Best Indie Games on Steam: 13 Picks by Playstyle

The best indie games on Steam usually do one thing so well that you keep coming back to it, whether that’s a combat loop that never gets old, a farm you can’t stop tidying or a card combo that keeps you up past midnight. Small teams take risks that big studios rarely take, and the games below are the ones Steam players have rewarded most. Every one of them has an Overwhelmingly Positive review summary.

Start with the quick picks below. After that, each game gets a closer look, grouped by the kind of game you’re in the mood for.

What makes the best indie games on Steam worth playing?

“Indie” means a game made by an independent studio. That’s often a small team and sometimes a single person, publishing on its own or through a smaller publisher. On Steam, Indie is also a genre tag that developers add to their store pages, and every game in this list carries it.

That freedom shows. The best indie games on Steam tend to be built around one sharp idea and then polished for years. Some terms come up again and again below:

• Roguelike and roguelite: each attempt, called a “run”, starts fresh with randomized rooms, enemies and rewards. In a roguelite you keep some progress between runs, so even a failed attempt pays off.
• Metroidvania: one large connected map that opens up as you gain new abilities, so a ledge you couldn’t reach early on becomes a new route later.
• Deckbuilder: you build a deck of cards as you play, adding and cutting cards to make combinations stronger.
• Couch co-op: playing together on one screen in the same room, either sharing the view or splitting it.

The picks are grouped by playstyle, not ranked by fame, because a brilliant precision platformer is the wrong choice if you want to wind down after work. Each entry covers why the game stands out, what you actually do in it, who it suits, and the player modes and platforms Steam lists for it.

Action roguelites built for one more run

If you like fast reflexes and a build that changes every time you play, start here. These are some of the best indie games on Steam for short sessions that somehow turn into long evenings. For more in this style, see our best roguelike games by playstyle.

Hades

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Supergiant Games made Hades the clearest answer to anyone who has bounced off roguelikes before. You play the immortal Prince of the Underworld, fighting your way out of his father’s domain one escape attempt at a time. Along the way Olympian gods such as Zeus, Athena and Poseidon offer Boons, which are upgrades that reshape your attacks, dashes and specials.

The clever part is that dying isn’t a setback for the story. Every time you fall you return home, chat with a fully voiced cast and push the family drama a little further, and the bosses remember your earlier visits. It suits players who love stylish top-down action and want a reason to keep going beyond a high score. Hades is single-player with full controller support, on Windows and macOS, and Steam users rate it Overwhelmingly Positive.

Hades II

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Supergiant’s first sequel swaps the prince for the Princess of the Underworld, who sets out against the Titan of Time. The structure will feel familiar, with escape runs, godly Boons and a home base full of characters, but the world is bigger and your weapons now carry witchcraft and dark sorcery on top of their usual moves.

If you finished Hades and wanted more, this is the obvious next step. It also suits anyone who likes their action games with lots of build options, since more than a dozen Olympians offer Boons this time. Hades II released on September 25, 2025, is single-player with full controller support on Windows and macOS, and is rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Dead Cells

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Dead Cells calls itself a “roguevania”, and it really is a mix of the two: a side-scrolling castle with branching paths, rebuilt and reshuffled on every run. You control a blob-like failed experiment that takes over corpses to fight, and the combat is “souls-lite”, meaning tough, pattern-reading fights where dodging well matters as much as hitting hard.

There are no checkpoints, so a run ends when your body does. You do keep new routes, weapons and abilities between attempts, so you get steadily stronger. It’s a strong pick for metroidvania fans who want quicker sessions. Single-player, full controller support, Steam Workshop, on Windows, macOS and Linux, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Vampire Survivors

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Vampire Survivors is the simplest game here to pick up. You mostly just move, and your weapons do the rest while hundreds of night creatures pour in from every side. The fun is in choosing upgrades that snowball until you’re the one filling the screen with projectiles. Gold you collect buys permanent boosts for the next survivor.

It suits anyone who wants something to play with half their attention, or who likes watching a build spiral out of control. It has also inspired a whole wave of similar games, collected in our list of games like Vampire Survivors. Steam lists single-player, online co-op and Remote Play Together. That Steam feature streams a local multiplayer game to friends online, so they can join without being in the room. The store page adds local co-op for up to four players. It runs on Windows and macOS and is rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Platformers and metroidvanias with tight controls

Some of the best indie games on Steam are 2D games that feel perfect in your hands. These two are demanding, but neither is unfair. More picks in this vein are in our best metroidvania games guide.

