Computed from player tags · Not ranked by quality
24 games like Make it indie! (2026)
Every game below overlaps with Make it indie! on things players said about it rather than on our opinion of what feels alike. Each entry shows what it matched on, so you can throw out the ones matching on the part you did not care about.
The short version
- Closest match: Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You, which shares 3 player tags including Indie, Simulation and Interactive Fiction.
- Make it indie! is tagged Indie, Adventure, Simulation, Interactive Fiction by Steam players. Those tags are what the matching runs on.
- 24 games qualify, each with at least fifty player reviews behind its sentiment figure.
- 2 are free to download, so you can test the resemblance yourself at no cost.
- 1 are from the same studio: Bacteria.
How these were matched
Steam tags carry the most weight, because players apply them and they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Souls-like, Atmospheric and Cozy exist as tags and as nothing else, which is exactly the vocabulary this question needs. Formal genres count for less, themes and a shared studio for more.
Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are thrown out before matching. Nearly everything is tagged Singleplayer, so matching on it is matching on nothing. That cutoff is computed from the catalogue rather than fixed, so it moves as the catalogue grows.
All 24, closest first
- 1
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You
Why it matched: shares 3 player tags including Indie, Simulation and Interactive Fiction; released around the same time (2016).
Big Brother has arrived - and it’s you. Investigate the lives of citizens to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Information from the internet, personal communications and private files are all accessible to you. But, be warned, the information you supply will have consequences.
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You at a glance Released 2016 Studio Osmotic Studios Player sentiment 90% positive of 15,565 Price $9.99 IndieSimulationInteractive Fiction
- 2
Emily is Away
Why it matched: shares 3 player tags including Indie, Interactive Fiction and Simulation; released around the same time (2015).
Emily is Away is an interactive story. Create a screenname and choose your path through the branching narrative.
Emily is Away at a glance Released 2015 Studio Kyle Seeley Player sentiment 89% positive of 32,339 Price Free IndieInteractive FictionSimulation
- 3
The Pasture
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; published by the same company; released around the same time (2017).
The Pasture gives you a truly innovative gameplay and experimental possibilities that will allow you to experience yourself as a different character – a member of mysterious modern art elite.
The Pasture at a glance Released 2017 Studio Mikhail Maksimov Player sentiment 46% positive of 217 Price $0.49 IndieSimulation
- 4
Not For Broadcast
Why it matched: shares 3 player tags including Simulation, Interactive Fiction and Indie.
A new political Party has won a landslide in the General Election, and for some reason the editor at the news station you work at has done a runner. Now it’s up to you, the Janitor, to take over the editing booth in this tumultuous time - will you help the government, or stand in their way?
Not For Broadcast at a glance Released 2022 Studio NotGames Player sentiment 94% positive of 12,666 Price $24.99 SimulationInteractive FictionIndie
- 5
LoveChoice
Why it matched: shares 3 player tags including Simulation, Indie and Interactive Fiction.
"What is love?" We try to answer that with this game. The game encourages people to have a warm, soft, and understanding heart.
LoveChoice at a glance Released 2021 Studio Akaba Studio Player sentiment 92% positive of 36,611 Price $1.99 SimulationIndieInteractive Fiction
- 6
Bacteria
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Sometimes You; shares 1 player tags including Indie; released around the same time (2016).
'Bacteria' - A relaxing puzzle game based on the rules of the cellular automaton ‘Life’ devised by John Horton Conway in 1970.
Bacteria at a glance Released 2016 Studio Sometimes You Player sentiment 58% positive of 422 Price $0.49 Indie
- 7
Factorio
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2016).
Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.
Factorio at a glance Released 2016 Studio Wube software Player sentiment 98% positive of 233,978 Price $35.00 SimulationIndie
- 8
Slime Rancher
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2017).
Slime Rancher is the tale of Beatrix LeBeau, a plucky, young rancher who sets out for a life a thousand light years away from Earth on the ‘Far, Far Range’ where she tries her hand at making a living wrangling slimes.
Slime Rancher at a glance Released 2017 Studio Monomi Park Player sentiment 98% positive of 156,780 Price $19.99 SimulationIndie
- 9
People Playground
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2019).
Shoot, stab, burn, poison, tear, vaporise, or crush ragdolls in a large open space.
People Playground at a glance Released 2019 Studio mestiez Player sentiment 98% positive of 317,401 Price $9.99 SimulationIndie
- 10
Papers, Please
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2013).
Congratulations. The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.
Papers, Please at a glance Released 2013 Studio Lucas Pope Player sentiment 97% positive of 80,337 Price $9.99 IndieSimulation
- 11
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2012).
Travel across Europe as king of the road, a trucker who delivers important cargo across impressive distances! With dozens of cities to explore, your endurance, skill and speed will all be pushed to their limits.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 at a glance Released 2012 Studio SCS Software Player sentiment 97% positive of 940,049 Price $19.99 SimulationIndie
- 12
Oxygen Not Included
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2019).
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Oxygen Not Included at a glance Released 2019 Studio Klei Entertainment Player sentiment 97% positive of 143,589 Price $24.99 SimulationIndie
- 13
Kerbal Space Program
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2015).
In Kerbal Space Program, take charge of the space program for the alien race known as the Kerbals. You have access to an array of parts to assemble fully-functional spacecraft that flies (or doesn’t) based on realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics.
