Best Indie Games on the PS4

The indie games worth playing on the PlayStation 4 start with Detroit Become Human, Shadow of the Colossus Remake, Hyper Light Drifter.

The PS4 and Indie Games

The generation where Sony's first-party formula — a big-budget, third-person, story-led action adventure — became the most reliable thing in games.

Indie Games are a solid rather than a defining part of this library — worth knowing, but not the reason anybody owns the machine.

Filtering to indie means you want the answer a small team would give. It is usually the most interesting filter on this site, because small studios take the risks large ones cannot.

The Indie Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Detroit Become Human

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Shadow of the Colossus Remake

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Hyper Light Drifter

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Gang Beasts

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Indie Game

One strong idea, explored completely, at a price that makes trying it easy. Indies have no production to hide behind, so the design is exposed.

Polish and scale, sometimes. A few of these are rough at the edges, and a big-budget pick will always look better doing the same thing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best indie game on the PS4?

Detroit Become Human is the usual first answer, and there are 4 in the library we cover.

Was the PS4 good at indie games?

It is a solid rather than a defining part of the library.

What actually counts as an indie game?

Self-published, or published without a large publisher's money. It says nothing about the size of the game, which is why a forty-hour metroidvania and a two-hour art piece sit under the same label.

Why are indie games often better designed?

Constraint. Without a budget to hide behind, one idea has to carry the whole thing — and a small team can commit to something risky that a large one would sand down.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the PlayStation 4, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Indie Games on Other Consoles

More From the PS4

Or browse the whole PlayStation 4 library.