10 Greatest Indie Games of the 2010s

During the past decade, independent video games experienced a meteoric rise in both quality and industry presence, gifting us with adventures increasingly difficult to distinguish from AAA titles in terms of quality.

Far from being exclusively solitary and passionate endeavors, the indie scene began to become a larger cog in the video game industry, with development studios and even publishers dedicated to them.

As a result of increased exposure, investment, talent, and opportunities, but also of passion and dreams, indie developers managed to strike a balance between their typical experimental approach and more substantial production values.

Therefore, in order to recognize those works that helped establish the medium within the collective imagination as valuable creations, I invite you to explore this list of the ten best indie games of the 2010s.

10 The Stanley Parable

Reflections on Freedom

Indie games had been pushing the boundaries of what a video game could be for several years, until The Stanley Parable hit like a nuclear bomb.

The title's reflection on freedom within the interactive medium, communicated purely through mechanics and an unforgettable narrator, is one of the most important theses established within this nascent art form.

Besides being extremely hilarious, it's a constant string of surprises due to the ease with which it anticipates the player's actions and highlights its predictability, while simultaneously reaffirming the boundaries of interaction and possibilities within video games.

On the surface, it's a prodigiously crafted walking simulator brimming with satire and imagination, but if you delve a little deeper, The Stanley Parable is a masterpiece that shatters the fourth wall as if it were never there.

9 The Binding of Isaac

The King of the Genre

Among the wave of developers who emerged at the beginning of the decade to completely change the game, Edmund McMillen, through his legendary The Binding of Isaac, stands out among the century's most important names.

The arrival of his roguelike popularized and shaped a genre that would become one of the great bastions of independent development, and it did so through sheer inventiveness and massive scale, which cemented an addictive title like few others.

Despite having extremely simple mechanics compared to its successors, few titles can boast the infinite depth of The Binding of Isaac in terms of options and combinations, enhanced by an unmistakable art style that is more than iconic to this day.

It's one of those creations that could easily satisfy your gaming needs for years by itself, and the fact that it came from a small team of people instead of a multinational corporation was unprecedented.

8 Hotline Miami

Enjoying Violence

Just as The Stanley Parable challenged the boundaries of video games and The Binding of Isaac expanded them, Hotline Miami looked players straight in the eye and judged them by their actions.

Superficially, it's an extremely fun and satisfying arcade game with a tremendous risk-reward system, smothered in visceral and bloody sequences that truly make you feel the thrill of violence, especially thanks to one of the last couple of decades' best soundtracks.

However, the real reason Hotline Miami stands out as a revolutionary experience is how it prompts players to reflect on the relationship between video games and violence, a constantly present entity within the medium, particularly in AAA titles.

Years go by, and the game's words about how we enjoy hurting others in digital entertainment resonate more powerfully than ever, and the fact that I still wonder if we'll ever prove Hotline Miami wrong demonstrates just how acidly accurate it is.

7 Journey

Silent Fantasy

In an era when major companies weren't yet heavily investing in indie games, Journey was so exceptional that Sony had no choice but to support thatgamecompany.

This quiet multiplayer adventure set an invaluable precedent through its direct connection to PlayStation, demonstrating that even games without massive funding or large teams could be more than just fun toys to be discarded after a few hours.

Journey, on the contrary, is a love letter to video games in their purest expression, reveling in majestic art design and mystical music that provided the perfect backdrop for a fable that spoke through interaction, not words.

The title's narrative impact, which prioritized the unique communication methods of video games over those of other media, was so profound that I still doubt it has been surpassed, as it's a fantastic odyssey from beginning to end that truly touches your heart.

6 Return of the Obra Dinn

The Ultimate Puzzle

Puzzles and indies have had a symbiotic relationship since the Flash era, and as much as it pains me to leave out The Witness, I honestly believe nothing compares to Return of the Obra Dinn.

Lucas Pope already deserves a spot on this list for Papers, Please, though ultimately it's his foray into monochromatic waters that excels as one of the best indie games ever, providing a colossal, unique, and perfectly crafted puzzle that makes you feel like a true detective.

Getting lost among the levels of the Obra Dinn while traveling through time to discover the fates of all its crew members, making conjectures about their names, origins, motivations, and actions, is satisfying on a level that's difficult to describe, perhaps impossible.

