Indie projects never cease to amaze the gaming community with their ideas, execution, and sometimes — their scale. Modern indie games often make players wonder: can this game truly be classified as indie, considering various nuances?

And this year's nomination for the best indie game of the year at The Game Awards 2025 has sharpened this question more than ever due to the participation of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which by all measures exceeds the boundaries of indie games.

List of nominees for the best indie game of the year at The Game Awards 2025:

• Absolum (Guard Crush Games/Supamonks/Dotemu)
• Ball x Pit (Kenny Sun/Devolver Digital)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb/Raw Fury)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)
• Hades II (Supergiant Games)
• Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — Best Indie according to The Game Awards 2025

• Developer: Sandfall Interactive
• Release Date: April 24, 2025
• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

Since its debut, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become the number one favorite in the gaming community. This allowed the game to be nominated in several categories. And its first award at The Game Awards 2025 was for the best indie game!

Firstly, the game's uniqueness lies in its key mechanic — turn-based combat, which completely reimagines the JRPG genre, elevating it to a whole new level. It stands out against the backdrop of Final Fantasy, Persona, or other similar games. Even those players who aren't fond of turn-based combat have come to appreciate Expedition 33, highlighting its uniqueness.

Secondly, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 boasts an impressive narrative, plot, cinematics, and, most importantly, musical accompaniment. The game practically screams in the player's face that it is a work of art, both literally and through the artistic techniques employed by the game designers in storytelling and certain characters.

However, the game has sparked considerable discussion regarding its indie status, suggesting that it might be time to categorize indie games differently. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a dedicated publisher, and many of its developers are former Ubisoft studio professionals.

Therefore, comparing indie games of this level with those developed by smaller, less experienced teams with smaller budgets and no AAA company experience is not entirely relevant or fair.

Yet, despite this, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 deservedly won its award in the category, as it managed to deliver a fresh and incredibly beautiful visual and gameplay experience on par with AAA+ games, while having a relatively small budget for projects of such scale and quality.

Absolum

• Developer: Dotemu, Guard Crush, Supamonks
• Release Date: October 9, 2025
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows

Absolum feels like someone opened a time capsule from the '90s and fused it with the ambitions of the modern indie scene. In the first few minutes, the recognizable spirit of Streets of Rage envelops you, but the game quickly moves beyond nostalgia to showcase what the beat ’em up genre can achieve when a team truly commits.

The gameplay loop secures Absolum's place among the most notable indie releases of 2025. Guard Crush Games has a keen understanding of the tactile joy of the genre, and with each new run, the combat expands, rewarding aggression, experimentation, and a fair share of chaos. I played both solo and in co-op — and the game maintained its pace in both formats.

What elevates Absolum to the level of best indie game nominees is its impeccable sense of cohesiveness. There's nothing superfluous here. The pace is perfect, the difficulty is adjustable without breaking the spirit of the game, and each successful run leaves a satisfying "just one more time." The game is stylish without excess, demanding without alienation, and reminds us why the indie scene has long overshadowed major studios.

Ball x Pit

• Developer: Kenny Sun and Friends
• Release Date: October 15, 2025
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, macOS, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows

What happens if you take the gameplay of games like Idle Breakout (breaking blocks with a ball) and fill it with various mechanics, a development and upgrade system, turning it into a roguelike? The answer is clear — Ball x Pit.

Despite having relatively simple gameplay and not a particularly complex idea, the developers managed to conceive and implement it all in practice. This resulted in another fun game where you can spend boring evenings, play on your Steam Deck, lying in bed or on the go, when you just want to relax — without unnecessary plots and complex mechanics requiring intense concentration.

Blue Prince

• Developer: Dogubomb
• Release Date: April 10, 2025
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows

We all know that indie developers, more than anyone else, love and aren't afraid to experiment with the flexibility of genres, synthesizing them to create something special. And, surprisingly, the creators of Blue Prince followed this path, offering an unusual roguelike puzzle where the player must find the hidden 46th room by navigating through other rooms that you build yourself, accessing available doors. Along the way, you must solve various puzzles to unlock other mansion secrets.

Overall, the game has many accompanying mechanics and rules that make everything work. The public has embraced this approach quite strongly: the game received very positive reviews from both players and critics and was one of the highest-rated games of 2025 for some time.

Hades II

• Developer: Supergiant Games
• Release Date: September 25, 2025
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S

It seemed that the developers at Supergiant couldn't outdo themselves. However, Hades II proved otherwise... Or did it? The game spent a long time in early access, offering players a chance to experience its content, and upon its full release, it garnered a slew of positive reviews and even more affection for the sequel.

Every run, build, and boss you face is another adventure worth experiencing. However, some players note that over time, the game starts to feel overwhelming, and it can become tiresome. But that's no surprise, as "more" doesn't always mean "better," which can be a negative point for some.

It's also worth noting that some details intended as improvements over its predecessor also have downsides: the dialogues and plot are weaker, the art design is on par with the previous game, but sometimes it might even fall short. Yet, the game's soundtrack holds its standard.

Overall, Hades II is a good continuation of a good game, but it does rely heavily on the original and may not offer much uniqueness or surprise. Thus, Hades II was not destined to win the title of the best indie game of the year.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Developer: Team Cherry
• Release Date: September 4, 2025
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

For nearly seven years, fans of Hollow Knight awaited the new installment, subtitled Silksong. And these expectations were met. The project, initially conceived as DLC for the original game, evolved into a new full-fledged sequel. Despite the lengthy development time, as the developers themselves said, they created it with pleasure. And as we know, the best games are those made with passion and for the fans first and foremost.

As a result, we received a great continuation with a new yet familiar protagonist in the lead role; large locations with many secrets, enemies, and bosses. As before, players can create builds based on found tools and charms, which can completely change Hornet's playstyle. And naturally, the difficulty, which according to many reviews, is higher than in the original game.