Hollow Knight

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Under the fading town of Dirtmouth lies a ruined insect kingdom, and Team Cherry hands you a nail and lets you work out the rest. Hollow Knight is a classic metroidvania: twisting caverns, ancient cities and poisonous wastes all link into one huge map, and new movement skills keep reopening places you’ve already seen.

The hand-drawn art is beautiful and the combat is sharp. Boss fights ask you to learn patterns rather than grind levels. Several free expansions (Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster) are part of the game, adding bosses, quests and charms. It suits explorers who like getting a little lost. Single-player, full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it’s one of the most reviewed indie games on Steam at an Overwhelmingly Positive rating.

Celeste

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Celeste follows Madeline as she climbs a mountain while dealing with her own anxiety and self-doubt. The controls are just jump, air-dash and climb, yet the game builds more than 700 hand-crafted screens of challenges out of those three moves. Respawns are near-instant, so each death becomes a quick lesson rather than a punishment.

The story is warm and sincere, and the soundtrack mixes piano with synth. Harder B-side chapters wait for players who want to push themselves. Pick it if you like precise platforming, or if you want a short, focused game with real emotional weight. Single-player, full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Card games and deckbuilders that hook you

Card-based indies reward thinking over reflexes, which makes them great for winding down. If this section is your sweet spot, these three are among the best indie games on Steam to start with.

Slay the Spire

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Mega Crit fused card battles with roguelike runs, and much of the deckbuilding genre since has followed its lead. You climb a tower along a branching map, picking between risky and safe paths, fighting enemies with your cards and adding new ones after each win. Relics, which are passive items, can twist your whole strategy.

There are four characters, each with its own card pool, and more than 350 cards in total, so no two climbs play the same. It suits anyone who enjoys planning a few turns ahead. Single-player, full controller support, Steam Workshop, on Windows, macOS and Linux, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Balatro

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Balatro takes poker hands and turns them into a scoring puzzle. You aren’t playing against anyone: you play hands to earn enough chips to beat each “blind”, while Joker cards change the rules so that a plain pair might suddenly score enormous numbers. Tarot, Planet and Spectral cards adjust your deck further.

It comes from a solo developer, LocalThunk, and is published by Playstack. The campaign has eight difficulty levels plus challenge and seeded runs. It suits puzzle lovers and anyone who enjoys the moment a combo clicks. Single-player, full controller support, on Windows and macOS, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Inscryption

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Inscryption starts as a creepy card game played across a table from a shadowy figure in a cabin. It mixes a deckbuilding roguelike with escape-room style puzzles and psychological horror. Between hands you get up and search the room for clues, and the game doesn’t stay what it first seems to be.

It comes from the creator of Pony Island and works best the less you know going in. It suits players who like a dark atmosphere and surprises. If the horror side appeals, our best horror games on Steam has more. Steam lists single-player on Windows, macOS and Linux, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Story-driven indie games to play solo

If you want to be told a story, or to piece one together yourself, these two belong on any list of the best single player indie games on Steam. Both are best played without spoilers.

Undertale

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In Undertale you control a human who falls underground into a world of monsters. It looks like a classic RPG, but every fight can end without anyone dying. You can talk, joke or show mercy, and when enemies attack you dodge their bullet patterns in a small box, a bit like a top-down shooter.

The writing is funny and surprisingly touching, and the store page says it was made mostly by one person. Your choices about who to spare matter more than you’d expect. It suits anyone who loves characters and humour more than grinding stats. Single-player on Windows, macOS and Linux, rated Overwhelmingly Positive. Note the store’s warning that it contains imagery that may affect players with photosensitive epilepsy.

Return of the Obra Dinn

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In 1807 the merchant ship Obra Dinn drifts into port years after it was declared lost, with no visible crew. You board it as an insurance investigator for the East India Company and work out what happened, using first-person exploration and logical deduction. The striking low-colour look is part of its identity.

Lucas Pope’s mystery doesn’t solve anything for you. You connect faces, clues and moments yourself, and it feels great when a deduction clicks. It suits fans of detective fiction and puzzle-heavy adventures. If you’ve already played Outer Wilds, see our mystery games like Outer Wilds. Single-player, full controller support, on Windows and macOS, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

Indie games to play with friends

Most of this list is single-player, so if you want the best indie games on Steam for multiplayer, these two are where to look. Our best co-op games on Steam covers more group options.

Stardew Valley

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You inherit your grandfather’s overgrown farm and start a new life in a small town that has gone quiet since Joja Corporation moved in. You grow crops, raise animals, craft machines, go fishing and mining, and get to know the locals while restoring the old community center.

