Let us take a look at the most underrated indie games of 2025 that very few people are talking about.
When people talk about the best games of the year, the conversation usually revolves around massive releases, award winners, and games pushed heavily by marketing. Indie titles often slip through the cracks, especially when they are not flashy, not controversial, or not instantly viral. 2025 is indeed a good year for indie game, because Expedition 33 proved that you don’t need massive budgets to make a fun and enjoyable game with a good story and characters we relate to!
What makes this year interesting is how many smaller projects quietly delivered strong ideas, solid gameplay loops, or memorable atmospheres without being crowned as the indie games best by mainstream outlets. These titles were discussed, reviewed, and even enjoyed, yet never fully entered the broader gaming conversation. As a result, many genuinely underrated games of 2025 remain unexplored by players who would otherwise appreciate them.
This list focuses on seven such titles. None of them are perfect. All of them, however, deserved more attention than they received. If you care about storytelling or gameplay and want to look beyond the obvious picks, these underrated indie games of 2025 are worth your time.
7. Rematch
Rematch is a fast paced multiplayer football game where each player controls a single character on the field. This makes the game quite unique compared to big titles like FIFA. Developed by the makers of Sifu, it focuses on skill, positioning, and teamwork rather than realistic rules or simulations.
Matches are tight and intense, with no fouls or stoppages, keeping the flow constant. Despite strong player interest and a fresh concept, it did not dominate year end discussions.
That makes Rematch a solid title in this list of underrated indie games of 2025.
6. Atomfall
Atomfall is one of those games that feels larger in ambition than its reception suggests. Set in an alternate-history Britain shaped by nuclear disaster, it blends survival mechanics, exploration, and narrative fragments into a slow-burning experience. While it never positioned itself among the indie games best lists of the year, its setting alone makes it stand out. Your mission in the game is to survive, scavenge, craft, and unravel the mystery of the accident by following certain kinds of leads.
The problem for Atomfall was not a lack of ideas, but pacing and expectations. Players looking for constant action found it restrained, while survival fans sometimes wanted deeper systems. As a result, it landed in an awkward middle ground. That said, its environmental storytelling and eerie tone are genuinely compelling. Players has also applauded it for its attention to deail.
Among the underrated indie games of 2025, Atomfall represents a case where atmosphere did more heavy lifting than mechanics. It may not click with everyone, but for players who value mood, worldbuilding and post-apocalyptic stories, it remains one of the more quietly interesting underrated games of 2025.
5. The Midnight Walk
The Midnight Walk is a dark fantasy adventure where you play as The Burnt One, a mysterious character journeying through a world plunged into eternal darkness with the help of a tiny lantern creature called Potboy. Together you traverse the eerie path known as the Midnight Walk, lighting fires to hold back nightmarish creatures and uncovering stories tied to fire, loss, and hope as you go. The game is striking because its world and characters are literally handcrafted from clay and animated to give it a unique and haunting visual identity.
Its story feels almost like a surreal fairy tale, blending haunting atmosphere with quiet narrative beats that are both melancholic and beautiful. It has been described as Little Nightmares in first person! Despite being underrated, it won an award at the Game of the Year awards for Best AR/VR game, which was quite a surprise!
You can read more about The Midnight Walk here, to know why it is the most underrated horror game of 2025!
4. Dracula: End of Days
Dracula: End of Days is unapologetically niche. It does not chase modern horror trends or over-explain its mechanics. Instead, this visual-novel styled game leans heavily into gothic imagery, slow tension, and a deliberately old-fashioned approach to horror storytelling. That alone likely limited its reach, and plus, it is a visual novel combined with RPG elements. The story is about a father trying to protect his daughter during a zombie apocalypse while he is gradually turning into a vampire himself.
What makes it notable among the underrated indie games of 2025 is its commitment to tone. If we talk about indie games best known, this game doesn’t fit in the list, as it is not a game designed for mass appeal. It trusts the player to sit with discomfort, ambiguity, and silence. In a year where many indie games best lists favored innovation over atmosphere, Dracula: End of Days was easy to overlook.
Yet for horror fans who care about mood more than jump scares, this is one of the more memorable underrated games of 2025. Its limited visibility says more about audience expectations than the game’s actual quality.
3. AI Limit
AI Limit entered an already crowded genre. Soulslike-inspired action RPGs are no longer rare, and that worked against it. Comparisons were inevitable, and many players dismissed it early for not reinventing the formula. That reaction is exactly why it belongs on a list of underrated indie games of 2025.
In AI Limit, you take control of an AI Lifeform in a ruined, post-apocalyptic world overrun by mud-monster creatures called Necros. While it does not revolutionize combat, AI Limit executes its core systems competently and wraps them in a striking sci-fi setting. The world design, enemy variety, and visual identity are stronger than its reputation suggests. It simply released in a year where expectations were unrealistically high.
Among the underrated games of 2025, AI Limit is a reminder that solid craftsmanship still matters. It may not dominate indie games best conversations, but it rewards players willing to judge it on its own terms. Some feel that it is slightly easier so it can be good for those who are new to the genre, and willing to experiment with it!
2. PEAK
PEAK is the most visible game on this list, yet it still qualifies as one of the underrated indie games of 2025 depending on how you define attention. A climbing game where even a small mistake can lead to your demise, this game found a loyal audience, especially among co-op players, but never quite broke into mainstream year-end dominance.
At its core, PEAK thrives on shared chaos. The climbing mechanics are intentionally awkward, forcing players to communicate, fail, and laugh together. It is one of those games where stories emerge naturally, which is something many indie games best contenders strive for but fail to achieve. To put it simply, it is a fun game that you should not take too seriously.
The reason it sits at these underrated games of 2025 is simple. It succeeded, but probably not at the scale its design deserved, and it is still unknown among many people who would otherwise enjoy it. In a less crowded year, PEAK could easily have been a defining indie hit.
1. Dispatch
Dispatch is the most quietly impressive entry here, and it has already been mentioned and praised by few critics. A narrative-driven experience revolving around superheroes, this is a game that relies on writing, pacing, and character interaction rather than spectacle, and it is another example of some of the underrated indie games of 2025 which kind of struggled to gain traction. It asks for attention instead of demanding it.
In the game, you are to lead a chaotic crew of unlikely heroes and decide who responds to citywide emergencies, while juggling office politics, personal bonds, and your own journey toward becoming a hero. The game’s strength lies in its restraint. Dialogue feels grounded, choices feel personal, and the story unfolds without excessive exposition. In a year dominated by louder titles and mechanical innovation, Dispatch was easy to miss.
Yet among the underrated games of 2025, it stands as the most cohesive and confident experience on this list. It may not top indie games best rankings, but for players who value narrative clarity and emotional weight, Dispatch is the strongest argument for looking beyond the obvious, and it has been compared to the popular showsInvincible and The Boys, since it is a mature and edgy take on superheroes.
If you love Dispatch, check our list of 7 best superhero games you can play in 2026.
Check out our list of the best upcoming horror games of the year 2026.
