The 100 hottest indies of 2026 (Part 4)

2025 was an incredible year for the indie scene, with games such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Blue Prince scooping up loads of prestigious awards and stealing our gamer hearts. Nothing - absolutely nothing - suggests that 2026 will be any worse when it comes to games developed by independent game studios. We have compiled a list of one hundred titles, all of which are scheduled for release this year. Some have a fixed date, others have an approximate date, while most have not announced a release date yet.

Instead of delivering all the games at once, we have sorted them alphabetically and divided them into four parts with 25 games each. We have worked as broadly as possible to cover as wide a spectrum of genres and styles as possible. So sit back and get your notepad, your Steam wishlist, or just your mental memory library ready, because I promise you will discover something to look forward to.

This is the fourth and final part of the article series on this year's hundred hottest indie games.

Stage Fright

• Genre: Adventure, Co-op


• Developer: Ghost Town Games Ltd.


• Publisher: Hello Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Frying pans, saucepans, and general chaos in the kitchen are what we know Ghost Town Games for, through the Overcooked games, of course, but this time it's time for you and a friend to solve mysteries, escape escape rooms and overcome all kinds of obstacles in Stage Fright."

StarRupture

• Genre: Action, Survival, Co-op


• Developer: Creepy Jar


• Publisher: Creepy Jar


• Release date: January 6 (Early Access)


• Link to website

"By the time this list is published, the game will already have been released to a very warm reception. If you haven't checked it out yet, you'll be building bases, killing angry aliens, and putting a complex industrial system in place, all on a mysterious planet ravaged by "recurring disasters"."

Steel Century Groove

• Genre: Music, Adventure


• Developer: Sloth Gloss Games


• Publisher: Sloth Gloss Games


• Release date: January 28


• Link to website

"Big mech robots are cool and all, but... wouldn't it be even cooler if dance battles were on the agenda instead of the usual fistfights? Yeah, we think so too."

Streets of Rogue 2

• Genre: RPG, Action


• Developer: Matt Dabrowski


• Publisher: tinyBuild


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Matt Dabrowski has taken the winning formula from the first Streets of Rogue and turned the dial up to eleven on a ten-point scale. This instalment is bigger, crazier, and offers more freedom in an open world."

Super Meat Boy 3D

• Genre: Platformer, Action


• Developer: Sluggerfly, Team Meat


• Publisher: Headup


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"It's been over fifteen years since we had the honour of meeting Mr Meat Boy, and now it's time again. There will be a significant leap in appearance and, above all, technology, but judging by the gameplay, it looks like it will offer more of what we want; meat, blood, and extremely precise platform jumps."

Tearscape

• Genre: Soulslike, Metroidvania, Action


• Developer: NERDS TAKE OVER


• Publisher: NERDS TAKE OVER


• Release date: February 2


• Link to website

"Tearscape, like Mina the Hollower, is a tribute to the Game Boy Color era, but if you look closely at the game, it seems to draw inspiration from From Soft's games, especially Bloodborne."

Tenjutsu

• Genre: Action, Rougelike


• Developer: Deepnight Games


• Publisher: Devolver Digital


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Sébastien Benard designed Dead Cells, and we all know exactly how good that game turned out to be. With him behind Tenjutsu this time around, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on this title. It could be really good!"

The Ballad of Bellum

• Genre: Adventure


• Developer: BokehDev


• Publisher: BokehDev


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Octopath Traveler is incredibly charming thanks to its stereoscopic 2D graphics. BokehDev has taken note of this and borrowed the style and aesthetics liberally, applying them to a Zelda-like adventure."

The Big Catch

• Genre: Platformer, Puzzle


• Developer: Filet Group


• Publisher: Filet Group, XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc.


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"The Big Catch has that little something extra. It's insanely cool, has fantastic retro-inspired design, and looks set to offer insanely varied and silky smooth movement, where the unique feature is obviously the fishing rod, which is used both as a weapon and a grappling hook."

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

• Genre: Action, RPG


• Developer: Owlcat Games


• Publisher: Owlcat Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"This is the second attempt at bringing The Expanse to the gaming world after Telltale tried their hand at the series. Owlcat looks set to make a very ambitious attempt at something reminiscent of Mass Effect."

