memory. In Citizen Sleeper and its sequel, you play a robot-human hybrid who is trying to build a life worth living in space. In a journey not unlike Joss Whedon’s sadly short-lived Firefly, you’ll gather a motley crew of outcasts and visit planets, taking quests as you go.

As I wrote in my review, London-based Gareth Damian Martin (they/them) “demonstrates a deep understanding of what made their first game click, and what could inspire moving forward.” You can play Citizen Sleeper 2 without having played the first, but they’re both so good that you’ll get more joy with both. The writing is exceptional in both.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is one of many great visual novels on this list, but unlike the others, this one has the most complex gameplay elements, with dice mechanics and skill checks. Martin — via their one-person studio Jump Over the Age — brought back the same amazing collaborators for the sequel’s character art (Guillaume Singelin) and soundtrack (Amos Roddy). The result is a stunning experience. I think Martin is one of the indie auteurs of the decade, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $24.99
Played on Nintendo Switch

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Last week, French studio Sandfall Interactive’s debut game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, swept the Game Awards. They took home nine honors, the most awarded in the event’s history. They deserve it! (Though I would’ve appreciated some other indies getting a chance at glory, too.) The beautiful world is expertly communicated, driven by a rich story, all fueled by deeply challenging combat. Clair Obscur really is that good.

What could I possibly say that hasn’t already been said since the game’s release in April? Furthermore, I know that we have more Game of the Year coverage coming soon, and I’m sure my fellow writers will better articulate exactly why Clair Obscur is just so freaking good. I suppose the only thing I have to add is that, in our site Discord, we had to create spoiler-channels for the end of each act — and sometimes, just of certain levels — so we could all freak out about the story. I enjoyed this safe space to process my emotions, of which there were many.

Also, I hate parrying in games, but Clair Obscur made it slightly less horrible.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
MSRP: $49.99
Played on PlayStation 5

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Dispatch

To be honest, I wasn’t that compelled by early chatter about New Jersey-based AdHoc Studio’s debut game. I didn’t really care that there were celebrity actors. Even though I had been deeply fond of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, those kinds of storytelling games felt like an artifact of the early 2000s. I doubted that the ex-Telltale devs could reinvent that gameplay in a way that felt fresh. And, more than anything, I have felt pretty bored by the near-constant onslaught of superhero movies and shows over the past decade. I simply didn’t think that Dispatch could do anything I hadn’t seen before.

Fellow staff writer Kei Isobe got a press code to review the game early. As with Telltale’s games, Dispatch released in an episodic structure. So, when sharing his last few write-ups with our editorial team, Kei shared that he got into spoiler territory. As editors, we are often torn between spoiling ourselves on a game for the sake of the writing or risking a less closely edited piece. Luckily, David, Sam, and I — despite sharing many overlaps — have just a diverse enough set of interests that we can usually find one of us who doesn’t mind spoilers for a game they don’t plan to play. Thus, I volunteered. After reading Kei’s passionate review, I was compelled to try Dispatch after all, despite my misgivings.

What I found, just like protagonist Robert Robertson III, was that I was wrong in my assumptions. Dispatch gives a lot not just to the superhero genre (as Kei extolled in an excellent, thesis-level analysis of 2025 as a year of hopeful “cape slop”) but also to gaming in general.

Dispatch reminds players that their decisions matter. It’s funny, charming, sharp, and engaging. It’s got heart as well as action. Dispatch brings back the old timed dialogue options from the Telltale days, but it holds players’ hands less, resulting in a more difficult game. When I got a surprisingly disappointing ending, I eagerly replayed the game right after completing it. The number of times I’ve done that for a game, I can count on one hand. Part of the reason that was tolerable is that A) the dispatching sections are a fun management game in their own right, and B) the storytelling and animation are on par with a bingeable television show.

Dispatch is not a perfect game — the quick-time events are mid, and character backstories are rather vague — but it is a great game.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5
MSRP: $29.99
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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PEAK

I wrote last week that I have never had more fun dying in a video game. PEAK is a multiplayer adventure in which bulbous, neon-colored characters try to make it to the top of a procedurally generated mountain. Playing PEAK with my long-distance bestie has been one of the highlights of my fall, even though we keep dying and can’t remember which mushrooms are poisonous to save our lives, literally. Some day, I hope to get to the peak — but that’s not really what PEAK is about. It really is about the journey.

PEAK’s story as an indie game is especially interesting. To summarize this Polygon article, AggroCrab, a small studio based in Seattle, had been struggling to make their wilderness survival game work for some time. They kept changing their prototypes, not happy with anything they were making. As a result of all the false starts, they lost their funding. They still wanted to make something of what they had done, but knew it would have to be quick. They knew of a Swedish studio, Landfall Games, that had recently had success with a game they had ideated on during an off-site trip in Korea. AggroCrab asked if they could tag along next time, suggesting doing a month-long game jam of speed-creating a survival game together. Landfall said yes. After their Korea development session and a few follow-up months in Sweden, AggroCrab and Landfall humbly launched a weird little game called PEAK for $7.99 in June on Steam, not expecting much.

