We did not include anything still in Early Access as of December 25th, 2017. Special thanks and credit must be given to my colleague and partner-in-proofreading, InfinityWaltz, who contributed substantially to this article’s editorial content. Thank you to the bullpen of IGR contributors and editors who worked endlessly to gobble up as many indies games as possible in a year positively overrun with new releases.

So while you may have heard and played some of the titles on this list, may agree or disagree with their position or be incensed about an omission, we must agree that it is impossible to include everything that should be here, and we thank you for spreading the word about your own favorite indies in the comments. (If there’s any question as to how much we adored the game, though, read our complete review of Cuphead.)

In fact, the second million happened after the initial marketing push and could be pegged entirely to word of mouth.īetween its jaw-dropping commercial reception and its passionate attention to detail, Cuphead stands in many ways in a category of its own, which is why – although it will make the top of a many a year-end list – you won’t find it in ours. Over a six-year development cycle, they stuck to their guns and moved not one but two million units over the first six months. Wow, what a game! And what an amazing success story for a true indie studio spread out across two countries. We do not come at this list lightly, and spent months in consideration of its final selections, which are pitted against one another and some overarching criteria that include originality, playability, design and execution, while also endeavoring to shine light on some under-covered titles and represent a diverse spectrum of genres.īefore we get to the list proper, it’s worth mentioning the biggest indie game story of the year, Studio MDHR‘s meticulously crafted ode to Max Fleischer animation and ultra-difficult Mega Man-flavored running-and-gunning: Cuphead.

Best games of 2017 steam