Top 2 Best Indie Games – February 2025

Discover February 2025’s top indiegames!

Occulto offers a magical, hand-drawn adventure with non-verbal storytelling, while Broken Shell delivers a #cozygame , emotional puzzle journey. Though Occulto’s Kickstarter fell short, its art is breathtaking, and Broken Shell’s success speaks volumes. Don’t miss these unique indie gems!

0:00 Occulto  developed by SirioArtGames

Occulto is an indie adventure game with a focus on artistic hand-drawn visuals and a non verbal game play.

It is being developed by two fans of the genre. This is our very first game and we want to create an artistic adventure game, with challenging riddles, hand drawn scenes, animations and original soundtracks.

The whole game is under development, and its release will be approximately on the end of 2025 or the first months of 2026. Please be patient, this is a truly indie game! :)

You will guide Eliot, a young apprentice of magic, through riddles, mysteries, traps and help him find his teacher who has mysteriously disappeared.

An evil Presence is looking for a powerful book which is in the possession of the teacher.

0:44 Broken Shell developed by foggystudio

Broken Shell is a cozy, hand-drawn puzzle adventure that takes players on an emotional journey with Mr. and Mrs. Hermit, a crab couple whose peaceful home has been devastated by human expansion. As they navigate love, loss, and hope, players will help them solve meaningful puzzles and overcome challenges to find a new home and rebuild their life together.

River Tails: Stronger Together - A Co-op Adventure Like No Other

In the vast landscape of indie games, "River Tails: Stronger Together" stands out as a gem that promises an unparalleled co-op experience. Developed by the talented italian team at KidOnionStudio, this 3D co-op adventure platformer breaks away from the ordinary with its vibrant visuals, engaging storyline, and innovative gameplay mechanics. But why Play "River Tails: Stronger Together"?

The game takes you on an extraordinary journey through visually stunning natural-world environments. From uncharted rainforests to magical river caves, each level is a feast for the eyes. The attention to detail and the vibrant color palette make "River Tails" a visual delight. What sets "River Tails" apart is its 3D action-adventure platformer designed around a unique couch co-op system. Whether playing with friends using Steam Remote Play together or Parsec, the game fosters collaboration and teamwork. Players can choose between Furple, the curious purple kitten, or Finn, the independent fish with attitude, as they work together to overcome challenges.

Do you know Steam Remote Play together or Parsec?

Steam Remote Play Together is a feature offered by the Steam gaming platform. It enables players to enjoy local multiplayer games with friends online, even if the game itself doesn't inherently support online multiplayer. With Remote Play Together, one player hosts the game, and others can join in remotely, allowing for a shared gaming experience over the internet. As the previous one, Parsec is a game streaming service that allows users to play video games remotely with others. It enables low-latency, high-quality streaming of games from one device to another, making it possible for friends to join in and play together as if they were in the same room. Also Parsec supports both local and online multiplayer games and provides a versatile solution for gaming sessions across different devices.

But back on River Tails! The characters, Furple and Finn, add a delightful touch to the game. The unexpected alliance between a kitten and a fish brings a unique dynamic to the co-op experience. Embark upstream with these charming allies on a quest to save Furple's family from mortal danger, unraveling an engaging storyline as you progress.

"River Tails: Stronger Together" requires a controller to play, ensuring a smooth and immersive gaming experience. The controls are intuitive, allowing players to focus on the adventure rather than wrestling with complicated mechanics. You can start to check it playing the FREE DEMO. It is uploaded also on indiexpo website. The demo lets players explore a snippet of the visually diverse environments featured in the full game. Encounter local wildlife and decipher friend from foe as you navigate through rainforests, river caves, and treacherous swamps. The varied landscapes keep the gameplay fresh and exciting. Experience the innovative couch co-op system during the demo, getting a taste of the unique challenges and puzzles that require collaboration. "River Tails" transforms multiplayer gaming into a seamless and enjoyable adventure.

Few words about KidOnionStudio and his Achievements:

KidOnionStudio, the Italian development team behind "River Tails," has earned recognition not only for their creative prowess but also for successfully navigating a Kickstarter campaign. Their notable presence in various gaming events in Italy and selection for the Guerrilla Collective 2023 showcase attests to their commitment to quality game development.