There’s no rush and no wrong way to play, which is why so many players treat it as a comfort game. Up to eight players can share a farm online, and you can raise the challenge by scaling profit margins. Steam lists single-player, online co-op, LAN co-op, shared or split-screen co-op and Remote Play Together, with full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux. It’s rated Overwhelmingly Positive from more than a million reviews. For more like it, see our farm sims like Stardew Valley and best cozy games on Steam.

Terraria

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Terraria’s store page sums it up in four words: dig, fight, explore, build. You drop into a randomly generated 2D world, mine for materials, craft better gear and take on stronger bosses. You can also put up homes for the characters who come to live with you. How you balance building and fighting is up to you.

It has received free content updates for years, and Steam Workshop support adds community creations on top. It suits players who like setting their own goals, and it’s at its best with a group. Steam lists single-player, online co-op and online PvP with full controller support, on Windows, macOS and Linux. It has the most reviews of any game here, rated Overwhelmingly Positive.

How to pick from the best indie games on Steam

Thirteen great games is still a lot to choose from. These steps narrow it down quickly.

1. Decide how much time you have per session. Vampire Survivors, Balatro and Dead Cells fit into half an hour. Hollow Knight and Terraria reward long evenings.
2. Be honest about difficulty. Celeste, Hollow Knight and Dead Cells are demanding. Stardew Valley and Balatro let you set your own pace.
3. Check who you’re playing with. Only Stardew Valley, Terraria and Vampire Survivors list multiplayer. Everything else is solo.
4. Check your platform. Hades, Hades II, Balatro, Vampire Survivors and Return of the Obra Dinn list Windows and macOS but not Linux.

A worked example

Say you loved Hollow Knight but now only have short sessions on weeknights. Another long metroidvania would sit half-finished. Dead Cells keeps the 2D combat and the interconnected feel, but each run is self-contained, so you can stop without losing your place in a story. If you’d rather slow down completely, Balatro gives you the same “just one more” pull with no reflexes needed.

Playing on Steam Deck

If you’re after the best indie games to play on Steam Deck, the 2D games here are natural candidates, and most of them list full controller support. Undertale and Inscryption don’t list it on Steam. Before you buy, check the Steam Deck compatibility section on each store page, which the game cards here link to.

Common mistakes

• Picking by review count alone. Terraria has the most reviews, but if you want a tight story, Undertale or Celeste will suit you better.
• Quitting a roguelite after a few runs. Early runs are meant to end badly. Hades and Dead Cells both reward you for coming back.
• Reading spoilers. Inscryption, Undertale and Return of the Obra Dinn rely on surprise, so go in fresh.
• Assuming co-op. A game being popular doesn’t mean you can play it with friends. Check the modes listed above.

Once you’ve found your favourite, our best games on Steam hub and games like the ones you love pages can point you to your next one.

Questions and answers

What is the highest rated indie game on Steam?

No game holds that spot for good, because ratings move as new reviews arrive. Every game in this list has an Overwhelmingly Positive summary, which is Steam's top tier. Terraria has by far the most reviews of the group, more than 1.5 million, and Stardew Valley has over a million. Hollow Knight, Undertale and Hades pair huge review counts with that same top rating.

What are some good indie games available on Steam?

For fast action, start with Hades. Hollow Knight is the pick for exploration and Stardew Valley for relaxed farming with friends. Slay the Spire and Balatro suit players who like card strategy, while Undertale and Return of the Obra Dinn are for story and mystery. Steam users rate all of them Overwhelmingly Positive, and each one fits a different mood, so choose by how you like to play rather than by reputation alone.

What is the #1 game on Steam right now?

That changes every day. Steam's own charts show the most played and best selling games at any moment, and big multiplayer games and new releases usually sit near the top. Indie games often climb those charts at launch or during a sale. Long-term review summaries tell you more about whether a game holds up after the first week, which is why this list is built around them.

Who are the big 3 of indie games?

There is no official big three. People use the phrase loosely for whichever indie games defined a particular era, and everyone's list is different. Among the games covered here, Terraria, Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight have the largest numbers of Steam reviews, and all three are rated Overwhelmingly Positive. That makes them a reasonable shorthand for the most widely loved indies on the platform.

Which indie games on Steam are best for multiplayer?

Stardew Valley and Terraria are the strongest picks here. Stardew Valley lists online, LAN and shared or split-screen co-op, and up to eight players can farm together online. Terraria offers online co-op and online PvP. Vampire Survivors adds local co-op for up to four players and supports Remote Play Together, so friends can join online. All the other games in this list are single-player.