Indie Games (General)

"Indie game" stopped meaning what it used to mean a long time ago. The word covered a real distinction in 2008 — a small team, no publisher, a game made because someone wanted to make it rather than because a portfolio manager green-lit it. In 2026 it's mostly a vibe: scrappier than AAA, more personal than corporate, often weirder than safe, sometimes genuinely independent and sometimes published by a label whose books would surprise you. The label has gotten fuzzy. The good news is that the games haven't.

What we mean when we use the term, and what most of these posts are about, is the part of the industry where one person, two people, or a small team can still ship something that feels like it came from a specific human point of view. Stardew Valley, Undertale, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Balatro, Vampire Survivors — every few years a tiny team produces a generation-defining game, and the indie scene as a whole keeps being the most reliable place to find work that surprises you. The hits are visible. The undercurrent of weirder, smaller, less polished but more interesting work is what keeps the scene alive between them.

This is the catch-all hub. If you're new to indie games and want a starting map, or already deep in and looking for the next thing, the posts below cover discovery across genres, recommendations by mood and mechanic, and the running log of what we've been playing.