Best Indie Action Games of 2023
What are the best indie action games of 2023? Find out here, including 20 Minutes Till Dawn, Patch Quest, Everspace 2, and more!
If you’re looking for the best indie action games released in 2023, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve assembled the cream of the crop across all the major consoles, and we think that these picks will leave your knuckles white and your palms sweaty.
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Hunt the Night
Platforms: PC
Taking a dark fantasy inspiration along the lines of Bloodborne, Hunt the Night is a challenging action-adventure game in which you play as Vesper, a ‘Stalker’ struggling to save ‘the last embers of humanity’.
Armed with melee and ranged weapons, as well as dark powers, you’ll get to create your own character build, so that you can fight in the way that’s most effective for you.
Patch Quest
Platforms: PC
Patch Quest is a melange of roguelike games, metroidvanias, and monster taming games like Pokemon. The result is a fast-paced, chaotic time on a jungle island.
The game’s bullet hell gameplay is accentuated by your lasso – which allows you to tame any monster you see, and use their abilities to your advantage.
Nocturnal
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Back to dark fantasy? Nocturnal is a side-scrolling action-platformer game in which you play as soldier Ardeshir as he explores a dark, mist-covered island.
He faces powerful opposition in his quest to learn what happened to the order he was a part of – and he’ll have to make offerings to Phoenix statues to gain abilities that will aid him in the fight against darkness.
Bleak Sword DX
Platforms: PC, Switch
Bleak Sword DX brings intense fights in compact diorama environments, in which you’ll have to journey across a horrifying world to lift the curse of the Bleak Sword.
A decidedly lo-fi experience, Bleak Sword DX features a number of additions on the original Apple Arcade version of the game, marking the wider release of the game onto other platforms.
Vernal Edge
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Vernal Edge is a fast-paced Metroidvania action game, in which you’ll play as a young woman intent on finding her estranged father as she adventures across islands that float in the sky.
With freedom in how you sail to and explore islands, Vernal Edge also presents a number of combos and spells to master, along with platforming challenges. Look, floating islands – platforming challenges were always a given.
Have a Nice Death
Platforms: PC, Switch
Have a Nice Death is an action roguelike in which you play as Death, CEO of Death Incorporated, whose employees have run rampant and left poor Death a mountainload of work to do.
In your efforts to remind your employees who’s boss, you’ll have to hack and slash your way through the offices of Death Incorporated, you’ll have to balance the temptation of gaining new powers at the risk of empowering your subordinates.
Everspace 2
Platforms: PC
Take your shooting into space with action-adventure Everspace 2, where you play as a clone pilot attempting to escape a zone of clashing factions.
Following up on the original game, Everspace 2 boasts a beefy campaign in which you’ll engage in intricate space dogfights, build up your own collection of fighter spaceships, search for secrets, solve puzzles, and gather up powerful loot.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is as retro-styled as it gets, putting the 16-bit pixel art straight up in your face as you play a ninja super-soldier who has decided to fight back against the authoritarian state it was created to serve.
The game features snappy controls, platforming, and a thoroughly retro challenge. You can also plug in ‘modifier chips’ on your Moonrider to gain advanced abilities and get an edge (literally) on your enemies.
20 Minutes Till Dawn
Platforms: PC
20 Minutes Till Dawn is a survival roguelite where surviving the dark of the night means mowing down hordes of attacking Lovecraftian monsters.
Staying alive for as long as you can grants many an advantage, allowing you to create your own overpowered build and unlock persistent upgrades that stick between runs.
Doomblade
Platforms: PC
Doomblade is an action metroidvania in which you play as Gloom Girl, who finds the sentient weapon Doomblade and sets out to restore the blade’s powers and take down the Dread Lords.
You’ll explore a strange world, encountering foes across forests and mines, taking down enemies with accurate, targeted attacks, and unlocking new powers for the Doomblade in demonic shrines. This one’s all doom and gloom.
Thanks for reading our article on the Best Indie Action Games of 2023! For other interesting articles on Into Indie Games, be sure to check the links below!