It became a viral hit, and for good reason. PEAK is slapstick, colorful, bright, challenging, joyful, interesting, playful, different, innovative, difficult, funky, and, most of all, fun. The studios — continuing to collaborate together under the name Team PEAK — have continued to work on and invest in the game, adding new features and experimenting with levels. I’m loving my time with PEAK, and I look forward to crash-landing on an island with Bing Bong again soon.

Platforms: PC via Steam
MSRP: $7.99
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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Promise Mascot Agency

When life gets you down, imagine you’re getting a pep talk from a giant talking thumb with an anger problem. Or, perhaps a crying block of tofu will endear you to keep your spirits up. Don’t forget a man who just loves traffic signs — he might be the most inspiring of all. I’m talking about the characters of Promise Mascot Agency, set in an alternate-universe version of Japan where mascots are not people dressed up in outfits, but rather that’s just what they look like all the time. (I interviewed U.K.-based Kaizen Game Works earlier this year to talk about how they built this reality-inspired world in comparison to that of their fantastical murder mystery Paradise Killer.)

Promise Mascot Agency follows a disgraced Yakuza agent who needs to save a failing mascot business on a remote island in order to earn his way back into the mob. But, along the way, he learns what family really is all about as he befriends new employees and saves the town of Kaso-Machi.

Promise Mascot Agency is a weird game. As I shared in my April review, it’s M-rated for good reason. It combines many mature topics but in a bubbly, colorful package. Furthermore, it explores multiple genres — management sim, driving game, card battling, visual novel — and while a bit messy, it’s largely successful. Promise Mascot Agency is a glorious example of something that only an indie studio could make, free of the restrictions and oversight of a big boss.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $7.99
Played on Nintendo Switch

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The Alters

11 Bit Studio’s survival game, The Alters, asks two important questions: 1) What would’ve happened if you had made another choice? and 2) How many bowls of gruel can you eat on a space station with your clones before you have an emotional breakdown?

I had a blast playing The Alters in June for a review. Astronaut Jan Dolski is stranded alone on a hostile planet, and the only way he can survive is by cloning himself to take altered life paths with different skill sets. The Mechanic version of Jan never went to college, but he is the only one with the know-how to fix the spaceship. In comparison, the Scientist is a version of himself who succeeded at his PhD, but as a result, he’s more egotistical. Sick of said gruel? Jan clones and alters said clone into the Gardener, a Jan who quit a lucrative job in order to support his wife, Lena. With so many clones, there is a compelling mix of social friction. For example, the Gardener can’t believe that main-Jan let his version of his marriage with Lena fall apart.

The space adventure is a good mix of action, existential crisis, resource management, and storytelling. It’s a significant departure gameplay-wise from 11bit’s other games — Frostpunk and Frostpunk 2, as well as This War of Mine — but it carries the same themes. The Polish studio is deeply curious about questions of what it means to be a good person in community with others, especially if there can be a really precious inventory of potatoes.

There’s an unfortunate caveat in that 11 Bit Studios was accused and then later admitted to using instances of generative AI as work-in-progress placeholders for some minor background text graphics and sloppy translations. It became a whole thing in the industry. Some people were mad that AI was used at all, and others were mad simply that they didn’t disclose it. Others still pointed out that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 actually also used GenAI in early versions, and that perhaps this was an unfair double standard, or that it was 11 Bit’s weak response that fired people up. Some journalists, such as the team at Rock Paper Shotgun, were quietly defensive, pointing out “that the vast majority ofThe Alters was made the Old-Fashioned Way by tangible beings of flesh is fair enough.” To me, this gaming controversy became emblematic of a much larger societal tension around AI, particularly generative AI, and it is one that is not going away anytime soon. It’ll be interesting (scary? depressing?) to see how AI continues to change and affect the gaming landscape, and how both players and studios respond to it.

Even now, I feel conflicted writing about it here. I loved the game when I played it, but I am definitely not pro the use of generative AI for creative works. (For the record, our site-wide policy is that we do not publish work that includes AI-generated content. We believe firmly in the power of the human voice.)

While The Alters is not a perfect game (even without the AI scandal), it’s still one I not only enjoyed but obsessively played.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S
MSRP: $34.99, and currently included on Game Pass
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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The Séance of Blake Manor

In case it isn’t obvious by this point in the list, I absolutely love mystery games. I think that the genre works uniquely well in video games because of the act of discovery that mysteries evoke, even in books. The Séance of Blake Manor is one of the best additions to the world of detective gaming that I’ve seen in years. (Seriously, how are there so many good indie games this year? Lucky me!)

