Indie Games to Get Excited About in 2026

It was around halfway through the 7th console generation and into the early beginnings of the 8th that indie games asserted themselves as a driving force for creativity within the gaming industry, a trend that still continues today. Over the last decade-plus, indie games have served as one of the most exciting spaces for innovation and ingenuity, combining genres in novel ways and taking risks with both narrative and gameplay that AAA publishers simply weren't willing to. 2026 is set to be an incredible year for gaming, and a large part of the excitement surrounding the year rests on the stable of promising indie games that are on the horizon. It seems like you can't go a single week without some new, cool-looking indie title launching on Steam, and the following 15 games are ones that you should absolutely have on your radar or wishlist.

• Release Date — January 29, 2026
• Developer — The Game Bakers
• Publisher — The Game Bakers
• Genre — Simulation
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5

One of the most exciting things about Cairn is that when it comes to "looking forward" to its launch, you don't have that much longer. In just a few hours from the time of writing, Cairn will officially launch on Steam and PS5, and it's helping to close out what's already been a fairly busy January release season with an experience that could very well become an early Game of the Year contender. The demo for Cairn did a great job of highlighting its novel controls and realistic climbing physics, but it also underscored how much emphasis the title is placing on both narrative and atmosphere, to the point where the climbing almost feels like an additional bonus to what seems like a meditative and thought-provoking adventure. Thank goodness we don't have to wait much longer at all to go hands-on with the finished product.

• Release Date — March 5, 2026
• Developer — Frontside 180
• Publisher — Pocketpair
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

Yes, you read that right. Pocketpair, the now-infamous developer and publisher of the legally-challenged viral hit Palworld, is moving headlong into game publishing, and one of its first titles is the roguelike metroidvania Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse. Never Grave had a public demo available for a short window of time that made it very clear developer Frontside 180 was absolutely playing with a stacked deck, boasting a beautiful hand-drawn art style, smooth animations, and satisfying platforming and combat pulled straight from the Hollow Knight playbook. Of course, since that initial demo, Silksong has ultimately raised the bar for any games attempting to follow in Hollow Knight's footsteps, so it'll be interesting to see how the full version of Never Grave stacks up in just a few weeks.

• Release Date — March 12, 2026
• Developer — Tactical Adventures
• Publisher — Tactical Adventures
• Genre — CRPG, TRPG
• Platforms — PC

CRPG fans have been incredibly lucky to see the genre go from a niche relic of PC gaming's past to becoming the talk of the industry thanks to Baldur's Gate 3, which means we've got quite a few excellent-looking new old-school RPGs to look forward to this year alone (two of them being on this list). The first to arrive in 2026 is the long-awaited sequel to Solasta, Solasta II, and it's already shaping up to be a worthy successor to the original while also sporting significantly boosted production values and presentation. Solasta II is another one that had a demo available for a brief time after its initial announcement, and all it served to do was whet the appetite for yet another incredibly deep role-playing experience with turn-based, tactical combat. If anything will make the wait for Larian Studios' Divinity easier, it's Solasta II.

• Release Date — March 19, 2026
• Developer — Fumi Games
• Publisher — Playside Studios
• Genre — FPS
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

After an initial reveal quite some time ago (just over two years ago, to be exact), Mouse: P.I. For Hire is finally set to release for all modern platforms in just a few weeks' time, and shooter fans have a lot to be excited about. Using a similar "rubber hose", 1930s animation style as Cuphead but switching perspective to first-person, Mouse is a frantic-looking FPS that asks, "What if we gave Steamboat Willie a machine gun?" Predictably, it's the visuals and animations of Mouse, complete with an era-appropriate black-and-white color scheme, that help give it a distinctive look and feel all its own, and if the shooting is even half as great as Cuphead's was, FPS fans are in for a treat.

• Release Date — March 26, 2026
• Developer — Milestone S.R.L.
• Publisher — Milestone S.R.L.
• Genre — Driving/Racing, Vehicular Combat
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Even though it was only just revealed a couple of months back as part of The Game Awards 2025, Screamer is already shooting straight to the top of a lot of players' wishlists for more than just reviving a classic and long-dormant racing series. Screamer is an arcade-style racer that places a premium on high-speed thrills and dangerous collisions with other drivers, giving it a vehicular combat twist not seen nearly enough in the genre. And in-between races, players are treated to some stunning anime-style cutscenes that seem to tell a pretty engaging tale that should be irresistible to fans of classic series like Initial D. If Screamer plays even half as good as it looks, it'll be a fitting return to form for the MS-DOS classic.

• Release Date — Q1 2026
• Developer — Madness Studio
• Publisher — Madness Studio
• Genre — FPS
• Platforms — PC

There are a metric ton of boomer shooters out there, but most of them really only put on a show of looking old-school while having modern hardware powering everything behind the scenes. Not so with Slipgate, which notably uses the FPS Creator engine from 2005 to deliver an authentically classic first-person shooter experience that looks and feels like something fans of the genre would have played 20 years ago. The demo for Slipgate has been live for quite some time and garnered some mixed reviews on Steam, but most of them point to issues that the developer is actively working on fixing ahead of the game's planned 1.0 release sometime during Q1 2026. If they can get the technical hiccups from using a 20-year-old engine ironed out, Slipgate could be a fantastic trip down FPS memory lane.

