This has been a great year for Indies. But between those major indie releases, tons of AAA releases and the latest updates to whatever Live Service game is your niche; it becomes impossible to keep up with everything that comes out. It feels like every other week, there was a banger. So while the Silksongs, Expedition 33s and Hades 2s made everyone’s to play list, plenty of great ones slipped through the crack.
In this article we look at the games that did something interesting, try to innovate on a genre or just was a great game. These are games you heard of or saw a trailer, wanted to play and forgot about. So if you are looking for something new to play or just to see what you missed in 2025, read on. These are the indie games you missed and you really shouldn’t have.
Games
Absolum
In a year where Hades 2 and Marvel Cosmic Invasion were released, Absolum stands out as a genre hybrid taking the best of both those games and creating magic. It’s a shame not many players gave it the look it deserved. Developed by Guard Crush Games and Supamonks, Absolum is a roguelite beat em’ up that asks the question – why hasn’t anyone done this before?
The first thing you notice about Absolum is the gorgeous hand-drawn Saturday morning cartoon visuals and you’d think it’s a Golden Axe like sidescrolling beat em up with modern graphics. But you would be wrong. You can play as four distinct heroes. The sword-wielding elf Galandra, the gunner dwarf Karl, the dagger-brandishing rogue Cider, or a wizard frog (?) Brome. You select your preferred hero, either solo or coop with friends, and go on about your merry way to topple a tyrant who has outlawed magic. But once you die for the first time, you realize this game isn’t banking on your nostalgia; it is showing you something new. Absolum mixes arcade-style pixel-perfect combat with roguelike progression, giving every run a new dynamic. Fresh choices, varied enemies, and ability unlocks give the game an undeniable “one-more-run” energy.
The world of Talamh feels alive and lived in. Beautiful hand-drawn 2D art complements the fluid and fast action. But what my biggest takeway from the game was the weight of its combat. Its fluid and fast as I said before, but it feels so good. The rhythm and cadence of hits, dodges, arcana spells feels weighty and purposeful. Every new Ritual and Inspiration skill blends into the action or playstyle that no run ever feels like a waste. You will have a viable combat playstyle in every run.
This game was criminally overlooked with the player counts peaking at 7642 players even with its 86% Metacritic ranking and a 8/10 ranking on Steam.
You can read our full coverage of the game here.
Tormented Souls 2
If you love old school survival horror ala Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Alone in the Dark, you owe it to yourself to check out Tormented Souls 2. Sure, it can be janky at times, but even that feels like its by design. Developed by Dual Effect, the game tells the story of Caroline Walker, a young woman trying to save her twin sister Anna from a supernatural affliction. This quest sees her dropped into Villa Hess, a decaying, nightmarish town filled with secrets, shadows, and all manner of creatures.
While the game is an homage to earlier horror games with its fixed camera angles and jump scares, it is its own thing in many ways. For one, it’s got a very impressive lighting design, and coupled with the relentlessly oppressive sound design, it creates this off-kilter unease and dread throughout the entire runtime of the game. The puzzles are just the right amount of difficulty (although ultimately it is still this item in this slot). Secondly, Resources and ammo are scarce, escalating the tension in every combat encounter. It’s not a flashy kind of action either; it is very clunky at times, very reminiscent of the PS1 and 2 generations of survival horror.
We reviewed it and gave it 5 stars, and you can read the full review here. It’s sitting on a mighty 78% on Metacritic and 9/10 on Steam, but it only saw a peak count of 1100 players. If you love survival horror and the mystery and story those games entail, you should really make time for this game in 2026. It deserves to be talked about, shared, and played far more than it was.
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream, developed River End Games is a narrative-driven stealth adventure game that deserved a far better reception than it got on release. It was one of the most emotionally resonant and artfully designed experiences of the year, even if it was a bit linear.
Set during a plague-ravaged era in an imaginary Nordic city, the game sees you play as Hanna. A young orphan whose brother, Herman, goes missing at the beginning of the game in less than favorable circumstances. The cops are at your door looking for him and you narrowly escape their clutches. What starts as a personal search becomes a nuanced, layered tale of resistance, survival and connection. Alva is a genuine highlight of the game.
Speaking of Alva, the game sees you play as three characters, Hanna, Alva, and Sebastian, each with their unique skills of using gadgets, climbing, or swimming. You use these abilities to navigate through the city in an isometric perspective – memorizing patrol routes, using shadows and sounds as distractions. Once all three characters are unlocked, you can freely switch between all three. The only issue that I have with this system is that the game can feel very linear at times. There is almost always one right way of doing things, and you need to figure that golden path out.
It more than makes up for that with its gorgeous visuals and cut scenes. Eriksholm can look downright gorgeous with the facial animations and shallow depth of field shots, with acting and directing rarely seen from an indie game made by a small studio.
We reviewed it back in July and gave it 4 stars. You can read the review here. It’s got 78% on Metacritic and 10/10 on Steam, but I found it very hard to crack more than 491 players. If you like games that reward patience, planning, and have a puzzle box full of heart, do yourself a favor and give this a whirl.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, released early in the year, was dropped without much fanfare. It received strong critical praise, and yet most players overlooked it. Developed by Adglobe and Live Wire and published by Binary Haze Interactive, this 2D Metroidvania serves as a thematic and mechanical successor to Ender Lilies. While a sequel, it did enough to carve out its own identity, separate from its successful predecessor. Set years later after the first game in the Land of Fumes, the game follows Lilac. Lilac is an “Attuner” with the power to purify corrupted Homunculi and use them as weapons. The Land of Fumes itself is a tragic world of industrial ruin, artificial life forms, and long-lost memories.
