The Best Indie Games from 2024 Players Might Have Missed

BioGun

• Release Date — July 31, 2024
• Publisher — Dapper Dog Digital
• Developer — Dapper Dog Digital
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Score — 89% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

We seem to be living in a golden age of Metroidvanias, with plenty of indie developers stepping up to the plate to offer their own takes on the genre while fans collectively wait for any shred of news on Hollow Knight: Silksong. While many of these games are fairly familiar and play it safe, there’s occasionally a new indie Metroidvania that stands out due to its obvious passion for the genre and unique premise. Dapper Dog Digital’s BioGun is one of those special Metroidvania titles, immediately rising to the top of the pack in terms of 2024’s new entries into the genre thanks to its excellent exploration and combat along with a captivating visual style and a heartwarming story.

Lots of players missed out on BioGun at launch, but recent developments concerning the developer buying the rights back to the game from its previous publisher mean the title is now gearing up for content updates, ports to consoles, and more.

Tactical Breach Wizards

• Release Date — August 22, 2024
• Publisher — Suspicious Developments
• Developer — Suspicious Developments
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Prior to Tactical Breach Wizards‘ launch, I had my eye on the game for a while thanks to an excellent Steam Next Fest demo. Thankfully, the full release offers all the joy that the demo did and more, proving that Suspicious Developments has a bonafide indie classic on its hands. Tactical Breach Wizards‘ premise is relatively simple, with each level consisting of a series of rooms that players must breach and clear similar to a bite-sized version of an old-school Rainbow Six game. The kicker, though, is that players are controlling militaristic spellcasters instead of soldiers, opening up all kinds of creativity and freedom for player expression in how they solve each room’s “breach and clear” puzzle while showcasing some flashy magical abilities. Combined with some excellent writing and a perfectly dry sense of humor, Tactical Breach Wizards is one of the year’s unmissable experiences.

Skald: Against the Black Priory

• Release Date — May 30, 2024
• Publisher — Raw Fury
• Developer — High North Studios AS
• Genre — RPG, Turn-Based Tactics
• Review Aggregate Score — 75% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

RPG fans have been eating well the last few years, whether they fall into the JRPG or Western RPG camps. Hot on the heels of last year’s phenomenal Baldur’s Gate 3, indie studio High North is offering up its own take on classic CRPGs and pen-and-paper role-playing with the phenomenal Skald: Against the Black Priory. For anyone who grew up playing the old Ultima games, Skald is a love letter to that era of CRPGs and PC gaming, but it also offers up plenty of new ideas to help it stand out as a game inspired by the classics that’s not afraid to innovate.

Skald‘s narrative has some excellent writing and a Lovecraftian atmosphere that instills dread at every step, and its airtight RPG systems and tactical combat are bones that allow it all to work on a mechanical level. Throw in some excellent retro-inspired pixel art and you have a new RPG experience that stands toe-to-toe with the classics that inspired it.

Shady Knight

• Release Date — October 9, 2024
• Publisher — Alexey ‘cptnsigh’
• Developer — Alexey ‘cptnsigh’
• Genre — FPS, Movement Shooter, Hack and Slash
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The “movement shooter” subgenre of Boomer Shooters continues to see new entries every so often, but few games (if any) have ever made a legitimate claim for Ultrakill‘s crown. Enter Shady Knight, a new movement shooter/hack n’ slash game from solo developer Alexey ‘cptnsigh’. Shady Knight would immediately garner plenty of attention and praise following its release in October of this year, drawing in players with the promise of “Ultrakill, but with swords”. Truthfully, Shady Knight does an excellent job meeting that very basic premise, but it’s a lot more than just a medieval-skinned Ultrakill, offering up a mix of the high-speed platforming and promise of speedrunning from games like Neon White along with its fast-paced, high-stakes first-person sword-swinging action.

Fallen Leaf

• Release Date — July 15, 2024
• Publisher — Delta Shore Games
• Developer — Delta Shore Games
• Genre — Action Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Score — 90% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Indie games that attempt to recapture the brilliance of the NES-era Capcom platformers are few and far between, with most games honoring Mega Man opting for a Mega Man X-style of gameplay and Shovel Knight as one of the sole games that pays homage to both Mega Man and Capcom’s excellent Duck Tails game. Thankfully, Delta Shore Games recognized this relative glut of competent 8-bit platformers and released Fallen Leaf, which just hit its 1.0 launch this year following an Early Access period. Like Shovel Knight and other classic NES platformers, Fallen Leaf has some excellent and varied level design, beautiful pixel art, an overworld map brimming with opportunities for non-linear exploration and uncovering secrets, and airtight controls that make the whole thing feel as good as the best platformers from the genre’s heyday.

