Overjoyed Thanksgaming, Kotaku readers! It’s especially relaxed because, while the entire corpulent-time group are off worshiping a large effigy of a turkey (I’ve but to quite resolve on out what Thanksgiving is), I’m taking profit of their all-drinking distraction to post as many unknown indie video games as I will onto the front page of this smartly-liked gaming jam. Snatch that, capitalism!
So please dive into this extra special list of upcoming or simply now not too long in the past released indie video games that you just perhaps obtained’t beget heard of sooner than. There’s undoubtedly going to be one thing that’s in your self-discipline of ardour, if now not a dozen, and the very easiest ingredient you would develop in your self and the builders is slap them straight onto your wishlist. The more ardour the video games receive, the greater opportunities arrive the creators’ manner.
This list is compiled from the hundreds of emails I’ve got after placing out an attract indie devs earlier this week, which I then make a choice at random (with a overall sense filter for excellent), and then encompass beneath. Unless I express so I’ve now not played the video games talked about, so I’m now not here vouching for his or her nice. I’m with you all, having a stumble on during the spirited, unbelievable creativity that’s available in the market, and doing my easiest to beget a super time it as loudly as that you just would imagine. (While you esteem that form of ingredient, by the manner, develop feel free to toughen my other unknown indies venture, Buried Love!)
Steel Century Groove
Developer: Sloth Gloss Video games
Open Date: Jan 28, 2026
Store Page
I beget we are able to all agree after observing the trailer above that mecha video games might perhaps per chance serene continually were about dancing and nothing else. Oh my goodness, what a joyfully silly ingredient, observing huge robots beget dance battles. Steel Century Groove is a rhythm-RPG, that includes every the mecha dance-offs and a bunch of betwixt-battle friendship making and RPG story. There’s a demo now, and the entire game comes out in January.
Die or Die
Developer: Ao Norte
Open Date: 2026
Store Page
Properly that doesn’t seem esteem the finest chance. Till you realize one of these “Die”s is dice. Right here’s a top-down twin-stick shooter, impressed by Nuclear Throne, the place slain enemies and treasures give you dice, ancient to roll for novel skills and powers, or to gamble towards “Bummers” that gain the game more challenging. There’s a demo on Steam to present you a greater conception.
Xenopurge
Developer: Traptics
Open Date: Out now
Store Page
Launched factual closing week, Xenopurge is an auto-battler, however looks not like any I’ve considered sooner than. Rather then straight controlling some dude in the course of a battlefield, here you’re now not straight issuing orders from a far off repeat heart, planning and setting routes on the cruise. It sounds esteem if the traditional Rainbow Six were a 2D Vampire Survivors clone, and that’s obtained me over in an instant. Already installing.
Descent of Lunaris
Developer: Unison Video games
Open Date: 2026
Store Page
Oh my gosh, this went so lickety-split onto my wishlist. The mindset of a conventional-style dungeon blobber, however with contemporary aesthetics and a huge-novel Giger-punk vibe. Impressed by Wizardry and Shin Megami Tensei, and it’s all location on the moon. Totally overjoyed to gape if this one comes collectively.
Sobakistan: The Land of Canine
Developer: Terletski Video games
Open Date: 2026
Store Page
Why this isn’t known as Sobarkistan is upsetting me too mighty to instruct of, so let’s distract ourselves by specializing in how here is a parody of a nation rising from isolated totalitarianism, by which you play through a branching account with puzzles, stealth and a bunch of a ramification of endings to gain. It’s by the creators of the silly on which it’s basically based mostly, and I’m all in for its particular pixel style.
Barkour
Developer: VARSAV GAme Studios
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
Peek, that’s the kindly manner to title a dog-basically based mostly game! Barkour is all about being a huge-howdy-tech dog, in a zero.33-person motion game about being a runt bit woofy gape. The trailer looks fully charming, with a ramification of stealth, hacking and swinging from rafters, all as a refined doggo. There’s a demo on its Steam page.
Gunlocked 2
Developer: FromLefcourt
Open Date: Out now (Early Safe admission to)
Store Page
I uncared for the traditional Gunlocked in 2022, however I’m very to return and grab a stumble on now. It and its novel sequel are Amiga-style vertical scrolling shoot ’em u.s.instruct Cyberdyne or Xenon—however with a much more eager ship-building ingredient. Employing more contemporary roguelite parts, it’s all about customization and careful coast through bullet-hell motion. This sequel got here out in August this year in Early Safe admission to, and is due a extensive substitute in the following couple of weeks.
Evening Machine
Developer: Cooler Video games
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
That pesky moon of ours turns out to admire a valuable alien manufacturing facility, printed after our closest neighbor cracked in half of. In Evening Machine you pilot a craft to the center of the moon-machine with the aim of destroying it, with the exception of the entire lot about your ship is managed through cards. And yes, there’s a deckbuilder for the entire lot now, however this does sound tremendously spirited.
Puzzle Witness Global
Developer: Whisk back and forth-Generous Cake
Open Date: Q1 2026
Store Page
The trailer for Puzzle Witness Global affords me vibes of every Professor Layton and Curse of the Golden Idol, even if perhaps without the latter’s intense wretchedness. Right here’s about traveling around the the world to grab some mischievous diamond thieves, while fixing puzzles spicy rearranging words and photos on the camouflage, and talking to the locals. The sport’s out early next year, however there’s already a demo to study out.
