The History of Indie Games and the Formula for Success
From bedroom coders and shareware to Steam, console stores, and crowdfunding: a history of indie games and what successful indie hits have in common.
Indie games are games made by small teams or individuals without funding or direction from a big publisher. As games started by one, two, or a handful of people, such as Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Hollow Knight, achieved worldwide success, indie games have become an important pillar of the game industry.
In this post, we trace the history from the days before the term "indie game" existed, through the 2000s when digital distribution opened the door, the 2010s when consoles and crowdfunding joined in, up to today, when standing out among so many games has become difficult. Finally, we sum up the traits that appear again and again in successful indie games. That said, we want to make clear up front that even a "formula for success" doesn't mean following it guarantees success; it's closer to tendencies that help reduce the risk of failure.
Before the Word "Indie" Existed
The term indie game only came into wide use in the early 2000s. Before that, words like amateur and hobbyist developer were used. But making games alone or in small teams goes back much further.
When personal computers appeared around 1977, most machines included the BASIC language, and people began making their own games. There was also a culture of readers typing in game code printed in magazines to play them. In the UK, "bedroom coders" emerged who made games at home on low-cost computers such as the ZX Spectrum, and they became the starting point of the British game industry. Games with quirky humor and experimental structure, such as Manic Miner (1983), came out in this period.
The Era of Shareware and Publishers
In the 1980s and 90s, shareware was an important distribution method for small developers. Part of the game was distributed for free, and people who liked it bought the full version. As shareware was included on game magazine cover discs, even unknown developers could make a name for themselves. The potential of this approach was proven when Wolfenstein 3D in 1992 and Doom in 1993 achieved huge success as shareware.
But in the late 1990s, there was less room for small teams. As 3D graphics became commonplace, development costs rose sharply, and retail distribution and marketing became the publishers' domain. Publishers carrying heavy costs preferred proven series over risky experiments. Console development kits were expensive and hard to obtain, making them the exclusive preserve of large developers.
The Door Opened by Digital Distribution: The 2000s
In the early 2000s, things changed again as direct sales over the internet became possible. Developers could sell games directly to players without going through retail stores and publishers. Inexpensive web technologies like Adobe Flash, creation tools like GameMaker, and later the low-cost and free policies of Unity and Unreal Engine greatly lowered the barriers to development.
The work that represents this period is Cave Story, made solo by Daisuke Amaya (pen name Pixel) and released for free in 2004. Loved for its graphics reminiscent of classic games and its solid structure, it influenced retro pixel graphics becoming something like a symbol of indie games.
The Independent Games Festival (IGF), which started in 1998, also became a stage where small developers could get noticed. World of Goo in 2008 couldn't find a publisher before release, but after winning awards at the IGF and elsewhere, it instead began receiving offers from publishers.
Steam, Consoles, and Crowdfunding: Around 2010
From around 2005, the presence of indie games grew rapidly. Several trends happened at the same time.
| Trend | Details |
|---|---|
| PC digital stores | Valve's Steam began distributing third-party games in late 2005, and lowered the barrier to listing with Greenlight in 2012 and Steam Direct in 2017 |
| Console digital stores | Xbox Live Arcade showcased indie games in 2008 with titles like Braid, and Sony and Nintendo followed |
| Mobile | The App Store and Google Play, opened in the late 2000s, became low-cost release channels |
| Crowdfunding | Around 2012, game projects that raised millions of dollars on Kickstarter appeared |
Braid (2008), made by Jonathan Blow, was essentially a personal work yet received great critical acclaim, showing that games from small teams could be taken seriously as art. In 2012, Journey became the first indie game to win Game of the Year at both the Game Developers Choice Awards and the D.I.C.E. Awards.
The biggest commercial success is Minecraft. It started as an indie game and was officially released in 2011, and its developer Mojang was acquired by Microsoft in 2014. Minecraft has sold over 400 million copies, becoming the best-selling game of all time. Terraria, released the same year, also achieved great success by continuing updates over a long period. Other games that represent this era include The Binding of Isaac (2011), Hotline Miami (2012), and Shovel Knight (2014).
Among Too Many Games: 2015 and After
As a result of lowered barriers to entry, concerns arose around 2015 that there would be so many games the market would become saturated. The market didn't collapse, but with thousands of games released on Steam every year, simply getting noticed became the biggest challenge.
Even so, many indie games achieved great success during this period.
- Undertale (2015): Toby Fox made most of it himself, including the scenario and music. Its unique combat structure, which lets you get through without killing monsters, became a big topic online.
- Stardew Valley (2016): A farm life game developed solo by Eric Barone over five years. It had sold more than 50 million copies by February 2026.
- Hollow Knight (2017): A work in which Team Cherry, a small studio in Australia, developed an idea that started at the 2013 game jam Ludum Dare.
- Among Us (2018): It became explosively known not right after release but during the COVID-19 period in 2020, through live streaming and social media.
- Balatro (2024): A poker-based roguelike deckbuilder made by solo developer LocalThunk, which sold more than 5 million copies by January 2025.
What Successful Indie Games Have in Common
When you line up successful indie games side by side, some traits recur.
1. One Core Source of Fun Is Clear
Balatro focused on the simple rule of multiplying poker hands by multipliers, and Vampire Survivors on a single structure of surviving while attacking automatically. Since small teams find it hard to compete with big games on volume of content, it pays to dig deep into a core fun that can be explained in one sentence.
2. They Add a New Twist to a Familiar Genre
Stardew Valley was inspired by the Harvest Moon (Story of Seasons) series, and Hollow Knight carried on classic exploration-based action. Rather than an entirely new genre, many add their own interpretation to a genre players already know.
3. They Turn Constraints into Personality
There are many cases where pixel art or simple graphic styles that a small team can produce were consistently refined until they became the game's very identity.
4. They Show Early and Build Together
Checking player reactions before release through early access, demos, game jams, and community feedback has become common practice. As with Hollow Knight, ideas that start at a game jam sometimes grow into full games.
5. They Keep Tending the Game After Launch
Games like Terraria and Stardew Valley that steadily kept up free updates continued to sell years after release.
Closing
The history of indie games is ultimately the story of the threshold of "who can make and sell games" getting lower. Through BASIC and magazines, shareware, direct internet sales, Steam and console stores, and free engines, even individuals have become able to release games to the whole world. Competition has grown fiercer accordingly, so for today's indie developers, making a good game and getting the word out about it have become equally important.