Now "River Tails: Stronger Together" is finally out also on Steam, and, as you can see, it is more than just a game. It's an experience that transcends the boundaries of typical indie titles. With its captivating visuals, engaging co-op mechanics, and the promise of a heartwarming adventure, this game is a must-try for any gaming enthusiast. So, grab your controllers, invite your friends, and dive into the enchanting world of "River Tails."

5 Metroidvania indiegames to play if you loved The Last Faith and Hollow Knight

Metroidvania is a subgenre of video games that features a combination of mechanics first found in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Metroid. This now beloved subgenre had its humble beginnings in the 80s as then unrecognized Japanese developers toiled over the creation of complex levels and truly challenging difficulty. What were initially just elements of a series became systems in a subgenre, disseminating across the ever-expanding world of video game development.

One of the best great indie game of this subgenre were The Last Faith, released few time ago on Steam and Hollow Knight, with a lot of fans and a huge community!

The Last Faith is an exploration-based Metroidvania, action side-scrolling platformer with dark and gothic horror themes at its core. A very professional studio behind this project!

Hollow Knight is a challenging and artful insect-based adventure. As a cute little bug, you go up against deadly creatures and intricate traps. Beneath the fading town of Dirtmouth sleeps a vast, ancient kingdom. Many are drawn beneath the surface, searching for riches, or glory, or answers to old secrets. As the enigmatic Knight, you’ll traverse the depths, unravel its mysteries and conquer its evils. Developed by Team Cherry.

But now we can see 5 metroidvania indie games to follow, discover and download on indiexpo if you loved The Last Faith and Hollow Knight!

1. The Crown Stones: Mirrah

The Crown Stones: Mirrah is a Metroidvania with RPG / Action / Horror and Adventure elements that will show the world of the dead like never seen before, a game full of secrets and puzzles that becomes more difficult and darker and has as main inspiration the game Castlevania and Dark Souls.

Developed by Frater Studio

GamePage and Download

2. Witchcrafter: Empire Legends

One of the most played game on indiexpo! Witchcrafters are skilled sorcerers able to control four elements: fire 🔥, air 🌪️, water 💧, earth ⛰️

With character progression you can master also derivatives: electricity ⚡, ice ❄️, flora🌱, lava🌋.

Your choices impacts the branching story, political situation and relations between a cast of distinguishable characters. Estel will evolve from a young, stubborn kid to a mature, but distrustful witchcrafter.

Estel can reach any ledge. Get advantage of the smooth platforming movement and your unique skills. Explore secret caves and sanctuaries, dense forests and wilderness, visit villages and towns.

Witchcrafter's intent is to become a systemic game - with 🔥 fire propagation, 💧 water simulation, physics based dynamics and even terraforming. Decorative elements, flora and enemies should all react to player's actions.

It's a platformer with metroidvania and RPG elements, heavily based on elemental magic spells and unique abilities allowing to reach locked places. It is a story rich adventure with a lot of branching dialogues and difficult decisions to make.

Developed by Pawel Jarosz

GamePage and Play Online

3. Skelethrone

Recently uploaded and also on Kickstarter. Skelethrone is a action RPG with metroidvania elements and soul-mechanics. Game that combines the skilled combat of a souls-like game with a profound and evocative narrative storyline.

A great adventure inspired by writer Michael John Moorcock, consisting of non-linear levels. It is in English and Russian.

Developed by 70' Strike Studio

GamePage and Download

4. Nightkeep

Nightkeep is a 2D metroidvania-like platformer with RPG elements set in a fictional medieval fantasy world, accompanied by an original story.

Developed by PixelABCD

GamePage and Download

5. Inmortis

Face corruption and insanity through a ruined world ruled by twisted Gods where every fight will be a challenge. It started few time ago also a kickstarter campaign.

Developed by Pecking Crow Studio

GamePage and Download

3 interesting games now on Kickstarter & indiexpo

Recently a lot of new Indie Games were uploaded on indiexpo website!

A lot a small teams or solo devs use this platform to upload also their free demos to reach feedbacks and improve their game to prepare a good crowfounding campaign!

During November there are three interesting crowfounding campaigns started on Kickstarter of games already released on indiexpo!

The first one is Heat Fragments!

It already passed Kickstarter, reaching over 12.000 $!

It is a very professional visual novel, with a small team but with amazing skills! We love anime and manga and here the level is very high!

