10 Hidden Gem Indie Games Everyone Should Play at Least Once

When people look through online game stores, they see a lot of different options. There are big, popular new releases and the latest trending survival games, but hidden among them are smaller, independent games with interesting ideas and worlds just waiting to be discovered.

Many fantastic indie games are overlooked because there are so many available. However, some are truly special and deserve more attention. These are often games that most players haven’t discovered yet, but are definitely worth checking out and adding to your collection on platforms like Steam.

Escape From Tarkov Meets Cyberpunk in Quasimorph

In the far future, powerful and dishonest corporations control everything. Quasimorph is a strategy RPG played from a top-down perspective, where you command a mercenary soldier. You’ll travel between star systems, taking on jobs from different groups and completing missions. Be prepared to fight a variety of enemies, including other mercenaries, robots, demonic creatures known as quasimorphs, and hostile humans.

Quasimorph offers a challenging, immersive experience in a cyberpunk world overrun by demons. Players can craft items, install cybernetic enhancements, trade with others, and utilize a diverse arsenal of weapons. The game combines turn-based strategy with RPG-style character progression and a loot-focused economy, similar to popular extraction shooters like Escape From Tarkov and ARC Raiders, but without much hand-holding.

Peripeteia Revives the Immersive SIM Genre

Peripeteia is a highly recommended game offering players a lot of freedom in how they approach challenges. This immersive sim puts you in the role of a mercenary in a post-Soviet city, caught between warring factions who offer a variety of missions. You can complete these missions using any style you prefer – whether it’s direct combat, stealth, hacking, or utilizing cybernetic enhancements – and all methods are equally effective.

Peripeteia offers incredible freedom, letting players approach the game in any way they choose. Its stunning atmosphere and music fully immerse you in a gritty, dystopian world, making it a standout immersive sim. The game’s dark, neon-lit visuals create a compelling and enjoyable experience, encouraging exploration at every turn.

Sonar Shock Mixes Lovecraftian Horror With Cold War Vibes

Inspired by the original System Shock, Sonar Shock shares a similar combat system, requiring players to manually reload weapons – a feature that adds to the tension, especially given the game’s setting. The game takes place aboard a massive Soviet submarine where something has gone terribly wrong, unleashing terrifying creatures inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Players navigate creepy hallways, carefully managing ammunition as they fight crazed sailors, monstrous creatures, and other terrifying beings from beyond. This creates both frightening situations and challenging combat. Beyond fighting, you’ll take on quests and customize your character with a variety of skills and abilities. The game also includes unique mechanics like hacking and a sanity system – if you lose your mind, it will actually damage your health!

Freelancer Lives on in Underspace

Few games have matched the experience of Freelancer, and now Underspace aims to carry the torch as a spiritual successor. However, Underspace adds its own unique flavor with a Lovecraftian theme. Players will explore space, complete missions, trade goods, and even encounter terrifying Lovecraftian creatures. A huge variety of customization options are available, with over 60 different ships to buy and 500 pieces of equipment to outfit them.

Underspace successfully evokes the feeling of the classic game Freelancer, offering endless opportunities for exploration, discovery, and challenging boss fights – even while you’re following the main story. You’re free to choose any job, earn money to upgrade your ship, and return to the main quest whenever you like. The game also features multiple factions you can align with, completing quests to build your reputation with whichever group you choose.

Mortal Sin Is a Brutal Chaotic Rougelike

Mortal Sin is a great game for pure, unthinking fun, offering a visually chaotic and intensely brutal melee experience. It stands out as one of the best dungeon crawlers with RPG features currently available. Players choose from several character classes and battle through randomly generated dungeons, collecting loot and improving their abilities. The close-combat system is diverse, with each class offering unique weapons and attacks centered around a distinct theme.

Each character class in Mortal Sin has its own unique weapons – pirates use cutlasses and guns, paladins wield maces and shields, and reapers favor sickles and scythes. The game offers 16 classes overall, some of which you’ll need to meet specific requirements to unlock. These different classes also offer varied gameplay, making each playthrough feel fresh and different.

Norland Blends Crusader Kings With RimWorld

Norland is a colony simulation game set in the medieval era. It combines the kingdom management of games like Crusader Kings with the colony-building aspects of RimWorld. Players lead a family through a world recovering from a fallen empire, and must use tactics like alliances through marriage and military strength to survive. The game also features city-building, allowing players to design and customize their own capital with various structures and decorations.

In Norland, you’ll need to secure a successor to rule your kingdom, as your ruler can die from things like illness, barbarian attacks, or conflicts with the church. This game is special because it blends deep role-playing, reminiscent of the Crusader Kings series, with the detailed colony management found in games like RimWorld.

Tunguska: The Visitation Captures the Spirit of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R Series

Tunguska: The Visitation is a survival action RPG played from a top-down perspective, heavily inspired by the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. Players become ghoul hunters venturing into a mysterious exclusion zone, where they’ll face dangerous mutants and hostile groups. To survive, they need to earn money by collecting monster parts, finding artifacts, and completing quests for the people they encounter.

Battles in Tunguska: The Visitation are challenging, but players have several options for success. You can sneak past enemies, keep your distance, and use cover to win gunfights or survive attacks from mutants. The game creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere, with dangerous anomalies lurking in every environment. If you enjoy hardcore survival games, Tunguska: The Visitation will likely appeal to you, offering a compelling experience that will keep you coming back to explore and scavenge.

Soulash 2 Offers a Vast Fantasy World To Explore and Conquer

Get ready for Soullash 2, a massive fantasy world brimming with peril! This game blends survival elements with the deep role-playing of games like Dwarf Fortress‘ adventure mode. You’ll begin by creating a unique character, choosing from various races, classes, and skills focused on both surviving and fighting. Once your character is ready, you’ll explore a vast map, completing quests, battling monsters, and searching for the perfect location to build a settlement.

I’ve been really getting into Soulash 2 lately, and it’s awesome! You start by building up a little settlement, and then it really takes off. You can focus on trading, expanding peacefully, or, if you’re like me sometimes, just go to war with other groups! It’s all about building your fantasy empire. And if you want to play the villain, you totally can – there’s even a whole race of undead creatures dedicated to dark magic and scaring everyone! Honestly, there are so many different ways to win, it makes the game super replayable. I keep finding new strategies!

Zero Sievert Provides an Escape From Tarkov and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Experience

Games like Escape From Tarkov and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series are known for being incredibly challenging, and ZERO Sievert is no exception. It offers a similar single-player experience to Escape From Tarkov, but with the eerie atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The biggest difference is the threats you’ll face: instead of just bandits or soldiers, you’ll also have to contend with dangerous mutants.

I’ve been playing Zero Sievert, and it’s a really intense top-down shooter with RPG bits thrown in. Seriously, there can be so many enemies on screen at once, the combat gets pretty crazy! Thankfully, the game has tons of weapons you can find while exploring or trade for with different groups. It’s a blast – it takes the fast-paced shooting of games like that and mixes it with the whole looting and customizing weapons thing from Escape From Tarkov.

Starsector Mixes MechWarrior With Sid Meier’s Pirates!

Starsector is a vast space RPG where you command a fleet of up to 30 ships. You’ll explore a dangerous universe, engaging in combat and trade with different factions. The gameplay shares similarities with games like Sid Meier’s Pirates!, focusing on faction relations and trading routes.

This game, like others in the series, draws a lot of inspiration from Starsector, especially when it comes to customizing your ships. You can also gain access to powerful weapons and new ships by trading with different factions, completing quests, or collecting bounties.

2026-05-05 20:47