Pieced Collectively
Developer: Glowfrog Video games
Open Date: Q1 2026
Store Page
Talking of rearranging words and photos on the camouflage (I enlighten to god, I beget these at random, and am far too slothful to curate them into some lustrous express), Pieced Collectively is a scrapbooking game that explores the personality of friendship as we age. It looks esteem a warm hug in gaming gain, and there’s already a demo on Steam if you wanna gape.
Large Spelling Geese
Developer: SKYLE Video games Ltd
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
I esteem a notice game, however for some reason most of them appear to be ad-riddled cellular video games. So hooray for Large Spelling Geese, a in particular mad-having a stumble on game about the usage of a duck to push lettered blocks round a grid, spelling out words to gain them explode. Being a runt bit rogueish, every urge on the game entails placing collectively a particular sequence of upgrades and skills, and all of it looks pleasingly chaotic. Oh, and this can beget co-op too!
Camp Keepalive
Developer: Porch Weather Video games
Open Date: Out now
Store Page
We don’t beget summer camps here in the UK, however what I’ve arrive to realise about them is that they’re all fully overrun by axe murderers and killer clowns. That looks to be additional proved by Camp Keepalive, a turn-basically based mostly scheme by which you control a community of counselors looking out to connect the camp’s residents alive no matter the monsters and ugly folks stalking the woods. There game got here out earlier this year, however hasn’t gotten the dignity it deserves.
Reality Waft
Developer: Arganoid Industries
Open Date: Q3 2026
Store Page
Properly this looks stunningly peculiar. A riding game by which you seem to succeed in improbable speeds, however all made up our minds by which lanes to gain as you skedaddle. It changed into the positioning selections of “Region,” “Cat Land,” or “Hell” that delighted me. There’s even in a technique deckbuilding on this too, in a game that looks more tactical than reflex-basically based mostly. Despite serene being a super manner off, there’s already a demo.
The Newbie Deity Society
Developer: Robert Carlson
Open Date: Out now
Store Page
This aggregate of some extent-and-click on interface however an interactive fiction shipping has fully fascinated me. It’s all about being a member of the excessive college computer club which is trying to program a world-simulator, however the entire lot goes too…properly? This got here out closing year however looks to beget fully fallen below the radar. I’m installing it as I write, because I want to grab more.
Stealth Crossword
Developer: ComputerJames
Open Date: Out now
Store Page
As a huge fan of crosswords, every cryptic and Novel York Conditionsy, I’m continually eager for innovative approaches to the genre in video games, and on the entire disappointed. Nonetheless oh my goodness, I’m so very here for Stealth Crossword. It’s literally that! You play as the letters wished to enact the clues on grids laid out in clandestine areas, sneaking past the different alphabetical guards to enter the kindly cell! There’s a levels the place you should hack a computer (as a sentient letter, naturally), to discover the clues, then knock out a guard to push their unconscious forms into the kindly jam in the grid! Oh I’m in esteem. The total ingredient is finest 10 minutes long (however be particular to play again and gain caught), extremely silly, and brilliantly orderly. And it’s free! And it’s out now! This deserves to be developed into a corpulent-length game.
Mimic Meadows
Developer: sourencho
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
I changed into fully delighted I’d played Mimic Meadows sooner than, and that it had been perfect, and I’ve finally figured it out. It’s an expanded version of an fully honest puzzle game from 2022 known as Mimic, which I reviewed here, the place after announcing how lustrous it is lamented, “There’s undoubtedly a sense that it stops factual as it hits its drag. Pursued additional, you would gape this changing into a Baba Is You, and I’d be factual delighted to gape that happen.” My needs are coming merely! In the game, you play as a runt bit crimson blob who can switch into a ramification of animals by inviting through tiles in a particular sample. Doing so permits you to enter terrain particular to that beast, however you’ll have to resolve on out routes that mean you would gain these particular shapes. It changed into gigantic, and I’m overjoyed to learn it’s changing into a corpulent game. (The video above is of the traditional version).
Reminiscence’s Reach
Developer:
Open Date:
Store Page
“A first-person puzzle-trudge metroidvania” is a heck of a style to grab my notice. Then grab a stumble on on the honest trailer above to be far more delighted. It’s all about unpicking the tragedy that led to the discontinuance of an alien civilization, by fixing puzzles and gaining novel skills that mean you would attain additional. And there’s no strive towards! There’s already a demo, no matter no liberate date announced as but.
Famous person Spark
Developer: JoyFlow Video games
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
Indubitably this can’t be the first time any individual’s had the sense to mix a Assassinate The Spire-style roguelite development with used-college NES-esteem turn-basically based mostly strive towards? Indubitably? Nonetheless I’ve by no manner considered it till now, in the very perfect-having a stumble on Famous person Spark. And I’d like to be playing it already! The sprite art work, the feisty animations, and the pumped up track are all on point.
Challenge Lexa
Developer: Ward Video games
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
I esteem the conception that of language-deciphering video games, however then one thing esteem the nice Heaven’s Vault comes alongside and it’s far too hard for me. Challenge Lexa looks esteem it goes to be my relaxed jam, on the different hand. You play as a communications specialist, marooned on an alien planet and required to translate the glyphs of a vanished colony. All of it looks luscious, with its cartoon art work and 2D exploration. I will now not wait.
Skyfarm
Developer: Plaid Video games
Open Date: TBA
Store Page
A post-apocalyptic gardening sim is highly the prospect, however Skyfarm is a game about hopefulness. Simplest the taller rooftops stay real in the cities after the floods, and likewise you would be to be charged with converting a roof garden into a farm to develop meals in your community. It looks extremely particular, positively academic, and furthermore looks to be celebrating the possibilities of joy express in moments of solitude.