Indie Genre
(63719 games)
Indie games released over time
This chart shows the amount of games released over the years in the Indie genre and the percentage of games released on Steam they account for. The releases count conveys the quantity of games published on Steam each year. It usually follows the increasing amount of Steam games released.
The percentage, on the other hand, gives a better idea of the trend a genre follows. It shows if, in proportion, the Indie genre is getting more or less popular from a developer's perspective. The Review chart can let us know if this trend is a positive thing (i.e. players interest for the genre is growing) or a negative one (the genre is overcrowded).
The Indie game genre peaked in 2022 with 8606 games released. The popularity of the genre is in a range between 15.2% in 2010 and 27.6% in 2015.
Bear in mind that 2023 is not over yet. The number of releases will continue to increase, but the percentage is already a good estimate of things to come.
Evolution of Indie game reviews
This chart shows the reviews for games with the Indie genre, either as count and as a percentage of all Steam reviews, and the average value for a game. If the chart is cluttered, you can always deactivate some lines by clicking on the legend.
The review count gives a view of the sheer amount of reviews a genre receives, but it also follows the popularity of Steam itself. That is why the normalized value as a percentage of all Steam reviews is often more interesting, as it gives you the popularity trend for Indie genre games.
A typical game associated with this genre collected on average between 43 (2010) and 641 (2014) reviews. Bear in mind that it is the average, and it can be strongly influenced by extreme values, like the release of a very popular game with this genre.
The reviews per game as a percentage of the average show that games in the Indie genre received between 58% (2020) and 128% (2011) reviews compared to other genres.
Price of games in Indie genre
This graph displays the evolution of the Indie genre's games price in USD over the years, and the percentage of free to play games in this genre. Bear in mind that there is inflation over time, which means that a price should slowly increase just to keep the same value.
The median price for Indie games peaked in 2011 at 9.99$, and bottomed in 2015 at 4.99$. The percentage of free to play hit its lowest point in 2013 at 3%, and it's highest in 2020 at 14%.
Positive reviews for the Indie genre, per language
This chart shows an aggregated Steam rating for all the Indie genre games, classed by language. It helps estimate how different audiences judge a game with this genre. A lower rating doesn't always mean that the audience doesn't enjoy that particular genre, as some cultures tend to always give lower scores. But it will affect a game's rating nonetheless.
The best rating for Indie games is 94% for the Romanian audience, and the worst is 83% for the Japanese audience.
| Associated tags |
|
| Image | Name | Description | Price | Rating | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Rag Doll Kung Fu | A piece of Steam history - THE FIRST EVER NON VALVE GAME TO APPEAR ON THE STEAM PLATFORM! | 0.99 | 74.5% | Oct 12, 2005 |
  | Darwinia | Combining fast-paced action with strategic battle planning, Darwinia features a novel and intuitive control mechanism, a graphical style ripped from 80's retro classics like Tron and Defender, and a story concerning a tribe of nomadic sprites trapped in a modern 3D world. | 9.99 | 77.5% | Jul 14, 2005 |
  | Uplink | You play an Uplink Agent who makes a living by performing jobs for major corporations. Your tasks involve hacking into rival computer systems, stealing research data, sabotaging other companies, laundering money, erasing evidence, or framing innocent people. | 9.99 | 90.4% | Aug 23, 2006 |
  | DEFCON | Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare. You play a General hidden deep within an underground bunker. | 9.99 | 86.7% | Sep 29, 2006 |
  | Multiwinia | "Long ago a computer scientist called Dr Sepulveda created a beautiful digital world existing entirely within a computer network of his own invention. This world was called Darwinia and it was inhabited by a peaceful, law-abiding digital life-form called the Darwinians. | 9.99 | 81.8% | Sep 19, 2008 |
  | The Ship: Murder Party | The Ship is a murder mystery multiplayer. | 9.99 | 83.9% | Jul 11, 2006 |
  | The Ship: Single Player | The Ship is a murder mystery alternative to traditional FPS multiplayer games - hunt and be hunted! Package includes multiplayer, single player and tutorial. | Free | 66.7% | Nov 20, 2006 |
  | Gumboy - Crazy Adventures™ | Gumboy has fun and novel gameplay set in a richly imagined world. With simple game controls, Gumboy lets the player bounce, roll, float, and fly through the world. Additionally, Gumboy can change size, shape and material. | 4.99 | 50.5% | Dec 19, 2006 |
