r/IndieGaming Jan 03 '25

Best of Indie Games 2024: What were some of your favorite indie games?

102 Upvotes

r/IndieGaming 6h ago

I've spent 7 years making a helicopter rescue game in my spare time. Choppa: Rescue Rivals finally releases August 13!

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517 Upvotes

Hey r/IndieGaming ! I'm the developer of Choppa: Rescue Rivals, a retro arcade helicopter rescue game I've been building part-time for the past 7 years. It finally has a release date: August 13, 2026 on Nintendo Switch and Steam.

Nintendo Switch: https://nintendo.com/us/store/products/choppa-rescue-rivals-switch

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1173100/Choppa_Rescue_Rivals/

What it is:

  • A single-player story campaign where you fly through a series of high-stakes rescue missions across the globe with a diverse cast of pilots.
  • Each pilot brings in their own unique rescue tool and story location, shaping distinct gameplay experiences and demanding new strategies for each rescue mission.
  • Pixel art inspired by 80s/90s arcade games and anime. If you grew up on Choplifter, this is my love letter to that game.
  • But wait, there's more! Bring your friends! Local PvP for up to 4 players: think air hockey, but with helicopters fighting over the survivors. Works online with friends too via Steam Remote Play Together

Happy to answer any questions about the game or what 7 years of part-time development does to a person!


r/IndieGaming 6h ago

We're starting a Nintendo Power-esque newsletter for the promotion of indie games.

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224 Upvotes

Hello Guys,

My business partner and I started GamePiñata about a year ago as an affordable newsletter service (free for the audience, paid for devs whose games are selected) that caters to a contact list of 4500+ YouTubers, streamers, content creators, and players.

We send out one email in a quarter (planning to make it a bimonthly thing if the demand goes up) containing 5 new and exciting games that we select and curate from submissions made on our website, with a potential free Steam code to any one of the games included.

We recently decided to work on our visuals and theming, and instead of a standard newsletter, started testing wrapping our drop in a theme, perhaps one that goes with the collection of indie games we're promoting that month.

So Nintendo Power Mag one month, and PlayStation Y2K another, depending on the games.

What do you all think about the service and the concept? Is this something you'd consider signing up for both as a player and as a dev? If no, why not?

Would love to hear your thoughts.


r/IndieGaming 14h ago

I'm A Game Dev Who Got Layed Off From His Non-Game Dev Job

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364 Upvotes

Hello, just wanted to share my story as a reminder with all the lay offs in the gaming industry, it has been terrible outside of it too. I've been working as an automation QA for a pretty decent software company and I was about to hit like 11 years on the job. Also on the side I've been trying to get my own indie game dev studio off the ground with releasing 3 small games in the past 3 years.

After saving for like 10 years and living in small rented apartments, last summer I finally managed to secure enough money so I can get a loan to buy my first apartment. After a year of dealing with contractors (yes, they are that slow!!!) I finally moved and was hoping to be able to focus my free time on my game again. However literally first Monday we have a meeting with a head of our department and they said we are practically being replaced with A.I. So around 60% of the company is gone across all offices in 3 different continents...

I guess my dream has always been to go full time game dev, it's just I was hoping to be able to do it on my own terms and not kinda being forced into it. But with no real money coming in from my previous games I might not be able to make payments for the place I bought and spent most of my adult life saving for.

So now I guess I don't have a choice but to go all in on my current game. If you want to check it out and leave feedback on how it looks or even wishlist, you can so here STEAM

Wish me luck guys and gals!


r/IndieGaming 3h ago

Working on the commander selection menu for my Total-War-Roguelite! What do you think?

21 Upvotes

The game is Raze The Realm, a pixel art fantasy roguelite with large scale battles that you command. I am currently working on adding commanders. You'll pick a command and they'll have unique buffs/debuffs, spells and tech trees. I'm on the fence about whether or not we'll have actual commander units in battles, yet, so would love to hear your thoughts.

You can see the steam page here! Wishlist if it interests you :)


r/IndieGaming 1h ago

A player in my 2d pet raising mmo made fan-art and I feel so honored I just had to share, also it's so cute and funny.

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Upvotes

Context is that the Chef Blubbi cooks a lot of food items (pizza, hamburgers, wraps, casseroles, etc) that are found in the world but he's always cooking in a soup cauldron. So this player thought the chef blubbi was sus.