• Release Date — Q1 2026
• Developer — Alt Shift
• Publisher — Dotemu
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy, Roguelike
• Platforms — PC

A few years back, a small indie developer by the name of Alt Shift put out a fantastic little space-based sci-fi tactical roguelike called Crying Suns. And while Crying Suns may have gone a little too underplayed for how enjoyable it was, someone took notice, because the studio is now getting the chance to craft a spiritual successor with one of the most iconic licenses in science fiction: Battlestar Galactica.

Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is split into two parts. During the first phase, players manage a fleet of surviving humans as they run from the deadly Cylons, gathering materials and making impactful choices on how to handle inter-crew disputes and allocate finite resources. Then, the Cylons catch up to your fleet, and you have to hold your own in a mix of space-based tower defense and tactical battling until you can make the jump to hyperspace. Just talking about it has me counting the days until we can play the full version.

• Release Date — Q1 2026
• Developer — Christopher Bodegard
• Publisher — Raw Fury
• Genre — CRPG
• Platforms — PC

Along with Solasta II, one of the other most promising-looking CRPGs that's slated for a 2026 release is Esoteric Ebb. As far as CRPGs go, Esoteric Ebb looks to not take itself too seriously, leaning into the humor and absurdism that go hand-in-hand with a classic tabletop campaign of Dungeons & Dragons. But regardless of how it plays or how deep its systems and mechanics are, Esoteric Ebb deserves some attention for its breathtaking art style, which is seemingly inspired by the classic Heavy Metal movie featuring the art of the late, great Ralph Bakshi. It's impressive enough on its own, but is made even moreso when you realize that Esoteric Ebb is largely the work of a solo developer. And with Raw Fury publishing, you can almost guarantee it'll be something worth checking out.

• Release Date — March 2026
• Developer — Mega Crit
• Publisher — Mega Crit
• Genre — Deckbuilder, Roguelike
• Platforms — PC

The upcoming Slay the Spire sequel isn't just one of the most exciting indie games to release in 2026; it's one of the most exciting games to release this year, period. The original Slay the Spire is about as close as you can get to a perfect roguelike, and Slay the Spire II looks to be as good or even better than its predecessor in the same way that Hades II delivered a new twist on a similar formula as its own predecessor. It was all too easy to sink hundreds of hours into the original Slay the Spire while barely noticing any time had passed, and it's probably safe to say that millions of players' productivity is at stake when Slay the Spire II launches sometime this March. Can't wait.

• Release Date — May 11, 2026
• Developer — Gangru Games
• Publisher — 2 Left Thumbs
• Genre — Farming Simulation, Survival Horror, RPG
• Platforms — PC

Interestingly enough, there's more than one horror-themed farming-sim RPG on this list, with the first one to launch in 2026 being Besmirch. Part survival horror game, part farming-sim, part RPG, and all weird, Besmirch immediately grabs the eye with its very retro 8-bit art style, but it utilizes that style to great effect in a way that hasn't really been seen since the incredible FAITH trilogy. If its horror elements strike a similar chord, then fans of the genre should pay very close attention. Besmirch also happens to be one of the few upcoming indies on this list with a public demo that's still available to try ahead of its launch, which just so happens to have a 91% "Positive" Steam user score as of the time of writing.

• Release Date — Q2 2026
• Developer — Concha Indigo
• Publisher — Minicactus Games
• Genre — Action-Platformer
• Platforms — PC

Concha Indigo's Aokaki is another indie set to release this year that was revealed a good while ago, but that time in the oven seems to have resulted in it being a distinctive cut above other similar titles. There are plenty of great NES-inspired action-platformers on Steam, but Aokaki stands out as one that could be very special because of how much emphasis it places on the movement and traversal being the star of the show. There was a brief public demo for Aokaki not long after its initial reveal that has since been taken down, but with any luck, we'll have another chance to try it out at the upcoming February Steam Next Fest.

• Release Date — Q2 2026
• Developer — Halberd Studios
• Publisher — Halberd Studios
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

Indie developer Halberd Studios will be familiar to Metroidvania fans as the studio behind the very pretty, but very shallow, 9 Years of Shadows. Later this year, Helberd is taking another crack at the genre with Mariachi Legends, and it's already looking like it'll be an improvement over the very middle-of-the-road 9 Years. But one look at Mariachi Legends makes one thing very clear: even if the actual gameplay isn't that far removed from the somewhat basic 9 Years of Shadows, it'll at least be an absolutely gorgeous game to look at.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Paper Cult
• Publisher — Paper Cult
• Genre — Action, Hack and Slash, Musou, Roguelike
• Platforms — PC

