Top 25 Best Indie Games of the Year 2023 (Indie GOTY 2023)

[@MTLGSE]

Now that ive started to delve into game dev Im absolutely floored at how talented these indie teams are. Thanks for the vid and for being a voice for the communitt.

[@jurtheorc8117]

And there's still a lot more to discover. Stuff like Nobody Saves the World, Cookie Cutter, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos, Soulstice, and the upcoming Genokids, Enenra and Blud.

[@tommyflavio]

"The more you know, the more you know that you don't know." It pains me to see whiny people completely target small/indie devs about aspects that may not be their strong suit yet. When Splitgate got overwhelmed a few years ago, 1047 Games was getting berated about what was going on. I reached out to them to help them out since it was a data processing/architecture issue rather than a game dev issue and was correct in assuming the 2 young college game devs haven't handled processing billions of data points a second, which is more of a common IoT issue than anything. It was completely unwarranted and destroyed their trajectory. Grime faced a similar issue when they started (and still kinda are with their Switch port) dealing with resource management of an overly graphically complicated (but beautiful) game. I love it when I see people take their first step in something wayy more complicated then publicly viewed and vocalize their admiration once they have some experience

[@Kogarana1]

Man, Nobody Saves the World was such a masterful game. I remember really liking that one. But I wonder what some of these other games you mentioned are: do you mind giving me some insight?

[@rhebbhulett]

Love that Dredge made #1. I don’t think the greatness of this game can be overstated. How a game manages to be both cozy but anxiety inducing is amazing.

[@ItsameAlex]

Based on my indie games tier list for switch, what games would you recommend: S+ tier: Rising Dusk, Elec-Head, The kids we were, S tier: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Dusk, Crow Country, S- tier: Celeste, Cathedral, A+ tier: Crystal Project, Cloudpunk, A tier: Beyond Galaxyland, Alba a wildlife adventure A- tier: Animal Well, Baba is you B+ tier: The Touryst, Outer Wilds B tier: Gravity Circuit, Master Key, Paradise Killer B- tier: Road 96, Darkside Detective C+ tier: Lonely Mountains Downhill C tier: Blue Fire D tier: Hollow Cocoon F tier: Minit

[@drstclair]

While AAA gaming is going poorly and stale, it makes me so happy that smaller developers are able to put out so many creative projects.

[@ClemmyGames]

[@ohpeep3723]

Some of them are not small at all, they just hide behind a new studio name but still be made my the big company

[@joaomarcoscosta4647]

Dude, this year we had Baldurs Gate 3 Tears of the Kingdom Super Mario Wonder Spiderman 2 Street Fighter 6 Allan Wake 2 And "Hi Fi Rush" too. (Although this might be more of an AA game) It's true that they are mostly from long running franchises, but at least in 2023, AAA games have been doing pretty fantastic! We can enjoy games from both budget levels without trying to knock the other down.

[@drstclair]

@joaomarcoscosta4647 I think I was using poorly in the idea that their unoriginal from their competition. CoD is going to succeed financially, but people will dislike it. I'm happy this was a good year overall for gaming Also BG3 is in some eyes technically an indie game.

[@TheRelen222]

We also had the Dead Space Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake. I do believe this is one of the strongest years for gaming ever.

[@trickycheat3570]

I didn't play a single one of these games yet i played a few fantastic indie games this year and that is why indie scene is great for any medium.

[@drakewarnock1239]

I just want to take a moment to thank you for all the work you do! The indie game market gets better and better every year, and keeping track of everything good would be so difficult without your videos and recommendations. You make finding good games easy, and for that I really can't thank you enough!

[@eduardoprata5599]

Chants of Senaar is given so little credit for how well crafted of a "detective" game it is. Few games have scratched that itch that well lately

[@ekkogamerxd7835]

Hace poco empece a introducirme en el mundo de los indies y ahora espero con mas ansias cada video tuyo, eres todo un master

[@leojones1964]

Love this! I feel like Gravity Circuit deserved a spot but to each their own. It's wonderful to see so many great titles I missed this year.

[@authormichellefranklin]

Slay the Princess is amazing. Love Viewfinder-- the puzzles were great. Still have to finish Cocoon and Last Faith. Dredge and Sea of Stars also great. Trine 5 I also loved, though I don't think many tried it. Thanks for another amazing year, Clemmy!

[@salitz91]

My heart jumped when I saw Dredge. It really is a fantastic game, especially on Steam Deck. So much fun, and you can make it as relaxing or creepy as you want. Great list!

