5 great indie games from GDC 2026
I just returned from the GDC Festival of Gaming, a large industry-focused event in San Francisco formerly known as the Game Developers Conference. While the show is primarily about educational sessions and networking opportunities for working developers, I was also able to play a number of games. Here are some of my favorites, listed alphabetically. Better yet, they could all launch this year – hopefully much sooner Grand Theft Auto VI.
At the end of destiny is a beautiful new action-adventure game from Spiritual traveler Developer Thunder Lotus focuses on relationships between siblings through exploration and battles. I got to see two fights with only the first of the main character’s siblings. But even these early battles were exciting skirmishes with dramatic animations, full-screen blitzes, and dialogue choices that can influence the ending you get. I couldn’t stop thinking about the game all week. At the end of destiny is expected to launch in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
The next title of Knight with Shovel developer Yacht Club Games is a tribute Link’s Awakening on Game Boy, but with the particularity that you play as a mouse capable of digging in the ground. The game is expected to launch this spring after a delay last October, and based on a new demo I played, the extra time was worth it. I was disappointed with the demo I played on PC last year, but this time around I loved exploring the game world, battling formidable enemies, and even finding my way into some hidden secrets. Yacht Club Games plans to launch Mina la Hollow this spring on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.
The melty way stimulating mixtures, Super meat boyA slime-style platformer with a slime twist: you play as an adorable little slime, and as you move through the world, you melt and get smaller. Getting smaller gives you benefits like higher jumps and the ability to squeeze through narrower paths. But if you don’t find a checkpoint or complete the level in time, your little slime will die – and the slime is so cute that you’ll feel bad for letting that happen. The melty way will launch in Early Access on Steam on April 24.
In Take a nose divefrom developer Jelle van Meerendonk, you fly like a severed hand that picks up toilet paper and completes levels by pushing your nose. The concept is absurd, but flying like a hand actually requires some finesse, so sticking a finger in the nose at the end of a level seems like a satisfying accomplishment. It’s aiming for a 2026 release on PC, although van Meerendonk says so The edge that the beginning of 2027 is “more likely”.
Speaking of Super meat boy, Super Meat Boy 3D looks like a promising 3D version of the brutally difficult 2D platformer. I was happy to see that a lot of the hallmarks of the original are present, like really floaty jumps and buzzsaws scattered throughout the world. Sometimes I died prematurely because the new perspective led to confusing jumps, but the restarts were quick so it didn’t bother me too much. Super Meat Boy 3D releases in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.