Heart Fragment is a psychological otome game where your choices play an important role not just in the route you're on, but in the game as a whole. 

The result is hundreds of player choices to make, more than 100 CGs, two art styles to choose between, 6 routes, a highly customizable finale where you choose the "true ending", and an estimated total of 40 hours of content!

Make your way through 40+ endings - romantic, platonic, even a mix of the two for "the hope of romance to come". Stay on guard for bad endings... or dive headfirst into them and learn what information they can reveal to further advance the plot!

Kickstarter Page | Game Page

The second one is River Tails!

We noted and loved this game from the first time that it was uploaded on indiexpo!

The cartoon style is great and the animations are perfect!

Now it is live on Kickstarter and just passed the 50%!

River Tails: Stronger Together is a 3D co-op adventure platformer with a colourful cartoon aesthetic. Teammates must work together to defeat end-of-level bosses and solve puzzles across a range of natural-world environments. River Tails is perfect for all sorts of gaming partnerships: friends, couples, siblings, and even parents with their kids.

The main characters aren’t the most obvious partnership. In fact, these animals are often cast as enemies. Meet myth-busting mates Furple the cat and Finn the fish!

Play either as Furple, the curious and excitable purple kitten, or Finn, the independent fish with a bit of an attitude problem. You’ll embark upstream with these unexpected allies, towards the icy mountain where Furple’s family are in mortal danger. Can you save them in time? To make progress up the river, you’ll need to master just two core actions: jumping and grabbing.

Good luck guys!

Kickstarter Page | Game Page

The last one is ONA.

Never seen a game like this. It is an exploration game about the Indian culture.

An allegorical story mixing different visions and interpretations. Every visit will be different, everybody will see unique content. Explore all continents, visit lost temples and mystic places. Meet sages from different civilizations and discover ancient revelations. Solve puzzles and visual paintings to unfold hidden messages. Find special keys in the game and access deeper thought.

ONA allows you to travel around the world in a meaningful and immersive journey.

Reveal the meaning of your quest. Wander through a universal and timeless adventure that will lead you into the unexpected depths of the world and of yourself.

Kickstarter Page | Game Page

Are you preparing a Kickstarter campaign for your indie game?
Contact us! We will try to help you to share it!

Pixel Art + Netflix = Landflix Odyssey

Landflix is a free indie game about the tv series, like DareDevil, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and others. It's still a demo but it's very cool. And it's in exclusive on indiexpo.

Let's see more about it:

The Studio

Rome-based indie dev Fantastico Studio has unveiled Landflix Odyssey, a 2D platformer that parodies your favourite cult TV shows while you explore a mock version of Netflix.

The Game

The game has five different worlds - with each one pastiching everything from Game Of Thrones to Stranger Things - as you hunt down a set of radioactive batteries for a man who's purposely ripping off Doc Brown from Back To The Future. It's very silly, and very 2018, but we like the look of its mixture of satire and challenging platforming mechanics.

Nintendo Switch

The campaign has a stretch goal for a Switch version at €20,000 (roughly $25,000). Fantastico had told us that a release on Switch had been secured even without the Kickstarter, and reaching the main campaign goal would allow for the company to avoid going through a publisher.

It's on Kickstarter! You can support it here 

This is our cool cover!

User Stories: 6 Eyes Studio - I left EA 2 years ago to work on my own game

I left EA 2 years ago to work on my own game: a tactical RPG with great pixel art and lush hand-drawn battle maps.  After more than a decade working in the video game industry, the last 4 at EA, I decided it was time to do away with "non-compete agreement employment" and I quit my job to follow my dream and start working on my own game. 

Together with my wife, a kick-ass pixel artist, we set off to create Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark, a story-driven tactical RPG aiming to bring back the glory days of Final Fantasy Tactics and the like. Today, we're both developing Fell Seal on a full-time capacity and making awesome progress. 

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a turn-based tactical RPG set in a fantasy universe, with a touch of steampunk. We're focusing on a mature story and dialogues, an intricate and vast class system and solid core gameplay. The game is a mix of lush fully hand-drawn environments with carefully crafted high-res pixel art. 

The gameplay aims to be as faithful as possible to timeless classics like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, but brings in its own set of improvements and additions, such as improved UI, a novel items system, potent visual character customization and lots of exciting abilities (to name but a few!).

