The best indie games of all time
The top 3 according to 1,063 votes from people: Hades · Hollow Knight · Celeste. (Updated Mar 12, 2026.)
Games from small independent studios (or single developers) that critics and players rate highest: OpenCritic's all-time indie ranking combined with long-running community rankings.
Top 25
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1
Hades
Supergiant Games, 2020. OpenCritic's top indie game (94): a roguelike escape from the Greek underworld.
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2
Hollow Knight
Team Cherry, 2017. A vast hand-drawn metroidvania in the fallen insect kingdom of Hallownest.
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3
Celeste
Maddy Makes Games, 2018. Precision platforming up a mountain and a story about anxiety; OpenCritic 92.
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4
Undertale
Toby Fox, 2015. An RPG where every monster can be spared, with a cult soundtrack.
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5
Journey
Thatgamecompany, 2012. A wordless desert pilgrimage; OpenCritic 93 for its 2015 PS4 version.
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6
Stardew Valley
Made by Eric Barone alone, 2016. Farming-life sim that has sold over 40 million copies.
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7
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Edmund McMillen and Nicalis, 2014. A dungeon-crawling roguelike with hundreds of items.
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8
Terraria
Re-Logic, 2011. 2D sandbox of digging, building and boss fights, one of the best-selling games ever.
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9
Limbo
Playdead, 2010. The black-and-white puzzle-platformer that kicked off the indie boom on Xbox Live Arcade.
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10
Inside
Playdead, 2016. A bleak, wordless puzzle-platformer; OpenCritic 91.
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11
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Team Cherry, 2025. The long-awaited sequel starring Hornet; OpenCritic 91.
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12
Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital, 2019. Explore a solar system caught in a 22-minute time loop.
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13
Cuphead
Studio MDHR, 2017. Boss-rush run-and-gun drawn like 1930s cartoons.
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14
Balatro
LocalThunk, 2024. The poker-hand roguelike deck-builder made by one person.
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15
Braid
Jonathan Blow, 2008. A time-rewinding puzzle-platformer and an indie milestone.
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16
Disco Elysium
ZA/UM, 2019. A detective RPG with no combat, all dialogue and skill checks.
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17
Return of the Obra Dinn
Lucas Pope, 2018. Deduce the fate of a ghost ship's 60 crew members; OpenCritic 89.
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18
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Moon Studios, 2020. A gorgeous metroidvania sequel; OpenCritic 90.
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19
Spelunky
Derek Yu, 2008 (HD remake 2012). The roguelike platformer that popularised procedural levels.
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20
Fez
Polytope Corporation, 2012. A 2D world that rotates to reveal its third dimension.
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21
Hotline Miami
Dennaton Games, 2012. Ultra-violent top-down action with a neon synthwave soundtrack.
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22
Super Meat Boy
Team Meat, 2010. Brutally hard and fast platforming with instant respawns.
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23
Bastion
Supergiant Games, 2011. An action RPG with a narrator who reacts to everything you do.
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24
The Witness
Thekla, 2016. Jonathan Blow's island of over 500 line puzzles.
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25
Dead Cells
Motion Twin, 2018. A fast roguevania; its Queen and the Sea DLC scored 93 on OpenCritic.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 25… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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26
Pizza Tower
Tour De Pizza, 2023. A manic Wario Land-style platformer; OpenCritic 91.
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27
Neon White
Angel Matrix, 2022. Speedrunning first-person platforming with demon-slaying cards; OpenCritic 89.
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28
FTL: Faster Than Light
Subset Games, 2012. Manage a starship crew in a roguelike flight across the galaxy.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (5)
Hades at #1, Supergiant never misses.
Hollow Knight for the art and the boss fights, a masterpiece.
Undertale changed what I thought games could do.
Outer Wilds deserves a spot, best indie game I've ever played.
Stardew was made by one person, still blows my mind.