20 Best Indie Games for PC To Play (2017)

The indie gaming revolution has transformed PC gaming, offering experiences that mainstream developers often overlook. Independent games, created by smaller development teams without major publisher backing, provide unique gameplay mechanics, artistic innovation, and creative storytelling that larger studios frequently avoid due to financial risks. This freedom allows indie developers to experiment with unconventional ideas, resulting in some of the most memorable gaming experiences available today.

While the accessibility of game development tools has led to an explosion of indie titles, this also means quality varies significantly. Our carefully curated selection focuses on titles that demonstrate exceptional design, engaging mechanics, and lasting appeal. For PC gamers seeking alternatives to AAA productions, these indie gems offer refreshing diversity and creative excellence that will expand your gaming horizons.

Rocket League represents the pinnacle of sports-racing hybrid gameplay, combining soccer fundamentals with high-octane vehicle mechanics in an unexpectedly brilliant fusion. Emerging from the obscure ‘Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars,’ this sequel defied expectations to become a cultural phenomenon and multiple Game of the Year award winner. The core premise involves operating turbo-enhanced automobiles on a soccer pitch with the straightforward objective of scoring goals, though execution demands considerable skill development.

Mastering Rocket League requires understanding its deceptive learning curve – while basic controls are immediately accessible, advanced techniques like aerial maneuvers, wave-dashing, and precise ball control separate casual players from competitive experts. The multiplayer ecosystem supports various team configurations from 1v1 duels to chaotic 4v4 matches, each requiring distinct strategic approaches. For competitive validation, consider that Rocket League maintains inclusion in prestigious ESL tournaments worldwide, testament to its enduring competitive viability and skill-based gameplay design.

Pro Tip: Practice aerial control in training modes before competitive matches. Focus on mastering quick aerials and power slides first, as these fundamentals provide the foundation for advanced techniques. Common mistakes include over-committing to attacks and poor rotation positioning – maintain defensive awareness even when pushing forward.

Limbo stands as a masterpiece of minimalist game design, proving that profound emotional engagement requires neither dialogue nor explicit narrative exposition. Players guide a nameless boy through a treacherous monochromatic landscape with no initial context or direction, creating immediate atmospheric immersion through environmental storytelling. The gameplay revolves around navigating hazardous terrain while deciphering environmental puzzles that block progression through this ominous world.

The distinctive visual aesthetic employs high-contrast silhouettes and limited animation to create palpable tension, where threats often emerge from the shadows with devastating consequences. This design philosophy broke conventional indie success metrics, achieving critical acclaim and commercial performance that spawned mobile adaptations while maintaining the original’s haunting atmosphere. Puzzle solutions typically involve physics-based interactions, timing-based platforming sequences, and observational skills to identify environmental clues that aren’t explicitly highlighted.

Strategy Insight: Environmental puzzles often require observing background elements and understanding physics principles. Common frustration points include timing-based sections – practice pattern recognition and don’t hesitate to experiment with unconventional solutions. The game deliberately provides minimal guidance to enhance discovery satisfaction.

Super Meat Boy modernizes classic platforming conventions established by seminal titles like Super Mario Bros, delivering brutally challenging yet fair precision-based gameplay. As the successor to the Flash game Meat Boy, this iteration refined the formula into a tightly controlled experience where players navigate the titular character through deadly obstacle courses to rescue Bandage Girl from various sinister locations. The apparent simplicity of running and jumping mechanics belies incredibly nuanced movement physics that reward pixel-perfect execution.

Gameplay demands exact input timing and spatial awareness, with most levels requiring numerous attempts to identify optimal routes and master necessary movement techniques. The immediate restart mechanism minimizes frustration between attempts, encouraging iterative learning through failure analysis. Beyond nostalgic appeal, the game provides substantial mechanical depth through unlockable characters with unique movement properties, hidden warp zones referencing classic games, and increasingly complex level designs that test mastered skills.

Advanced Technique: Master wall-jumping and air control early, as these skills become essential in later chapters. Practice recognizing patterns in obstacle placement and develop muscle memory for precise jump timing. Avoid the common mistake of rushing – methodical progression typically yields better results than frantic attempts.

Stardew Valley revitalizes the farming simulation genre popularized by Harvest Moon, expanding upon the foundational mechanics while introducing substantial quality-of-life improvements and additional content layers. Beginning with an inherited dilapidated farm plot in Stardew Valley, players engage in comprehensive agricultural management, relationship building with town residents, resource gathering through mining and fishing, and gradual property expansion. The game successfully captures the pastoral charm of its inspiration while providing significantly greater player agency and content depth.