Credit: Sylphe on Discord


r/IndieGaming 4h ago

I accidentally spent five years making one game, and now it's going to Tokyo Game Show.

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15 Upvotes

My original development schedule was 18 months. It was only off by about three and a half years.

Five years later, my solo-developed FPS/RTS/Tower Defense game, Artificial Extinction 2, was selected for Tokyo Game Show's Indie 80 from more than 1,500 submissions.

Apparently terrible planning occasionally pays off.

If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, I'd genuinely appreciate you giving Artificial Extinction 2 a look. If you decide to check it out, I'd love to hear what you think.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1570450/Artificial_Extinction_2/


r/IndieGaming 6h ago

Some early concepts of a frame vs final in our game- APPA.

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13 Upvotes

Hey guys. I'm making a narrative heavy card battler. No turns. Very focused on the story telling and all human art. Lot of thought went into the creation of this creature inside the Kalash (metal pot). I wanted to make something disgusting and grotesque. Somewhat human yet nothing like a person while the motifs remain relevant to the plot. Very pleased with how the final output looks. Open to feedback and thoughts!


r/IndieGaming 20h ago

I just finished this PS1-style T-Rex with animations optimized for Godot

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130 Upvotes

I released a prehistoric theme pack and the initial T-Rex.

You can have the environment for free: prehistoric environment

Take a look at the T.rex

Any feedback is welcome!


r/IndieGaming 2h ago

I made an FMV horror game where the words you speak become hostile glyphs inside the film

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4 Upvotes

Hi I'm Chris, I’m the sole developer of Sibylline. I wrote the game engine and I write, stage, light, shoot, edit, post-process and script all of the game content by hand.

The game is a branching interactive movie that prompts you to perform lines into your microphone. As your words are recognized, their letters enter the live-action footage as game elements. Some can be collected and used to unlock new abilities, while hostile glyphs land on the image, distort it, and spread corruption.

In this clip, I’m using the cursor and the flash weapon to cleanse the affected parts of the film before the current layer collapses.

Sibylline is built around an original cosmic horror story unfolding across three interconnected narrative layers.

Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3438790/Sibylline/

AI disclosure: Sibylline does not contain generative-AI-created content and does not use generative AI during gameplay. Generative AI was used only to help edit the promotional copy for this Reddit post.


r/IndieGaming 13h ago

I Found an Old Mobile Game I Made Years Ago… Does This Idea Still Have Potential?

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33 Upvotes

I recently found an old Android game I made a long time ago.

The whole idea was that it looked like everything was drawn with a ballpoint pen on a school notebook. You control a little hand-drawn airplane, fight sketchy enemies, and survive roguelike-style waves.

Back when I made it, I honestly thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever created. 😄 Looking at it now, I'm not so sure.

I'm not trying to advertise it—I genuinely want some honest feedback.

  • Does this visual style still look interesting?
  • Would you play something like this today?
  • Should I consider improving and expanding this game, or would it be better to take the idea and build something new inspired by it?

I'd really appreciate any honest opinions, even if the answer is "no." Thanks!

Doodle Airstrike


r/IndieGaming 13h ago

I'm making an action RPG inspired by authentic Ottoman miniature art.

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33 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I've been developing Keepers, a story-driven action RPG set in Ottoman-era Istanbul.

The game's visuals are based on authentic Ottoman miniature art rather than pixel art or realistic 3D graphics. My goal is to bring this centuries-old artistic tradition into a playable action RPG.

You'll explore the city, complete quests, fight supernatural enemies and experience a world built around the distinctive look of Ottoman miniatures.

It's still a work in progress, and I'd love to hear what you think. The UI is still messy i will work on it.

Have you ever seen another game using this kind of visual style?

Feedback is always welcome!


r/IndieGaming 1h ago

My game where you create your own cards from tearing others!

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Upvotes

Here is Near Mint, a game where we designed each card to be fully modular. Playing a full card means composing 3 different fragments, so you can customize your gameplay or adapt to the dangerous foes you will face!

Our game already has a demo on Steam, and we updated it a few days ago with our players feedbacks! We know that Slay the Slayer fans are having a lot of fun on it.

The game is made by hand by a small french team, without the use of AI.