[@elektriccobra]

100% Dredge

[@kaspauf06]

Thank you for all you do! Your KZbin channel gives so much light to a world of gaming many miss with triple A titles, that is again and happy holidays!

[@tommyflavio]

TEVI is a sleeper homerun! Grabbed it even though I didn't enjoy Rabi Ribi but after 50 hours, I absolutely love TEVI. Like everything about it. I even love the juxtaposition of the Chibi gameplay aesthetic vs the Anime Girl cut scene art. That game seemed to come out of nowhere and fixed everything I did not like about RR. I'm so happy I finally have a second Bullet H377 Metroidvania game I can recommend besides Luna Nights!

[@commentarytalk1446]

A beyond superlative line of fascinating and diverse indie games! What a quality line up. Agree with many of these at the same time as having found one of my all-time favourites indie games in Pocket Bravery! And, staggered by the "artistic genius" of Yeo's Fading Afternoon amongst many other stellar indie games out there, beyond name.

[@TriggerCrazedLunatic]

No Laika? Damn, thats a shame, I put it up there among my favorites.

[@malkilthewizard]

Absolutely insane that Void Stranger isn't on this list. Not only is it my indie game of 2023, it's probably in my top 10 best *games* of all time.

[@stevenmcdonald5837]

good taste, just curious, whats your top 10

[@ItsameAlex]

Based on my indie games tier list for switch, what games would you recommend: S+ tier: Rising Dusk, Elec-Head, The kids we were, S tier: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Dusk, Crow Country, S- tier: Celeste, Cathedral, A+ tier: Crystal Project, Cloudpunk, A tier: Beyond Galaxyland, Alba a wildlife adventure A- tier: Animal Well, Baba is you B+ tier: The Touryst, Outer Wilds B tier: Gravity Circuit, Master Key, Paradise Killer B- tier: Road 96, Darkside Detective C+ tier: Lonely Mountains Downhill C tier: Blue Fire D tier: Hollow Cocoon F tier: Minit

[@teraformerr]

Dredge is also my indie GOTY, I couldn't put the game down until I finished it. One of the best atmospheres in a game ever, the inventory management made sense, wasn't tedious at all. Truly one of the best games of the year

[@ClemmyGames]

Nice

[@Draffut2003]

I was enjoying it. Then I found my first refined metal, got hit by an underwater monster literally 10 seconds later and lost the metal. After it never respawned or anything I got frustrated and quit.

[@tommyflavio]

I have been avoiding Dredge purposefully because every trailer video makes it seem uninteresting. My cousin keeps recommending it to me but can't articulate why. What's the draw behind Dredge? Atmospheric Fishing Sim? I played Dave the Diver and lost interest pretty quick with that fishing sim.

[@teraformerr]

@@tommyflavio just play it, you will see. It won't take more than 10 hours to finish. I didn't play Dave the diver, don't know if it has a story or it's just a fishing sim but Dredge has a nice story, ofc you can play it as a fishing sim but it's not what it's meant to be. Also play the game at night, will make the experience a lot better

[@tommyflavio]

​@@teraformerralright. I have time off next week for the holidays and am looking for a new game now that Tevi is just about done. I will bite the bullet and finally buy wind waker's idle transportation with a sepia filter :-)

[@EmeraldWizardStudios]

So many awesome games coming out! I'm torn between working on my game and playing other's games haha

[@evaander]

Dredge on 1 is well deserved but Dave the diver not being here is a crime

[@movies5080]

its not an indie game blud

[@ClemmyGames]

Dave the Diver is probably my favorite game of the year but it's not indie

[@schorleschorschoise]

I am so happy I disovered your channel 2 1/2 years ago. Since then I never faced any AAA game (except Elden Ring, if you wanna call it so) again and the fun I have with games increased so immensly! Thank you for your work my dude❤ For 2023 my biggest hopes def. are the ER DLC, a pretty big load of Zelda Like 2d Pixel Art top down Action adventures and, If it comes in '24, World of Anterra.

[@azuarc]

Thank you for remembering Afterimage and Cassette Beasts.

[@hafaball]

Incredible job this year Clemmy, another stellar group of indies. My obligatory pick for missing game is Destructure Amoung Debris. Let's all hope for the indie scene to continue to thrive!

[@ElieHaykal]

Hell yeah for Cocoon! I enjoyed every frame of it to the extent of creating a video review for it. It is a puzzle game with the right amount of difficulty for me with an awesome mechanic and to forget how abstract it was, yet you were able to connect things.

