10 Most Anticipated Indie Games Of 2025

2024 was a great year for indie games, but 2025 could prove to be an even bigger one with the likes of Hollow Knight: Silksong and Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector set to come out throughout the year. For those who are looking for the next innovative indie experience or simply another cozy game to get stuck into, 2025 has plenty on offer.

2024’s best indie games gave players a diverse range of experiences, and 2025 looks set to offer the same. From huge sprawling Metroidvanias to subversive farming sims, there are so many incredible titles releasing in 2025. While it may be a lot for people to add to their backlog, each one of these games is worth checking out when they eventually launch.

10

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (Jump Over The Age)

A Sequel To One Of The Best Indies

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is the highly-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed indie smash-hit Citizen Sleeper. It expands upon the original game in drastic ways while retaining the complexity of its dice-driven RPG gameplay loop, excellent writing, and focus on multilayered characters. For example, players now have a ship that they’ll need to upgrade, as well as a crew to manage.

Citizen Sleeper 2 is launching at the end of January, making it one of the first indie games fans will get their hands on. It’s a great way to start 2025, although it is launching as an Xbox console exclusive, as well as on PC. For those who love strong narrative-focused RPGs with great art, music, and characters, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector seems like the perfect indie to play.

9

Slay The Spire 2 (Mega Crit)

One Of The Best Roguelike Deckbuilders Returns

Slay the Spire 2 is the sequel to the deckbuilding roguelike that every other deckbuilder aspires to be, Slay the Spire. It is launching into Early Access on PC in 2025, giving the community a chance to shape its future. Fortunately, it’s set to release with a plethora of content on day one, giving players access to a whole new suite of cards, characters, and abilities to play around with.

Slay the Spire 2 expands upon the original in the only way a good deckbuilder can. It is introducing a lot of new cards for players to experiment with while also seeing the return of familiar characters to tie the two entries together. Slay the Spire is still one of the most-played deckbuilders to this day and hopefully the sequel can live up to the lofty expectations it has set.

8

Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)

It Could Finally Release In 2025

Fans have been waiting a long time for Silksong and many of them have given hope of it ever releasing. However, for those who have remained patient, giving Team Cherry the respect and time it deserves, it looks like it may all finally pay off in 2025. After Hollow Knight practically set the bar for all Metroidvanias, Silksong is expected to once again show how it is done with over 150 enemies to face and a whole new world to explore.

Silksong is also set to feature new abilities, characters to meet, and, of course, a whole new protagonist. If 2025 does see the launch of Silksong – bearing in mind it was announced all the way back in 2019 – it would almost certainly make it the best year for indie game fans. Fortunately, players have plenty of other titles to enjoy while waiting for its release.

7

Hyper Light Breaker (Heart Machine)

A Stylish Co-Op Indie

Hyper Light Breaker is yet another indie sequel – 2025 seems like the year for long-awaited indie game sequels – this time for the game Hyper Light Drifter. However, while that game was an isometric 2D pixel-art RPG, Hyper Light Breaker is a 3D third-person action title with procedurally generated worlds. It’s also designed as a co-op experience, much like the first game, although fans can play it solo. Hyper Light Breaker’s glowing previews have already labeled it as one of the best games of 2025.

In Hyper Light Breaker, players explore these vast procedurally generated worlds utilizing the various movement abilities while taking on hordes of enemies. To help them, there is an array of weapons and abilities to unlock and use. However, each run will get progressively harder, meaning players will need to adapt to the new challenges that face them. There’s still a story to unfold as well, much like in the original game, making Hyper Light Breaker an ambitious roguelike experience.

6

Wanderstop (Ivy Road)

From The Folks Behind The Stanley Parable

Wanderstop is putting a unique spin on the farming sim genre by placing players in the role of Alta, a former champion warrior who is now running a tea shop. She’ll need to gather the ingredients to make the tea, put it all together, and then serve it to her customers, all of whom have their own stories to tell. Of course, Alta has a past she has to contend with and a future she’s chasing, all of which are preventing her from settling down completely.

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Wanderstop is being developed by Ivy Road, a team made up of some of the most talented creatives in the indie game space. The team consists of Davey Wreden, who created The Stanley Parable, Karla Zimonja, who developed Gone Home, and Daniel “C418” Rosenfeld, who most notably made the iconic music for Minecraft. Wanderstop could be the subversive farming sim that helps refresh the genre and make it as memorable as some of the best cozy games ever made.