Schim

• Release Date — July 18, 2024
• Publisher — Extra Nice, Playism
• Developer — Ewoud van der Werf, Nils Slijkerman
• Genre — Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 67% (Mixed or Average)
• Steam User Score — 68% (Mixed)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

2024 has been host to some excellent puzzle games, with the critically acclaimed Lorelei and the Laser Eyes a surefire Game of the Year contender, and the upcoming sequel to Curse of the Golden Idol looming on the horizon. Dutch game Schim is unlike either of those titles (or any other puzzler this year, for that matter), incorporating platforming in a way that calls Frogger to mind while also using light and shadow in inventive ways.

On top of its interesting mechanics and unique take on the puzzle genre, Schim has the kind of chill and cozy vibes that have proven to be hugely popular among indie game fans, helping the title get plenty of buzz surrounding its release. It’s a bit of a polarizing title in terms of how it plays and its length, but if Schim clicks with you, it’s likely going to end up being one of your favorite bite-sized gaming experiences in 2024.

Nordic Ashes

• Release Date — April 26, 2024
• Publisher — Noxfall Studios
• Developer — Noxfall Studios
• Genre — Roguelike, Bullet Heaven, Survivor-like
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 88% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

After falling in love with Vampire Survivors, I try to play every “Bullet Heaven”/Survivor-like roguelite I can get my hands on. However, only a few of these titles taking inspiration from Vampire Survivors‘ runaway success offer similar depth and satisfying progression, with others coming across as little more than shameless imitations. Nordic Ashes sits right alongside Halls of Torment and Death Must Die as one of the greatest non-Vampire Survivors Bullet Heaven games, but it has nowhere near the profile that either of those games do, meaning players might be missing out on one of the year’s best indie titles. Like Vampire Survivors and other great “Survivor-likes”, Nordic Ashes offers up plenty of fun from run-to-run but its understanding of how to balance meta-progression and power creep put it in league with the subgenre’s standout games.

Conscript

• Release Date — July 23, 2024
• Publisher — Team17
• Developer — Jordan Mochi, Catchweight Studio
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Survival horror games continue to be popular more than 3 decades on from the release of Alone in the Dark, but a recent fondness among indie developers to create new survival horror games using a PS1 aesthetic is delivering a golden age of new survival horror experiences that take inspiration from the genre’s heyday in the late 1990s. One such game is Conscript, a World War I-themed psychological survival horror game that takes plenty of inspiration from both Resident Evil and Silent Hill, pulling combat mechanics and inventory management from the former and a sense of foreboding dread and creeping insanity from the latter. In addition to its excellent survival horror gameplay, Conscript has a gripping story that brings to life the very real-world horror of the first Great War.

Veritus

• Release Date — July 22, 2024
• Publisher — Colorgrave
• Developer — Colorgrave
• Genre — Action-Adventure, ARPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 87% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

It’s not often that any developer, much less an indie developer, comes along and tries to meet Nintendo at its own game, but that’s exactly what Colorgrave has done with Veritus. An obvious homage to the 2D handheld Zelda games like Link’s Awakening and both Oracle titles on Game Boy Color, Veritus is a top-down third-person action-adventure game with some amazing puzzles, snappy combat, and truly incredible level and dungeon design. As of the time of writing, Veritus doesn’t have too many reviews on Steam to indicate that it’s been seen by an audience befitting its caliber, and more players need to check the game out. Especially if you have a nostalgic soft spot for the Game BoyLegend of Zelda titles, Veritus is a must-play indie title.

Anger Foot

• Release Date — July 11, 2024
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Developer — Free Lives
• Genre — FPS, Beat ’em Up, Action
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

If you’ve ever imagined what Hotline Miami would be like in 3D, Free Lives’ Anger Foot is a likely approximation. Part Hotline Miami-inspired “Murder Maze” puzzle game, part beat ’em up, part FPS, and all fever dream, Anger Foot is the kind of unique left-field genre combination that the indie scene thrives on, and it also happens to be one of 2024’s best indie titles. As a sneakerhead who gets his prize shoe collection stolen, it’s up to you to track down the gang members responsible and kick them into oblivion one room at a time, equipping the various sneakers you reclaim to unlock special gameplay-changing abilities that alter how you can approach each level. There’s plenty of speedrunning opportunity and freedom for player expression, meaning each crack at a level will be different from the next.

