Luke Beeman

Looking for interesting indie games to check out? Here's a list of all the indies I jotted down into blog posts this year.

Feel free to browse it as a handy "games you might have missed" list! Of course, many many other amazing indie games launched in 2023 that aren't listed here, but I tried to catch a handful. The list leans heavily into games available on Steam or console.

Enjoy the super long list under the cut!

• Patch Quest, the top-down roguelite about riding magical monsters and collecting wildlife pins.

• Boneraiser Minions, the top-down auto-battle survivor game about raising an army of the dead.

• I commissioned some cats, the relaxing hidden object game about finding cats within 15 lush illustrations.

• King Of The Castle, the Twitch-compatible party game about ruling kingdoms and medieval intrigue.

• Vernal Edge, the sidescrolling metroidvania/action-exploration game with tight platforming, combat, and beautiful pixel art.

• Misericorde: Volume One, the visual novel about nuns living in 1482, in the final throes of the War of the Roses.

• Storyteller, the puzzle game about the permutations of classic stories.

• Can of Wormholes, the surreal puzzle game of pushing, slicing, and ingesting worms as a sentient tin can.

• Hellgineers, the physics-based bridge puzzler built in PICO-8.

• Deflector, the action roguelite about deflecting enemy bullets back at them.

• Dredge, the sinister fishing RPG.

• Blocky Dungeon, the Tetris-inspired dungeon roguelike.

• Lone Fungus, the platformer set in an open mushroom world.

• Wildfrost, the wintery roguelike deckbuilder with two lanes to position in.

• Terra Nil, the environmental strategy game about cultivating a thriving ecosystem.

• Beyond The Long Night, the side-scrolling, twin-stick action roguelike.

• Volcano Princess, the life-sim inspired by Princess Maker where you raise your daughter in a fantastical world.

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly, the cozy coffee shop simulator/visual novel.

• Cassette Beasts, the Pokemon-inspired creature collector where you fuse your monsters together.

• Tiny Life, the indie life sim about building a house and watching people live, grow, and work.

• Tape to Tape, the hockey roguelite.

• Hand of Doom, the 90s-inspired FMV-styled dungeon crawler.

• Humanity, the puzzle game about guiding humans to their ultimate ascension.

• VIVIDLOPE, the arcade-y puzzle game about coloring tiles with big 1999 vibes.

• Pan'orama, the chill, landscape citybuilder.

• Pocket Mirror - GoldenerTraum, the RPG Maker gothic horror game about a manor of rabbits.

• Cook Serve Forever, the new arcadey cooking sim with a focus on characters and narrative.

• The Witch of Fern Island, the chill exploration game about a witch uncovering secrets of her island.

• Sunshine Shuffle, the adorable poker game about animal friends who pulled out an incredible bank heist.

• Bat Boy, the retro-throwback action sidescroller about sports-stars.

• Nocturnal, the side-scrolling action-platformer

• Dance of Demons: Prelude, the top-down action game where you shoot arrows to the beat of the music.

• Late Night Drive, the driving simulator where you go for a chill...late night drive!

• Pixel Starships, the spaceship sim RPG.

• Nova Lands, the top-down resource collector with helpful little automation bots.

• Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane, the Ace Attorney-inspired courtroom VN in a world of magic and mages.

• Smushi Come Home, the cute and colorful journey through the forest, featuring a little mushroom.

• Sticky Business, the cozy game where you design stickers and run an online sticker shop

• Viewfinder, the first-person puzzler about using photos and perspective to navigate the world.

• YEAH! YOU WANT "THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET'S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM!, the minigame collection that re-creates the absurdity of fake mobile game ads.

• DETUNED, the hidden object game meets roguelike in a dark, surreal world.

• Time Bandit - Part 1: Appendages of the Machine, the idle game + puzzle game + stealth game that asks you steal company time.

• Mage Mayhem, the third-person 4v4 spell-slinger.

• The Banished Vault, the strategic base-builder in the punishing reaches of outer space.

• Pseudoregalia, the dark 3D platformer / metroidvania that emphasizes smooth movement

• Venba, the beautiful narrative cooking game about an Indian mother who moved to Canada to start a family

• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, the song-studded narrative game with branching choices.

• The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, the lush pixel visual novel where you play as a fortune-teller Witch and craft your own Tarot Deck.

• Beecarbonize, the strategy card game where you try to avoid climate catastrophe.

• Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, the stylish 3D-skater that continues Jet Set Radio's graffitti-tagged legacy

• Whisker Squadron: Survivor, the on-rails space shooter roguelike with a neon aesthetic.

• ghostpia Season One, the beautifully illustrated visual novel about a lonely girl and a ghost town.

• WrestleQuest, the pro-wrestling themed retro RPG.

• Sea of Stars, the RPG inspired by Chrono Trigger that follows warriors of Solar and Lunar magic.

• Goodbye Volcano High, the narrative adventure about gay dinos struggling through the love and change of adolescence.

• Nour: Play With Your Food, the digital toy and interactive exploration of food aesthetics.

• Wandering Sword, the HD-2D Chinese Wuxia RPG with in-depth skill and weapon mastery, and the ability to take random village people with you as playable party members.

• Chants of Sennaar, the mysterious language-deciphering puzzle game.

• Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles, the dicebuilding roguelike that's all about manipulating luck and creating overpowered builds.

• Moonstone Island, the farm-sim plus monster tamer with the cute and cozy island world.

• El Paso, Elsewhere, the love letter to classic third-person shooters with werewolves, vampires, and plenty of slow motion.

• RoboDunk, the basketball roguelite about balling robots, inspired by NBA Jam.

• Crop Rotation, the intricate farming card-drafter game about maximizing crop value and building synergies.

• Mineko's Night Market, the peaceful narrative game about exploring a Japanese village, eating snacks, and finding cats.

• Mosa Lina, the side-scrolling, minimalist immersive sim where you improvise problems with the powers you're given.

• Submachine: Legacy, the hand-drawn point-and-click adventure game about solving puzzles as you descend into ruins.

• Cavern of Dreams, the magical N64-style 3D platformer where you play as a little dragon.

• Dead Signal, the first-person horror game meets hidden object game.

• Slay the Princess, that hand-drawn narrative game that takes place in a single chamber and poses you with a simple command.

• Fish Game, the gamified aquarium simulator, inspired by real fish biology and caretaking.

• Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire, the roguelike deckbuilder about slashing your way through a school overrun by monsters.

• Roboquest, the FPS roguelite where you play as a rebooted robot in a colorful world

• In Stars and Time, the time-loop party RPG about finding hope and creating a better future

• Small Saga, the party RPG where you command a team of small critters

• Knuckle Sandwich, the surreal turn-based RPG that challenges you with the monsters and minigames of Bright City

• Loddlenaut, the low-poly, colorful underwater adventure where you clean up the polluted ocean floor

• Anode Heart, the monster taming RPG inspired by games like Digimon World for the Playstation 1

• Backpack Hero, the inventory-management RPG about collecting rare items and organizing your equipment

• TEVI, the side-scrolling metroidvania with cute characters, inspired by danmaku/bullet hell games

• A Highland Song, the narrative side-scroller about running away in the Scottish Highlands.

• A Date with Death, the romance chat simulator with the Grim Reaper.

• Soul of Sovereignty - Prelude, the beautiful kinetic novel about two strangers seeking a miracle in a world of magic and ruin.