While our gaming calendars for next year are already full to bursting with well-known, triple-A giants, we shouldn't neglect the indie games set to release in 2023. Across all platforms, mind-boggling and eye-catching games created by small developers will see fruition come the following year.
So even though games like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Starfield are dazzling our eyes with their triple-A shine, ingenious indie titles are sparkling with a light that's even greater. That was probably the corniest thing we could have said, but we stand by it. Read on if you want to know which indie games we here at TheGamer are most excited about for next year.
Updated December 18, 2022: Daring indie games set to release next year are still dazzling our eyes. With 2023 rapidly approaching, we look at more indie games we can't wait to play. Fingers crossed these titles stick to a 2023 launch date!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sean Murray
I've already talked about how I owned a Dreamcast and still never played Jet Set Radio, a mistake which still haunts me to this day, but one I plan to rectify with the release of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk on PC. It's an indie game being both developed and published by Team Reptile. I think the fact that it's an indie shouldn't be overlooked.
Indie games can be fantastic, but they often just come out of nowhere, surprising us with their greatness. Cyberfunk, on the other hand, has been getting hyped for years, which is not how indies usually go. And just like another💜 game with the word "cyber" in the title, it could go really badly for Cyberfunk if it falls short of its own hype.
Pixelshire
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Jacqueline Zalace
I absolutely love surviv﷽al crafting games and life sims. Naturally, this makes Minecraft and Stardew Valley two of my all-time favorite game🌞s, so I was definitely excited when Pixelshire was announced. Something about farming in a small town is just so relaxing.
Pixelshire is a sandbox RPG, meaning that I will get to let my inner town designer out and plan the layout of the town however I choose. The developers are also pretty active on Twitter,꧒ uploading little videos and polls, which makes me even more excited. As an added bonus, Pixelshire is releasing on Nintendo Switch, allowing me to cozy up under a blanket and farm all day long.
The Plucky Squire
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Josh Coulson
The trailer fo👍r The Plucky Squire caught my eye when its 2D art style made it look like an array of different games all in one. Then, just as it looked like the trailer was coming to an end, Jot jumped off the page and into a three-dimensional world, at which point the game officially landed on my must-have list.
I've never seen a game like it, and I'm incredibly excited to play it, hopefully in 2023. In an industry where it can sometimes feel like everything that can be done already has been done, All Possible Futures' Plucky Squire looks like something that will feel truly different and be a lot of fun at the same time.
Valheim
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Amanda Hurych
I’m primarily a console peasant, so whenever a jaw-droppingly cool indie game comes out on PC, there’s a little part of me that dies inside knowing I&rsq🐲uo;ll have to either wait forever for it to get ported or never see it 💝reach console at all. But every once in a while, I get news of a highly anticipated indie game knocking on my console’s door. Next year, Valheim is that game.
No set date has been announced, but I’m over the moon about it anyway. I’ve been watching the antics you can get up to in Valheim from afar, and it🍃’s been driving me up the walls with excitement. I need to be a Viking warrior with a bunch of friends as soonꦉ as possible!
Sea Of Stars
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:David W. Duffy
I don’t think there’s any scenario where a turn-based RPG with pixel graphics doesn’t intrigue me. I’ll always find myself drifting towards one when I’m unsure what to play, or when I have open-world fatigue (which 🏅see🐟ms more frequent these days).
In this case, Sea of Stars looks t♚ruly gorgeous; a colourful Golden Sun-like adventure that allows you to forge ahead with the main story or take a beat to sail, fish, or listen to some good music — from Chrono Trigger’s Yasunori Mitsuda — in a local tavern. It very much sounds like the kind of game I’ll need after finally finishing all these big winter releases…
Broken Roads
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:James Troughton
I’d love a new Fallout, I’d kill for New Vegas 2, but I’d fight god for another isometric game. Luckily, I don’t have to. Drop Bear Bytes is making its very own Fallout-inspired RPG, taking notes from the originals which wer⛦e top-down and turn-based.