The maps feature various types of terrain and elevations, which allows for more options and crafty play during combat. For example, tossing a unit that can't swim into water is going to yield pretty potent results...

Our artist decided she needed to draw a ridiculous amount of clothing for characters, so we created a system that lets you customize the visuals of your units from a very large array of portraits, outfits, skin colors, hats, hairs, accessories, eyes, etc. All with many color options. With this system, none of your units are going to feel generic (unless that's your thing).

This makes for as large and varied an army as you fancy it... You can set up all your units in the camp view, which allows you to change their gear, abilities, class, etc as well as craft new gear and items. You'll also be able to unlock secret classes, on top of the 20 core classes.

The game focuses a lot on the story, which is told via in-game cutscenes in a mix of the style of games like Final Fantasy 6 and Tactics Ogre.

We launched our Kickstarter for Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark 2 days ago and we're 15% funded at this point.

Fell Seal has an incredible amount of at put into it (we're up to about 80,000 individual sprite frames at this point, which is a staggering amount), so we've been relying on the help of a few awesome contracted artists to make sure we can both keep the quality high and the timeline as lean as possible. The Kickstarter will allow us to keep using their vital services and aim for a Q3 release in 2018.

We're off to a good start on Kickstarter and the community there has been awesome. We hope you're liking the style of our game and will consider supporting us on Kickstarter!

Feel free to post any questions you might have (preferably about the project, but anything else works too, lol)! We'll be happy to respond!

6 Eyes Studio

Game images in your Game Page

Game images can make or break your game's success. You can hire the best game designer in the world to create a killer design and ux, but when images posted on a website like indiexpo or Kickstarter are bad, downloads will be bad. It’s the first thing a gamer will look at.

Even studies show that people that "shop" online value product images. The most important features of a product page are:

Quality of the product images
Several images
Alternate views of the same game

In this post, we’ll go over a number of things you need to consider when adding game images to your game page on indiexpo.





One of the things we tell our developers is to use images of the gameplay in the different areas.

Using game images with the games in use works best (gameplay in high quality and/or full hd), because people will be able to see themselves playing that game. We need to try to give our players that same experience. So : in the Screenshots Area, use images of the gameplay.

It seems so obvious to use high quality images. But we have been telling you to reduce the file size for years, right. First of all, that doesn’t mean you have to use a crappy, blurred image of just a few kBs.

Internet connections are getting faster. There are just a few so-called white spots (locations with no internet at all), with a total size of a couple of baseball fields. That also means we’ll have less difficulties downloading your larger product image files. You’ll need larger images anyway, as that leads us to another necessary feature of our website: ability to zoom game images.

If there is no proper game image available, create one or capture your desktop (while you're playing the game).
It's the same as an online shop.

Shopify ‘s guide (one of the best Shop Online) on product images states:
"Your product images can be any size up to 2048px by 2048px, or 4.2 megapixels. […] Higher resolution photos will look more polished and professional to your customers, and we typically suggest 1024px by 1024px as a guideline for square product images."

Woocommerce states that the minimum dimensions should be 800×800 pixels. That seems to make sense, as it will perfectly fit most tablets as well without any problem. Smaller will lead to distortion, and we have established you want quality images, right?


You want to be able to look at a game from all angles. Show all the areas. if it's a RPG, show the battle system, the world map and the other maps.

P.s. Remember that on indiexpo you can also upload GIF !

Is Crowdfunding Right for Your Game ? Analyzing Xydonia

First of all : Crowdfunding is a form of alternative finance, which has emerged outside of the traditional financial system.
Excluding debt funding there are two main types of crowdfunding platforms:

1. Gifting crowdfunding sites such as www.kickstarter.com or www.indiegogo.com where no equity is involved. The “donations” can be as small as €10 and can involve rewards such as tee-shirts, invites to launch parties and products that have been produced post-funding. Often this type of platform suits creative industries and social enterprise.

2. Equity crowdfunding, such as www.crowdcube.com and www.seedrs.com where, in return for cash, a person can play Dragons Den and take a tiny stake in a company that potentially could produce a healthy return on investment. The individual investor or crowd will have no say in the company but often there can be several other fringe benefits to being an investor, similar to the gifting sites above.

With both types of crowdfunding you upload your pitch and then have typically 60 days to secure the full amount of capital you require. If you fall short of the target funding, all the capital raised gets returned. The costs are usually 5-7% of capital raised.