The 16-bit aesthetic evokes retro gaming nostalgia while supporting surprisingly complex systems including seasonal crop rotations, artisan goods production, and elaborate crafting trees. Unlike many contemporary RPG-indie hybrids, Stardew Valley emphasizes relaxed pacing and player-directed goals rather than urgent narrative pressure. Its rapid ascent to indie classic status within a year of release demonstrates how effectively it balances engaging gameplay systems with therapeutic, self-paced progression. For players seeking similar experiences, our Complete Guide to farming and life simulation games provides additional recommendations.

Optimization Strategy: Focus on building sprinkler systems early to automate watering and maximize daily productivity. Balance time between farming, socializing, and exploration – neglecting any single aspect creates bottlenecks later. Plan crop selections around seasonal festivals and profit margins rather than personal preference alone.

World of Goo established new standards for physics-based puzzle games upon its 2008 debut, earning numerous awards and maintaining mobile platform dominance for years following its release. Developed by 2D Boy, the game structures content across five distinct chapters, each containing multiple levels that introduce increasingly complex construction challenges. The fundamental objective involves utilizing various types of goo balls to engineer stable structures that reach level exit pipes, requiring understanding of basic physics principles and creative problem-solving.

Each goo variant possesses unique physical properties that influence structural integrity, from standard construction goo to flammable, buoyant, and balloon-type varieties that enable specialized solutions. Level designs gradually introduce new mechanics while encouraging experimentation with different architectural approaches, rewarding efficiency through optional OCD objectives that challenge players to complete levels using minimal resources. The game’s enduring appeal stems from its perfect balance of accessible core mechanics with deep emergent complexity that supports multiple solution approaches.

Construction Principles: Build wide bases for stability and use triangles for structural integrity. Conserve special goo types for specific challenges rather than general construction. For advanced optimization, study our Weapons Unlock guide to strategic resource management techniques that apply across multiple game genres.

Navigating through procedurally generated basement chambers presents unique challenges with each playthrough, where you’ll encounter diverse enemy types including spiders, hostile apparitions, spectral entities, reanimated corpses, centipedes, gelatinous blobs, floating craniums, subterranean worms, and shielded skull-dwelling organic creatures. Success demands developing specialized tactics for each adversary type, making this roguelike a true test of adaptive combat skills. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth stands as an exceptional follow-up to its predecessor, offering hundreds of hours of engaging dungeon-crawling content with remarkable replay value.

Don’t Starve challenges players to develop autonomous survival strategies when stranded in wilderness environments, beginning at randomized home locations before progressing through resource extraction, character equipment optimization, and base fortification until facing inevitable demise. The game’s uncompromising permadeath system eliminates save scumming possibilities – when your character perishes, the campaign concludes permanently. This creates intense stakes where every decision carries weight.

Each new game session generates completely unique worlds with distinct terrain layouts and resource distributions. Despite extensive playtime, players consistently discover surprising procedural generation elements that maintain freshness. While initial sessions may seem straightforward, rapid realization dawns that the environment itself poses constant lethal threats with minimal assistance available. Fortunately, Klei Entertainment’s multiplayer adaptation Don’t Starve Together preserves core mechanics while enabling cooperative survival with allies.

Capsized revitalizes classic gameplay concepts through distinctive artistic presentation, casting players as miniature spacefaring astronauts stranded on hostile extraterrestrial terrain. Traversal involves hiking across planetary surfaces, utilizing jetpack propulsion systems, and employing grappling equipment for navigation while combating indigenous lifeforms and seeking escape methods. The game’s unique visual approach significantly enhances the player experience.

Distinctive comic-inspired visual design and cosmic-themed musical compositions create an immersive atmosphere that distinguishes Capsized from conventional titles. This title masterfully combines shooting mechanics with platforming elements, delivering captivating gameplay that maintains engagement across extended sessions through its polished mechanics and atmospheric presentation.

Kerbal Space Program embodies the complexity suggested by the ‘rocket science’ idiom, placing players in command of space agency operations where they must engineer functional spacecraft and achieve successful orbital insertions. The simulation presents extraordinary challenges, yet differs from frustration-focused games like Flappy Bird by making iterative failure an enjoyable learning process.

This represents one of gaming’s most demanding titles, yet its design encourages persistent experimentation through repeated attempts. Each failure provides valuable insights into aerospace engineering principles, transforming setbacks into educational opportunities that fuel continued engagement with the complex physics simulation.

Playdead’s Inside continues Limbo’s legacy as a highly anticipated sequel, expanding upon the original’s ominous 2D universe while enhancing the experience through meticulously crafted and technically refined visual presentation. Despite maintaining the tutorial-free approach of its predecessor, gameplay mechanics demonstrate significant refinement and polish.

Contrasting with Limbo’s narrative, Inside follows a protagonist who discovers himself embroiled in sinister experimentation, compelled to escape pursuit while uncovering dark secrets. Limbo enthusiasts will find this spiritual successor delivers expanded atmospheric storytelling and refined gameplay mechanics.