[@thomashooper2451]

Slay the Princess, SANABI, Blasphemous 2, and Cassette Beasts are outstanding. (I couldn't get into Astral Ascent or Sea of Stars, though. They bored me to tears, and I returned them both on Steam.) What a great year for games. 2023 really spoiled us.

[@ItsameAlex]

Based on my indie games tier list for switch, what games would you recommend: S+ tier: Rising Dusk, Elec-Head, The kids we were, S tier: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Dusk, Crow Country, S- tier: Celeste, Cathedral, A+ tier: Crystal Project, Cloudpunk, A tier: Beyond Galaxyland, Alba a wildlife adventure A- tier: Animal Well, Baba is you B+ tier: The Touryst, Outer Wilds B tier: Gravity Circuit, Master Key, Paradise Killer B- tier: Road 96, Darkside Detective C+ tier: Lonely Mountains Downhill C tier: Blue Fire D tier: Hollow Cocoon F tier: Minit

[@rkclinite]

Awesome work this year, Clem! 👏👏👏👏

[@Deceneu66]

11:17 you had me at "designer of INSIDE & LIMBO".

[@XiLock_Alotx]

Cocoon and the recently released Cookie Cutter 100% were my favorite indie titles of the year. Straight BANGERS

[@sidokouki670]

12:37 to 12:42 love how you synced the music to the charchter stunts

[@AttnDefDis_]

I'm not a fan of JRPGs, but I loved Sea of Stars. Waited a couple years and it did not disappoint. Can't wait for DLC.

[@Demo-Dash]

I've been a fan of Indie titles for a very long time now - started many years back with walking sims. Give me Indie over AAA any day of the week! Great video!

[@movies5080]

brew i almost never agree with your top 3 pics but i appreciate the work you are doing. keep going

[@osmosisp]

Blasphemous 2 is my GOTY

[@pablosimo4879]

What about Laika: Aged Through Blood? I didn’see any mention and it is a great metroidvania.

[@maurice5402]

Bomb rush cyberfunk is my favorite indie game ever!! It's just so perfect and I keep coming back to it

[@DenysOtroshko]

Surprisingly, that Lethal Company not on the list. It`s definetely not top1, but still deserves to be in list

[@ramoncf7]

It's been a while like this, he focuses more on pixel art kind of games than shooters and multiplayer coops, Battlebit has been out of the radar completely in any list and is one of very few indiedevs success story of the year.

[@helmeren3828]

nah. that game is gonna be forgotten in some months. Its just like every other popular indie game. Its something you play with your friends because its popular and then you never touch it again

[@AndieBlue]

Sea of Stars was amazing. Art style is gorgeous, the storyline and characters were intriguing and dynamic. Everything was balanced, it was a simultaneously relaxing yet stressful adventure. And I don’t usually play turn based fighting type games, but they made fighting enemies super fun, not too easy but not excruciatingly difficult either. It’s definitely a game I see myself coming back to over and over again!

[@ItsameAlex]

Based on my indie games tier list for switch, what games would you recommend: S+ tier: Rising Dusk, Elec-Head, The kids we were, S tier: The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Dusk, Crow Country, S- tier: Celeste, Cathedral, A+ tier: Crystal Project, Cloudpunk, A tier: Beyond Galaxyland, Alba a wildlife adventure A- tier: Animal Well, Baba is you B+ tier: The Touryst, Outer Wilds B tier: Gravity Circuit, Master Key, Paradise Killer B- tier: Road 96, Darkside Detective C+ tier: Lonely Mountains Downhill C tier: Blue Fire D tier: Hollow Cocoon F tier: Minit

[@ElderBard00]

Happy Cocoon made the list. Discovered this game a few days ago and I had fun. Looks simple at first.

[@crisbercutov7405]

Cocoon is probably my favorite indie game this year, one of the most unique ideas I've seen in gaming in a good while that is also really well executed, never got stale nor overstayed its welcome. Great game.

[@TysonJensen]

I would pick the same for #1 of the year. Sometimes it's not about the number of hours a game grinds out of you, but the sheer experience of playing it.

[@ClemmyGames]

Exactly

[@abraxis59]

Great video! Really interesting choices mixed in with some of the more expected great titles of the year.

[@franciscovelasco5422]

Glad to see that early access games will have a separate category for themselves.

