Top 15 Games the Indie Game Awards 2025 Totally Forgot About

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Ignacio Weil

Gaming - November 17th 2025, 17:00 GMT+1

The Alters

In *The Alters*, you’re stranded on a hostile planet – but your best survival strategy involves cloning yourself. These “alters” aren’t just carbon copies: they each have their own personalities, drives, and emotional baggage. You’ll spend your time balancing base-building, resource management, and existential soul-searching – because who knew surviving in space would feel this introspective? It’s a game that quietly nudges you to think about your life choices, regret, and what “other you” might have become. While it feels deeply personal, the gameplay loop has a steady rhythm that rewards both risk and reflection. The world is beautiful but unforgiving, and every decision feels weighty, as if you’re steering not just a colony but your own fragmented psyche. | © 11 Bit Studios

Schedule I

Imagine building a drug empire – not in a flashy action-movie way, but as a cold, calculated business simulation. That’s *Schedule I*. You’ll manufacture, distribute, and scale your empire while managing employees, dodging law enforcement, and making ruthless economic decisions. It’s weirdly therapeutic: you plan your next move, balance risk versus reward, and optimize your operations for maximum profit. But make no mistake: the moral cost is always there. The city of Hyland Point becomes your sandbox for power plays, and every transaction feels both thrilling and nauseating. It’s this strange combination of dark humor and gritty realism that makes it stick in your head – yet it was barely acknowledged by the bigger indie awards. | © TVGS

R E P O — R.E.P.O.

Cooperation meets horror in *R.E.P.O.*, a game where up to six players must extract fragile, high-value loot from haunted, procedurally generated zones. There’s a killer tension in carrying delicate objects: one false move, and everything shatters – or worse, you get attacked. It plays like a twisted scavenger hunt, where greed and fear tango every second. The extraction mechanic forces players to be methodical, but the looming threat of danger means you’re never entirely safe – or sane. Even if you work together, panic sneaks in, because the job is inherently risky. It’s exactly the kind of oddball, high-risk concept you’d expect from an indie team pushing boundaries – yet awards committees apparently chose to look the other way. | © Semiwork

BALL x PIT

Welcome to *BALL x PIT*, where bouncing balls and building a city go hand in hand – as weird as that sounds, this mash-up absolutely swings. On one side, you perform Breakout-style action, bouncing balls to defeat monsters; on the other, you manage the ruins of Ballbylon, using resources from your runs to build and upgrade. The meta loop is deeply satisfying: each run feeds into your “city,” unlocking new buildings, heroes, and ball types. There’s a ritual to it: bounce → rebuild → bounce harder → expand your base → repeat. The developer leaned into a quirky, retro-pixel aesthetic and charming sound design that make every playthrough feel fresh yet familiar. For all its inventiveness, though, *BALL x PIT* seems to have been mostly overlooked by the big award shows – perhaps it’s too weirdly structured to fit typical indie categories. | © Devolver Digital

Megabonk

If you mixed *Vampire Survivors* with 3D chaos, you’d probably get *Megabonk* – a roguelike survival game that is simultaneously goofy, hard-hitting, and absurdly addictive. You shred through hordes of enemies, rack up XP, unlock upgrades, and lean into totally bonkers synergies. The visual style is low-poly but vibrant, making every battle feel like a neon-streaked fever dream. There’s real joy in experimenting: “What if I build this totally overpowered combo?” becomes your daily question. Also, it’s not just niche hype – *Megabonk* sold over a million copies within its first two weeks. Yet, somehow, despite this breakout success, it was barely on the awards map. | © vedinad

