You know it’s a busy time for the industry when the first major console release for nearly five years is immediately overshadowed by days of showcases that throw brilliant game after brilliant game at your face.
But with so many titles hitting you about the eyes, chin, and nose, it’s hard to figure out what needs to be wishlisted. As a huge fan of smaller studios, which have smashed it out of the park this week, I’ve drawn together 10 releases that cannot be forgotten by anyone looking to play the next generation of indie darlings in 2025 and beyond.
As with any list like this, especially for small studios, it won’t capture all the greats, so be sure to share any that you love in the comments or reach out to me through my Linktree, because the little guys deserve our love more than ever.
Big Walk
Developer: House House
Publisher: Panic
Release date: 2026
God knows we need more co-op games, but few seem quite as exciting as Big Walk, the latest project from House House (Untitled Goose Game). It’s weird because Big Walk is largely unexciting as a premise, but its ideas and technology are so incredibly clever, you wonder why it hasn’t been done before.
The explainer trailer is one of the most fascinating things to come out of the 2025 gaming scene, and you’d be mad to miss out on it:
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So, yeah — in Big Walk, you go on a big walk with friends. There’s a massive focus on communication; it employs a natural-sounding, proximity-based voice chat system that’s governed by distance, while gestures and message boards can be used when you can’t hear your friends, if they’re on a faraway ridge or behind soundproof glass. Between House House’s pedigree and the strength of the ideas, this could be one of the best indie games to arrive in 2026.
Felt That: Boxing
Developer: Sans Strings Studio
Publisher: TBD
Release date: TBA
If Avenue Q met Punch-Out!!, it’d be Felt That: Boxing. This might be one of the most brilliant concepts of the last few years, and one superpowered by a ridiculously high visual potential, even if the trailer emphasises that it’s rendered in the game engine, rather than being actual gameplay:
You assume the role of the weedy Ezra “Fuzz-E” Wright, a puppet “with a heart of felt and fists of… also felt,” who enters the Tournament of a Million Punches to save his childhood orphanage from demolition. It’s a story with well-trodden tropes, but that’s part of its hilarious charm.
The fact that Felt That: Boxing is yet to finalize a publisher can only be due to one of two reasons: either it’s not actively courting anyone, or there are literally dozens of companies (fittingly) fighting one another for the rights to this, because it looks like a masterpiece in the making.
Quantum Witch
Developer/publisher: NikkiJay
Release date: June 24
At least one of this list’s games is coming sooner than you think — in fact, it drops in just over two weeks. Solo dev NikkiJay’s Quantum Witch is a narrative, choice-driven adventure that draws on the point-and-click style perfected by LucasArts in the 90s.
You enjoy the journey of Ren, a shepardess in her 20s who gets “thrown into a multiversal conflict while on a fetch quest to find her lost flock.” This is a game of choices — difficult ones, at that — in which tasks range from finding your wife and offering gifts to friends, to speaking with a skeleton who can see through time and dethroning God.
Quantum Witch is one of those games that doesn’t give much away ahead of its release, but I’m glad NikkiJay has kept her cards close to her chest — this has all the hallmarks of a fantastic experience that’ll thrive on surprises.
Out of Words
Developer: Kong Orange, WiredFly, Morten Søndergaard
Publisher: Epic Games Publishing
Release date: 2026
Out of Words is “about the doubt and confusion that comes with communicating first-time love.” This two-player game, clearly inspired by Split Fiction, Unravel, and Harold Halibut, is among the most beautiful indie games showcased this week, and an instant wishlist addition for co-op fans.
It’s the result of a three-way collaboration between Kong Orange — the creator of Felix the Reaper — with stop-motion experts WiredFly and Danish poet Morten Søndergaard. The physical craft and sheer attention to detail it offers are off the scale; here’s hoping it has the narrative to match its stablemates.
