15 Highly Anticipated Indie Games Coming in 2021

Indie games need love too, here's a list of 15 games you should check out.

By Wxaith

Published 4 years ago in Ftw

There's never been a better time to be a gamer. And with a great bunch of AAA titles coming out in 2021, we thought the lesser-known indie titles deserved their shine as well. So take a step outside of your comfort zone and give one of these less conventional Indie games a try.

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1
SKATEBIRD

Birds riding skateboards and doing tricks. Do I really need to say more? Move over Tony Hawk, take a back seat Flappy Bird, my turkey has to hit a kickflip. Skatebird is set to release on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows in 2021.

2
GOODBYE VOLCANO HIGH

Goodbye Volcano High is a story-centric game about a bunch of dinosaurs that are in high school trying to figure out what life means to them and what it’ll look like in the future. It's set to release on PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as on Microsoft Windows.

3
CHINATOWN DETECTIVE AGENCY

Chinatown Detective Agency looks to do what Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t, by giving consumers an actually good Cyberpunk gaming experience. Set in Singapore in the 2030s, CDA is designed to put you in the shoes of fictional detective that’s trying to unravel a global conspiracy.
4
VENBA

Venba is Food Wars as a video game. We all grew up with our favorite dishes, things that remind you of home and the people you love everytime you taste them. Venba is about the special moments in life that create memories. You play as an Indian mother that’s working to recreate lost family recipes to bring her loved ones together, it’s sure to be a wholesome experience.

5
MUNDAUN

Developer, Hidden Fields, has done their best Outlast impression by creating a hand-drawn psychological horror experience that’s sure to scare your pants off. oIf your looking for a horror game to tide you over while waiting for Resident Evil 8, Mundaun is your game. Mundaun is set in a valley in the Swiss alps where you have to survive the elements and environment.
6
SHE DREAMS ELSEWHERE

She dreams elsewhere is an action RPG set inside the realm of dreams in the vein of Undertale with a gothic horror backdrop. You’ll be able to play it on PC, Xbox, Switch and Mac later this year.
7
SATURNALIA

Survival horror what would we do without you? Saturnaila is a survival horror game coming exclusively to the Epic Games Store set in a late 1980s Italian village where people routinely disappear. Horrific as its premise is, Saturnalia blends horror with style to create an unforgettable experience.

8
ANNO: MUTATIONEM

Announced at Sony’s State of Play, Anno: Mutationem is a side scrolling cyberpunk adventure that lets players fight mega corporations and shady criminal elements in style.
9
RAPTOR BOYFRIEND: A HIGH SCHOOL ROMANCE

If you’re lonely and looking for virtual love, this is the game for you. Raptor Boyfriend is a dating simulator and visual novel set in the 1990s that’s all about falling in love with the creepy things, and people, like bigfoot.
10
TURNIP BOY COMMITS TAX EVASION

Stick it to the government, solve puzzles and grow your crops to make as much money as possible. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion looks like it’s taking Stardew Valley and crossing it with Plants vs Zombies for some over the top indie action.

11
CHAOTIC ERA

Chaotic Era is a black and white real-time strategy game set in space where you’re playing as an AI system that’s tasked with helping to rebuild humanity. An exact release date has not been determined, but the game will be releasing on ios, it's unclear if it will release on any other platforms.
12
BACKBONE

Finally, noir gets some more love! Backbone is a detective noir-style game in the vein of LA Noire and classic 1900s films. It’s a point-and-click adventure game that scratches the same itch that The Wolf Among Us did way back when. You play as Howard Lotor, a raccoon detective that finds himself in over his head with a series of increasingly complex and dangerous cases that threaten him and his fellow animals. Backbone was initially released in 2019 though this year the game is expected to get a big update!
13
SEASON

Announced at the Game Awards in 2020, Season, has been described as, "an atmospheric adventure bicycle road trip game," and though it hasn't shown much gameplay and doesn't have a release date, the game has something interesting about it. But only time will tell if Season pans out to be as interesting as we've been told.

14
NUTS

On the surface, Nuts looks to be a game that’s extremely stylized and only about watching squirrels, but it seems to have some Firewatch like qualities from its dialogue and narrative presentation. The squirrels are apparently hiding a secret, gamers will find out what that secret is when they get their hands on Nuts, the game is available on Steam right now!
15
30XX

Metroidvania games are making a comeback! 30XX is the latest title to come from the resurgent genre of action-adventure games. A beautiful, vibrant and cel-shaded 2D world with gorgeous animations and a great 8-bit soundtrack help 30XX stand out from the indie-game pack.