Top 15 indie games worth playing in 2024

Here the full collection of the top 15 indie games worth playing in 2024.

When it comes to inventive independent games, 2024 appears to be as stacked as ever. There’s no shortage of games to get excited about, from the Pokémon-with-guns game Palworld to the eagerly awaited sequel to Hades. There’s so much to look forward to that keeping track of it all may be difficult, which is why we’ve compiled another list of upcoming indies to add to your must-play list.

Independent gaming studios’ titles are frequently a refreshing view into the industry’s future. Other businesses in the industry are consolidating – focusing on larger projects that cost more money and require longer to build, which means less risk and more games that publishers know will thrive. We see developers breaking from those standards in the independent gaming industry, generating stories and experiences that you won’t find anywhere else.

What indie games are you most excited about in 2024? Please leave them in the comments.

1. PALWORLD

• Release date: January 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

You’ve probably seen the trailer for Palworld, a game that basically offers Pokémon weaponry. It will go into early access in January, when players will be able to try out its multiplayer survival gameplay and cruel (yet still charming) setting. As in Pokémon, you’ll befriend animals called Pal who will fight for you as you try to survive in this deadly planet. Farming, construction, breeding, poaching, and factory employment appear to be options – Nicolette Carpenter

2. ÉTÉ

• Release date: Q1 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Simply put, Été is stunning. It’s a narrative about a girl who visits Montreal during the summer and records her experiences in a watercolor journal. You’ll paint the real world while also painting on canvas, utilizing stickers and stamps you’ve acquired to fill up your artwork. It appears to be the ideal type of vacation, with no obligations or worry. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that was more in line with my personal interests. —NC

3. INDIKA

• Release date: Q1 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Indika, a video game set in an alternate 19th-century Russia, was revealed by Russian company Odd Meter in 2023. The game is centered on the Russian Orthodox Church, which studio creator Dmitry Svetlow described as “one of the weapons of Russian propaganda.” Odd Meter relocated its operations to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to finish the game in time for its 2024 release due to its subjects and the studio’s vocal position on Russia’s war on Ukraine. —NC

4. LOCO MOTIVE

• Release date: Q1 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch

What happens when Agatha Christie mystery stories meet point-and-click adventure classics like Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle? Loco Motive is a comedic 1930s mystery adventure in which you play as a lawyer, a rookie detective, and an undercover spy attempting to investigate a murder aboard a transcontinental train. Everyone and everything is a suspect, even you! —Toussaint Egan

5. OPEN ROADS

• Release date: Feb. 22, 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch

Annapurna Interactive and The Open Roads Team’s Open Roads has had a turbulent development period. Its creators parted from co-founder Steve Gaynor and Fullbright in 2023 after he stepped away from development in 2021 following allegations of workplace abuse at the Gone Home developer. Keri Russell (The Americans) and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) feature as a mother and daughter on a road trip, a relationship rarely addressed in video games —NC

6. CHASING THE UNSEEN

• Release date: Mar. 7, 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Do you like chasing and climbing on top of bizarre colossal creatures in video games? Of course you do! Explore vast, otherworldly landscapes and brave perilous new heights as you embark on a journey through this abstract fantasy adventure. —TE

7. DEMONSCHOOL

• Release date: Q2 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, macOS

Faye and friends take on demons in the aptly named Demonschool, a tactics role-playing game from Necrosoft Games. It’s part Into the Breach, part RPG, and part Italian horror cinema, a combination that promises to create something wholly unique and very stylish. Fight and flirt your way through school to rid the world of demons. —NC

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8. HADES 2

• Release date: Q2 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

The long-awaited sequel to Polygon’s 2020 game of the year is nearly here. In Hades 2, players take on the role of Melino, princess of the Underworld and Zagreus’s sister, who sets out on a quest to save her father from Chronos, the Titan of Time. Hades 2 will, like the original, launch in early access and receive frequent upgrades and patches before its final release somewhere in the future. —TE

9. DEAD STATIC DRIVE

• Release date: Q3 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Game Pass

This “Grand Theft Cthulhu” horror survival adventure has been in development for a minute, but we finally have a release window. Sneak, scavenge, fight, befriend other survivors, and hotwire cars as you fend off an invasion of eldritch horrors. —TE

10. HELSKATE

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Helskate is a skating roguelike in which you do amazing combos while fighting monsters. The gameplay of Helskate is similar to that of Hades; in between dungeon-crawling runs (full of skateboarding here), you’ll meet various characters who can assist with upgrades and fill out the story of the skate gods. Helskate, developed by Phantom Coast, is expected to enter early access this year. —NC

11. HYPER LIGHT BREAKER

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Heart Machine returns to the universe of Hyper Light Drifter, this time reimagined as a 3D co-op roguelike adventure à la Risk of Rain 2. Venture into the procedurally generated world of the Overgrowth, battle against the powerful forces of the Abyss King, and unearth answers to the mysteries of this strange world. Hyper Light Breaker is expected to launch in early access early this year. —TE

12. KEEPSAKE COUNTY

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

Burglarize byzantine farmhouses and evade eccentric hand-drawn enemies in this procedurally generated stealth game. No two houses are the same, so you’ll have to use every ounce of your wits and guile to make off with your haul in one piece. Think Hello Neighbor, but with more midwestern flair. —TE

13. NIRVANA NOIR

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The sequel to the jazzy cosmic adventure game Genesis Noir follows No Man, an entity who exists outside of time and space, as he navigates a psychedelic ’60s-inspired dimension known as Constant Testament to unravel a mind-blowing conspiracy. Traverse the cosmos, interrogate witnesses, and stop an even bigger bang from annihilating all of reality. —TE

14. ROMAN SANDS RE:BUILD

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch

The studio behind 2018’s Paratopic returns with an all-new, genre-defying experience: an apocalyptic visual novel immersive sim set between two bizarre overlapping realities. Complete fetch quests, talk to old people, and unravel the mystery of what the hell is going on. —TE

15. SUMMERHOUSE

• Release date: 2024
• Platforms: Windows PC

This meditative, small-scale building game tasks players with crafting a neighborhood of tiny, bespoke homes in a variety of different environments. Chill out, uncover surprising little secrets, and build to your heart’s content. 

“polygon”