Asmongold TV - Indie Games are the ONLY Video Games Left | Asmongold TV

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

Indie Games are the ONLY Video Games LeftAsmongold podcast for all of his stream highlights, competitions, reactions & more. ----- ----- Keywords: gaming content creator, pc gaming, world of warcraft, streaming highlights, gaming culture, game reviews, online gaming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So indie games recently have been popping off. And I mean like really, really, really popping off. Like they've been doing extremely well. I'm actually even kind of shocked at how well a lot of these indie games are doing. And why are indie games performing so well? I will tell you why. It's because they are actually video games. Like if I go right now and I look at SteamDB,

how many of these video games are indie games? Banana is unfortunately an indie game. And I think repo is an indie game. And it looks like Megabong is no long. longer on the list, but Megabonk was also an indie game, and so was Ball Pit very recently. Give me one second. I've got to use the bathroom, and then we're going to watch the video, okay? So yeah, it's been crazy. Why don't you take the mic with you? Because I have to pre-watch the entire video while I'm gone, so I know how to react to it in the most optimal way.

That's clearly what's going on. In the last few weeks, six indie games have been released. I love this game, by the way. This is, like, I've been playing this game a lot off-stream. This game is so good Made by teams of five people or less And combined they've sold over 80 million copies While studios with hundreds of developers Hundreds of millions in the bank are shutting down

These absolute lunatics are winning And it's not even close 2025 has proved something When you make something genuinely new Genuinely weird Genuinely passionate we notice Six games all completely unique All from tiny teams willing to

try something no one else would and they're being rewarded for it because innovation beats budget risk beats formula fun beats focus groups well look at napoleon dynamite for example i mean think about how successful that movie was and that shit was filmed with the budget of like i'd say like 16 right i mean that's it a lot of video games you don't really need to do a whole lot of crazy stuff all you really need to do is just make something that's fun to play and you don't need a billion for that. Gaming isn't broken. It's just happening somewhere else right now.

And this year, it's undeniable. Indie games are winning, so let's break down these six games and why they matter. Let's start with the most ridiculous one, RV there yet. It's a co-op game where up to four players try to drive a falling apart RV out of a deadly valley. Kind of like overcooked meets offroading, your steering, repairing. I really feel like this is the one thing as a streamer that I don't do. I never play video games with other people. I feel like if I did that,

the last time that I did that was whenever me, McConnell and Grayson played dark and darker when dark and darker first came out and people loved it. I got to do that again. The vehicle up cliffs while everything explodes around you.

It's physics-based chaos. Five people made this. Veterans from coffee staying, the goat simulator studio, but still five people and they built the game in three months. Started as a Game Jam prototype. They liked it, fleshed it out.

You tell me, they cooked this thing up in three months. And you got... Oh, man. Come on. To it three months from concept to release. It costs just six pounds, sold 1.3 million copies, hit 100,000 concurrent players on Steam in its first weekend. And for context, that's not the most AAA games.

see at launch. And here's why it worked. They embraced the jank. The RVs... Because the game's good. And yeah, you're right. A lot of friction inside of video games, like developers that are good know how to create good friction. Developers that are bad, create bad friction. It's pretty simple. Monkey controls, the physics glitches that send you flying. It's not a bug. It's a feature. They knew it, shipped it anyway, because the chaos was the point. Speed, madness, fun, over perfection, and it paid off. These guys are laughing all the way to the bank right now.

Then there's Clover Pit. Honestly, like watching this does make me want to play the game. Now, warning, because this one is addictive. Don't say I didn't tell you. So it beat this game solo. It's a rogue-like where you're trapped in a cell with a demonic slot machine. You spin to earn coins to pay off your debt each round, or you literally fall into a pit.

It's part- Why can't we do this in real life? Buck, part strategy, you're manipulating reels, triggering combos, So this is like Bellatro, but you die? Charms to bend the odds, trying to snowball into a lucky run before you go bankrupt. Two people made this game.

Two Italian dudes from Panic Arcade. Nice. That's it. It costs just £8.50, sold 100,000 copies in the first 24 hours, hit half. A hundred thousand in a day? That's incredible.

Wow. A million sales in just eight days. Holy shit. Over 750,000 copies sold with a 90% positive rate. on Steam. See, I really, I really got to get my head to the ground and be listening to these games, man. Because, like, I feel like I'm so far behind the ball in terms of playing a lot of these newer, cool games. I am so bad at this right now. I need to do a better job.