Mixtape
Developer: Beethoven and Dinosaur
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release date: 2025
Mixtape has been on the cards for a long old time. This narrative-driven adventure from Beethoven and Dinosaur takes place at the end of high school, when a group of teens relive memories through vignettes inspired by mixtape songs — a coming-of-age tale built around a fantastic soundtrack.
I’d put a solid chunk of my mortgage on this being a banger, but maybe I’m a little biased. I named the developer’s debut, The Artful Escape, the best indie game of 2021, and I still stand by it; it might well be the best thing I played that year outright, even though I adored Deathloop. If anyone can do something well and differently, it’s Beethoven and Dinosaur.
Dosa Divas: One Last Meal
Developer: Outerloop Games
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release date: Early 2026
Another big-hitter from Annapurna’s game publishing division is Dosa Divas: One Last Meal, the follow-up to 2023’s immortal Thirsty Suitors. This turn-based RPG sees “two sisters and their trusty spirit-mech fighting corpos and reuniting with loved ones, one snack at a time.”
With elements of its predecessor as well as the spectacular Venba, Dosa Divas sees Amani and Samara reconnect with loved ones in a weird dystopia as they fight against a fast food empire, cooking tasty food and reviving the local community. If it has the same humor and character depth as its predecessor, it’ll be a sure-fire success.
D.O.R.F.
Developer/publisher: DORFteam
Release date: TBA
Anything that aims to capture the magic of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 deserves all of our time. D.O.R.F. goes one step further, combining this influence with the Fallout universe, making it one of the most irresistible real-time strategy games in years.
Is it isometric? Check. Does its score sound like it’s heavily inspired by Frank Klepacki? You betcha. Are bolts of electricity a common form of attack? You’re goddamn right. Is it set in a universe you’d love to visit but would hate to live in? Yes yes yes yes yes. D.O.R.F. knows what it’s doing; it’s the perfect example of fan service.
Crisol: Theater of Idols
Developer: Vermila Studios
Publisher: Blumhouse Games
Release date: 2025
Crisol: Theater of Idols, which I covered when Blumhouse Games launched its six-strong collection of debut horror titles, is an irresistible first-person game set in Spain that delves into folklore, religion, and creepy statues that are possessed by malicious flesh, and out to get you.
You delve into Tormentosa, a tainted realm filled with legends and rituals, where monstrous saint statues come to life with the hope of ending yours. If that wasn’t enough, you use your own blood as ammunition. It’s the type of affair you can’t wait to lose sleep over.
Sleep Awake
Developer: Eyes Out
Publisher: Blumhouse Games
Release date: 2026
That’s not all from Blumhouse, thanks to the sumptuous Sleep Awake, which combines A Nightmare on Elm Street with Control, Still Wakes the Deep, and plenty of other devilish influences. Its trailer makes you realize how much effort has gone into creating a hellish, haunting dreamscape.
It’s the brainchild of Spec Ops: The Line creator Cory Davis and Nine Inch Nails’ Robin Finck, and places you in “an unknown city where its denizens are disappearing in their sleep.” Anyone who has the strength to stay awake still needs to avoid death cults and fight off otherworldly forces. I can’t wait to regret playing it in 2026.
No Straight Roads 2
Developer: Metronomik
Publisher: Shueisha Games
Release date: 2026
Last but certainly not least is No Straight Roads 2, the follow-up to 2020’s original NSR from Malaysian studio Metronomik. Given that its predecessor was arguably the coolest game of COVID times, there’s every reason to believe this long-awaited sequel will raise the bar again.
In this music-infused action-RPG, “music is your power, your crew is your weapon, and your tour van is your HQ.” Mayday and Zuke, A.K.A. Bunk Bed Junction, return in their bid to climb the international charts by fighting fellow musical stars, but they’re not alone, thanks to two new playable bandmates with their own styles and mechanics.
If you’ve got any recommendations for indies that emerged this year, give me a shout via Linktree — I’m all ears.
