Rating the Most Popular Indie Games Today

Ever wondered why video games are super popular? Well, three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White perfectly explained the appeal for video games when he said:

“There are plenty of skills I’ve learned from playing video games. It’s more interactive than watching TV, because there are problems to solve as you’re using your brain.”

One category of games that have taken the world by storm in recent years are indie games. For gaming newbies, indie games are simply titles developed by individual producers or small teams without any significant funding from known studios. Indie games are very diverse, spanning different themes and genres.

Typically, these video games are available on consoles like PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Xbox or digital platforms like Steam and itch.io.

In other rare occasions, some European casinos offer access to indie games, for instance, allowing you to wager on the potential outcome of role-playing games (RPGs).

You can find a cross selection of these sites at https://www.mightytips.com/online-casinos/europe/ as specially curated by leading tipster platform MightyTips. These casinos are some of the biggest brands in Europe, offering outstanding iGaming services to millions of players in the continent.

European casinos recommended by MightyTips are licensed by the Malta Gaming Association or the Curacao Gaming Control Board and are reputed for their convenient mobile gaming and generous promotions. That said, let’s go on to discover the most popular indie games among players today.

The Most Popular Indie Games and Why They are Players’ Favorites

Deciding which indie games are the best or the most popular is a very subjective endeavor, considering that these releases resonate differently with players. So, depending on your personal taste and platform preference, you may rate some games over others.

Notwithstanding, there are a couple of reasons why players love some highly popular indie games, and these factors include:

Affordability: Most of these releases have significantly lower price points and are easily affordable at digital stores.
Fresh and unique experiences: Indie titles focus on delivering innovative mechanics and thought-provoking narrative unlike the bulk of Triple-A releases.
Creative freedom: Because independent producers are not pushed by profit and publisher demands, they can experiment with gameplay and create rather unconventional titles.
Sense of community: From Twitch to Reddit, awareness of indie games are usually driven by social media buzz, thereby helping players build community.

That said, gaming expert and journalist, Kate Richardson outlines indie games top 10 every player should try below.

Minecraft

Arguably the most well-known indie game out there, Minecraft is a sandbox survival game that stands out for its open-ended design and immense cultural impact that has redefined the entire industry.

Balatro

Released in 2024, Balatro is one of the best new indie games. The game features a roguelike deck-building game that blends poker themes together with minimalism. Lots of players love it for its unconventional twists, modifiers and high replay value.

Celeste

Celeste was developed by Maddy Makes Games in 2016, and features a lady named Madeline who attempts to climb the mystical Celeste Mountain. Despite its demanding gameplay, the 2D platformer game is often praised for its emotional narratives.

Spelunky 2

Yet another roguelike platformer, Spelunky 2 is, of course, the sequel to Spelunky, both developed by Mossmouth and BlitWorks. Players in the release explore procedurally created caves in search of Ana’s lost family and treasure.

Hollow Knight

In Hollow Knight, players take on the role of The Knight, an insectoid warrior exploring the wastelands of Hallownest. The artistic direction and hand-drawn art sets Hollow Knight apart from your regular indie game.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley simulates farm life and is heavily inspired by Harvest Moon titles. In the game, expect to inherit a dilapidated farm, build it back from the ground up and foster relationships with non-playing characters. Stardew Valley is available across different consoles and is one of the top video games you can try on a Chromebook.

Valheim

Named 2021 Game of the Year by PC Gamer, Valheim is a cooperative survival and sandbox game released by Iron Gate Studio. Unsurprisingly, Valheim’s gameplay is rooted in Norse mythology, a feature which blends perfectly with its procedurally generated world.

Hades

No list of good indie games is complete without a mention of Hades. The title boasts a super fast-paced, roguelike action with voice-acted characters and utterly superb narrative progression. Hades was released in 2020 while its sequel, Hades II, hit digital stores in 2025.

Disco Elysium

DIsco Elysium is a narrative-focused RPG that takes a slight detour from the regular, heavy traditional combat and opts for dialogues and still checks. The game is rated highly among players and even won The Game Award for Best Role Playing Game.

Project Zomboid

As the name suggests, Project Zomboid is set during a zombie apocalypse. The hardcore isometric survival game is famed among players for being slightly difficult yet significantly realistic.

Concluding Thoughts: Takeaways from the Growing Fame of Indie Games

The best indie games are usually borne from the creativity and artistic expression of the developer. But for the player, the impact of these games is more ethereal, shaping their experiences in more pivotal ways than mainstream titles.

And a good example is Elon Musk who had at one point expressed his love for video games and how they sparked his interest in engineering.

“To make an embarrassing admission, I like video games. That’s what got me into software engineering when I was a kid. I wanted to make money so I could buy a better computer to play better video games – nothing like saving the world,” Musk once said.

As the industry continues to evolve, indie games development will always remain central to shaping the future of industry with the understanding that executing compelling ideas is always more impactful than immense scale.