  | RIP - Trilogy™ | With the completion of the third title in the RIP series, the RIP games have become an instant classic in the arcade-shooter genre. RIP Trilogy brings all three RIP titles into one exciting and heart-pounding pack.RIPNot afraid of Death? What if he is accompanied by Halloween and Rock-N-Roll? | 4.99 | 64.7% | Jun 1, 2007 |
  | ThreadSpace: Hyperbol | ThreadSpace: Hyperbol is an action-strategy game set in the distant future. Players battle each other on roads in space as they pilot massive ships capable of firing a wide variety of weapons. Create defenses, coordinate with your team, and launch an assault against your opponents to achieve victory! | 4.99 | 93.3% | Jul 12, 2007 |
  | Garry's Mod | Garry's Mod is a physics sandbox. There aren't any predefined aims or goals. We give you the tools and leave you to play. | 9.99 | 96.8% | Nov 29, 2006 |
  | Poker Superstars II | You've been invited back for Season 2! Poker Superstars II raises the stakes with more superstars, a bigger tournament and a brand new poker AI. Import your own photo into the game and become a Poker Superstar. | 9.99 | 46.2% | Oct 5, 2006 |
  | RoboBlitz | RoboBlitz™ is a humorous, physics-based action game full of inventive gizmos, weapons, characters, and environments. Players take on the role of Blitz, a multi-talented robot who must activate an aging Space Cannon to save his world from a band of maladjusted space pirates. | 9.99 | 78.6% | Nov 7, 2006 |
  | Zen of Sudoku | From the creators of Natural Selection comes Zen of Sudoku, a relaxing, easy to play version of Sudoku for your PC.Relax with hand-painted Japanese-styled backgrounds, no timer and lush natural soundscapes.Stimulates your brain to keep it healthy and alert. | Free | 88.2% | Dec 14, 2006 |
  | Natural Selection 2 | A fast paced multiplayer shooter that pits aliens against humans in a strategic and action-packed struggle for survival! | 4.99 | 85.7% | Oct 30, 2012 |
  | Shank | Shank is the cult-classic revival of the sidescrolling beat-em-up. Play as Shank in an over-the-top grindhouse game, packed to the rim with enemies, bosses, combos, and more by the award-winning team at Klei Entertainment. | 9.99 | 90.8% | Oct 25, 2010 |
  | Nexus - The Jupiter Incident | At the dawn of the 22nd century, the conquest of space and the colonization of the solar system is being monopolized by several huge and ambitious mega-corporations. Although extremely delicate and vulnerable, a balance is maintained by these companies. | 9.99 | 84.9% | Jul 3, 2007 |
  | Bullet Candy | Bullet Candy is a fast paced, action packed arena shooter. There are a variety of combo systems and many secret techniques that you can employ to get the best score and weapon upgrades possible. Viewed from a top-down perspective, Bullet Candy allows for a true 360° shoot-em-up experience. | 3.99 | 48.4% | Feb 14, 2007 |
  | Azada | Trapped in a magical puzzle book, the adventurous Titus needs your help to release him from his spell. To do this, you must solve the tricky puzzles of Azada™. Crack the series of puzzles and fill in the missing pages of the enchanted book to free Titus from his prison. Loads of unique puzzles to solve. | 9.99 | 76.5% | Apr 21, 2010 |
  | Axel & Pixel | Axel and Pixel are trapped in a beautiful but dangerous dream world. If they plan to get out they must solve its mysteries. Drawn by hand and rendered in full high-definition, Axel & Pixel is a unique journey through an artist's dream. | 4.99 | 72.2% | Oct 6, 2010 |
  | Gish | Gish isn't your average hero. In fact, he's not your average anything...you see, Gish is a ball of tar. A Sunday stroll with his lady friend, Brea, goes awry when a shadowy figure emerges from an open manhole and pulls Brea below ground. | 9.99 | 61.8% | Jul 20, 2007 |
  | Gumboy Tournament | Test your reflexes, judgment and tactics while facing up to eight other players in this follow-up to the critically acclaimed and popular arcade game Gumboy: Crazy Adventures, winner of numerous accolades including Gametunnel's GAME OF THE YEAR 2006. | 2.99 | 72.3% | May 19, 2008 |
  | Space Trader: Merchant Marine | Space Trader is an open world trading colony sim wrapped in a shooter. Start as a Rookie and earn your way to Master using shrewd trades, back alley deals, bribes, and well-placed bullet. Buy low, sell high and don’t take no for an answer. | 4.99 | 52.5% | Oct 23, 2008 |
  | Penguins Arena: Sedna's World | Penguins Arena is a thrilling and innovative First Penguin Shooter with quick, hectic rounds and where the magic of reincarnation, combined with the supernatural ability to return to the game as a ghost, ensures that your character has every chance to change your tribe's fate, even in the afterlife. | 5.99 | 91.3% | Dec 18, 2008 |
  | Larva Mortus | Larva Mortus is a fast-paced hack and slash top-down shooter. As an agent specializing in exorcism, you are tasked to hunt monsters of the supernatural in a dark, ominous, and randomly generated atmosphere full of undead, terrifying and demonic nightmares. | 2.99 | 75.5% | Mar 19, 2009 |