While we often look forward to the big, triple-A launches the most, and they often get the most hype, let’s not forget the humble indie game. Plenty of indie games in years past have surprised us and gone on to become some of the best games of the year.
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As always, indie developers have been hard at work and there’s a range of indie titles to look forward to in 2025. Here’s what TG’s editorial staff is excited about in 2025’s indie scene, so you can take note and keep an eye out for them as well.
Tanuki: Pon’s Summer
Rebecca Phillips, Executive Editor
As soon as I saw Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, I fell in love. A cosy game where I get to play as a Tanuki? Sign me up. From what we’ve seen so far, its vibes look similar to the likes of Lil Gator Game or Aka, but this time it’s set in a quaint Japanese-inspired town, with the goal of refurbishing a shrine before a festival at the end of the summer.
In between big RPGs that take hundreds of hours, I need a small and chill game in between, and Tanuki: Pon’s Summer looks to fit that bill for next year.
Inkression
Ben Sledge, Features Editor
2025 is already looking like a red-hot year for indie games. I’ve already put darkwebStreamer into one of these articles, I’ve talked about Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector non-stop, and Steam Next Fest has put me onto the scent of games like DieselDome and Kill the Shadow. It also looks like we might be getting a bunch of highly-anticipated triple-I titles in Slay the Spire 2, Hyper Light Breaker, Hades 2, and maybe even (whisper it) Hollow Knight: Silksong.
But the indie I’m most looking forward to is Inkression. I don’t know if this is actually coming out next year – it’s down as ‘coming soon’ on Steam – but I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll get to tattoo more friends, uncover more mysteries, and oppose more gentrification in 2025.
Skate Story
George Foster, Executive Editor
When thinking about banger indie games, it doesn’t take long for my mind to settle on Devolver Digital. Devolver has long been the king of indies (go play Gunbrella and Pepper Grinder), that brain-path is even easier to form in 2025 thanks to Skate Story, which was just delayed out of 2024 yesterday.
Sam Eng’s cerebral skating adventure has been high up my most anticipated list ever since it was first revealed, but playing it myself at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, I’m more confident than ever that it’s going to be a visual, audio, and gameplay treat. Just be careful of all the glass.
Rue Valley
Meg Pelliccio, Executive Editor
- Developer(s)
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Emotion Spark Studio
- Publisher(s)
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Owlcat Games
Rue Valley is a narrative point-and-click with a slick art style inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Disco Elysium. It’s so intriguing just on the visuals alone, but after getting a taste of this earlier this year, I can’t wait to get stuck in the time loop repeating the same thing over and over with Harrow, trying to figure out what’s happening and break free from the cycle.
Rue Valley is a narrative point-and-click with a slick art style… no I won’t continue that joke.
Coffee Talk Tokyo
David W. Duffy, Database Editor
I adore the Coffee Talk series of games – they’re visual novels where you play a barista offering a sympathetic ear to a diverse cast of patrons while serving them fancy beverages. As they’re supremely chill experiences, replaying Coffee Talk and its sequel were a big help in my recovery from a major health scare earlier this year, especially in helping me feel a little less alone in the world.
Taking the series to Tokyo is a masterstroke. It’s my dream travel destination, and Japan’s rich culture and mythology fits perfectly with Coffee Talk’s fantasy leanings. Throw in Toge Productions’ expertise in character building, and this could well be a dark horse for my game of the year come December 2025.
Way To The Woods
Allyson Cochran, Guides Editor
There’s something undeniably magical about games that let you step into the paws — or in this case, the hooves — of an animal exploring a world that humanity has left behind. Just like Stray in 2022, I’ll be picking up Way to the Woods in 2025.
In this narrative puzzle game, you play as a deer and its fawn, journeying through an abandoned world steeped in mystery and marked by oil spills. What sets Way to the Woods apart, however, will be its soundtrack by Aivi & Surasshu, the duo behind the music of Steven Universe. Although the game has been in development for nearly a decade, I’m cautiously optimistic it’ll launch next year.
Wanderstop
Amanda Hurych, Editor
I love cozy games. They’re nice and, well, cozy. But if there’s one unfortunate thing I tend to do with cozy games, it’s bounce off of them pretty hard after initially dipping my toes into their coziness. It takes a very special game to keep me invested for the long haul. But after seeing that reveal trailer for Wanderstop, I think this might be one of those unique cases.
The trailer starts off showcasing the typical attributes of a cozy game. Your main character, Alta, is setting up her tea shop, planting herbs and flowers for said tea shop, and serving customers in and around that tea shop. You can see the game will be set in some sort of fantastical world, given that knights and cowled rogues are your clientele. Nifty, right?
But just when you think that’s all there is to Wanderstop, the trailer takes a turn for the nerve-wracking by showing Alta is dealing with some trauma from her past as a warrior. The unexpected nature of that twist had me immediately intrigued. Running a cozy tea shop while grappling with the anxieties and nightmares of my fantasy warrior’s background? This game was made for me.
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