5

Reanimal (Tarsier Studios)

A Little Horror Indie

Reanimal is the next horrifying adventure from Tarsier Studios, the masterminds behind the Little Nightmares series. It is a co-op horror game about a brother and sister who must embark on a terrifying journey across a twisted world full of monsters as they attempt to rescue their friends and ultimately escape. It is being labeled as the developer’s darkest game yet, and the haunting visuals certainly speak to that.

For those who enjoy the best horror games, especially indie ones, Reanimal will likely offer the perfect experience. With a larger scope and more scares to put players at the edge of their seats, Reanimal looks set to be Tarsier Studios’ most ambitious game yet. Of course, those who aren’t too fond of horror games should probably stay away from this one.

4

Tails Of Iron 2: Whiskers Of Winter (Odd Bug Studio)

A Gorgeous 2D Action RPG

Yet another indie sequel, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, is the follow-up to the handcrafted 2D action RPG Tails of Iron. Famous for featuring Geralt of Rivia’s voice actor, Doug Cockle, as the game’s narrator, Tails of Iron was a critically acclaimed indie that was absolutely deserving of a sequel. Luckily, not only is the team at Odd Bug Studio back with another bold and expansive adventure, but so too is Doug Cockle as the narrator.

Tails of Iron 2 features settlement management, epic boss fights, and more of its predecessors’ excellent soulslike combat. For fans of frantic action RPGs or those who grew up on the Redwall books, Tails of Iron 2’s blend of narrative and combat is sure to please. This is definitely an indie worth keeping an eye on in 2025 and one that will likely clutch the Indie Game of the Year.

3

Wheel World (Messhof Games)

An Open-World Biking Indie

Wheel World, formerly known as Ghost Bike, is a stylish open-world cycling game that sees players embark on an epic quest to save the titular Wheel World from destruction. To do that, they need to hunt down the Legendary parts, but, along the way, they can also take part in races as well as a light bit of exploration. This is definitely a cozy indie game, one for fans of cycling and gorgeous picturesque vistas.

Players can also customize their bike with a plethora of fun parts, although they’ll need to hunt them down by cycling across the vast open world. Wheel World is being developed by Messhof Games which is perhaps best known for the Nidhogg series. Of course, Wheel World is quite different from the Nidhogg games, but it still retains a lot of the charm that made those games so great in the first place.

2

Windblown (Motion Twin)

The Next Indie From The Developer Behind Dead Cells

Windblown is the newest indie game from developer Motion Twin, the talented team behind Dead Cells. It is a lightning-fast roguelike game in which players take on the role of Leapers who need to save their peaceful village from being destroyed by the Vortex. In order to do that, they must go time and time again into the Vortex and take down its challenging sentinels. This involves brutally difficult yet always fair fights that players will need to master.

Of course, this is a roguelike, and players can gradually unlock new skills and weapons by absorbing the memories of legendary Leapers who came before them. Windblown is available in Early Access right now, but a full release is planned for Q4 2025. There’s a lot more content coming to this already expansive game that’s doing incredibly well on PC.

1

Morsels (Furcula)

A Unique Creature Collecting Roguelike

Morsels caught people’s attention with its initial reveal trailer, showcasing a surreal art style and unique premise that helps it stand out from the rest of 2025’s already impressive roster of indies. It’s a roguelike creature collecting game in which players start off as a mouse that unlocks the ability to transform into Morsels. As players explore the weird and wonderful worlds of Morsels, they can transform at will into other beings to use their powers to overcome whatever challenge is thrown their way.

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Morsels is definitely one of the more unique indie entries coming in 2025 and well worth adding to people’s wishlist. Of course, this means that, alongside all the 100-hour-long triple-A releases launching in 2025, players also now need to add a swathe of incredible-looking indies to their backlogs too. Fortunately, there is such a variety of experiences, that players are sure to find something that matches their interests, whether that’s an epic Metroidvania like Hollow Knight: Silksong or a roguelike such as Morsels.

Source: Hyper Light Breaker/YouTube, Annapurna Interactive/YouTube

Systems

Franchise

Hollow Knight

Platform(s)

PS4
, PS5
, Xbox One
, Xbox Series S
, Xbox Series X
, PC
, macOS
, Linux

Developer(s)

Team Cherry

Publisher(s)

Team Cherry