Happy Thanksgaming, Kotaku readers! It’s especially happy because, while all the full-time staff are off worshiping a giant effigy of a turkey (I’ve yet to quite figure out what Thanksgiving is), I’m taking advantage of their all-consuming distraction to post as many unknown indie games as I can onto the front page of this popular gaming site. Take that, capitalism!
So please dive into this extraordinary list of upcoming or recently released indie games that you almost certainly won’t have heard of before. There’s definitely going to be something that’s in your field of interest, if not a dozen, and the very best thing you can do for yourself and the developers is slap them straight onto your wishlist. The more interest the games receive, the better opportunities come the creators’ way.
This list is compiled from the hundreds of emails I’ve received after putting out an appeal to indie devs earlier this week, which I then select at random (with a common sense filter for quality), and then include below. Unless I say so I’ve not played the games mentioned, so I’m not here vouching for their quality. I’m with you all, looking through the intriguing, amazing creativity that’s out there, and doing my best to celebrate it as loudly as possible. (If you like that sort of thing, by the way, do feel free to support my other unknown indies project, Buried Treasure!)
Developer: Sloth Gloss Games
Release Date: Jan 28, 2026
Store Page
I think we can all agree after watching the trailer above that mecha games should always have been about dancing and nothing else. Oh my goodness, what a joyfully silly thing, watching giant robots have dance battles. Steel Century Groove is a rhythm-RPG, featuring both the mecha dance-offs and a bunch of betwixt-battle friendship making and RPG story. There’s a demo now, and the whole game comes out in January.
Developer: Ao Norte
Release Date: 2026
Store Page
Well that doesn’t seem like the best option. Until you realize one of those “Die”s is dice. This is a top-down twin-stick shooter, inspired by Nuclear Throne, where slain enemies and treasures give you dice, used to roll for new abilities and powers, or to gamble against “Bummers” that make the game harder. There’s a demo on Steam to give you a better idea.
Developer: Traptics
Release Date: Out now
Store Page
Released just last week, Xenopurge is an auto-battler, but looks unlike any I’ve seen before. Rather than directly controlling some dude in the middle of a battlefield, here you’re indirectly issuing orders from a remote command center, making plans and setting routes on the fly. It sounds like if the original Rainbow Six were a 2D Vampire Survivors clone, and that’s won me over immediately. Already installing.
Developer: Unison Games
Release Date: 2026
Store Page
Oh my gosh, this went so quickly onto my wishlist. The mindset of a classic-style dungeon blobber, but with modern aesthetics and a super-weird Giger-punk vibe. Inspired by Wizardry and Shin Megami Tensei, and it’s all set on the moon. Absolutely thrilled to see if this one comes together.
Developer: Terletski Games
Release Date: 2026
Store Page
Why this isn’t called Sobarkistan is upsetting me too much to think about, so let’s distract ourselves by focusing on how this is a parody of a nation emerging from isolated totalitarianism, in which you play through a branching narrative with puzzles, stealth and a bunch of different endings to find. It’s by the creators of the comic on which it’s based, and I am all in for its distinct pixel style.
Developer: VARSAV GAme Studios
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
See, that’s the correct way to name a dog-based game! Barkour is all about being a super-hi-tech dog, in a third-person action game about being a little woofy spy. The trailer looks completely charming, with a lot of stealth, hacking and swinging from rafters, all as a handsome doggo. There’s a demo on its Steam page.
Developer: FromLefcourt
Release Date: Out now (Early Access)
Store Page
I missed the original Gunlock in 2022, but I’m very interested to go back and take a look now. It and its new sequel are Amiga-style vertical scrolling shoot ’em ups—think Cyberdyne or Xenon—but with a far more involved ship-building element. Employing more modern roguelite elements, it’s all about customization and careful movement through bullet-hell action. This sequel came out in August this year in Early Access, and is due a big update in the next couple of weeks.
Developer: Cooler Games
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
That pesky moon of ours turns out to contain a vast alien factory, revealed after our closest neighbor cracked in half. In Night Machine you pilot a craft to the center of the moon-machine with the goal of destroying it, except everything about your ship is controlled via cards. And yes, there’s a deckbuilder for everything now, but this does sound enormously intriguing.
Developer: Travel-Friendly Cake
Release Date: Q1 2026
Store Page
The trailer for Puzzle Spy International gives me vibes of both Professor Layton and Curse of the Golden Idol, although perhaps without the latter’s intense difficulty. This is about traveling around the the world to catch some naughty diamond thieves, while solving puzzles involving rearranging words and pictures on the screen, and chatting with the locals. The game’s out early next year, but there’s already a demo to check out.
