Some of the best gaming experiences I've had in recent years came from games made by small teams - sometimes even single developers. While major releases get all the marketing attention, the indie scene is where a lot of genuine innovation happens.
This isn't a contrarian take for the sake of it. There are legitimate reasons why indie games often deliver experiences that big-budget titles can't or won't.
Why Indies Can Take Bigger Risks
When a game costs $200 million to make, the publisher needs it to appeal to the widest possible audience. This leads to design choices that feel safe: familiar genres, proven mechanics, focus-tested stories. Risk is minimized.
A solo developer with no investors and no marketing budget has nothing to lose. They can make a game about a weird idea that might only resonate with a small audience - and sometimes that weird idea turns out to resonate with millions.
Games like Stardew Valley (made by one person), Hollow Knight (a tiny team), and Undertale (essentially one developer plus a composer) all took creative approaches that a major publisher probably would have vetoed.
The Value Proposition
Most indie games cost $10-30. Many offer dozens of hours of gameplay. The cost-per-hour entertainment value is often better than $70 releases, and the financial risk of trying something new is much lower.
If a $20 indie game isn't for you, you've lost less than the cost of a movie. If a $70 release isn't for you, that stings. This makes exploration easier - you can try games outside your usual preferences without much commitment.
Steam tip: Wishlist games and wait for sales. Most indie games go on sale frequently at 30-50% off. Patience pays off if you're not in a rush.
Games Worth Your Time
Rather than listing the obvious indie hits everyone already knows, here are some less-discussed games that deserve more attention:
Outer Wilds
An exploration game where knowledge is the only progression. You start knowing nothing and gradually piece together a cosmic mystery through observation and experimentation. Once you know the secrets, you can't unlearn them - meaning you can only play it once. One of the most unique gaming experiences I've had.
Disco Elysium
An RPG with essentially no combat where you play a detective with amnesia solving a murder case. The writing is extraordinary - genuinely literary in quality. Your character's internal voices argue with each other based on how you've built your skills. Deeply weird and deeply human.
Obra Dinn
You're an insurance investigator examining an empty ship where everyone died. Using a magical device that lets you see the moment of each person's death, you piece together what happened by identifying who everyone is and how they died. A puzzle game where observation and deduction are the entire gameplay loop.
Slay the Spire
The game that essentially created the deck-building roguelike genre. Every run is different as you build your deck from random card offerings. Simple to learn, almost infinite depth. I've put 200+ hours into this and still discover new strategies.
Hades
The game that made roguelikes accessible to people who don't usually like roguelikes. You're the son of Hades trying to escape the underworld, with story progression that persists across deaths. Tight combat, excellent voice acting, and a story structure that turns repeated failure into narrative progression.
Finding Good Indies
The problem with indie games is discoverability. Thousands of games release on Steam every year, most of them mediocre or worse. Finding the good ones requires some effort:
- Curated lists: Sites like itch.io and Steam's discovery queue can help, but the real gems often come from word of mouth
- Specific streamers/YouTubers: Find content creators who share your taste and pay attention to what they recommend
- Game awards: IGF, Independent Games Festival, and indie showcases highlight quality games
- Demos: Steam Next Fest showcases upcoming indies with playable demos
What Indies Do Differently
Some things I consistently see in good indie games that I rarely see in big budget titles:
Coherent artistic vision: When one person or a small team makes all the decisions, there's a consistency of design. No committee-designed compromises, no focus-group changes. The game is what the creator wanted it to be.
Respect for player time: Most indies don't have engagement teams designing addictive loops to maximize playtime. They want you to have a good experience, not maximize hours per week.
Complete at launch: Indies generally can't afford the "release now, patch later" model. They ship when the game is done.
No microtransactions: You pay once, you own the game, there's no store trying to extract more money from you.
Supporting Indies
If you find an indie game you love, the best things you can do:
- Leave a review. Steam reviews directly affect visibility. A positive review from a real player matters.
- Tell people about it. Word of mouth is how good indies find their audience.
- Buy it at full price if you can. Your $20 means more to a three-person studio than it does to a major publisher.
- Wishlist their next game. Wishlists affect how Steam promotes unreleased games.
The Bottom Line
I'm not saying indie games are universally better than big-budget games. There are fantastic AAA games and there are terrible indie games. But if you only play major releases, you're missing a huge portion of what gaming has to offer.
The barrier to entry has never been lower. Spend $20, try something outside your comfort zone. You might find your next favorite game was made by two people in their apartment.