The Séance of Blake Manor is a folk horror mystery that takes place in 1800s Ireland, aptly released in October. Players take on the role of Declan Ward, a detective who has received an anonymous letter asking him to look into the case of a missing woman at a manor-turned-hotel. I loved it. I chased every lead and side quest until I felt I had understood all of the secrets at Blake Manor. Some of the peculiarities are otherworldly; others are aligned to just plain human evil.

Irish studio Spooky Doorway deftly manages the hallmarks of mysticism and detective work. There’s a satisfying Agatha Christie-like suspect cross-analysis and gathering of clues. If you like mystery games, you’ll love The Séance of Blake Manor.

In my review, I scored The Séance of Blake Manor a 9.8 out of 10 (you can see our scale here) — making it tied with just a few other games for the highest score ever on the site. Once again, I cannot wait for it come out on Nintendo Switch so my mom can play it.

Platforms: PC
MSRP: $19.99
Played on PC (via Steam Deck)

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Tiny Bookshop

In a complete vibe shift from the game above, I also gave Tiny Bookshop a 9.8 out of 10. When I score a game, I consider how much it fulfills its premise and promise, how it stands up compared to other similar titles, and if I think it, as David wrote in our review scale, “transcends its genre to make for a truly compelling experience [that] the vast majority of gamers should enjoy playing.” Tiny Bookshop does all of that.

In my August review, I wrote, “Tiny Bookshop is the ideal blend of relaxing and stimulating and, in my opinion, it has perfected the cozy genre.” It is sweet without being saccharine. It is comforting without being boring. It is challenging without being difficult. Germany-based developer neoludic games shows a masterful understanding of what makes a cozy game work (and yes, there’s a cat).

Tiny Bookshop is a love letter to not just books and reading, but to friendships, personal growth, and community. This year, it has provided me with much solace, and that’s saying a lot, considering what an absolute nightmare 2025 has been.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
MSRP: $19.99
Played on Nintendo Switch

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Notable Exceptions

While these games didn’t make it onto my list, I think they’re worth noting as I round up the best indie games of the year! Sam said it best: There are too many good games, and I’m overwhelmed.

Ball x Pit

It’s not for me, but my husband has been playing it every night this week, so our household is still supporting Kenny Sun’s debut indie game that was published by Devolver Digital. As far as I can tell, you’re in a pit, and there are balls.

Hades II

I’ve been amped about Hades II for years! I bought the Supergiant sequel, but I just haven’t had time yet to give the epic hero roguelike the attention it deserves. When I played Hades in 2020, it held me — and thousands of others — in a vice grip. It’s the kind of game that you want to give your full gaming attention to for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, Hades II came out in late September, and I’ve had an extremely hectic autumn, so I truly have just not had the chance. Fellow staff writer Lauryl says it’s excellent. I’m looking forward to obsessively playing it this winter!

Hollow Knight: Silksong

In September, I wrote about why I was no longer excited about Silksong, despite eagerly awaiting it for years. The TLDR is that it took so long to come out that actual memories began to take the place of hype. I started to remember all of the things I didn’t actually enjoy about Hollow Knight (I don’t like metroidvanias or platformers, which is unfortunate, since that is what Hollow Knight is). Oh, and it also made me lose in our Fantasy Gaming series for two (maybe now three) years in a row, but that’s way less of a legit reason. That being said, plenty of other people on our site have been loving Team Cherry’s long-awaited sequel!

Split Fiction

I can see my physical copy of Split Fiction right now by my television. I bought it months ago — full price shortly after release, yes — and it’s been sitting there ever since. Well, I moved, so it went into a box, and then I took it back out and put it on the hutch at the new place. My husband and I are excited to play it together; we liked Hazelight’s previous co-op Game of the Year winner It Takes Two, but similar to Zack, we fell off of it because the main characters were tough to root for. We haven’t had a chance to engage deeply on it yet, but it’s on the to-do list. David absolutely loved it, so I’m sure I will, too. It’s on my Fantasy Gaming team, so at least I’m grateful for its high score there, even though it won’t be enough to save me.

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Bye 2025!

I am not sad to say bye to 2025. What a mess. I’m hopeful that 2026 is better?! At least the games were good, and I’m grateful that The Punished Backlog continues to be a place of joy and play.

This year at The Punished Backlog, we launched our new logo, which I had a blast designing. We released 10 (with one more on the way!) episodes of The Punished Podcast, both on gaming news through our chaotic good Fantasy Gaming series as well as on evergreen topics like Retro Games and Video Game Soundtracks (coming soon!). We welcomed many new writers. I didn’t write as much as in years past, but I enjoyed being an active editor of both written and audio pieces. I still found time to extol about wholesome British television shows and why Assassin’s Creed: Shadows was good but also bad.

Thank you to my amazing team of fellow co-editors, David Silbert and Sam Martinelli, who continue to be great editors and even better people. Thank you to our writers who trust us to edit their pieces and share their writing. Thank you to our readers, listeners, friends, and family for their support. Wishing everyone joyous, safe, and restorative holidays!