Jan 2, 2025

Comments Drawer From dice-driven RPGs to stealth-action deck builders Facebook 2024 was a huge year for indie games, with titles like Balatro , Animal Well , and UFO 50 garnering commercial and critical acclaim amid their AAA contemporaries. That momentum shows no signs of slowing down in 2025, with highly anticipated games like Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector and Hyper Light Breaker being released in January, followed by a slew of other exciting new titles, like Pathologic 3 , Wanderstop , and more. We’ve once again assembled a list of some of the indie games we’re most excited for. From stealth-action deck builders and moody mountain climbing sims to isometric roguelike shooters, there’s something for every type of gamer and no doubt even more surprises waiting in the months to come. What indie games are you most looking forward to in 2025? Drop them in the comments. Hyper Light Breaker Platforms: Windows PC Hyper Light Breaker, the upcoming 3D co-op roguelike from developer Heart Machine, has undergone a long and winding journey since it was first announced back in 2022. The wait is almost over, though, as the game is set to make its early access launch on Steam on Jan. 14. Set decades before the events of Hyper Light Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker allows players assume the role of a Breaker — a warrior tasked with rebuilding civilization in the wake of a cataclysmic war. As you explore the world of the Overgrowth, taming its many dangers and rediscovering its many secrets, you’ll come face to face with powerful adversaries known as the Crowns in your quest to defeat the Abyss King and restore peace to the realm. —Toussaint Egan Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Release date: Jan. 31 Platforms: Windows PC The new year is kicking off right when Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is released on Jan. 31. The follow-up to Jump Over the Age’s text-heavy role-playing game Citizen Sleeper looks to expand on the original with its exceptional, dense science fiction lore. —Nicole Carpenter Morsels Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC Morsels looks like a game for the weirdos, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a creature-collecting roguelite that’s colorful, fast-paced, and not to be missed. From Furcula, a Toronto-based indie studio, Morsels doesn’t yet have an exact release date. —Nicole Carpenter Wanderstop Platforms: Windows PC Wanderstop is a cozy farming simulator with a dark side — it’s what happens when a skilled swordsperson stops for a second to brew some tea. From the makers of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, Wanderstop will be released on March 11. —Nicole Carpenter Psycho Patrol R Platforms: Windows PC If you’re a fan of Cruelty Squad, the necrocapitalist nightmare sim developed by Ville Kallio, congratulations: their upcoming game is right around the corner! Described as a, “mecha FPS hybrid police and punishment simulator,” Psycho Patrol R puts players in the role of an officer of the European Federal Police tasked with upholding law and order in the decayed state of Pan-Europa. The game features a semi-open world, with levels designed to be explored on foot and within the cockpit of the player’s V-Stalker, a bipedal warmachine with customizable weapons. —Toussaint Egan Cairn Platforms: Windows PC, TBA consoles Not only does Cairn have gorgeous art and scenery, but The Game Bakers’ climbing game looks to have deep, complicated mechanics that mimic the actual nature of the act. (It also has a very cool backpack for messily storing your necessary equipment.) It looks like it’s Death Standing, but heading upward instead of across. —Nicole Carpenter Deltarune chapters 3 & 4 Platforms: TBA Yep, the highly anticipated next two chapters of Toby Fox’s Deltarune are expected to be released in 2025 — over six years after the game’s original launch. The role-playing game is unique due to its turn-based combat and bullet hell elements; Fox also lets players choose peace or violence, just like in Undertale. —Nicole Carpenter Paralives Platform: Mac, Windows PC InZoi isn’t the only life sim coming out this year! Developed by a talented team of designers led by Alex Massé, Paralives is a “doll house life simulation” that features an advanced character creator that not only focuses on facial and body features, but also customizable personality traits. Create your perfect dream house and guide your characters’ lives in and around an expansive open-world town when it launches in early access later this year. —Toussaint Egan Primal Planet Platforms: Windows PC This whimsical prehistoric metroidvania casts players as a cave dweller separated from his family on a strange alien world. Scavenge for resources, tame the elements, and fight against a slew of threats — including carnivorous predators, rival tribes, and inscrutable extraterrestrials — as you struggle to reunite with and protect your family. —Toussaint Egan Promise Mascot Agency Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X Kaizen Game Works, the U.K.-based developer behind 2020’s Paradise Killer, is back with a new game that’s somehow even more original and irreverent than its last. Promise Mascot Agency is “the world’s first (and best) Open World Mascot Management Crime Drama,” centered on Michi, a disgraced yakuza lieutenant exiled to a cursed town to whip a bankrupt mascot company into shape. Like Paradise Killer, there’s a dash of mystery thrown in, as you’ll also be tasked with uncovering the conspirators responsible for your exile. —Toussaint Egan Skate Story Platforms: Windows PC Sam Eng’s Skate Story will be published in 2025 by Devolver Digital, though it was originally announced with a 2023 release date. Though there’s been no shortage of cool skateboarding games over the years, Skate Story looks different, having players skate through hell. —Nicole Carpenter Sleight of Hand Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series X Sleight of Hand is exactly the type of game that piques my interest: a third-person stealth-action deck builder about a hard-boiled private detective infiltrating a witch coven. Combining immersive sim environments with real-time stealth gameplay, Sleight of Hand is a stylish, noir-infused dark fantasy that I’m eager to get my hands on later this year. —Toussaint Egan Usual June Platforms: Windows PC Developed by Finji (Tunic), Usual June is a third-person action-adventure à la Psychonauts that puts players in the role of a young girl who has the power to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Together with her friends, both alive and not, June must explore the coastal town of Fen Harbor and put a stop to an interdimensional anomaly that threatens to tear the fabric of existence itself apart! So yeah, no pressure. —Toussaint Egan Tron: Catalyst Platforms: Windows PC Bithell Games returns to the universe of Tron, this time for an isometric action-adventure. Tron: Catalyst centers on Exo, a resourceful program who is hunted by the overlords of the Arq Grid for their possession of a mysterious ability that threatens the stability of the system. —Toussaint Egan Enter the Chronosphere Platforms: Windows PC “Hades meets Superhot” is the best way to describe this new roguelike shooter. In Enter the Chronosphere, players assemble a ragtag crew of alien mercenaries to tackle the chronospheres — planet-sized dungeons that are spreading across the universe, devouring whole galaxies in their wake. Within each chronosphere, time only moves when you move, so every second counts as you mow through waves of enemies and peel back the layers of these ginormous megastructures. —Toussaint Egan Hollow Knight: Silksong Platforms: Windows PC Originally announced in 2019, Hollow Knight: Silksong has become the white whale of the gaming community. Developer Team Cherry delayed the highly anticipated sequel in 2023, but it seemed possible it would be released in 2024. That didn’t happen, but I’m still looking forward to a potential 2025 release. —Ana Diaz Pathologic 3 Platforms: Windows PC The sequel to the 2019 cult classic Pathologic 2 sees players return to the Town on the Gorkhon River, this time as Daniil Dankovsky, a charismatic doctor obsessed with defeating death. Tasked with saving the town from a plague within 12 days, players will have to use a special device to travel back in time to influence major events, reshaping the story and opening new pathways to succeed. —Toussaint Egan Possessor(s)