It's no secret that the most interesting video games of the last few years have come out of the indie games community.
In 2014, we've seen explosive successes in the form of DayZ, Rust, Kerbal Space Program and more. But what'll be the next bedroom-built game that outsells Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and Far Cry? Here's what we think are going to be the most exciting indie games of 2015:
Chilly survival-adventure The Long Dark is set in the wilds of northern Canada in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. You're tasked with surviving as long as possible in an environment that doesn't care whether you live or die. It's stunning beautiful, evocative, and very tough. You can fund its development and gain access to early versions over on Steam.
[PC/Mac, £14.99]
On the other end of the spectrum is WreckFest, also known as Next Car Game. It's a racing title, described at the spiritual successor to classics like FlatOut,
Destruction Derby and Street Rod. The developers are focusing on soft-body damage modelling, meaning that when you get shunted into a wall you're not only going to see the effects but feel them in your driving. It's also available on Steam's early access platform. [PC, £22.99]
The first console entrant of this list, procedurally-generated space explore-em-up No Man's Sky, was a big hit when first revealed at E3. Players will be able to chart the Universe in their upgradable spaceship -- fighting hostile aliens and trading with more friendly ones. It'll be a PS4 exclusive at launch, and later come to Windows. [PS4, £TBC]
If you liked Gone Home, you're going to love
Firewatch -- a mystery set in the forests of Wyoming, where the only human contact you'll get is on the other end of a handheld radio. It looks stunning, deep and thought-provoking in equal measure. It's not yet even available for pre-order, but you can sign up to a mailing list to find it when it goes on sale.
[PC/Mac/Linux, £TBC]
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That seems to be the mantra of Playdead Studios, which created the amazing
Limbo and is now working on an Xbox One exclusive called
Inside. We don't know a whole lot about the game yet, but it looks like fans of Limbo's puzzle challenges and dark tone won't be disappointed. [Xbox One, £TBC]
Jonathan Blow found fame in 2008 with Braid, a much-loved time-travel platformer. Since then, he's been working on
The Witness -- a 3D adventure game where the player is stranded on an island and tasked with solving a series of tricky puzzles. It'll be a PS4 exclusive in the console market, but versions for Windows and iOS should arrive either at the same time or shortly after. [PS4/PC/iOS, £TBC]
Those are our picks for the most exciting indie games of 2015, but this list certainly isn't exhaustive. Have you got any titles that you're particularly looking forward to? Share them with other readers in the comments below.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