Dispatch

This is not your run-of-the-mill superhero game: *Dispatch* makes you the former hero-turned-desk-jockey Robert Robertson, managing a ragtag team of misfits instead of flying into battle. You juggle office politics, mission assignments, and your own existential crisis, all while trying not to completely screw up someone’s super life. The storytelling leans into dry humor and emotional beats, making even the most bureaucratic “dispatch” calls feel meaningful. The episodic format gives it a TV-series feel, so you’ll catch yourself speculating about the next chapter while waiting for the next drop. Somehow, even with its million-copy success, it’s been mostly ignored by certain indie-awards circles – maybe because it’s too story-driven, or just too real? It’s a clever, empathetic spin on the hero genre, with virtues around redemption, failure, and teamwork. | © AdHoc Studio

DELTARUNE — Deltarune Chapters 3 & 4

When *Deltarune* dropped Chapters 3 and 4 in 2025, it was nothing short of a moment: decades of waiting, world-building, and emotional stakes all came to a head. These new chapters bring back Kris, Susie, and Ralsei in a story that’s simultaneously playful, cryptic, and surprisingly deep – bullet-dodging combat meets bullet-hell sequences, but with heart. The pacing is masterful: it feels like you’re reading a favorite book, but you get to swing a sword every few pages. Despite the hype and the hugely positive player reception, it’s odd that these chapters haven’t been showered in more indie awards attention. Maybe because it comes from a solo developer and doesn’t fit neatly into competitive categories? Whatever the reason, this installment proves why *Deltarune* is still one of the most charming and subversive RPGs out there. | © tobyfox

Citizen Sleeper 2 Starward Vector — Citizen Sleeper 2

In this sequel, you play as a sleeper: part human mind, part synthetic body, always on the run. Your ship is home. Your crew is family. And your future depends on dice rolls and savvy decisions. The game channels tabletop RPG feels with a dice-driven mechanic that makes every contract feel like a heist or a negotiation – success is never certain, and failure has real consequences. The narrative is deeply personal and cyberpunk, full of existential questions about identity, capitalism, and rebellion. But unlike some blockbuster sci-fi, there’s a vulnerability here: you could break, you could be hunted, you could lose more than just money. It’s the kind of indie RPG that whispers instead of shouts – and maybe that’s why the awards crowd overlooked it a bit. It’s not flashy for flashiness’s sake, but it’s one of the most emotionally mature sci-fi games around. | © Jump Over The Age

Look outside msn 1 — Look Outside

This game nails the creepiness of horror in tight spaces: you’re locked in an apartment building, and something deeply wrong happens when people look out the windows. Exploring your own hallway becomes a nightmare: you scavenge for supplies, recruit oddball neighbors, and confront grotesque monsters born from your own paranoia. The combat is turn-based, but not in a safe or predictable way: positioning and resource management make every fight feel like a desperate gamble. There’s a real psychological edge to it, too – the building feels like a maze of dread, and your sanctuary (your apartment) is just a fragile bubble. But *Look Outside* doesn’t wallow in darkness; it’s weirdly warm, too, giving you NPCs to care about and choices that matter. It’s exactly the kind of low-key, experimental horror RPG that indie-award panels should be drooling over... but somehow didn’t. | © Devolver Digital

RV There Yet?

If you ever thought a road trip sounded peaceful, *RV There Yet?* will make you reconsider – once you toss in physics-based winches, unpredictable terrain, and a co-op mode where up to four players drive an RV together. One person drives, others operate winches, patch damage, or just mess around and every decision feels like it could break the trip. On top of that, there’s a survival twist: you need burgers, antidotes, and EpiPens to make it through Mabutts Valley. The game somehow makes maintenance, friendship, and chaos hilarious and touching all at once. Despite a wild climb up the Steam charts and huge player numbers, it’s curious that this unpredictable, heartfelt indie co-op didn’t rack up more award recognition. It’s a pure expression of low-budget joy, player coordination, and how ridiculous “getting home” can actually be. | © Nuggets Entertainment