Pixel-art games consistently evoke nostalgic appreciation for gaming’s graphical heritage, and Beat Cop exemplifies this tradition through its 16-bit aesthetic presentation. Published by 11 Bit Studios in 2016, this narrative-driven experience combines classic visuals with compelling storytelling. Players assume the role of Jack Kelly, a Brooklyn police officer wrongfully accused of homicide, tasked with uncovering the true perpetrator while clearing their name through investigative gameplay.

Originally released in 2014 by Mi-Clos Studio for mobile devices, Out There garnered widespread critical acclaim and multiple industry awards. The developers expanded the experience with the Ω Edition for PC platforms, introducing enhanced features and additional narrative content. This space exploration title masterfully blends captivating musical scores, comic-inspired storytelling sequences, and beautifully rendered hand-drawn visual elements that create an immersive atmospheric experience.

Players assume the role of an astronaut navigating interstellar space, with the primary objective being to journey between star systems while managing essential resources including propulsion fuel, breathable oxygen, and rare mineral components. The ultimate narrative goal involves reaching a remote galactic system that holds answers about cosmic mysteries affecting both the protagonist’s personal journey and humanity’s collective future. While the resource management mechanics may become repetitive during extended sessions, the compelling narrative framework and distinctive artistic presentation maintain player engagement across multiple gaming sessions.

Spelunky represents the pinnacle of indie platforming games, initially appearing similar to classic titles like Mario but quickly establishing its unique identity through distinctive mechanics. This two-dimensional exploration game challenges players to venture deep into subterranean realms filled with diverse environments, hostile creatures, environmental hazards, and valuable artifacts. The experience offers remarkable freedom as players traverse through completely destructible terrain systems while uncovering numerous hidden secrets and mechanics.

This platformer appeals particularly to enthusiasts of challenging games like Dark Souls, players who appreciate difficulty and persistence despite frequent failures. While Spelunky might initially seem frustrating due to its permanent death mechanics and extensive time investment requirements, its exceptional capacity to maintain player engagement through progressive mastery is noteworthy. Every gameplay session features algorithmically generated levels, creating fresh challenges with each attempt. The perceived reduction in difficulty over time reflects the player’s growing expertise and accumulated knowledge rather than any change in the game’s fundamental challenge level. Spelunky stands as an essential recommendation for platform gaming enthusiasts seeking depth and replayability.

While some might question this title’s inclusion among notable indie games, I Am Bread unquestionably represents one of the most unconventional, purposefully trivial, and wildly inventive gaming concepts ever developed. Players directly control a slice of bread, with the singular objective of reaching a toaster to achieve toasted perfection. The game’s premise humorously acknowledges the natural culinary progression from bread to toast as justification for this peculiar quest.

The game structure presents varied environmental challenges across multiple levels while maintaining the consistent goal of toaster attainment. Player vitality is measured through an edibility meter that decreases when the bread contacts unclean surfaces like floors or dusty objects. The intentionally complex control scheme represents the game’s defining challenge, making basic navigation exceptionally difficult for new players. Mastering movement typically requires 30+ minutes of practice before achieving basic competency. I Am Bread creates such substantial accomplishment satisfaction that completing individual levels feels like significant personal achievements.

Labeling this title merely as a platformer significantly undersells its comprehensive design, as Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet represents a sophisticated fusion of combat, adventure mechanics, environmental exploration, and complementary audio design. Players pilot a spacecraft through strange alien landscapes, confronting unusual extraterrestrial lifeforms while journeying toward the core of the enigmatic Shadow Planet. The gameplay involves solving intricate environmental puzzles while enhancing your vessel using discovered alien technologies to protect your home world.

This experience follows established Metroidvania design principles, where players gradually acquire new capabilities that unlock previously inaccessible map regions. This progression system substantially increases replay value by encouraging repeated exploration with expanded movement and interaction options. Additionally, the game includes a cooperative multiplayer mode that provides distinct gameplay experiences through collaborative puzzle-solving and combat encounters.

LEGO enthusiasts worldwide understand the satisfaction derived from conceptualizing constructions and bringing them to physical reality. Besiege captures this creative joy through a digital platform that enables players to design and construct mechanical engines and military vehicles specifically engineered for combat scenarios. The game transforms engineering creativity into destructive entertainment.

Success in Besiege requires designing medieval-inspired siege equipment capable of demolishing fortified structures and settlements. Players engineer machines that can destroy windmill installations, eliminate military formations, and transport crucial materials while defending their creations against defensive artillery and enemy attacks. The game’s physics-based destruction system rewards creative problem-solving and mechanical innovation, making each successful design feel personally rewarding.

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