New Year

The 6 most intriguing indie games of 2023

Some of the most exciting titles might not be on your radar yet.

by Robin Bea
Team Reptile

Red Candle Games

Major publishers and first-party studios already have a huge lineup for 2023, but some of the most exciting games of the year are coming from indie developers.

Sabotage Studio

Here are 6 incredible indie games to look forward to in 2023

6. A Space for the Unbound

A supernatural slice of life.

Mojiken

Set in rural Indonesia in the ‘90s, A Space for the Unbound is a slice-of-life story tinged with supernatural mystery.

Mojiken

A Space for the Unbound follows two high school sweethearts navigating the end of their school days and learning more about their town by diving into the memories of its people.

Mojiken
5. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Dust off your skates for this Jet Set Radio successor.

Team Reptile

A spiritual sequel to Jet Set Radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is all about skating, painting graffiti, and looking cool as hell doing it. With Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma on the soundtrack, it seems like a worthy successor

Team Reptile

Team Reptile

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk also adds skateboards and BMX bikes to shake things up, so it’s more than just a rehash of the Dreamcast cult classic.

4. Nine Sols

Sekiro-inspired combat from an acclaimed horror developer.

Red Candle Games

Nine Sols draws inspiration from Sekiro for its parry-based combat, set in a world that fuses cyberpunk with Taoist fantasy.

Red Candle Games

Red Candle Games

It’s a huge change of pace for Red Candle Games, developer of the psychological horror masterpieces Detention and Devotion, but the studio’s track record makes it even more intriguing.

3. Planet of Lana

A girl and her cat save the world.

Wishfully

Planet of Lana stars a young girl and her alien cat sidekick navigating a world full of hostile machines and territorial creatures.

Wishfully

Wishfully

The debut game from Swedish developer Wishfully Studios is a puzzle-platformer with beautiful hand-drawn art. It’s already confirmed for Game Pass this spring.

2. Sea of Stars

An SNES-style JRPG adventure from the studio behind one of 2018’s best indies.

Sabotage Studio

Sea of Stars’ soundtrack is composed by Chrono Trigger’s Yasunori Mitsuda, if there was any doubt about where it’s drawing inspiration from.

Sabotage Studio

Sabotage Studio

As strange as it sounds, turn-based RPG Sea of Stars is a prequel to the 2018 action platformer The Messenger. It features timing-based combat and gorgeous SNES-inspired pixel art.

1. Venba

Cooking tells a story in this narrative adventure.

Visai Games

Venba is a game not just about cooking, but also what cooking means. Playing as a woman who moves from India to Canada with her husband and son, you’ll restore old recipes as you play through the story of one family’s ups and downs.

Visai Games

Visai Games

That’s all accompanied by actual Southern Indian recipes and some of the best-looking food this side of Studio Ghibli.