Gaming communities have agreed on one thing this year: 2023 came as a major milestone for game releases. But we’d argue it was even a bigger one for indies.
From Planet of Lana and Lies of P to Coral Island and Viewfinder, indie titles across a multitude of genres showed just how capable small studios really are. While gamers across the globe voted for their favorites during The Game Awards 2023, we’ve put together our own list of indies that we think are more than worth picking up if you want to see what this past year had to offer.
Here are the best indies of 2023.
Moonstone Island
If you’re a fan of either Pokémon or Stardew Valley, Moonstone Island is a must-play.
The game sends you off into a beautiful world of floating, magical islands full of exotic creatures. You grow crops, collect Spirits, flirt with your neighbors, explore dungeons, upgrade your character, and decorate your island—there’s so much to do that hours will fly by without you realizing it.
Moonstone Island sports an in-game clock and season system familiar to many other farming-sim classics but pulls from other genres to keep the game fresh. It blends deckbuilding, creature-taming, and farm sims all into one unique experience that’s a great pick for any cozy-game fan.
Dredge
If you had told us a year ago we’d be spending our days fishing in a murky bay, we’d never have believed you. But now? Nothing calls to us more than the sound of the sea.
When you first boot up Dredge, you’re given a boat and sent out on a fishing expedition. Fishing involves timing-based mini-games, and storing your prized catches requires a bit of inventory management. You’ll occasionally find rare and mutant fish types, as well as strange objects you can sell to townsfolk for money that you can later use to upgrade your boat, which then allows you to catch rarer fish. It’s an addicting gameplay loop, for sure, but beneath the game’s surface lurks something dark, and it doesn’t take long for players to learn the real heart of this story.
Dredge blends this horror and suspense well with its core gameplay loop and kept us entranced in our uncovering of the mysteries the game’s murky bay had to offer.
Dave the Diver
When you first get your hands on Dave the Diver, you might think you’re in for a fun, laid-back fishing and restaurant simulator. But this adventure RPG is so much more than that.
You’ve got boss fights, mini-games, a host of strange but loveable characters, and a deep—sometimes dark—ocean teeming with mysteries to explore and secrets to uncover. Dave the Diver is full of charm with its silly personalities, cutscenes, and dialogue, and boasts an absolutely gorgeous pixelated art style.
With just how much content you get from Dave the Diver, it’s no wonder it made the runners-up list for our Indie Game of the Year.
Cocoon
The puzzle genre is full of giants, but Cocoon proved it can throw down with the best shortly after its release in late September.
Mere minutes in, players will realize just what this game is capable of. The puzzles are innovative and strike the right difficulty balance that will have you thinking outside of the box without wanting to throw your gaming console out the window.
Between its environmental and audio design, Cocoon radiates a mysterious beauty that navigates you through a strange, alien world. The whole experience is about four to six hours depending on how proficient you are with puzzle games, but every minute is engaging. At the time of writing, Cocoon is free on Xbox Game Pass and included in the 2023 Winter Steam Sale, giving players even more reason to add it to their libraries.
Wildfrost
In April, the deckbuilding genre celebrated the arrival of Wildfrost, which instantly became a classic due to its adorable art style and challenging gameplay. As a longtime fan of the genre, it took me roughly 20 hours to get my first win in the game. Those 20 hours were more than worth it, though; the game can, at times, be unforgiving, but it will teach you to slow down and think each play through.
I’ve now sunk over 100 hours into the game, yet it remains fun and fresh. That’s in no small part because the developers have worked to adjust the game in accordance with the player base’s requests by introducing the bell system, new enemy types, a constant flow of balance updates, and more.
Despite the team’s small size, the Wildfrost developer has built an incredibly interactive community. The community managers always share exactly what players can expect from future updates in the game’s dedicated (and very active) Discord channel.
