For AAA developers, it's often all about the biggest franchises, the safest sequels. We have industry auteurs like Suda 51, whose eccentricity shines through in their games, but even they are sometimes reined in by publishers. Indie game makers, on the other hand, have much more liberty to experiment.
2025 was a fantastic year for indie games, with a wide range of unique ideas representing all kinds of genres. It's been indicative of a gaming space that has always been very creative, without the enormous budgets. That same creativity, though, has allowed for some very strange concepts at times; ones fans are unlikely to see in AAA titles.
Mewgenics
A Cat-Breeding Roguelike With Lots Of Poop
Edmund McMillen is another game designer who likes to take a walk on the more peculiar side. His upcoming Mewgenics is scheduled to launch in February 2026, and true to form, it's not quite like anything else out there. The visual style of McMillen's games is unmistakable, as is the gross-out sense of humor and the completely bizarre take on a familiar genre. Mewgenics is all about breeding cats to be the most devastating feline fighting machines they can be, tackling quests, breeding more cats, tackling more quests, and so on.
A constant stream is needed because each squad member can't take multiple trips, but there's also a hub world in between that your warriors can serve in when they're done. Battles are an excellent mix of strategic and chaotic, with different elemental and status effects setting off unexpected things in the environments and combining with each other to potentially doom friend and foe alike. There's a lot of stat-building and strategy to be had, and while a lot of virtual pet games have explored the breeding idea over the years, the whole concept of genetic traits and conditions, and their associated effects, is fascinating.
The Longing
The Waiting Game (Literally)
Many of us like to make the very most we can of our gaming time, as it's in very short supply with all the adult responsibilities we need to juggle. Even if we can only fit in the off half an hour or so, we want to know that we're making some progress. If that's the case for you, the intriguing, infuriating The Longingprobably won't be a fit.
Now, point and click games can often be quite meandering, as you accrue an inventory full of items and try to figure out what to do next. In The Longing, there really isn't anything to do next. Not for a long, long time, anyway. The crux of the experience is that you're a small, miserable-looking creature called a Shade. You're the guardian of a legendary king, who is in no hurry to make his appearance. He'll do so in 400 days, and that's 400 real-world days. To pass the time, the Shade can shuffle very slowly through dingy corridors, read a book in their quarters, and that's largely it. If you're really dedicated, there are ways to speed up the in-game time, in order to reach the glorious denouement; many probably won't stick around to see his Highness's return. A truly novel release from Studio Seufz, and one of the most niche ones around.
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator
Not The Most Moral Business Sim Around
AAA developers, of course, have been known to bring us all kinds of sci-fi horror experiences. The Dead Space series alone contains a lifetime's worth. In that universe, there'd probably be an evil outer-space black market trading in organ parts, but we can't say for sure. What we can say is that Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulatoris absolutely a real thing, introduced by Strange Scaffold in 2021. The team has done an excellent job of keeping things deeply unsettling, but also adding a touch of macabre humor to ensure it never becomes outright horrifying.
The green and black artwork lends a sort of grimy touch to the whole experience, which is nicely fitting. The aim is to out-profit and outlast other dealers, through the simple concept of buying different types of organs cheaply and selling for as much profit as possible. Though it's quite simple and largely plays out through a series of menus, it's got a horribly gripping aesthetic, matched by the plot playing out through thinly-veiled threats and offers from rivals. There are also layers of strategy in taking advantage of special effects some organs have, keeping track of their condition and how it affects pricing, and so on.
Little Inferno
As Adorable As It Is Disturbing
Tomorrow Corporation has a way of making things seem cute and charming, but also ensuring that there's always that undercurrent of menace and things not being quite what they seem. That's exactly the case with Little Inferno. It's far from the only video game with a fireplace, but to use it as the primary means of gameplay was an ingenious idea.
The gameplay loop is as simple as could be: Purchase items from a catalog, await their delivery, throw them into the fire, pick up coins, and continue doing so. New catalogs will be acquired with new items, and particular combinations can be burnt at once to unlock combos. Against this backdrop, though, there's a narrative ticking away, discussing the freezing weather outside and what it might mean for the residents. A thought-provoking experience sure to leave you with more questions than answers, it'll keep those determined to figure out every item combo playing for considerably longer than its brief runtime.
Graveyard Keeper
Another Sim With A Ghastly Twist
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, then, allows players to make their fortune through whichever body parts are valuable on the interstellar market at that moment. If that's the sort of thing you want to be a part of, what about the rest of the body? Fortunately, that's very well represented in Graveyard Keeper.
Lazy Bear Games has created what is essentially a sinister take on Stardew Valley, in which the player manages not a farm but a Medieval-era cemetery. There are a lot of parallels between the two titles in terms of progression of your land, quest-tackling, and developing relationships with others, and Graveyard Keeper also keeps a grim sense of humor to keep it on the tongue-in-cheek side of dark. Later DLC offerings helped to speed up the often-criticised pace of the game, with zombie helpers that can perform certain jobs for you automatically.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
