The Most Important Indie Video Games Ever Made

Independent game development provides gamers with unique variations on tried formulas. Designers utilize favorite ideas from big companies to entertain and transform the gaming industry. Although indie video games are a major mainstream genre in 2024, the category used to fall under the cracks two decades ago.

These vital indie video games forged the chance for future developers to shine and require celebrations years after release!

1. Minecraft

Although Microsoft eventually bought Minecraft several years after its original release, the title started out as a niche indie developed by two guys. The sandbox revolution still features strongly in the pop culture zeitgeist in 2024, and it stands as the best-selling video game in history, even more than triple-A titles.

2. Cave Story

Cave Story deserves the bulk of the credit (and blame?) for so many indies being set in the 2D side-scrolling genre. The pixelated classic set the independent development standard for sharp controls and originality with an adventure akin to 1990s games. Without Cave Story, legendary games like Hollow Knight and Ori and the Blind Forest wouldn’t exist.

3. Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy coerced more than a few gamers into careening their controllers into the drywall adjacent to the couch in the early 2010s. Players take a personified blob of meat through perilous platforming obstacles in fast-paced action that led to dozens and dozens of impossible indie platform copycats for the rest of the decade.

4. Braid

Braid single-handedly brought indie video games to the mainstream on Xbox in 2008. Word-of-mouth picked up rapidly as more gamers tried the platforming game with an intricate, thematic aesthetic. The graphics, music, and ambiance turned Braid into a beacon of gaming as artwork.

5. Limbo

Horror started to become one of the most popular indie video genres in the 2010s, and Limbo carved out its place at the top of the food chain. The black-and-white color scheme and minimalist design made the title easy to play on a variety of platforms, and people who weren’t familiar with indie gaming often tried this classic on their smartphones.

6. Manic Miner

Most casual gamers believe platforming games started with Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System, but indie titles like Manic Miner proved the validity of jumping and falling through levels several years beforehand.

Developed by a teenage Matthew Smith, Manic Miner is one of the rare indie titles to help the big gaming industry more than the independent scene.

7. Doom

Doom vaulted first-person shooters, violent games, and morbidity into popularity in the 1990s. iD Software’s indie origins often get lost when discussing industry history, and Doom gets categorized as a big studio effort instead of a small-scale wonder.

8. N

N charged into a lot of computer rooms worldwide as a freeware title in the early 2000s. Barebones graphics might turn some gamers off to the platforming experience, but N helped future freeware games build traction and take chances within the industry. Better versions of the game were released in the future, such as N+.

9. Among Us

Among Us vaulted into the upper tier of indie gaming history by focusing on multiplayer excitement and the enticing social media buzz of modern video games. The more people hopped online to participate in the Among Us experience, the crazier the results for everyone!

10. Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight symbolized a double-edged sword in the indie video game scene. The game set a template that was very difficult to resemble, but cheap knock-offs still inundated the corners of the internet nonetheless. A cartoonish, charismatic eight-bit protagonist set amidst a medieval environment, Shovel Knight’s adventure gameplay corresponded well with its aesthetic and lent itself to many sequels.

11. Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 utilizes a famous franchise developed by a major studio, but the team behind the greatness would identify as an independent developer. Some people may not consider the RPG an indie. For the sake of adding it to the list, the game showed the world how independent studios can make massive, high-quality titles without the financial help of a big conglomerate.

12. Fez

Puzzling games form a foundational standard in the indie scene on par with platformers. Fez started the trend of brilliant, offbeat brainteaser titles in the 2010s on consoles and computers. With inter-dimensional problems to solve and a cute exterior, Fez aged well and was rereleased years later.

13. Undertale

Undertale incorporates every indie-style component a gamer would look for in the genre. Compelling story elements, intuitive and ingenious action sequences, and an ode to games from the 1990s. Player choice and free will make the experience different for each person who plays the game.

14. Cuphead

Cuphead expanded on the trend of overly difficult indie games first started by Super Meat Boy, but it also expanded the genre with its breathtaking 1930s Tom and Jerry graphics. This push-and-pull, in which the gameplay’s frustrating qualities are tuned out by the gamer’s admiration of the artwork, creates a perfect balance of enjoyment.

15. Spelunky

Roguelike games routinely crop up yearly nowadays, but Spelunky revolutionized one of indie gaming’s most popular genres in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The randomly generated levels that change each time the player dies make for one of the most addictive experiences someone can enjoy.

16. Terraria

Terraria serves as a more traditional, old-school game than Minecraft, but both games popularized sandbox adventure gaming. Terraria brings depth to side-scrolling adventure games by providing world-building and attention to detail in environments.

17. Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley makes the mundane feel radiant. Using the nostalgic undertones of Animal Crossing, this farming and life simulator appeals to most gamers no matter what genre they prefer. This title showed other indie studios that simulation games should be at the forefront of the independent game development scene.

18. The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac makes the list due to its courageous decision to involve religion in its storytelling, along with sharp roguelike gameplay. It also presents a natural extension of classic dungeon crawlers from the 1980s and 1990s.

19. Hades

Hades absorbed millions of hours of gamers’ time upon its release and, in the process, re-popularized the Diablo-style hack-and-slash for a new generation. Hades represents a quintessential moment in time when indie gaming overjoyed mass audiences at a level previously reserved for big studio success.

20. World of Goo

World of Goo helped the Wii compete with the Xbox 360 in the indie gaming sphere at the dawn of the console indie movement in the late 2000s. The point-and-click motion controls fit the console perfectly, as did the casual nature of the puzzle gameplay. Audiences could enjoy this title whether they were versed in video games or not.

21. Five Nights at Freddy’s

Five Nights at Freddy’s holds the distinction of spurring a movie spinoff, something not many indie games have ever accomplished before. The horror aspects of the game and the point-and-click controls created a strong foundation for other scary video games.

22. Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami demonstrates what happens when an indie developer doesn’t care about ESRB ratings or whether any children play the game. A period piece that takes place in the 1980s and looks like a game made in the 1980s, this excellent shooter resembles a decades-old mafia movie come to life!