UFO 50

• Release Date — September 18, 2024
• Publisher — Mossmouth
• Developer — Mossmouth
• Genre — Adventure, Platforming, RPG, Simulation
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

While it might seem like UFO 50 is a collection of retro-inspired mini-games akin to Nintendo’s Wario Ware series, the game is actually much, much more. A collaboration between several prominent indie developers (including the minds behind legendary games like Spelunky and Celeste), UFO 50 presents players with an imaginary game console and 50 unique games designed for this alternate reality game system, with the titles ranging anywhere from platformers and puzzle games to full-fledged RPGs, racing sims, and more. UFO 50 feels like it’s a genuine stroll down memory lane from an alternate dimension, and it’s little surprise that it’s one of the year’s highest-rated games that has a little bit of something for everyone.

The Thaumaturge

• Release Date — March 4, 2024
• Publisher — 11 bit studios
• Developer — Fool’s Theory
• Genre — CRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)
• Steam User Score — 80% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The CRPG genre is one of many that is in the full swing of a renaissance, with Baldur’s Gate 3 (and, before that, Larian’s Divinity series) boosting the profile of a genre once thought to be a relic of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Fool’s Theory’s The Thaumaturge delivers something fresh in the CRPG genre as part of that renaissance, combining aspects of deckbuilding and the Persona series to deliver a compelling detective mystery RPG with some amazing combat and a historically inspired narrative. The strong parts of The Thaumaturge are undoubtedly its combat and its investigation mechanics, which see the player utilizing their skills as the titular Thamuaturge to read people’s emotions and uncover their true motives. The Thaumaturge is almost like what you’d get if Disco Elysium had combat, and more people need to play it.

Nine Sols

• Release Date — May 29, 2024
• Publisher — RedCandleGames
• Developer — RedCandleGames
• Genre — Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

There are still a few weeks left in the year, but for my money, the Metroidvania to beat in 2024 is RedCandleGames’Nine Sols. Lots of developers have attempted to mix elements of FromSoftware’s Dark Souls into a Metroidvania framework, but RedCandleGames is the first to make a Metroidvania that adheres to the Sekiro template, with combat centering around fast-paced swordplay and an extremely satisfying parry mechanic. The Metroidvania elements (such as exploration, backtracking, and acquiring new abilities) are all fairly standard for the genre, but the combat and boss fights in Nine Sols are so exciting as to immediately propel the game into being one of the greatest Metroidvanias since the original Hollow Knight. Truthfully, Nine Sols makes the wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong that much more bearable.

Iron Meat

• Release Date — August 29, 2023
• Publisher — Retroware
• Developer — Alan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
• Genre — Run n’ Gun, Action Platformer
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 96% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

There are lots of indie Metroidvania titles, but not nearly enough straightforward action platformers and run n’ guns. Thankfully, this year’s Iron Meat aims to fill that gap with some of the best gameplay the genre has seen since its heyday on third and fourth-generation consoles. Like last year’s excellent Prison City, Iron Meat is a side-scrolling indie action platformer with some very obvious inspirations from games like Contra, Vice: Project Doom, and other classics in the genre. But with its over-the-top gore and nail-biting difficulty, Iron Meat caters to the masochists among shmup and run n’ gun fans who like their games as challenging as they are fun. Iron Meat might not be for the faint of heart, but it’s a non-stop thrill ride for those who can handle its steep difficulty curve.

Arco

• Release Date — August 15, 2024
• Publisher — Panic
• Developer — Franek, Max Cahill, Bibiki, Fáyer
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics, RPG, Strategy
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Arguably the most overlooked indie title from this year, Arco is a game that is deserving of the year’s highest accolades, which is a sentiment shared by just about everyone who has had a chance to play it. The core gameplay loop of Arco involves going from place to place and completing engaging levels that blend turn-based tactics and real-time movement using gorgeous and detailed pixel art. But the linchpin of Arco‘s greatness is its incredible narrative, which touches on important themes related to cultural identity, history, colonialism, and other mature subjects. Ultimately, Arco approaches its gameplay and its narrative (as well as its audience) with respect, it’s one of 2024’s best games, indie or otherwise.