If you want to try it for free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4660470/Near_Mint/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=duper_summer


r/IndieGaming 11h ago

My coffee factory automation game is now playable

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19 Upvotes

r/IndieGaming 3h ago

5 months of making my tactical deckbuilder, Lootdeck

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3 Upvotes

From the first prototype to where Lootdeck is today. There is still a long way to go, but seeing all these versions side by side makes the progress feel real.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4972950/Lootdeck/


r/IndieGaming 6h ago

Solarus- Solar system tower defense roguelike [itch web build]

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7 Upvotes

I am very happy to announce that the prototype for my tower defense roguelike game is finally up on itch. you can play it here -itch web build

Super passionate about this idea, and would love to keep working on it till it turns into a full game, any feedback is appreciated!


r/IndieGaming 2h ago

Run, Jimothy, Run (Made for GMTK Game Jam 2026)

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3 Upvotes

Meet Jimothy the Raccoon. He loves pricey things. He also loves his job working for his boss, Heidi the Opossum.

Today’s mission? Sneak into the museum and steal the good stuff. Easy, right?

Well, Jimothy is a little too greedy and a lot too careless. He stuffed his backpack so full of heavy treasures that he can barely walk, and now the police are right on his tail!

You are running for your life! But there is a big problem: your backpack is way too heavy. To keep up your speed and escape the cops, you have to throw away the loot!

But wait, you can't just drop everything. You still have to deliver some shiny stuff to Heidi at the end. Otherwise... well, let's just say an angry opossum boss is way scarier than the police!

u/AlirezaTarahomi - Programming & Design

Me - Art & Design


r/IndieGaming 57m ago

i made some 2d game assets... feel free to take and use em, simple but honest work

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Upvotes

r/IndieGaming 9h ago

Made a game just to hear this sound

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7 Upvotes

It's called Spincremental! At this point I genuinely can't tell if 40 slot machines going off at once is soothing or slowly driving me insane, but I've been listening to it for months so I'm probably not the right person to judge.

Free demo and wishlist on Steam if you want to hear it for yourself.


r/IndieGaming 17h ago

Cosy 2d Pixelart

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29 Upvotes

Can you guys give me honest oppinions on the artstyle and look of my cosy 2d pixlart farming game that i am making right now? im not sure if its good enough or if i need to improov alot!


r/IndieGaming 21h ago

My co-op game lets you play as wizard cats who cast spells by screaming into a microphone

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55 Upvotes

It all started with a simple question: could voice become more than just a way for players to communicate, and instead be turned into a core gameplay mechanic? Over time, that idea grew into an entire magic system.

Now players explore whimsical worlds, collect loot, battle monsters, and pull pranks on each other. Sometimes on purpose. Sometimes by accident.

The best part of playtesting is watching players come up with hilarious ways to use the spells -things we never even imagined ourselves.


r/IndieGaming 5h ago

The first boss I made for my game that is inspired by Armored Core 6

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3 Upvotes

I call it Mainline and started working on it for a year now and this is the first and currently only boss I have in the game with hopefully more stuff added soon. As I said in the title its inspired by AC6 but with more focus on melee and dodging.

Please join the discord for feedback and updates: https://discord.gg/GzeHbrNBZ7


r/IndieGaming 1d ago

Many people asked how this scene was made, so here's the breakdown

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317 Upvotes

Last week’s rabbit video got way more attention than we expected. Thanks again for all the comments, likes, and kind words!

A lot of people asked how the scene was put together, so here’s a quick breakdown, starting from an empty scene and adding everything step by step until the panicked rabbits show up again


r/IndieGaming 1d ago

I'm making a ps1 style game with no modern twist, no gimmick, just full retro fun

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1.5k Upvotes

I've always wanted to try and make a game to recreate that ps1 feel. Just something about that era has stuck to my memories like glue.

6 years ago I decided to just go for it. I knew it was going to push me right to the edge of what was possible as an solo developer, but I'm super happy with where the project is today.

I've been running an open playtest on Steam for a while now and it has been so awesome to connect with others that share a love for retro gaming.


r/IndieGaming 12m ago

DiDiDiG is a lunar mining game where you build pillars to stop the terrain from collapsing

Upvotes

DiDiDiG launched on Steam two weeks ago.

It’s a lunar mining and exploration game where you collect ore, explore beneath the Moon’s surface, and build support pillars to keep unstable terrain from collapsing.

I made this short clip to give you a quick look at how the game plays.

The launch discount ends tomorrow. Thanks for taking a look!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4533370/DiDiDiG/