Kerbal Space Program at a glance Released 2015 Studio Squad Player sentiment 96% positive of 146,438 Price $39.99 SimulationIndie
- 14
Unheard - Voices of Crime
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2019).
What if you could hear every word spoken at the scene of a crime? “Acoustic Detectives” wanted for testing our new device! Return aurally to crime scenes and use the voices you hear to identify potential suspects and solve the mysteries. What is it that’s connecting these seemingly unrelated cases?
Unheard - Voices of Crime at a glance Released 2019 Studio NEXT Studios Player sentiment 96% positive of 33,900 Price $6.99 IndieSimulation
- 15
Universe Sandbox
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2015).
Create & destroy on an unimaginable scale with a realistic physics-based space simulator. Explore the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Use science to bend the laws of gravity, collide planets, boil away oceans, fire epic space lasers, and customize your universe.
Universe Sandbox at a glance Released 2015 Studio Giant Army Player sentiment 96% positive of 32,082 Price $20.09 SimulationIndie
- 16
Mini Metro
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2015).
Mini Metro is a strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving?
Mini Metro at a glance Released 2015 Studio Dinosaur Polo Club Player sentiment 96% positive of 16,729 Price $9.99 SimulationIndie
- 17
NGU IDLE
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2019).
NGU Idle is a Free To Play Idle game that's full of weird humor, tons of upgrades and hundreds of hours of content! Try out NGU Idle today and experience the joy of Numbers Going Up!
NGU IDLE at a glance Released 2019 Studio 4G Player sentiment 96% positive of 12,947 Price Free IndieSimulation
- 18
FTL: Faster Than Light
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2012).
This "spaceship simulation roguelike-like" allows you to take your ship and crew on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy filled with glory and bitter defeat.
FTL: Faster Than Light at a glance Released 2012 Studio Subset Games Player sentiment 95% positive of 78,616 Price $9.99 IndieSimulation
- 19
Human Fall Flat
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2016).
Human Fall Flat is a hilarious, light-hearted platformer set in floating dreamscapes that can be played solo or with up to 8 players online. Free new levels keep its vibrant community rewarded.
Human Fall Flat at a glance Released 2016 Studio No Brakes Games Player sentiment 95% positive of 226,636 Price $19.99 IndieSimulation
- 20
Mount Your Friends
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2014).
Experience the extreme simulated sporting sensation that's sweeping our digital nation! Mount Your Friends is a fiercely competitive sporting event for you to play with your friends in the contextual security of your own home, assuming that your home is not composed of sexual innuendo.
Mount Your Friends at a glance Released 2014 Studio Stegersaurus Software Inc. Player sentiment 95% positive of 7,671 Price $4.99 IndieSimulation
- 21
Door Kickers: Action Squad
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2018).
Rescue hostages, disarm bombs and save the day in this old school, side-scroller action game with retro graphics and retro sensibilities. Online and Couch Coop Included.
Door Kickers: Action Squad at a glance Released 2018 Studio PixelShard Player sentiment 95% positive of 10,607 Price $13.99 SimulationIndie
- 22
Project Zomboid
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Indie and Simulation; released around the same time (2013).
Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..
Project Zomboid at a glance Released 2013 Studio The Indie Stone Player sentiment 94% positive of 476,732 Price $24.99 IndieSimulation
- 23
Hacknet
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2015).
Hacknet is an immersive, terminal-based hacking simulator for PC. Dive down a rabbit hoIe as you follow the instructions of a recently deceased hacker, whose death may not have been the accident the media reports.
Hacknet at a glance Released 2015 Studio Team Fractal Alligator Player sentiment 94% positive of 26,101 Price $1.49 SimulationIndie
- 24
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation
Why it matched: shares 2 player tags including Simulation and Indie; released around the same time (2018).
A roguelite monster-management simulation inspired by the likes of the SCP Foundation, Cabin in the Woods, and Warehouse 13. Order your employees to perform work with the creatures and watch as it unfolds; harness greater energy, and expand the facility
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation at a glance Released 2018 Studio ProjectMoon Player sentiment 94% positive of 56,811 Price $24.99 SimulationIndie
Common questions
What game is most like Make it indie!?
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You, on the evidence we have. It shares 3 player tags including Indie, Simulation and Interactive Fiction. That is a statement about overlap, not a promise you will like it as much: two games can share every tag and still feel different to play.
How is "similar to Make it indie!" decided?
By overlap on the tags Steam players applied to each game, the formal genres, the themes both sit in, and whether the same studio made them. Tags carry the most weight because players write them, so they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are ignored: matching on "Singleplayer" is matching on nothing. Every entry below shows exactly what it matched on.
Are these ranked by quality?
No. They are ordered by how much they overlap with Make it indie!. Where two games overlap equally, the better received one goes first, but that only moves a game a place or two. Each entry shows its own player sentiment so you can weigh that separately.
What else did the makers of Make it indie! do?
Bacteria is also from Sometimes You, and appears in the list below for that reason as well as on tag overlap.
Do you get paid for these recommendations?
No. The order is computed from tag and genre overlap and nothing else. No placement here can be bought, and a game appearing high on this page is a statement about resemblance rather than an endorsement.