18 indie games to look forward to in 2025

2024 was a huge year for indie games, with titles like Balatro, Animal welfareAnd UFO 50 garnering commercial and critical acclaim among their AAA contemporaries. That momentum shows no signs of slowing down in 2025, with highly anticipated games like Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward vector And Hyperlightbreaker will be released in January, followed by a host of other exciting new titles such as Pathological 3, Hiking stopand more.

We’ve once again compiled a list of some of the indie games we’re most excited about. From stealth-action deck builders and moody mountain climbing simulations to isometric roguelike shooters, there’s something for every type of gamer and no doubt even more surprises await in the coming months.

Which indie games are you most looking forward to in 2025? Put them in the comments.

Release date: January 14 (early access)
Platforms: Windows PC

Hyperlightbreakerthe upcoming 3D co-op roguelike from developer Heart Machine, has had a long and winding journey since its announcement in 2022. However, the wait is almost over as the game will soon be launching on Steam. on January 14.

Set decades before the events of Hyper light glider, Hyperlightbreaker allows players to take on the role of a Breaker: a warrior tasked with rebuilding civilization in the aftermath of a catastrophic war. As you explore the world of the Overgrowth, conquer its many dangers and rediscover its many secrets, you will come face to face with powerful adversaries known as the Crowns in your quest to defeat the Abyss King and to restore peace to the empire. —Toussaint Egan

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward vector

Release date: January 31
Platforms: Windows PC

The new year starts exactly when Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward vector will be released on January 31st. The sequel to the text-rich role-playing game of Jump Over the Age Civilian sleeper seems to expand on the original with its exceptional, compact science fiction knowledge. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: February 2025
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC

Snacks looks like a game for fools, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a creature collecting roguelite that’s colorful, fast, and unmissable. From Furcula, a Toronto-based indie studio, Snacks doesn’t have an exact release date yet. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: March 11
Platforms: Windows PC

Hiking stop is a fun farming simulator with a dark side: this is what happens when an experienced swordsman stops to make tea. From the makers of Stanley’s parable And The Beginner’s Guide, Hiking stop will be released on March 11. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: March 31 (early access)
Platforms: Windows PC

If you are a fan of Cruelty squadthe necrocapitalist nightmare sim developed by Ville Kallio, congratulations: their upcoming game is just around the corner! Described as a ‘mecha FPS hybrid police and punishment simulator’, Psycho Patrol R puts players in the role of a European Federal Police officer, tasked with maintaining law and order in the decaying state of Pan-Europe. The game features a semi-open world, with levels designed for exploration on foot and in the cockpit of the player’s V-Stalker, a bipedal war machine with customizable weapons. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC, TBA consoles

Not alone Cairn have beautiful art and scenery, but The Game Bakers’ climbing game seems to have deep, complicated mechanics that mimic the real-life nature of the action. (It also has a terribly cool backpack for messy storage of your necessary gear.) It seems that it is Standing deadbut up instead of to the other side. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: 2025
Platforms: TBA

Yes, the highly anticipated next two chapters of Toby Fox’s Deltarune are expected to be released in 2025 – more than six years after the game’s original launch. The role-playing game is unique because of its turn-based combat and bullet hell elements; Fox also lets players choose peace or violence, as in Understory. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: 2025 (early access)
Platform: Mac, Windows PC

InZoi isn’t the only life sim coming out this year! Developed by a talented team of designers led by Alex Massé, Paralives is a ‘dollhouse life simulation’ with an advanced character creator that focuses not only on facial and body features, but also on customizable personality traits. Create your perfect dream home and live your characters’ lives in and around a sprawling open-world city, launching in early access later this year. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC

This whimsical prehistoric metroidvania throws players as a caveman, separated from his family, into a strange alien world. Search for resources, tame the elements and battle a range of threats – including flesh-eating predators, rival tribes and inscrutable aliens – as you struggle to reunite with and protect your family. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series

Kaizen Game Works, the British developer behind 2020’s Paradise killeris back with a new game that is somehow even more original and irreverent than the last. Promise Mascot Agency is ‘the world’s first (and best) Open World Mascot Management Crime Drama’, centering on Michi, a disgraced yakuza lieutenant exiled to a cursed city to whip a failing mascot company into shape. Like Paradise killerthere’s an element of mystery to it, as you’re also tasked with unmasking the conspirators responsible for your exile. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC

by Sam Eng Skate story will be published by Devolver Digital in 2025, although originally announced with a 2023 release date. While there has been no shortage of cool skateboarding games over the years, Skate story looks different, with players skating through hell. —Nicole Timmerman

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series

Dexterity is exactly the kind of game that piques my interest: a third-person stealth-action deck builder about a hard-boiled private detective who infiltrates a witch coven. By combining immersive sim environments with real-time stealth gameplay, Dexterity is a stylish, noir-infused dark fantasy that I’m excited to get my hands on later this year. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC

Developed by Finji (Tunic), Usually June is a third-person action adventure à la Psychonauts that puts players in the role of a young girl who has the power to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Together with her friends, both living and otherwise, June must explore the coastal town of Fen Harbor and put an end to an interdimensional anomaly that threatens to tear the fabric of existence itself! So yeah, no pressure. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: 2025
Platforms: Windows PC

Bithell Games returns to the Tron universe, this time for an isometric action adventure. Tron: Catalyst centers on Exo, a resourceful program hunted by the overlords of the Arq Grid for their possession of a mysterious ability that threatens the stability of the system. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: TBA
Platforms: Windows PC

“Hades meet Super hot‘ is the best way to describe this new roguelike shooter. In Enter the chronosphereplayers assemble a band of alien mercenaries to take on the Chronospheres: planet-sized dungeons that spread across the universe, devouring entire galaxies in their wake. Within each chronosphere, time only moves when you move, so every second counts as you cut through waves of enemies and peel back the layers of these gargantuan megastructures. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: TBA
Platforms: Windows PC

Originally announced in 2019, Hollow Knight: Silk Song has become the white whale of the gaming community. Developer Team Cherry postponed the long-awaited sequel to 2023, but it seemed possible that it would be released in 2024. That didn’t happen, but I’m still looking forward to a possible 2025 release. —Ana Diaz

Release date: TBA
Platforms: Windows PC

The sequel to the 2019 cult classic Pathological 2 sees players return to the city on the Gorkhon River, this time as Daniil Dankovsky, a charismatic doctor obsessed with defeating death. Players must save the city from a plague within twelve days and must use a special device to travel back in time to influence major events, reshape the story and open new paths to success. —Toussaint Egan

Release date: TBA
Platforms: Windows PC

Hyperlightbreaker isn’t the only Heart Machine game on the horizon. Announced in 2024, Owner(s) is a stylish side-scrolling adventure game in which players take on the role of a pair of characters who must navigate the interconnected sprawl of a destroyed megacity in the aftermath of an interdimensional catastrophe. Expect 3D environments, beautifully hand-drawn and animated characters and fast-paced action. —Toussaint Egan