No Im not a Human — No, I’m Not a Human

When the sun becomes your enemy, *No, I’m Not a Human* turns your own house into a psychological battleground. During daytime, the world burns, and at night, “Visitors” knock on your door, pretending to be human. You have to decide who gets inside, inspecting each stranger for subtle clues that may reveal a horrifying imposter. The tension is real: letting someone in could mean salvation, or your doom. The game plays out like a mix of survival horror and visual novel, with choices that feel morally heavy and emotionally fraught. It’s not about action – it’s about paranoia, trust, and regret, wrapped in a beautifully unsettling aesthetic. Given how well it nails atmosphere *and* narrative, it’s wild this gem didn’t rack up more award noms. | © Trioskaz

The midnight walk msn — The Midnight Walk

This one’s like living inside a claymation nightmare: *The Midnight Walk* invites you into a dark world made of handcrafted models, where every creature and set piece feels lovingly sculpted by hand. You play as “the Burnt One,” guiding Potboy – a little lantern-being – through twisted architecture shrouded in darkness, lighting candles and solving subtle puzzles as you go. It’s horror, sure, but it’s gentle and meditative too: you’ll blink your eyes to listen for audio cues, explore in first person, and feel like you’re part of a surreal fairy tale. The art is striking, the story quietly emotional, and the overall experience is deeply human. It's a story about loneliness, hope, and reconnection. Somehow, despite offering something so tactile and unlike the usual indie fare, it didn’t get showered in award attention. | © MoonHood

Deck of Haunts

Imagine your mansion is haunted but *you* are the monster. *Deck of Haunts* flips the script: instead of escaping a haunted house, you become it. Using a deck-building roguelike system, you lure humans in, mess with their fear, and feed off their essence. Between haunt cards and carefully designed rooms, you strategically guide your unsuspecting victims to insanity, then harvest their power. The game expertly blends tower-defense-like layout planning with card-based tactics, making every choice dreadfully fun. It’s creepy, methodical, and deeply satisfying to build a lair that practically *breathes*. That such a creatively dark sim didn’t land bigger in the indie awards feels like a grave mistake. | © Dangen Entertainment

Star Vaders — StarVaders

This isn’t just another space shooter – *StarVaders* is a deck-building, grid-based tactics roguelike where you pilot mechs and rewrite fate with every combo. You pick your mech, choose a pilot, and build a deck from 400+ cards, then unleash chaos on waves of alien invaders. But here’s the twist: you can rewind time using “Chrono Tokens” to fix mistakes or land the perfect combo. The strategy depth is insane, but it never feels overwhelming; every run feels like a carefully choreographed dance of war. The art and gameplay loop nail that “easy to pick up, hard to master” feeling, and the replayability is off the charts. It’s puzzling that a game this tight, this well-designed, didn’t get more nods in the awards, especially in tactical and deckbuilder categories. | © Joystick Ventures

CARIMARA Beneath the forlorn limbs — Carimara: Beneath the Forlorn Limbs

*Carimara* creeps in softly, like a ghost whispering through dusty halls. You play as a small, mute magical being, asking questions with cards instead of words, conjuring memories and secrets in a house that seems alive. The game’s mechanics are gentle – no combat, just quiet exploration, card-based dialogue, and the weight of unspoken things. The world is built from grief and shadow, textures drawn from nature, low-poly architecture, and stop-motion-inspired visuals. There’s a folk-horror feel rooted in Normandy legends, and every room feels like a memory you’re not sure you had. Despite how emotionally rich and stylistically unique this game is, it barely made a ripple in the award pools. | © Bastinus Rex

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Every year, the Indie Game Awards give us a mix of celebration and mild heartbreak, and 2025 is no exception. Between the expected winners and the big studio “indies” sneaking in through the side door, a surprising number of genuinely creative titles were left standing outside in the rain. Some didn’t get a single nod; others were tossed a lone nomination like a consolation prize no one talks about.

So, this list is for the games that deserved a brighter spotlight – the ones that pushed boundaries, built passionate communities, or simply delivered something special. Whether they were completely overlooked or only received one lonely nomination, these 15 titles absolutely earned a place in the conversation. Let’s give them the recognition the awards show somehow didn’t.