This atmosphere is what elevates the game above the numerous other Metroidvanias released this year. Decaying cityscapes, toxic wastelands, and abandoned laboratories create an oppressive and beautiful world. The art direction and music are poignant and beautiful, communicating the visual storytelling with a layer of depth that is absent from its admittedly weak writing.
Combat improves upon its predecessor, not by doing “more” but by layering more intelligent choices. Lilac doesn’t directly fight; she summons purified Homunculi, the bosses she defeats. Each Homunculi has distinct abilities, and they can be used to mix and match to create “loadouts” to match your preferred playstyle. The pacing of the game is immaculate, too, with traversal abilities unlocking at a steady pace. Like the best Metroidvanias, Bloom in the Mist respects the player’s curiosity and time.
While we didn’t cover the game, the game sits at 84 on Metacritic and a 10/10 on Steam, and yet the game just got 14,000 players at it’s peak. So when you look back on the list of games you missed out on in 2025, this quiet, beautiful and sorrowful game should be on the top of that list.
Routine
Routine was plagued by a late-in-the-year release, as well as a hellacious development cycle. Lunar Software announced this game back in 2012 at Gamescom and finally released it 13 years later, fighting back from bankruptcy. Set on a long-abandoned lunar base, Routine creates an uncertain and oppressive environment without any UI or, really, any jump scares. The intricately crafted, retro-futuristic world, featuring CRT monitors, scanlines, and retro tech from the 80s, creates a world that feels both alien and familiar at the same time.
Environmental storytelling is at the forefront of this game. Audio logs, abandoned consoles, and artifacts provide clues to the mystery. There are no way-points, no yellow-marked path; everything is up to you. Armed with a trusty Cosmonaut Assistance Tool, you scan for clues, interact with various terminals, solve puzzles, and find hidden paths. There is limited combat here, fending off hostile robots with limited battery charges.
While the puzzles can be very obtuse and cryptic, it feels like it’s part of the design. This isn’t a fast game by any means; it’s like a slow-burning thriller. Methodical in its approach, Routine’s gameplay, atmosphere, and sound design make it a must-play for horror fans.
Sitting on 9/10 on Steam and 79% on Metacritic, Routine reached a peak player count of 1620. This is a mistake you should take upon yourself to rectify immediately.
You can find our full coverage of the game here.
Total Chaos
While covering the game, our writer was complaining about nausea and discomfort. That is the experience you are in for in Total Chaos. I believe a lot of players overlooked it due to the sudden shadow drop and skipped the game without realizing how ambitious and atmospheric the game truly is. Developed by Trigger Happy Interactive, Total Chaos started life as a Doom 2 mod and evolved into something much bigger.
You play as an unnamed Coast Guard Responder, washed up on the shores of Fort Oasis. It is a derelict mining colony that has fallen into disrepair and decay. From the moment you step off your wrecked boat, the game creates an oppressive atmosphere. Decaying environments, unsettling audio design, and a strange voice on the radio that you can’t fully trust.
Gameplay-wise, you have to look for resources, balance health, stamina, and sanity. You craft weapons and manage a (frankly unintuitive) inventory that does force some decision-making under pressure. These systems can feel super janky, but that adds to the experience. The friction really adds to the sense of danger and dread.
Total Chaos has 80% rating on Metacritic and sits at 9/10 on Steam. It only reached a peak player count of 649 players. You can find our full coverage on the game here.
If you want a nerve fraying horror that doesn’t coddle you, Total Chaos’ rough edged, haunting journey might be something right up your alley.
The Séance of Blake Manor
The Séance of Blake Manor, developed by Spooky Doorway released to very little marketing. While it did have buzz, it really fell through the cracks of bigger releases in Arc Raiders, Dispatch, and Ninja Gaiden 4. It is such a wonderfully crafted detective game that simply enough people didn’t play, and we saw no point in covering the game after starting our coverage of it. It is one of the most unique games of 2025, with its atmosphere, character design, mystery design, and writing all dedicated to creating a great detective story.
It feels like a great Sherlock Holmes story at the best of times. Set entirely within a single location of Blake Manor, you are here to discover the truth behind the disappearance of a young lady. There is a deadline as a séance that is about to take place, and you need to solve the case before then. This creates a creeping sense of dread as you explore and solve puzzles. The game has great environmental storytelling, with clues being subtle and often optional. This creates a scenario where curiosity and attentiveness from the player are rewarded. The game slowly crafts a tragic narrative around grief, guilt, and the dangers of exceeding one’s grasp. The game is another slow burn, and it lets your imagination do a lot of the heavy lifting. Sparse sound design and deliberate pacing help with this.
It has a mighty 89% on Metacritic and a 10/10 on Steam, but could only get 1012 players at its peak. Years from now, this will become one of those “ I can’t believe I didn’t play this yet” games. While I started to cover the walk-through for the game, I ultimately stopped because not enough people were playing the game to require help. Rectify that right now and thank us later.
Indie games came into their own this year. 3 of the 5 GOTY games were indies. But these were the games we wished more people played. If even one of these games ends up in your library, we will have done our jobs.
Videogames.
Gym.
Sneakers.
Manga.
My dog.
In that order.