The aesthetics are immaculate, the accompanying sound is incredibly immersive, and the way it trusts the player to solve its puzzles is commendable, making Return of the Obra Dinn a strong contender for the best puzzle game ever conceived.

5 Celeste

A Challenge as Big as It Is Perfect

Being among the first indie games to be nominated for Game of the Year, competing against titans like Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War, Celeste is a platformer of such magnitude that it shouldn't need to bow down to the greatest games in history, because it is one of them.

Guiding Madeleine to the mountain's summit is among the most remarkable challenges in modern video games, with the added joy of knowing that every jump, dash, climb, and timing is perfectly designed to place the resolution of each situation in your hands.

The way the game constantly reinvents itself with increasingly creative and outlandish mechanics is phenomenal, always forcing you to learn new ways to play and helping you improve to overcome its great difficulty, especially when it comes to alternate sides and DLC.

Add to that its commendable message about anxiety, depression, and overcoming adversity, boasting huge ludonarrative coherence, paired with an unparalleled soundtrack and divine pixel art, and it's easy to understand why Celeste is so acclaimed.

4 Undertale

Changing the Standards

Even without being the first to subvert the RPG genre, Undertale catapulted itself to stardom by showing a mass audience what can truly be achieved when you go beyond the established standards.

It certainly helps that it boasts numerous tracks that could easily contend for the title of best video game song of all time, as well as being filled with iconic and charismatic characters that are truly unforgettable, but the game's mastery doesn't end there.

Between constant plot twists, numerous routes that shift your perspective, frequent fourth-wall breaks, countless pop-culture references, and a relentless drive to fully explore the depths of interactivity, Undertale is a title whose soul is so vibrant it's almost palpable.

Whether you view it as a whole or analyze it piece by piece, this adventure resonated deeply with millions around the world for a myriad of easily justifiable reasons, becoming a phenomenon whose magnitude has been achieved by just a select few.​​​​​​​

3 Outer Wilds

The Joy of Living

Entering the highest tier of the list, dominated by a podium of works that are truly historic in every sense, Outer Wilds is such an impressive title that it's impossible not to fall into the cliché of “you have to play it to understand it”.

I myself have given forty-minute lectures trying to explain to my friends just how impressive this adventure is, and even with all the preparation in the world, I'm still unable to faithfully convey the way it changes your life.

Although I hate to speak ambiguously, because I believe I'm knowledgeable enough about the written art to be able to specify the reasons why I praise a particular game, Outer Wilds is simply arcane.

The magic this title radiates isn't understood with words but with experiences, and that part is up to you. I'll just vaguely and uselessly say it's a masterpiece, after which you'll never be the same.

2 Disco Elysium

A World Like No Other

On the other hand, one title for which I can offer countless reasons, both specific and general, to recommend is Disco Elysium, primarily because it boasts the best story ever told in a video game.

From said premise, it's easier to understand the rest of the statements alluding to the robustness, depth, and intelligence of its dialogue, the perfection of its worldbuilding, the density of decisions and customization in its gameplay, and the immersiveness of its circumstances.

Then there's the fact that its soundtrack is magnificent, its visual design is iconic and unmistakable, and its consciously political nature makes it the most mature, transparent, eloquent, and ideologically cohesive game of our time, by a landslide.

Stepping onto Martinaise for the first time, talking to your partner, going outside, listening to the narrator, missing your first shot… Every little moment in Disco Elysium is experienced with a fantasy and relatability that seems worthy of life itself, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I think we'll never see anything so humane again.

1 Hollow Knight

An Unforgettable Odyssey

As one of the projects that defined the development of video games in the decade, giving a modern shape to an entire genre, I can only tip my hat to Hollow Knight as the best indie of the 2010s.

Developers, journalists, and players alike experienced the strange but magical opportunity to unanimously praise a title that seemed to have come out of nowhere, but whose arrival reshaped everything.

The standard for indie games rose meteorically when a title made by so few people and with such a small budget managed to achieve a level of refinement, polish, detail, and mystique worthy of the biggest blockbusters.

With its magnificently interconnected level design, glorious progression, unforgettable boss fights, outstanding lore and atmosphere, tremendous art design, phenomenal soundtrack, and sheer volume of content, it's a game that aspires to and achieves perfection.

Although it can easily change its position with the rest of the podium, now more than ever, I look at the market, and I can't stop seeing the immeasurable influence Hollow Knight has left, and that is an invaluable weight.