10 Weirdest Upcoming Video Games to Keep an Eye On in 2026

I love video games (as you should expect), but sometimes, everything can kind of start to feel a bit... same-y. Sure, we have plenty of genres to bounce around these days, but even so, I'm sometimes looking for a title a bit more unconventional.

I'm also someone who's been known to Google "Weirdest movies on Netflix," then just watch whatever pops up in some messed-up type of indie film Russian Roulette. I'm not totally sure what this says about me, but I just know I'm someone that craves extremely different media from time to time.

With all of that said, there are 10 upcoming indie video games on the horizon that I've got shortlisted for whenever this mood strikes me next. If you're someone like me, here are some truly weird-looking titles that we should be able to experience soon.

10 Dice of Arcana

Roll or Die

Dice of Arcana very much looks like Inscryption on the surface, except instead of some animal-focused Roguelike deck-builder, it's a 1-on-1 game centered around dice. To Dice of Arcana's credit too, Inscryption was plenty weird already, but it actually doesn't seem to hold a candle to just how dark and twisted it seems like Dice of Arcana really is.

Here, your opponents very clearly do not want to play the game with you, and many of them are maimed and missing one-to-several body parts, apparently from lost matches in the past. We still don't really know what's going on in Dice of Arcana beyond the dice game, but whatever it is, it seems weird at the very least.

9 Neverway

I Wanna Go Home

Neverway has some cozy game DNA, but it doesn't take long to see that it's really anything but. Or at least, it has plenty of weird psychological horror elements at play to prevent it from being the cozy-type of life sim that many fans of the genre would expect. It kind of has the same familiar setup: Main character Fiona quits her job and moves to a farm. Cute! Main character Fiona owes a debt to a dead god. Yikes!

It also boasts the same pixel artist from Celeste, which shows through in the game's art design. In fact, it seems to be even a step up from how cool Celeste looked. The art design is creepy while still maintaining a nice vibe somehow, and I'm very curious to see what all we get up to in this horrible, adorable world of Neverway.

8 Showa American Story

I Pledge Allegiance to Sensory Overload

Showa American Story is the type of game you watch a trailer for and just kind of think, "I... do not know what I'm looking at here at all." In overall style, it most closely resembles a film like Big Man Japan, which I'm not really expecting any of you to know, but you should check it out nonetheless. The weirdness is dialed up to 11 in Showa's trailer, full of insane imagery and style that can't be described as anything but weird.

Here, Japan has purchased the USA. Zombies and monsters are everywhere. Decapitated heads are launched with golf clubs. And... well, that's really only just scratching the surface of the weird you can check out in the game's trailer. I'm not even totally sure what this game is, but it has me interested regardless.

7 Shroom and Gloom

Fungus Amongus

Visually, Shroom and Gloom immediately reminded me of Drinkbox Studios' masterpiece touchscreen game Severed, combined with arguably the best game available on Apple Arcade, Card of Darkness. Aside from the very unique artstyle, this also seems like a game that is doing something different in the Roguelike deck-building genre.

In fact, Shroom and Gloom calls itself a DOUBLE deck-builder (whoa). It's also a first-person sort of dungeon-crawler-type card game, which isn't something we see very often, and I personally think it looks amazing. Better yet, if you like mushrooms, you can enjoy all the cool fungi in this game. Or if you hate mushrooms, you can enjoy killing them all in Shroom and Gloom.

6 Penguin Colony

Not So Happy Feet

At a very quick glance, Penguin Colony doesn't look that particularly odd. Heck, we have plenty of sims out there where players simply control an animal. Penguin Colony is just that, right? Not so fast.

This game is actually labeled as a "cosmic horror," so we can be sure there is a lot more going on here than just waddling around and eating fish. Penguin Colony is based on Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, but takes a unique, weird angle on the story by placing us in the shoes of a penguin who is observing two factions of humans hunting for some sort of ancient being in the frozen tundra.

5 Happy's Humble Burgatory

You Don't Get Paid Enough

Happy's Humble Burgatory is the follow-up to Happy's Humble Burger Farm, but this time, it's co-op. Truth be told, I've never personally played the OG game, but it's actually well-reviewed, and it takes about two seconds to accept that it definitely qualifies as being a weird upcoming video game.

In some sort of insane simulation, you and your pals will work the kitchen and counter at a Hellish fast food restaurant that definitely has seen better days. Mess up enough, and the simulation becomes unstable, leading to things becoming completely unhinged in some horrifying ways.

4 Virtue and a Sledgehammer

Swinging for the Fences

A game from Devolver Digital on the list shouldn't be a surprise, as they've kind of become the poster children of weird video games they've chosen to publish over the years. Virtue and a Sledgehammer fits the "weird" bill 100%, but I also think it genuinely looks good too.

In this one, you'll go back to your hometown. But you're not here to catch up with family and old friends. You're here to tear it all down with a sledgehammer. The game's trailer seems to be leaning into some existential-type commentary too, and the visuals and music are both striking and uniquely weird in their own ways.

3 Pal♡world! ~More Than Just Pals~

No Judgment

The actual Palworld is pretty out there in its own right as a Pokémon clone that allows you to arm your animal buddies with assault rifles and put them to work in factories. But wouldn't you know it, the actual dev team behind the OG game has somehow gone and outdone themselves in the weird category.

Pal♡world! ~More Than Just Pals~ (a title I'm never typing out like that ever again) is a visual novel dating sim in which you can... date the creatures from Palworld. No judgment! I just did not expect that's what this one actually was! What's more interesting to me, though, is that it also seems to be dealing with some genuine themes of horror as well, making it look like the most similar thing to Doki Doki Literature Club we've gotten yet.

2 Fractured Blooms

Nothing Good Ever Happens in Empty Farmhouses

Stuck in some sort of horrific time loop situation, Fractured Blooms places us in control of a girl who really just wants to tend the garden at her farmhouse, cook some dinner, do some laundry, and go to bed. Unfortunately for her, life isn't that simple, and something is in the house with her.

Whether it's a legitimate presence, some other weird force, or all in her mind, I'm not sure. What I do know is that restarting each day and seeing how it unfolds the next time is addictive. I've demoed this game, and I'm very excited to test out the final product when it hopefully releases sooner rather than later.

1 The Dungeon Experience

What the Crab?

Out of everything I tested out at LVLUP Expo earlier this year, The Dungeon Experience was easily the weirdest. In fact, it has a strong case for being one of the weirdest video game experiences of my life period. Another representative on the list from publishers Devolver Digital, The Dungeon Experience features a hilarious narrator crab that wants you to have a good time in his dungeon.

But it's not only that. He also wants you to be able to experience financial freedom someday, and he hopes this game will help. If this sounds weird, well, it obviously is. The Dungeon Experience is a first-person narrative adventure game that's like all the zaniest parts of your favorite Adult Swim shows rolled into something you really just have to try out to understand. I can't wait for this one.