How to find the rarest, most overlooked indie games to play

Are you looking for the rarest, obscurest indie games? The games that go unnoticed by even the most discerning eyes? Here’s how you find them.

Indie games offer an unsurpassed level of diversity. It doesn’t matter how you want to classify games – by country, viewpoint, gameplay, theme, mood, or the presence of pattable doggos, indie games will always have you covered. Not all indies get the same kind of exposure, though.

A few indie games are lucky enough to fall upwards and becomes global phenomena: the likes of Hades, Among Us, and Untitled Goose Game.

Others aren’t so fortunate, and you might need to dig through the rough to find them.

Nevertheless, a purchase, a download, and a kind word in review can go a long way for many indie developers. Who knows, that rare, obscure title might just end up an experience you won’t forget.

So then, how exactly do you find them?

Pick the Right Plat

When it comes to platforms, indie games are most heavily concentrated on PC. This means that if you’re an indie game enthusiast, you more or less require a Windows PC.

A lot of developers also gravitate towards the Nintendo Switch, particularly when it comes to party and multiplayer games. Several games have been exclusive the Switch (Golf Story, for one), or have released on Switch first before other platforms (The Touryst). For Switch games, check out Nintendo’s Game Store regularly.

PlayStation and Xbox systems usually receive delayed ports when it comes to indie games – that is, if they receive them at all.

Ultimately, you should be looking for indie games on a Windows PC first and foremost. This guide will focus on PC indie games.

Navigating Steam

On PC, the go-to destination for most indie games is Steam. Although many recent games have been known to favor Epic Games Store over Steam, you should still be looking at Steam if you want to find the rarer, more obscure titles.

Steam indie games

Skip the popular ads and scroll down to the Top 10 games in categories like “New and Trending” and “Popular Upcoming”. These are great places to find what’s hot in the indie game community – both in terms of released and to-be-released titles.

For particularly deep dives, explore Steam’s dedicated Upcoming and New Releases pages. The quality of games here can be a little iffy, but if you view enough games, you’ll develop an eye for what’s good and what’s to your liking. You can further narrow things down by price, language, features, and tags. Are you looking for a local multiplayer game in English that’s also marked as funny? Here you go.

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Indie Games Beyond Steam: Itch.io

Steam should have no shortage of games to check out week on week, but if you’re looking for the more artistic games from a diverse set of creators, the place you need to be is itch.io.

Itch.io presents a very eclectic showcase of video games, game tools, zines, pen-and-paper games, comics, and who knows what else.

Itch.io indie site screenshot

It’s a particularly great place if you are looking for micro experiences – games you can play in an hour or less. A large number of the games here are free or pay-what-you-want, and even the games that aren’t free are usually inexpensive enough to be worth the price of entry.

Itch.io is the best place to be if you want to find games created by communities that are typically marginalized in the game development industry, such as racial minorities and LGBTQ+ identities. There’s even community-created game jams and bundles, making this the thriving home of the obscure video game.

Indie Bundles and Game Pass

Many great indie games show up in game bundles across bundle sites. The big ones you need to look out for are Humble Bundle and Fanatical, which curate indie games to sell together in a bundle.

Humble Bundle indie site screenshot

Another good place to find a lot of indie games to play (although not necessarily the rarest of the rare) is Microsoft’s Game Pass. Available over PC and Xbox (and soon, on many more devices via the Cloud), Game Pass gives you access to a vast library of games both AAA and indie, and everything in-between.

Where else?

Finally, remember that you’re not the only one looking for the rarest indie games. There are plenty of YouTube channels, forum threads, and blogs dedicated to highlighting obscure games. Keep an eye out in the community, and dive in yourself if you can.

Here at Into Indie Games, we also cover upcoming games on a weekly basis. Here’s the latest edition of our weekly round-up!

Let us know what obscure indie games you found, and how you liked them, in the comments below!

This Article was written by: Rahul Shirke

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