Steam Spring Sale: 10 Indie Games You Should Buy Before It Ends

The latest seasonal Steam Sale is back, and it’s the perfect time to grab the titles on your indie games wishlist. From innovative platformers to best-selling roguelikes, everything is now discounted, making the deals irresistible. That said, you’ll want to quickly filter out the best from the rest, to make the most of your time.

So, here’s a list of the 10 best indie games that are a must-buy from Steam’s Spring sale. These are the cream of the crop and should be a no-brainer for every indie fan. 

Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist

• Discounted Price: $18.74 | $25

When it comes to indie games, most of us don’t have high expectations going in. However, in the case of Ender Magnolia, its quality exceeds anything you could imagine. In this game, you follow the adventure of Lilac, a child who can control machines. As the player, the main goal is to investigate the cause of her amnesia. At the same time, the world around you is being corrupted, so that calls for an investigation.

Each level of Ender Magnolia has a distinct art style, and the themes are coherent with the narrative. NPCs behave naturally to the world around them. But the best thing about Ender Magnolia is its combat, which is fast, intuitive, and highly customizable thanks to the arsenal of machines at your disposal. The fights have depth and feature one of the best indie game combat systems. Overall, the best way to describe Ender Magnolia is like lightning in a bottle. And luckily, this bottle comes cheap in the Steam Spring Sale. 

Hades 2

• Discounted Price: $27 | $30

Hades 2 is a roguelike action RPG, where you slay monsters while making your way across biomes inspired by Greek mythology. Along the way, the Greek pantheon bestows you with their Boons. Collecting these upgrades alters your playstyle, letting you create anything from slash-and-run to damage-deflecting builds.

Hades 2 is still in early access at the time of writing, so it’s incomplete. However, the devs are adding major updates regularly, and there’s a chance they might increase the price tag come full release. That said, Hades 2 will most likely be one of the biggest indie games of the year with its 1.0 release so buying it now at a discounted price is definitely a wise choice. 

V Rising

• Discounted Price: $21 | $35

V Rising should inarguably be on the top of your wishlist for the Steam Spring sale. It’s a base-building action RPG, and as the name suggests, the V in the title stands for a vampire. Since the theme revolves around vampires, you can expect a creepy aesthetic, as well as characters from vampire folklore, including Simon Belmont and Dracula, to appear in the game. Spoiler alert: they are featured as unforgiving bosses.

There are three reasons why V Rising is a must-buy. Firstly, the combat is addictive. There are several weapons to choose from, with each being upgradable and having its special moves. Second, you can build your very own vampire castle. The amount of freedom in that regard is insane. Third, this game is a blast to play in multiplayer mode. You can join clans, invade other players’ castles, or let them help you with bosses. Overall, V Rising is a spectacular indie game and you can experience it for dirt cheap in this sale. 

Windblown

• Discounted Price: $20 | $25

Similar to Hades 2, Windblown is another game still in early access. It’s a fast-paced action roguelike that can be played solo or online with friends. The map has procedurally generated levels where you hack and slash enemies, earning upgrades that last you throughout the run.

Battles are quick and the tempo is fast, yet enough intensity is maintained to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Additionally, the visuals are bright and vibrant, with quirky environments and enemy designs. Windblown is still a way out from release, but even in its current state, it’s one of the best roguelike indie games on Steam.

Ravenswatch

• Discounted Price: $12.49 | $25

If you’ve got plenty of friends to play with, Ravenswatch is a must-buy indie. Playing Ravenswatch alone gets mundane, but the four-player co-op mode makes this an unforgettable experience. Having said that, Ravenswatch is a little rough around the edges, but it’s getting better with updates.

As for gameplay, Ravenswatch lets you pick a hero of folklore from its roster. From Aladdin to The Pied Piper, the choices are versatile. You’re then dropped into chapter zones, with each zone having different enemies, side quests, and bosses. There’s also a set time limit present, and you have to level up as much as you can within that period. Once the set time expires, you’re automatically dropped into the final boss arena. Good luck!

Animal Well

• Discounted Price: $20 | $25

Animal Well is a puzzle platformer with an intricate world to lose yourself in. The lore lies entirely in the environment and almost every room is hiding a secret for you. The game rewards you for not minding your business and no moment feels wasted. While the puzzles are the best part of Animal Well, they are unfortunately also its only offerings. There isn’t any combat at all. If that doesn’t make it any less appealing to you, Animal Well is one of the best platformers you can pick up from the Steam Spring Sale.

The eerie pixel art, dynamic lighting, and nonlinear progression make it a must-play for every indie fan. With no check marks showing you where to go or what to do, Animal Well lets you figure out everything for yourself. But don’t worry, the fun lies in this curiosity.

Sons of the Forest

• Discounted Price: $15 | $30

At its heart, Sons of the Forest is a survival crafting game. There’s been a plane crash and now you and an AI helper of yours must survive in an unknown land. The only catch is that a cannibalistic clan overruns this island, and you need to save yourself. 

Sons of the Forest features a sandbox open world where you can craft practically anything. A treehouse, a cabin, weapons, armor, you name it. The day-night cycle, the horror tone, and the threat of enemies lurking nearby constantly keep you on your toes. So, resource management is your bread and butter. While staying alive is a frightening experience, if you play your cards right, you can become a one-man army. Additionally, the inclusion of online co-op makes the game infinitely more satisfying. This is simply a must-buy from the sale if survival games are your jam.

Neva

• Discounted Price: $16 | $20

Chances are you’ve heard of the platform-adventure game Gris from 2018. Neva is made by the same studio and serves as a spiritual successor. Like Gris, Neva focuses on environmental storytelling, with the changing scenery entailing an emotional story of life.

While there is combat, it serves a narrative purpose, so don’t expect intense action sequences. What you can expect, though, is one of the most beautiful indies featuring an unforgettable story of a woman and wolf navigating life in a corrupted land. If narrative adventures are your thing, you can’t go wrong buying Neva.

1000xRESIST

• Discounted Price: $15 | $20

In an era where action games are mainstream, hidden gems like 1000xRESIST exist for those looking for something new. 1000xRESIST is a narrative-adventure game where you explore a post-apocalyptic future where aliens have wiped out most of the human race. 

As far as gameplay goes, you find out more about the world through conversational choices and investigations. Unlike 2D visual novels, 1000xRESIST offers more because of its 3D nature. This belongs to a genre of games you could call a 3D visual novel. You can interact with environments and there are giant areas where major story arcs play out. It’s an innovative game, particularly for those people who have a thing for games like Disco Elysium.

Vampire Survivors

• Discounted Price: $3.74 | $5

If you’re looking for a dirt-cheap indie title with insane replayability, Vampire Survivors is your best bet. In this game, all you have to do is move your character while they automatically shoot at nearby enemies. Sounds a bit simple, right? Well, it isn’t. Vampire Survivors features over 50 crazy weapons. And by crazy, we mean whips, fireballs, and summoning an army of cats. But that’s not all. Each weapon can be upgraded, as well as evolved into a new overpowered version, making the game extremely fun. 

Despite looking very basic at first glance, Vampire Survivors has many levels to it. If you survive long enough, you’ll be facing about 3000 different enemies at once. While all of this sounds bonkers, it’s true. The game also features second-to-second evolution in combat, meaning that new weapons and enemy types keep spawning, trapping you in an endless cycle of dopamine hits.