[@sergiofloray1993]

I want part 2 of 25 goty indies!

[@13Sunkenrock]

Thanks for the list. Took out a few games to play.

[@HexonineGames]

Great video. We are always looking forward for more of your content.

[@drezworthy]

Seeing Dredge at number one just made me realize Dave the Diver wasn't on the list! At any rate it was a great list! Thanks for all you do in bringing attention to all these amazing indie games Clemmy! Best wishes to you and your family in the new year!

[@brandsmp]

Ye I was surprised too but there was discussion on Dave the diver not really being indie at Game of the year awards as it is part of a massive studio but a small team 🤔 maybe Clemmie also thought about this

[@drezworthy]

@@brandsmp Ohh I did not realize!

[@ClemmyGames]

Dave is probably my favorite game of the year but it's not indie

[@Mr__Mario]

Was eagerly waiting for this 😊

[@Sandboxcode]

Nice list! Good to see a few of my favs are present

[@ijustneedanamex7153]

cassette beasts is a vibe

[@jeffrey5976]

Brotato is my favourite game this year, so addictive:)

[@AurelianoShowsTheWorld]

Nice vid!

[@ClemmyGames]

Thanks!

[@murphrichard]

My personal favorite indie release was the Golf Mode update for Goblin Rules Football

[@tvav69]

Indie games rule!!! ✌🏻

[@caramelisedcashews4849]

pseudoregalia and bomb rush cyberfunk were great this year!

[@Bala-zw1lk]

I'm happy to see afterimage here, i loved this game and the art style they brought inside the game. Good work by the team 👍

[@salmonsushi47]

Dredge truly is the game of the year I agree.

[@jayakumar9652]

Dave The Diver deserved to be in this list

[@ClemmyGames]

Probably my favorite game of the year but it's not indie

[@deoxxys]

@@ClemmyGames Oh really? Interesting. Glad I skimmed the comments first. Thats surprises me.

[@Miiidorii]

Thanks my Wishlist grows massive

[@FearfulFellow]

The animation quality in pizza tower is insanely good

[@controladortv]

Cassette Beasts should've been higher

[@tristanwegner]

I can confirm that all games from the list that I have played (Cocoon, Viewfinder, Brotato, Slay the Princes, Backpack Hero) are great!

[@75338]

This is the only channel I care about GOTY awards from.

[@dominicjohnson8955]

Another really good indie game is Roboquest which is a rougelite FPS with inspiration of Doom and Borderlands. The music, gun/gameplay are amazing a simple story but definitely worth the play

[@rendytnggy]

if you love wandering sword, there is also similar game you should check out, it's called "hero's adventure", same as wandering sword it's also a pixel Chinese themed rpg, but instead having a linear plot and ending like wandering sword, hero's adventure has multiple ending which depends on your choices and who you meet through out the game, you also can choose which sect you want to join not like wandering sword who forced you to join only wudang sect

[@BrooksSoljah]

Luck be a landlord is so addicting and fun. Pumped a solid 20hrs in easily

[@The2FaceLP]

Sea of Stars is my favorite game I've ever played ngl

[@alarsenal10]

Amazing year for indie games, indeed. Let's go for another great year in this jewel of a channel :)

[@EduSolsa]

I only played Cassette Beasts. So many good games, I can't play all.

[@meugameb7567]

Bacana o seu Goty amigo. 🎉🎉🎉 Parabéns pelo ano do canal e suas conquistas!

[@dougdeming3115]

As someone who has got a Metroidvania in the works (early stages not much to show yet) this both encourages and disheartens me. I'm excited that there is so much buzz around the genre, and why wouldn't there be it's probably one of the best well rounded genre's in video games, with the ability to tell stories, insert the player right into the action, and sate our penchant for wanting to explore, it really does have it all. It disheartens me a little because there is SOOOOOOO much competition, which is honestly good for the fans because it means that they are going to get a lot of excellent titles just means that there can be genre fatigue which is worrying. Anyway I'm so very excited for many of these titles I hope that the developers are rewarded for their efforts.

[@matanrevivo5860]

Afterdream is not only the best indie game I played this year, It's one of the best games I played. I cannot state enough how much it is missing in a list like this.

[@leifmochi5082]

Bomb rush cyberfunk my pick for indie goty. Its so fun and its ost is a banger as well

[@TheOdsystem]

Dredge is a lot of fun. Surprised me!

