Indie games have been where a ton of innovation in gaming has come in recent years, including narratives in video games. While massive AAA hits like The Last of Us have channeled prestige television, indie games have embraced the interactive medium, weaving stories that would be hard to tell any other way. One of the biggest strengths of indie games is that they aren't expected to sell several million copies, so the storytelling can be more creative, without having to worry too much about anyone being pushed away by non-traditional storytelling. For this list, I went with narrative indie games that either tell incredible stories or tell their story in a way that feels creative and different, while still being great narratives.

5 Celeste

The climb is about more than the mountain

Celeste is an incredible 2D platformer, using single-screen challenges to create difficult but deeply rewarding platforming challenges. All of that is great, but the story of Madeline, and her journey through anxiety and depression. It spoke to me, especially as someone who was still learning to deal with my own anxiety. Watching Madeline deal with the evil version of herself, the one that always doubted her and held her back, and learning what it meant to co-exist with that part of herself, was really enlightening to me in my own journey. The story also speaks to LGBTQ+ people, in large part thanks to the story's focus on self-acceptance, which is not being complacent or accepting of a bad situation in life. Celeste is an incredible game, both in narrative and in gameplay, making it a must-play for everyone. If you're concerned about the difficulty of platforming, Celeste has a ton of accessibility features.

4 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

A recent masterpiece

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came out of nowhere early in 2025, surprising everyone with its incredible take on turn-based combat and a shockingly mature but compelling narrative. Not only does it tackle grief and community sacrifice in a way that feels unique and different, but it bucks the trend of other turn-based RPGs by wasting no time getting right into the thick of the narrative. The French-inspired world crafted in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also feels lived in, with every character fully shaped by the time the story starts, so you can get to know them as the story moves. It also comes in at a much shorter runtime than other critical darlings in the turn-based genre, only taking about 30 hours to get through. While I personally don't love the ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the story has resonated with people and will likely influence future games.

3 Spiritfarer

How to say goodbye

Spiritfarer is a management sim where you have to construct and manage a ferry, which you use to help take spirits to the afterlife. It's a bit odd for a cozy game to be centered entirely around death and grief, but the heartwarming and heartbreaking narrative ties it all together. You have to find spirits, but before you can take them to the end, they typically have some unfinished business that needs to be dealt with first. This unfinished business is typically related to some past regrets, but in perhaps the most interesting twist, it isn't always about righting wrongs, but instead understanding a failure that can never be fixed. I cried several times while playing it, and I challenged anyone else to beat Spiritfarer without tearing up at least once. The emotionally devastating, but also uplifting, story is paired with some deep and engaging management sim systems, making it an excellent game to both play and experience.

2 Immortality

A new kind of FMV

Immortality is a modern take on an FMV game, but its mystery narrative and unique structure make it a deeply compelling experience. The story is about Marissa Marcel, an actress who appeared in three movies, but none of them were ever released, and Marissa disappeared. You are presented with a massive selection of footage to pore through, while trying to find out what happened to Marissa in this surreal horror experience. In each scene, you can select an object, which will take you to another piece of footage featuring the same object, allowing you to uncover more footage. The surreal live-action footage, which consists of both scenes from the "movies" along with behind-the-scenes footage, is all shot and constructed specifically for the game. The footage feels like real movies and behind-the-scenes bits, giving you a sense of both what the films were about and the horrors happening in Marissa's life. Not only is the story incredible, but there really isn't anything else like Immortality out there.

1 Hades

The first indie to fully incorporate roguelike gameplay into the narrative

Hades is one of the most successful indie games in recent years, in large part thanks to its incredible art style and incredible roguelike action. But another big contributor to its success is the narrative, about a boy trying to escape from under the thumb of his father, in an attempt to learn more about his family. The characters and voice acting in Hades are top-notch, creating a living Greek underworld and pantheon. However, one of the most impressive parts of the narrative is how it weaves the roguelike gameplay loop, of dying on each run but improving over time and getting further, directly into a cohesive and engaging story. Other roguelikes have managed to work that loop into the narrative setup of a game, but Hades cracked it wide open by telling a focused story, woven seamlessly into one of the best action roguelikes ever made.

Indie games feature great and unique narratives

There are plenty of AAA games with great narratives, but the indie scene almost always has more creative narratives, especially in terms of structure. The creative freedom that comes from working on a smaller project with lower expectations is the creative freedom that comes with it. Some of the best stories told in video games have come from indie games, and I expect that to continue being true for video games for years to come.