The Spirit Lift

• Genre: Roguelike, Deckbuilder


• Developer: prettysmart games


• Publisher: prettysmart games


• Release date: January 27


• Link to website

"A roguelike deckbuilder set in a haunted hotel in the 90s? Could it be any better? Of course it could, this actually looks really promising."

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand

• Genre: Adventure


• Developer: Friday Sundae


• Publisher: Friday Sundae


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"It's been a while since we saw the trailer that really got us curious about There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, so it must be time for us to renovate hotels during the day and fight ghosts at night? We think so and we hope so."

Threads of Time

• Genre: JRPG


• Developer: Riyo Games


• Publisher: Humble Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"A very ambitious JRPG set 2,000 years before Christ, but not only that, the USP of the game is that it takes place in different eras. It's both medieval fantasy and sci-fi, served up in wonderful 2.5D graphics."

Thrifty Business

• Genre: Simulation


• Developer: Spellgarden Games


• Publisher: Spellgarden Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"We've all thought at some point that it would be nice to change careers and start our own cosy little flea market, right? No? Actually, no. But it does look cosy, and the 90s aesthetic fits like a glove."

Tides of Annihilation

• Genre: Action, RPG


• Developer: Eclipse Glow Games


• Publisher: Eclipse Glow Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Tides of Annihilation looks incredibly stylish. It has that AAA look that few indie titles manage to achieve. But beyond the surface, it looks like a very competent game underneath. We're keeping our fingers crossed!"

TOEM 2

• Genre: Adventure, Platformer


• Developer: Something We Made


• Publisher: Something We Made, popagenda


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"It's time for more black-and-white photography adventures with TOEM 2. The first game was cosy deluxe, and everything points to the sequel being more of the same. We're definitely not saying no to that."

Townseek

• Genre: Adventure


• Developer: Wlhales And Games


• Publisher: Super Rare Originals, Gamersky Games


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"In an airship shaped like a shark, you must search the land and sea, towns and villages, and every little nook and cranny in search of Sir Reginald Sharkington's lost inheritance. It looks set to be a fairly substantial but, above all, cosy adventure."

Tukoni: Forest Keepers

• Genre: Adventure, Puzzle


• Developer: Dream Operator


• Publisher: Dream Operator


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Tukoni: Skogsskötare is the Swedish word for forest keeper, but Forest Keepers sounds a bit cooler, which is something the game needs as it otherwise looks almost too cute. A light-hearted puzzle adventure that is perfect for gaming with the kids."

Unrecord

• Genre: FPS, Action


• Developer: DRAMA


• Publisher: DRAMA


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"The first images from the bodycam game Unrecord took the internet by storm and went viral. 'Can games really look this realistic?' was the question, and we look forward to finding out."

Valor Mortis

• Genre: Soulslike, RPG


• Developer: One More Level


• Publisher: Lyrical Games, One More Level


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"The creators of Ghostrunner are changing genres and trying their hand at the immensely popular soulslike genre. In Valor Mortis, we take on the role of Napoleonic soldiers who rise from the dead and fight against genre-typical gruesome bosses. Very promising!"

Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors

• Genre: Action, Deckbuilder, Roguelike


• Developer: poncle


• Publisher: poncle


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Vampire Survivors is changing shape and leaving the genre it helped shape (survivor-likes). Now we're going to build games, crawl through dungeons, and fight bosses, all in the characteristic over-the-top formula that Survivors offered."

Wanderburg

• Genre: Action, Roguelike


• Developer: Randwerk


• Publisher: Randwerk


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"In Wanderburg, you glide around in a castle on wheels. By literally eating your opponents, you can make your rolling castle grow and become stronger. It's an interesting premise and could very well be a lot of fun."

Witchbrook

• Genre: Co-op, Simulation


• Developer: Chucklefish, Robotality


• Publisher: Chucklefish


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"We've seen a bunch of Stardew Valley-likes on this list, and Witchbrook is probably one of the most anticipated. Gorgeous pixels, a school for witches, and a very ambitious adventure overall."

ZWAARD

• Genre: Action, Adventure


• Developer: Beleef Studios


• Publisher: Top Hat Studios, Inc.


• Release date: Unknown


• Link to website

"Build the ultimate sword by searching for parts in a post-apocalyptic world. The Earth has been infected by a mysterious high-tech virus, and it's your job to set things right."

You can find the other articles with more hot indies at these links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

With all the games listed, are we missing any particular game?