Take Dynasty Warriors, Vampire Survivors, and Braveheart, throw them in a blender, and you get Tears of Metal. This Scottish hack-and-slash Musou roguelike impressed a lot of folks during the October 2025 Steam Next Fest, present company included, to the point where its slipping out of a targeted 2025 release into 2026 was practically devastating. Thankfully, Tears of Metal seems to be on track to release at some point in the first half of this year, and if it's only improved in the time since its initial demo slice, players are in for something very special indeed.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Patattie Games
• Publisher — Curve Games
• Genre — Adventure, Simulation
• Platforms — PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Cute, quirky adventure games are a dime a dozen among indie developers, but Wax Heads immediately separated itself from the pack with phenomenal art direction and character designs, compelling shop simulation gameplay, and an engaging story that might as well be a spiritual successor to Empire Records. Hints of what to expect from the larger narrative were present in the game's demo, but the most compelling hook was the shop simulation aspect of Wax Heads, where you need to pay attention to your customers and suggest records for them based on their music tastes and other favorite bands. It's harder than it sounds when all the bands are made up, but the game's visual language does a great job of pointing you in the right direction, especially if you're already an audiophile.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Spina Studio
• Publisher — Spina Studio, Superhot Presents
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Platforms — PC

I try to keep my ear to the ground as much as possible when it comes to maintaining a solid list of every upcoming survival horror game with a PS1 aesthetic, and somehow, Phase Zero continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest as the most promising of the bunch. Phase Zero is clearly inspired by the original PS1 Resident Evil trilogy and doesn't try to hide that fact, but it's one of the few indie survival horror titles to call back to the genre's origins that also plays like it's some hidden gem in the PlayStation library — much like Crow Country. The demo for Phase Zero immediately sold it as a game that no survival horror fan who cut their teeth on the original Resident Evil could afford to miss. It could be a perfect digestif after Resident Evil 9 releases in February.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Coldblood
• Publisher — Coldblood, Outersloth
• Genre — RPG, Simulation, Horror
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

The other horror-themed farming RPG set to release this year is the increasingly promising Neverway, which basically looks like what you would get if Stardew Valley happened to take place smack dab in the middle of an H.P. Lovecraft tale. Action role-playing combat, in-depth farming simulation and town-building, and Eldritch horrors; what's not to like? Did I mention there's a whole dating sim aspect to the gameplay as well? Neverway crams in as many genres as it can into something that's at once cohesive and unique when compared to just about every other RPG out there, and if it can pull it off, it seems destined to achieve cult status among fans of the genre.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Drinkbox Studios
• Publisher — Drinkbox Studios
• Genre — Action RPG, Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Platforms — PC

It's been a while since we've gotten a new game from Drinkbox Studios, with the last title from the Guacamelee! creators being 2022's Nobody Saves The World. Well, now the developer is back and returning to the Metroidvania genre with Blighted, and it looks like it's set to combine some of the best aspects of each of the studio's previous games. It's an isometric Metroidvania/Soulslike hybrid with a dash of Zelda influence and crazy cool art direction and enemy design that's more than a little reminiscent of one of Drinkbox's oft-forgotten titles: Severed. Given how fantastic both of the Guacamelee! games are, Blighted is almost surely going to be a Metroidvania worth keeping an eye on.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Artificer
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — Tower Defense, Strategy, Roguelike
• Platforms — PC

Artificer has made quite the name for itself with two incredible indie tactics games, Showgunners and Sumerian Six, and now it's turning its sights on the tower defense genre with Minos. As the name suggests, Minos is a game steeped in Greek mythology in which players must protect the treasure at the center of a labyrinth using all manner of traps, weapons, and creatures in a clever twist on the myth of the minotaur. This is the second game that Devolver has published for Artificer (the first being Sumerian Six), which, combined with Devolver's almost spotless track record, is a great sign for Minos' quality.

• Release Date — 2026
• Developer — Auroch Digital
• Publisher — Auroch Digital
• Genre — Survivor-like, Action Roguelike
• Platforms — PC

A survivor-like game based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise would already be an exciting proposition, but Warhammer Survivors is something even better. Developed in a partnership between Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun developer Auroch Digital and Vampire Survivors' poncle, Warhammer Survivors is technically the first official follow-up to the game responsible for helping create dozens upon dozens of horde survival action roguelikes, which immediately positions it as one for fans of the genre to keep an eye on. If Warhammer Survivors has the same depth and breadth of content as Vampire Survivors (and there's every chance it will), along with poncle's understanding of how to trigger player dopamine response at critical intervals, expect it to be one of the year's best and biggest indies, especially for 40K fans.

• Release Date — Coming Soon
• Developer — Clover Bite
• Publisher — Kwalee
• Genre — Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Platforms — PC

Having just beaten the original GRIME last year, GRIME II is right at the top of my personal list of most-anticipated indie games for 2026, and the public demo that's currently available ahead of its eventual launch this year (still no concrete date yet) is all the justification I need for that level of excitement. The original GRIME is one of the few Soulsvanias to actually emulate the dread-inducing atmosphere that FromSoftware's best games are so famous for, and it had some of the best parry and deflection-based combat of a 2D game this side of Nine Sols. It's bound to be weird and esoteric in all the ways that the original GRIME was, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's just hope that the sequel's platforming has caught up to how good the series' combat has always been.