Developer: Glowfrog Games
Release Date: Q1 2026
Store Page
Talking of rearranging words and pictures on the screen (I swear to god, I pick these at random, and am far too lazy to curate them into some clever order), Pieced Together is a scrapbooking game that explores the nature of friendship as we age. It looks like a warm hug in gaming form, and there’s already a demo on Steam if you wanna see.
Developer: SKYLE Games Ltd
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
I love a word game, but for some reason most of them seem to be ad-riddled mobile games. So hooray for Super Spelling Ducks, a particularly mad-looking game about using a duck to push lettered blocks around a grid, spelling out words to make them explode. Being a little rogueish, each run at the game involves putting together a different collection of upgrades and abilities, and it all looks pleasingly chaotic. Oh, and it will have co-op too!
Developer: Porch Weather Games
Release Date: Out now
Store Page
We don’t have summer camps here in the UK, but what I’ve come to understand about them is that they are all absolutely overrun by axe murderers and killer clowns. That seems to be further proved by Camp Keepalive, a turn-based strategy in which you control a group of counselors trying to keep the camp’s residents alive despite the monsters and monstrous people stalking the woods. There game came out earlier this year, but hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves.
Developer: Arganoid Industries
Release Date: Q3 2026
Store Page
Well this looks stunningly bizarre. A driving game in which you seem to gain astonishing speeds, but all decided by which lanes you pick as you go. It was the location choices of “Space,” “Cat Land,” or “Hell” that convinced me. There’s even somehow deckbuilding in this too, in a game that looks more tactical than reflex-based. Despite still being a fair way off, there’s already a demo.
Developer: Robert Carlson
Release Date: Out now
Store Page
This combination of a point-and-click interface but an interactive fiction delivery has absolutely fascinated me. It’s all about being a member of the high school computer club which is attempting to program a world-simulator, but everything goes too…well? This came out last year but seems to have completely fallen under the radar. I’m installing it as I write, because I want to know more.
Developer: ComputerJames
Release Date: Out now
Store Page
As a massive fan of crosswords, both cryptic and New York Timesy, I’m always hopeful for innovative approaches to the genre in games, and generally disappointed. But oh my goodness, I am so very here for Stealth Crossword. It’s literally that! You play as the letters needed to finish the clues on grids laid out in clandestine locations, sneaking past the other alphabetical guards to enter the correct cell! There’s a levels where you have to hack a computer (as a sentient letter, naturally), to find out the clues, then knock out a guard to push their unconscious forms into the correct place in the grid! Oh I’m in love. The whole thing is only 10 minutes long (but make sure to play again and get caught), incredibly silly, and brilliantly smart. And it’s free! And it’s out now! This deserves to be developed into a full-length game.
Developer: sourencho
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
I was absolutely convinced I’d played Mimic Meadows before, and that it had been brilliant, and I’ve finally figured it out. It’s an expanded version of an absolutely stunning puzzle game from 2022 called Mimic, which I reviewed here, where after saying how clever it is lamented, “There’s definitely a sense that it stops just as it hits its stride. Pursued further, you can see this becoming a Baba Is You, and I would be just delighted to see that happen.” My wishes are coming true! In the game, you play as a little red blob who can change into different animals by moving through tiles in a certain pattern. Doing so lets you enter terrain specific to that beast, but you’ll need to figure out routes that let you make those specific shapes. It was great, and I’m thrilled to learn it’s becoming a full game. (The video above is of the original version).
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Release Date:
Store Page
“A first-person puzzle-adventure metroidvania” is a heck of a way to catch my eye. Then take a look at the gorgeous trailer above to be even more convinced. It’s all about unpicking the tragedy that led to the end of an alien civilization, by solving puzzles and gaining new abilities that let you reach further. And there’s no combat! There’s already a demo, despite no release date announced as yet.
Developer: JoyFlow Games
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
Surely this can’t be the first time someone’s had the sense to combine a Slay The Spire-style roguelite progression with old-school NES-like turn-based combat? Surely? But I’ve never seen it until now, in the excellent-looking Star Spark. And I want to be playing it already! The sprite art, the feisty animations, and the pumped up music are all on point.
Developer: Ward Games
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
I love the idea of language-deciphering games, but then something like the incredible Heaven’s Vault comes along and it’s far too hard for me. Project Lexa looks like it could be my happy place, however. You play as a communications specialist, marooned on an alien planet and required to translate the glyphs of a vanished colony. It all looks delightful, with its cartoon art and 2D exploration. I cannot wait.
Developer: Plaid Games
Release Date: TBA
Store Page
A post-apocalyptic gardening sim is quite the prospect, but Skyfarm is a game about hopefulness. Only the taller rooftops remain safe in the cities after the floods, and you are to be charged with converting a roof garden into a farm to grow food for your community. It looks incredibly positive, positively educational, and also seems to be celebrating the possibilities of joy found in moments of solitude.