We can analyze one of the latest game on Kickstarter, posted also on indiexpo : Xydonia.
Result :
728 backers pledged € 25,925 (the Goal was € 20,000)  to help bring this project to life.

So why was Xydonia so successful?

Let's take a look at five critical factors for Xydonia's success when raising crowd funding:

1. Xydonia already had an active and responsive database of gamers, built up over two years, that had already played their game or seen gameplays on youtube. Although many crowdfunding sites have over ten thousand registered investors, if they do not know you it will take a lot of convincing to get them to buy into what you are doing. The team of game developers that secure crowdfunding usually already have a good following before they even ask for the money.

2. Not only is it important to have your own database, but you need a strong pre-launch campaign delivered through email, face-to-face and social media for at least two weeks before you release the deal on a crowdfunding site. I discovered their game at the Svilupparty 2016.


3. Their pitch was outstanding in its clarity of vision and its description of the past, present and future. People could buy into the compelling narrative emotionally and wanted to be a part of it. The business plan is less important than the emotional impact you can make through video, images and graphics. Invest most of your preparation time on your one-two minute elevator pitch; without an excellent pitch you will never gain enough interest to get your deal funded.

4. They demonstrated a clear work,  through credible visuals and a free demo to try. "XYDONIA is an old school arcade horizontal shoot 'em up, inspired by the Japanese milestones of the genre, such as R-Type, Gradius and Darius".
With a comparison (Gradius and Darius) the users immediately associates in their head a very precise and clear idea of the game.

People need to be able to understand your big game within 10 seconds, and then be able to tell other people about your game with ease. If your gameplay or design has a high degree of complexity it may not be for the crowd but for more specialist investors.

5. The budget is not impossibile. You can see several campaigns on Kickstarter where the developers looking for huge goals. Watch your game and watch on kickstarter what's the budget requiered for a game like yours. It can help you.

Is it right for your game?

Crowdfunding will continue to gather hype in the months ahead.
This is good news for developers, as it means high valuations, a much quicker route to capital, and access to a large base of enthusiastic investors spreading the word about your business.

Should this option not suit your business however, it's important to remember that crowdfunding is just one of many alternative routes to funding.

But how do you know whether equity crowdfunding is right for you? If you can tick off all the five points above for your game – then go for it!

P.s. If you're looking for a good campaign on Kickstarter using indiexpo, read also this post.

6 Tips about Kickstarter Game Projects. How to Successfully Fund Your Game With Kickstarter & indiexpo

Gaming on Kickstarter has already experienced some huge successes, for example, Tim Schafer's first successful Double Fine Adventure opened the floodgates.

Gaming was Kickstarter's biggest funded category in 2012, raising $83 million for successfully funded projects.

Here they are several tips to use indiexpo website to successfully fund your Indie Game with Kickstarter.

1. Have a Free Demo.
Don’t try to fund an idea. Everyone has cool ideas for video games. Few people have a demo to play.
It should be free, so you can spread it easily and fastly.

2. Post your game and add Links.
Add your free demo on indiexpo and in the form, in the Website Area, add the link to Kickstarter.
Also in the description you can write to click on the Website to go in the Kickstarter page.

Add also in the Kickstarter page the link to indiexpo to download the free demo.

3. Add a Video Gameplay.
Make a video Gameplay on youtube with a link to the Kickstarter page and a link to the indiexpo page, to download the free demo. Make sure your videos are short and to the point. Then add this video in the Kickstarter page and in the indiexpo game page.

You don’t need to do funny, gimmicky things, though that doesn’t necessarily hurt.

If your game is cool and has several downloads, the indiexpo Staff can help you to have a video gameplay made by famous youtubers.

4. Refresh your page.
Every time that a big donation is done, add a news on your indiexpo game page with the name of the backer, the reward and that the campaign is going on.

5. Read the comments.
Respond to every single comment on indiexpo and Kickstarter page. Do it; why not? Let these people know you are there if they need to ask or say something.

6. Many followers, few backers
If you have several followers on indiexpo but few backers on Kickstarter, try to undestand how it's happen and write news about this on your game page. When you post it, the followers will recive a notification about it.

Kickstarter can be a very good tool for smaller studios and teams to make unique, wonderful games.