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Best Indie Adventure Games of 2023

What are the best indie adventure games of 2023? Find out here, including Venba, Viewfinder, Planet of Lana, Dordogne, and more!

A good adventure game takes you on a tour through a fantastic world and invites you to meet fascinating characters. No wonder, then, that our list of best indie adventure games of 2023 features journeys and narratives that will surprise and engage.

Regardless of your platform – PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch, you’re bound to find a story to your liking in this motley bunch.

If there’s an adventure game that you think deserves a spot in our list of best indie adventure games, be sure to let us know!

Goodbye Volcano High

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5

Goodbye Volcano High might seem bizarre with its premise of anthropomorphic dinosaurs attempting a band audition, but its themes of queer teen life are universal. And well, the world is ending just as you’re about to find yourself, so there’s that.

As a choice-based adventure, Goodbye Volcano High is all about the choices you make to shape Fang, the game’s high schooler dinosaur protagonist. Nurturing relationships, creating music, and interacting with prehistoric social media is just part of what’s on offer here.

Dordogne

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Dordogne is a narrative game illustrated in alluringly hand-painted watercolors, in which you experience the memories of a woman named Mimi. As Mimi recalls a summer spent in the French countryside, she comes to terms with repressed memories of all shades.

As you explore the nostalgic landscapes of Dordogne, you’ll also find yourself recording your experience with photographs, audio recordings, and poetry. The journal you create will be unique to your adventure.

To get the most out of Dordogne and find all of its collectibles, be sure to check out our walkthrough series here!

Venba

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Venba has you playing the role of an Indian Tamil woman who has moved to Canada with her husband. As you witness her new life in Canada over the years, you’ll also attempt to restore her mother’s damaged cookbook. How’s that, you ask? By cooking South Indian cuisine!

To find out what we thought about Venba, be sure to check out our review of the game. If you’d like to get to the recipes in the game, check out our walkthrough guide here!

Mediterranea Inferno

Platforms: PC

Mediterranea Inferno comes to us from the creator of 2020’s Milky Way Prince – The Vampire Star, and like that game, this one’s a sensual visual novel with psychedelic flair. Following the 2020 pandemic, three young men go on a summer retreat to Southern Italy, where an attempt to rekindle their childhood friendship leads to them confronting their inner demons.

As you pick the main characters’ daily activities, you’ll find yourself on arcane trips into conscience, uncovering themes of desire, grief, and retribution.

Chants of Sennaar

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Chants of Sennar is inspired by the myth of Babel, and has you playing as a mysterious traveler attempting to decipher the various languages of the people who inhabit ‘the Tower’. To do this, you’ll examine signs, talk to people, and interact with their worlds in various ways, while taking notes on what each of their glyphs mean.

Be sure to check out our walkthrough of the game if you’d like to get a leg up on the translating, and if you’d like to learn more about the myths and languages behind the game, we’ve got you covered there as well!

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

Platforms: PC, Switch

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is a blend of visual novel and creative card creation, in which you play as an exiled fortune-teller witch named Fortuna.

The game’s complex narrative has you reconnecting with your coven, meeting new witches, and getting embroiled in witch politics. You’ll also create tarot cards of your own, which you’ll use to tell fortunes and determine fates.

Viewfinder

Platforms: PC, PS5

Viewfinder is a mind-bending puzzle adventure game, in which two-dimensional photographs and images can be ‘applied’ in the three-dimensional world around you, reshaping reality on the fly.

As you work through the game’s puzzles, you also investigate the work of researchers attempting to revitalize plant life on the planet.

Viewfinder’s puzzles can be tricky, but you can sail through them thanks to our walkthrough guide for the game, be sure to check it out.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly takes you to a late-night coffee shop, where you play as a barista having heart-to-heart conversations with their patrons, and of course, serving up good ol’ fashioned coffee.

Set in an alternate reality Seattle, this lo-fi-enthused ‘talking simulator’ also lets you create latte art and features a diverse cast of fantasy characters with stories to share.

Planet of Lana

Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

Planet of Lana presents an off-world adventure starting a young girl and her fuzzy companion as they journey across lands to restore harmony. The game is a cinematic platformer at heart, with plenty of puzzles to solve, and one adorable little creature to pet at any time.

Already playing Planet of Lana? Be sure to check out our walkthrough of the game, which includes the locations of all the shrines you can encounter in the game.

A Space for the Unbound

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

A Space for the Unbound comes to us from Indonesian devs Mojiken, who previously made She and the Light Bearer (our review), among other games. Set in 1990s Indonesia, you play as high schoolers Atma and Raya, who must help their friends fight their inner demons while also dealing with the end of the world.

Come for the abundance of pettable cats, and stay for the mental health awareness.

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Thanks for reading our article on the Best Indie Adventure Games of 2023! You can find other interesting articles on the indie games industry linked below.

• Into Indie Games Homepage
• Best Indie Games of 2023
• Pupperazzi – Review
• Bramble The Mountain King Walkthrough – Naecken’s Pond Part 1
• The Invincible – Interview with Starward Industries