Indie games: what they are and 15 worth playing
Polarzinho lives in an indie studio and explains what makes a game independent, with 15 indie games to try, including three from Brazil.
By Polarzinho ·
Indie games are games made by independent studios: small teams, sometimes a single person, with no big publisher running the project. I know the feeling, because I live in an indie studio. Polar Games is small, and every game here is designed, programmed and tuned in-house.
In this guide I explain what an indie game is, why so many players love them, and list 15 indie games worth playing, three of them from Brazil. At the end there are indie games you can play right now in your browser.
Play Barrio Kick Play Zombra Survivor Play Deepforge
What is an indie game
"Indie" is short for independent. An indie game is made without the money and the orders of a big publisher. The people who make the game decide what goes into it.
- Small team: from one person to a few dozen.
- Creative freedom: room for ideas a big-budget game would not risk.
- Smaller budget, so the art style is often bold, like pixel art or hand-drawn animation.
- Low price, and often free.
Why indie games are so popular
Because they bet on one idea and do it really well. An indie game does not need to please everyone to pay for itself, so it can be strange, hard, cute or short on purpose.
Many of the most loved games of the last decade are indie. Some started with one person in a bedroom and became worldwide hits.
The best indie games to try
- Minecraft (2009): started as one Swedish programmer’s project and became the best-selling game of all time.
- Stardew Valley (2016): farming, fishing and friendships in a small town, made by a single developer.
- Undertale (2015): a funny, heartfelt RPG you can finish without defeating anyone.
- Hollow Knight (2017): a dark, huge metroidvania from a small Australian studio.
- Celeste (2018): a tough platformer about climbing a mountain and your own doubts.
- Cuphead (2017): brutal bosses and a hand-drawn 1930s cartoon look.
- Hades (2020): a Greek-myth action roguelike where every death moves the story forward.
- Terraria (2011): dig, build and fight bosses in an endless 2D world.
- Among Us (2018): impostors on a spaceship; it blew up in 2020, two years after launch.
- Balatro (2024): a poker roguelike made by a single developer.
- Vampire Survivors (2022): survive waves of monsters; it inspired a whole genre.
- Dead Cells (2018): a roguelike metroidvania from the French studio Motion Twin.
Brazilian indie games
Brazil has a strong indie scene. Three to start with:
- Horizon Chase Turbo: 80s and 90s style racing from Aquiris, a studio in southern Brazil.
- Dandara (2018): a metroidvania from Long Hat House, in Belo Horizonte, with a heroine inspired by Dandara of Palmares.
- Chroma Squad (2015): a tactics game about filming a hero TV show, from Behold Studios in Brasília.
Indie games to play in your browser now
Polar Games is a Brazilian indie studio making browser games in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Open one and play, nothing to install. Three games from the studio to start with:
Barrio Kick: pixel-art street football
5-a-side football on a dirt pitch, with passes, chips, slide tackles and bicycle kicks. Play a friendly, win the Street Cup or face a friend on the same device.
PolarzinhoI picked 2 players, same device. I lost to myself. At least the score stayed in the family.
Zombra Survivor: pixel-art zombie survival
Zombie waves, gear to upgrade and a way out to extraction, across three maps. If you liked Vampire Survivors, you will feel at home.
PolarzinhoI used the crosswalk in the middle of a zombie wave. Road safety first.
Deepforge: merge and physics mining
Merge matching pickaxes, plan your team and launch the expedition into a mine driven by physics. There are 30 chambers across six biomes.
PolarzinhoA mining panda. Not in my plans, but I adapt.
Where to find more indie games
- PC and console stores have indie sections and filters.
- itch.io is full of indie games, many of them free and experimental.
- Indie game festivals showcase new games every year.
- Browser game portals, like this one, let you try games without installing anything.
Indie games FAQ
What is an indie game?
A game made by an independent studio, without a big publisher in charge. The team is usually small and free to take risks.
Is Minecraft an indie game?
It started as one. Microsoft bought its studio, Mojang, in 2014.
What is the best-selling indie game?
Minecraft, which is also the best-selling game of all time.
Are indie games always cheap?
Not always, but they usually cost less than big releases, and many are free. Polar Games titles run right in your browser.
Go play an indie
Pick one from the list, or try one of the three Polar Games titles below right now. If you like it, the catalog has more, from quiz shows to pool.