2023 COUNTDOWN
Welcome to the Players Choice: Best Upcoming Indies of 2023. The following games have been voted on by IndieDB's community from the Top 100 upcoming nominees, and represent the games those voters are most excited for in the next year and beyond.
Minimalist and relaxing survival builder perfect for short gaming sessions. Rebuild and manage your realm, collect resources and decide the fate of your people. Explore the darkness and unveil the secrets of the black monoliths to bring back light to the world.
PUNT is a first person puzzle platformer running on the Source Engine. Using the E.M.M.A., navigate the puzzles of Harmonics and overcome obstacles of increasing complexity! With Steam Workshop support, puzzles are virtually endless!
ALTERA is a faction based military survival sandbox. Recruit & hack units! Gather resources & gear. Become the troop commander & lead your troop to victory!
Starship Simulator is a true work of passion, born of many a childhood dream to experience what it would truly be like to live and work on a massive deep space exploration vessel, just like the ones you see depicted in classic science fiction. A dream of walking among the stars, exploring distant worlds, and answering one of mankind's oldest questions... what awaits us in the great unknown?
First Dwarf is an immersive action RPG with base building elements, which will test your survival and exploration skills in a fantasy open world, sprawling on islands floating in the sky.
D.O.R.F. Real-Time Strategic Conflict is an RTS game for PC, currently in development, taking inspiration from classic RTS games of the 90’s, while also expanding on the genre with new and innovative mechanics. The game will feature land, air and sea combat, and will have three unique factions to play as.
Take on the commanding role for an advanced special weapons and tactics team. Tactical Squad: SWAT Stories places great focus on realism, drawing not only from the rich history of tactical games, but also real-life situations where deployment of similar units was necessary. Your squad members communicate with each other, respond to situations, and combat hostiles. Make sure you issue the correct orders but be aware that you'll be in the middle of the action performing many tasks yourself!
3RD PLACE
Used Cars Simulator - trade used or stolen cars, fix and customize them, drive around, and explore the open world! Grow your business, complete quests, and have fun with a physics-based sandbox!
Stealthy pixel art platform-adventure set in a satyrical world dominated by power-hungry bunnies. Help Kiyo and his friends restore the balance of his world.
No suprizes here, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series from GSC is very popular on our sites, and the next installment which has been a long time coming is eagerly anticipated. Can't wait to see what GSC serves up this time around, as we reenter the vast Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and face all of its dangerous enemies, deadly anomalies and powerful artifacts.
Supported by mod.io
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Congratulations to every winner in the Player's Choice: Best Upcoming Indies of 2023! Further congratulations are in order for every indie game that was nominated and participated in voting. With the Best Upcoming Indies announced, the final Indie of the Year results will go live on December 28.
Stalker 2? "Indie"?
I thought the same thing with Editor's Choice this year (also has STALKER 2).
"No surprises here" indeed, the mega-known, AAA-scope game, backed by Microsoft, should... win in the indies vote?..
I am proud that you guys chose my tiny game "Lueur and the Dim Settlers" in your top 10. It's hard to get visibilty as a solo developer, and it's incredible to know that I have the support of such an awesome community. Thank you!
I can't believe we made it to SECOND place with Kiyo! I second Darenn, it's so hard to get visibility that this recognition means a lot and it's an incredible morale booster for us.
Heartfelt thanks to everybody who voted for Kiyo!
We are curious to hear from you, so if you want to know more and get involved, stay tuned, because soon we'll post an announcement with our official Discord server and the start of our community building efforts :)
Feels weird to see STALKER 2 in first place, despite everyone's desire to give it a whirl on launch it's inclusion here feels rather unfair.
Thanks to everyone who voted for our first game Kiyo, I couldn't believe it when I saw we were second! It's indeed really tough to get noticed these days, but the support of this fun community means so much! I'm very curious to hear your thoughts about Kiyo, so I hope to meet you on our discord server soon!
Congrats to everyone who made it to the top 10! it was an honor to be part of the top 100 with such fantastic games and devs!