A huge part of my game collection is made up of shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less, it's been this way for a while now, a better world is possible right now with a little work, but I kind of want to set some expectations first.
Because the first problem is discoverability. Smaller-team games are usually using digital distribution methods and don't have a lot of budget for promotion, if any at all. They rely on "10 Best New Indie Games April 2026" lists, short form videos, Various Algorithms, and word of mouth. If you're feeling like a specific little slice of gaming, like you want something that feels like an early-2000s Flash adventure game but with a bit more bite and difficulty in both gameplay and story, you're going to have to hunt through tags yourself (also I just described the Cube Escape Collection, if that actually interests you). For every indie game that breaks containment and defines a moment in media, there are thousands loved by small groups of specific weirdos, none of whom have 1 million followers on anything. You gotta ready yourself for that search. And the best thing you can do once you find a small creator you like is talk about them, post about them, never shut up about them (which I will be doing throughout this body of text).
Also, a small note on that topic: the Steam Next Fest series of events is one of the best efforts I've seen in the modern day in driving that discoverability. If you're not on Steam or don't really pay attention, it's an event when a large amount of demos are released and promoted all at once, encouraging players to try as much as they want and wishlist the games that please them. This is hugely beneficial to both creators and players, one of the few promo situations I've seen that is as good for one as it is for everyone, and drives a lot of sexy post-Next Fest recommendation videos as well as hot new games right into your wishlist. And the next one is June 15th!
And, frankly, the infusion of new titles will be a boon, as the thing about shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less is that they take a long time to actually make, meaning it's entirely possible for you to find a near-bespoke game that so perfectly suits your temperament and then, once it's done, spend an undefined amount of actual years waiting on any sort of updates from the developer in any capacity, let alone the same series. Small creators get burnt out, they have family situations that pause development, they get wild hair-up-ass ideas for follow-up games that have nothing to do with the five-dollar impulse purchase that changed your life, that is just the nature of the thing, a quirk of independent creation that will drive you drywall-chewing insane.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is the archetypal example of this, but for my personal experience, I played a dark fantasy text-adventure RPG called Roadwarden in 2023 and it has been absolutely fermenting in my head ever since. As it is a set narrative experience (and the narrative is why I love it), replays only do so much to calm this new demon in my brain. The developer is posting stills from a new game as teasers, but nothing has been announced yet, leaving me writhing in my seat for more grim, naturalistic fantasy baked in the same beautifully poetic mould. I can only hope to infect others with this game so that I may see in their eyes the glimmer that enlivened mine when I first played it. There is no relief. This is how it is.
But the fact that Roadwarden is on sale for three dollars and you should play it underlines one of the major strengths of these smaller games: the price point is unarguably low. You're not getting the push for $100 games from indies. Indies are frequently on 65%-off-mega-turbo-sale because the creators want you to love this thing that they also loved, that they loved into creation. The price-to-entertainment ratio is really, actually the best you're going to find. Hell, you're going to find a lot of free games that are just good, good in a way that if you've been limited to free-to-play ad-fucked mobile games due to finances, seem suspicious. I've put 120+ hours into cyberpunkdreams, a narrative cyberpunk life-sim using the same storylet system as Fallen London, and paid maybe $10, 50 hours in, because I liked it and wanted to. My latest game purchase, Grimshire, I got for $15 on sale and it's... it's gonna be one of those ones. I feel the tendrils rooting in my brain. I have paid less than a dollar per hour of entertainment with this thing, which I think is the best and cheapest sort of entertainment you're going to find anywhere.
And, y'now, I've been talking a lot about games that I specifically like. I enjoy narratively complex experiences, maybe where you can roll a die or something now and again. But what if you're into, say, Metro-style FPS' and spending hours browsing creepypasta wikis? Well, Metal Garden is there. Casual civics sims where you poke a button, build a hospital and feel good about yourself? Mini Motorways is there. Goofy multiplayer hangout games where you can explore movement, at a price point where you can get it for yourself and all your friends and maybe get a stream going? Hello, Sledding Game. In short, there are enough of these games, made by a world full of such disparate and inspired weirdos, that there is a good chance that if you spend the time looking, you're going to find something sitting at the conflux of your own niche interests. Mainstream, mass-market games have to appeal to the most people they possibly can; small-team indie games can afford to aim for smaller markets and finer points of interest. Yours is in there, somewhere.
So, in short: small-team, independent games are going to be harder to find with longer and less clear development times, but they're going to be universally more monetarily accessible and have a good chance of being closer aligned to your specific interests. You will have to put work in. You will have to curate tags. You're going to have to wade through just so much low-effort porn. But I... honestly don't see how I'd be gaming at all any other way. I don't know if I'd be in this hobby at all if the only way to access it was to spend $80 on something where I couldn't even play my own gender.
You can do it and I believe in you. Play Roadwarden it's great where are you going I want to talk about the superb naturalistic them -