[@purringraven3648]

I was expecting Dave the Diver to be on the list

[@megaaan523]

Dave the Diver is not indie

[@dino56ac49]

So happy to see Dredge at #1. I wish there were more variety across the ranking in terms of genre, too many 2D platformers but if they're good I can't complain too much. Readding through all the comments to get some bonus recommendations ;-)

[@claypot882]

les fucking goo, i don't see anyone talking about sanabi so i'm glad it made the list, one of my favourite games

[@controladortv]

Sea of Stars is gorgeous 🥰

[@flagutierrez]

yeah but nothing original just a Chrono Trigger rip off

[@mateusroschemant796]

Good year for indie games.My game of this year is Blasphemous 2, because my most hyped game was The Last Faith,it's very good,great art style but still not better than Blasphemous 2. Waiting for the the most important list " The Year in Metroidvanias."

[@edulohay956]

Jusant was a really good game last year too.

[@eduardonnajo]

Where is Ember Knights?

[@controladortv]

Sanabi is outstanding 🥺🥰😍🤩

[@ayush17]

It's clear that this channel loves Metroidvania and Rogue like RPGs more than anything because they were 20 out of 25 games here. Such a shame as they missed a lot of good games just to include all these similar games

[@ClemmyGames]

75 more games here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaetnJ1oqNRkick

[@DanSilverhound]

Yeah you guys did right by the music. That shit is wild

[@nercu743]

indies are life ❤️🎮

[@felipessca]

This games are awesome, i will add most of them my wishlist.

[@JohnD131]

To anyone who has played both Toho Luna Night and Afterimage, which do you prefer? I'm trying to decide which to pick up with the Luna Night physical coming out next month.

[@johndaniel21343]

The Last Spell 🙌

[@vrgs_]

couldnt agree more! Dregdge is #1

[@daviddobo55]

I waited this for a while

[@BobFreeman6969]

Is Dredge isometric or do you have to rotate the camera?

[@ClemmyGames]

You have camera control

[@ghost8339]

not including dave the diver in top 5 is a crime imo

[@Ohmagawdjr]

Dave the diver is not indie

[@ClemmyGames]

Probably my favorite game of the year but it's not indie

[@XionSteel]

Despite seeing these, there are a few that i somehow never heard of so the Steam Wishlist is a hell of a nice thing to have. But yeah i did 100% Rabi Ribi so picking up Tevi was needed, playing through it now and it's certainly a fun game that has nice exploration and things to find everywhere. Quite surprised that some people still haven't heard of the former Rabi Ribi but i guess that's the life of an indie dev.

[@DiegoReynoso-g9r]

I missed the one of the preview image of this video, the one with the red dragon. Which one is it? Is it Sea of Stars?

[@ClemmyGames]

yes

[@LSB001]

No Dave the Diver? That's easily my favourite indie title that released this year.

[@zammich3649]

I think it's because it's not fully classifiable as an indie title.

[@LSB001]

@@zammich3649 Half the stuff in these videos is backed by a publisher.

[@zammich3649]

@@LSB001 Who knows, then. Maybe it's the size of said publisher or even simply the fact that people are more forceful about Dave in particular (because they are aware of it). I have seen a lot of people comment on various stories about Dave the Diver that it "isn't really an indie game," so maybe the community itself feeds into the decision to not include it.

[@ClemmyGames]

Probably my favorite game of the year but it's not indie

[@ky5664]

Sanabi should definitely be higher than this. It should be at least in the top tens.

[@loxzone1]

You're just guna forget about Worldless like that? That game is ultra sick!

[@olivierdube809]

I wish The Last Faith was a little less bloated, but it's quite good and is the closest to a new Castlevania we could wish for. I'll get Sea of Stars for sure soon, but there were so many games in 2023 that I have quite a bit to complete before getting it. Still, pixel art games are the ones who age the best. Sea of Stars will be as good in 10 years, but I sure won't wait this long! What a year it's been! Wish for a near future : a new old school Castlevania that will be better than all those that emulate it. Konami sure keeps quiet about it for now, but I bet we'll hear about it soon. Hopefully, in pixel art, bloody, dark with whip combos and awesome music!

[@johnray527]

Love the channel, love indie games, love classic jRPGs - absolutely cannot stand Sea of Stars.

[@trashlapras8037]

afterimage made it in! goty imo!

[@eaglelyy5780]

The True Ending of Sea of Stars is too fking good ngl lol

[@georgenorten4760]

was the last spell updated? damn i wanna play that again

[@Gibbo81]

great video