Indie games can be more fun than big-budget AAA titles. 2025’s indie catalog ranges from intense ball-bouncing affairs to the chance to become a dealer of rather sus substances. This Holiday 2025 guide covers hit indie games across console and PC.
Ben Starr said it best when he was accepting Balatro’s award for Debut Game at the BAFTA Games Awards 2025: “Play more independent games like Animal Well, they are the lifeblood of this industry.” It’s true, with the industry as reluctant as ever to splash millions on a AAA title, it’s the ‘smaller’ games that love to grab the headlines.
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Best Indie Games You Should Buy For Holiday 2025
Hollow Knight: Silksong
It happened, it finally happened in 2025! Hollow Knight: Silksong was released, and Team Cherry can stop being pestered about the game’s existence…until Hollow Knight 3. The brutally difficult Metroidvania title is up for Game of the Year, and rightly so. It’s a masterclass in platforming, exploring, and nuanced combat.
Hades 2
You could argue Hades 2 is teetering on the edge of being a AA game or more, but the fact is that Supergiant Games is still an indie developer, and an incredibly gifted one. The first Hades was a breath of fresh air, and Hades 2 builds on the success of the first game with great aplomb. The roguelike sequel delves into the depths of the Underworld to pull out an absolute indie winner in 2025.
Peak
Now we’re getting really into indie territory. Peak adopted the successful formula from recent years of putting multiple players in a group, where they must work together to win. Peak asks you to climb a mountain, and that’s the game’s task in a nutshell. But getting there is no mean feat, and you have to use all the tools at your disposal as you dice with danger and death.
Escape From Duckov
Escape From Duckov leans dangerously close to Escape From Tasrkov’s territory, but the fact is that they are both very different games. Yes, Escape From Duckov is an extraction shooter, but one with a huge player base, as the community has become enamored by super-soldier ducks. Don’t be put off by its name; this is an excellent game with its own identity.
Schedule 1
The indie breakout hit of the year: Schedule 1. The narcotic-creating and selling RPG quickly amassed a wide audience, with over half a million players hopping in concurrently at one point. It’s had a consistent stream of new content since, and will go down as one of the biggest indie successes of 2025.
Dispatch
An episodic game about a superhero workplace and its cast of heroes sounds good on paper, and works even better in reality. Developer AdHoc Studio includes employees from the now-defunct Telltale Games, and the themes and design choices have carried over seamlessly into Dispatch.
REPO
It was halfway through the year that we learned that REPO was the best-selling Steam game of 2025. REPO borrows the odd multiplayer ingredient from Content Warning and Lethal Company to create an entertaining and terrifying time. This is for people who love wacky multiplayer games they can play with their friends—and Insider Gaming has made REPO even cheaper to grab!
Ball X Pit
Making a semi-on-rails ball-launching and bouncing game with roguelike elements and quickfire runs sounds like it has too much going on to work. Ball X Pit has metaphorically kicked that notion in the aforementioned ball pit, and unique is probably the most apt adjective, as there are few games like it. Each run is different; there are many characters with different abilities to use, and it requires you to think on your toes.
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