Looking for an indie game that leaves you with more than another map cleared? Mouthwashing and ROUTINE offer a useful direction: places that seem to hold their own history, unmistakable images and unease that makes you want answers. These six choices explore the stranger side of independent games.
Our selection favours a strong visual identity and a distinctive way of telling a story or involving the player. Some already have substantial audiences; “niche” describes their creative choices rather than a claim that nobody knows them. All are single-player games with a place for horror. The genres help separate narrative, exploration and action, while the platforms reflect verified editions rather than announcements alone.
1. Mouthwashing — for a confined space that exposes its inhabitants
Genres: Adventure · Exploration.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch.
Aboard the Tulpar, danger also comes from the people you must keep living alongside. Mouthwashing puts conversations and observation at the centre: the deteriorating freighter and the crew’s relationships feed the same unease. Its retro look gives this failing everyday life a particularly abrasive texture.
Start here if an uncomfortable story matters most to you, preferably knowing little beforehand. The appeal lies more in what this confined setting makes you notice than in mastering survival systems. Depictions of violence and mutilation can be a serious barrier, even with stylised characters.
2. ROUTINE — for a future that has aged badly
Genres: Adventure · Exploration.
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S.
ROUTINE builds its strangeness around a lunar base imagined through an eighties vision of the future. Terminals, living quarters and commercial spaces become places to examine for a way forward. The C.A.T., a tool used to access terminals, keeps interactions rooted in that environment.
Choose it if Mouthwashing’s spaces interest you as much as its people: exploration and vulnerability take a larger role here. Observe, hide or flee, and find your way without objective markers. That deliberate lack of guidance requires patience; carrying the C.A.T. does not make this a shooter.
3. SIGNALIS — for decisions that make each doorway matter
Genres: Survival horror · Puzzle.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.
SIGNALIS connects its retrofuturistic world to practical decisions: save ammunition, combine objects, solve a code or avoid a creature. Fragmented imagery and radio signals accompany a progression built around watching and thinking, giving the strange presentation something tangible to work on.
Better established than the most obscure choices here, it remains a strong bridge from narrative unease to structured survival horror. Pick it if you want fear to affect your decisions. Resources matter, and the story leaves room for interpretation: it asks more of you than a fully explained narrative would.
4. Sorry We’re Closed — for horror that embraces colour
Genres: Survival horror · Shooter.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch.
Vivid colours and angular silhouettes give Sorry We’re Closed a different vocabulary from grey corridors. Michelle’s third eye reveals another layer of the world. Fixed-camera exploration alternates with first-person shooting, making the shift into combat much more immediate.
Try it if you want an unsettling world with characters to talk to and choices that influence the story. Its eccentric appearance still makes room for substantial combat. If you mainly came to observe, the aim assistance and infinite healing options are worth considering.
5. Mundaun — for an Alpine tale beyond the space station
Genres: Adventure · Puzzle.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch.
Mundaun moves the unease to the Alps, where pencil-drawn textures give the landscape an unusual physical quality. Exploring, gathering objects and solving puzzles accompany your climb. The setting itself becomes a reason to continue: a detour means spending longer among these slopes and beliefs.
It brings a strangeness rooted in place rather than another abandoned-technology setting. Choose it for the curiosity of an unsettling journey instead of the pressure of confinement. You still need to find your way and face hostile encounters; the illustrated landscapes do not promise a peaceful walk.
6. Who’s Lila? — for a face you cannot quite trust
Genres: Point-and-click · Adventure.
Platforms: PC.
In Who’s Lila?, replying means moving facial features rather than simply selecting a line. The resulting expression advances the conversation. The gap between what you want to convey and what others might read becomes something you actually control: an unusually effective premise for an uneasy exchange.
This is our most experimental choice if you want a mechanic as strange as its visual world. Branching paths invite exploration, but manipulating the face takes practice. Check the languages too: Steam lists English, Spanish, Russian and Simplified Chinese at the verification date, with no French option.
Which kind of strangeness suits you?
For a disturbing story, begin with Mouthwashing. To explore an unsettling place, choose ROUTINE, or Mundaun for Alpine landscapes. SIGNALIS puts greater weight on resources and puzzles; Sorry We’re Closed adds colour and shooting. Who’s Lila? takes dialogue experimentation furthest, provided its controls and supported languages suit you.
Keep your discoveries together with Gameedy
A selection like this can help plan what comes next. Put the games that intrigue you in a Gameedy list, then choose whether you want to understand a story, explore a place or try an unfamiliar mechanic.