168澳洲𒆙幸运5开奖网:From the littl🙈e I played at EGX last year, I can&rsq🍨uo;t wait — there’s some really morbid storytelling that stems from your own decisions, as your morality can make a lighthearted adventure in the dystopian Outback turn into a gruelingly twisted journey with nothing but villains at the centre. I’ll regret every single bad choice I make, and I’ll love every single second.
Hexarchy
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Matt Arnold
I’m all-in on Main Tank Software’s card-based 4X game Hexarchy. It’s Civilization meets Slay The Spire, with fast-paced multiplayer and daily challenges. I played the demo to death when it first dropped as part of Steam Next Fest, and fully expect to go all the way do🐠wn the rabbit hole when the full game launches next year.
Everything from tile improvements to unit deployment to the tech tree is ha꧙ndled through a hand of cards, so careful drafting and deck management are essential. The overall design is impressive, especially considering how much tactical depth the devs have crammed into such small maps. Anyway, now that I’ve said my piece I’m off to re-install the demo.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Stacey Henley
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was one of my most anticipated indie games of 2022, but as with everything in this industry, it was delayed and is now arriving on the shores of our thumbs in 2023, so it’s back in the mix. The fast, frenetic, freewheeling game moves to the same hyper-stylised, extremely puꦗnk beat as Jet Set Radio, and it’s great to see a forgotten classic like Jet Set back in the spotlight. I’m still hoping for positive news on the real Jet Set front, but until then, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is already looking like it could be one of 2023’s secret classics.
Paleo Pines
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Meg Pelliccio
Dinosaurs. That’s all it takes to sell me on a game really, but it helps that the dinosaurs are absolutely adorable in Paleo Pines too. It’s a life sim with all the usual features, you build a thriving ranch, grow crops, make friends with the locals, and obviously, lots of dinosaurs are involved. There will be different biomes, each has unique items and dinosaurs to find, so I can’t wait to get stuck in and start taming lots 🃏of dino buddies.
It doesn’t have a set launch date yet, but given that we’re a🎶lready nearing the end of October, I think 2023 seems more likely now. (Though I won&r🍷squo;t complain if it surprise launches before then.)
Nine Sols
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Lex Luddy
There are few game developers with as much history in as little time as RedCandleGames. Between the d♔epth of the horror and storytelling in the company’s first two games, Detention and Devotion, and winding up in the middle of international politics, it is frankly a minor miracle the team still exists, not to mention that its next game looks so incredible. I won’t say much about it, because there is a demo on Steam you should check out and discovering the unsettling Metroidvania world RedCandleGames is creating is an uncomfortable treat.
Manor Lords
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Harry Alston
After a brief venture iౠnto the world of Manor Lords at Steam’s 2022 Next Fest, I can easily say that this is one of my most anticipated ✨indie games of the next year, or the year after if it has to be. I’m willing to wait. The level of detail is outstanding, and the technical abil🎃ity of the solo developer to get something so dense running so smoothly is brilliant. From the individual beams of the church being constructed in town, to the individual ruffles on my leader’s coat as they walk the muddy streets — Manor Lords is bringing something a bit special to city-building.
Cassette Beasts
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ben Sledge
Cassette Beasts finally has a demo and a release date, which have firmly secured its place on this list. Pixel art Pokemon-like with retro vibes is a great pitch, but the game🦹’s demo is ev❀en more polished than I anticipated, and it’s shot straighಞt to the top of my wishlist for next year. Not my indie wishlist, my wishlist full stop. From the creature designs to the music to the way that missions are presented to you in a non-linear fashion, this isn’t just a Pokemon knock-off, it could be a Pokemon killer. Yeah, I went there.
Gasp.
She Dreams Elsewhere
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:James Kennedy
From Undertale to Omori, we have seen a number of games that have obviously taken some inspiration from the EarthBound series. She Dreams Elsewhere is yet another example of a development team that clearly has some affection for this legend𒈔ary series. But while those influences are instantly recognizable, She Dreams Elsewhere still has its own aesthetic.
And what an aesthetic it is! This is a game that intentionally limits its color palette; it sort of looks like a classy homage to the ZX Spectrum. And the music—which you can find on YouTube—is like an electronica-fueled fever dream. 🐟I don’t know if this will ultimately be the next classic indie RPG, but I am pretty positive it is going to be a unique experience