Take slot machine mechanics and turns them into pure gameplay dopamine. No micro-transactions, no real money, just the addiction of watching combos pop off and your numbers go up. They made gambling fun instead of predatory, and we noticed. And a personal favorite of mine, Bull X. Pit. This one's... This is my favorite, bro. This is... I love this game so much.

Properly mental. It's a rogue like that matches together, breakout, vampire survivors, city building, and probably even more inspirations I've missed. You're batting magic balls up into hordes of enemies like a brick breaker. The balls ricochet and destroy things. You collect loot and power-ups. And then by the end of the run, the screen's filled with a ton of... bouncing balls, obliterating everything. Between runs, you...

Yeah, I just... I remember whenever this game was like popular in like 1996, the version of this game back then. I like that game back then too. Because you could get the ball and you could knock it up and then it would go, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing. And I was like, oh, yeah. I would feel so good. Switch into building a little city that unlocked permanent upgrades. It's multiple genres. One game, outrageously addictive, easy to pick up, satisfying to master, unique addictive fun. And it was made by only one person. Kenny son.

Who the fuck did this? One guy? A solo developer cost 1299, sold 400,000 copies in its first week. Should be more. Overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam almost immediately. Here's why it works. Kenny threw multiple genres together with zero compromises. Stupid chaos that somehow just makes sense.

Most studios would have workshopped this to death. I think actually there's a little bit more, there's a little bit more reason than madness here. I actually think that the way this game is balanced and the way the city building and the way the character design is made is actually extremely thoughtful and very good. It's extremely fucking good. Is it a rogue-like? Is it a city builder?

Pick one. He didn't. He just made all of it. And the result is something you genuinely can't find anywhere else. Unique in the truest sense. Highly recommend. Escape from Duckov. Ducks with guns. It's a top-down extraction shooter that just parodies escape from Tarkov. A notoriously hardcore extraction shooter.

You're literally a duck with a gun, scavenging loot, fighting hostile ducks and geese. So is this game really as good as people think it is? extract alive with your loot before time runs out five people made this game team five people a small internal studio at bill billy the chinese publisher gave them the marketing muscle but the actual dev team is tiny it's a case of indie spirit with mid marketing muscle but the actual is that the chud is oh i thought that was the the fucking chud meme it's a case of indy spirit and almost this it costs just 1699 sold one million copies in its first week.

Two million? Two million copies sold with 94% Oh my god. Overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam. It hit 300,000 peak concurrent players. And I'll be honest, this isn't really my kind of game, but here's what they did. They took... This game looks awesome to me.

I think this is really cool. Markov's hardcore extraction loop, tension, the depth, the loot systems, and made it PVEE, solo-friendly, kept everything that makes the genre interesting, removed the toxic PVP grief. Everyone assumed it would just be a me. It looks like a meme. It smells like a meme. Ducks with AKs. Funny screenshots, move on. But it turns out it's a legitimately deep, polished shooter RPG that respects your time. What the fuck?

And the players rewarded that massively. Slots and daggers is a new fantasy rogue-like where your dungeon battles play out on a slot machine. You're venturing through floors, fighting goblins and ogres. But instead of choosing attacks from a menu, you pull a slot lever. The symbols that line up dictate what happens. Swords mean you attack. Potions heal you. shields block, critical hits, stuff like that, but there's strategy.

You can hold certain reels, equip charms that bias outcomes, essentially deck build your slot machine before each run. It's inspired by D&D clearly, but filtered through casino mechanics. One person made this. Yeah, this is really good too. This reminds me kind of like Uma Masume. Like, I remember playing that game and I was like, because before I played Uma, I would have never played a game like this. But now I think that I would be more in the, I would be more willing to. to try it out. A solo German developer, six months of development. It costs four pound right now. Pretty derby.

I've been out for four days. Already sold 50,000 copies with 94% positive reviews on Steam. He just made one weird thing really well. Intentionally crude art style, proper hand drawn, small scope. Well, I don't think it's crude. I mean, I actually think that this art style is very deliberate and well done. I think that every art style, like if you go with a PS1 art style or like this is. like a 2000s, you know, this is a video game that would run on Windows 2000 professional, right? And it would be a great game. That's the kind of experience that I think a lot of people like. They enjoy those types of games. And so really, it's not about the graphics. It's not about anything else.

It's just about the gameplay. That's what matters more than anything, is the gameplay and the fluidity of the gameplay. And that's what AAA developers really lack right now, is that, they just don't really have that ability to lock down a enjoyable fun gameplay loop. That's the big weakness. And it seems like it's like, oh, the big problem with video games nowadays is the game part of the game. Yeah, that's it. It's more accessible.

Yeah. And a lot of these other games, too, another big factor with them is that they reward short, intensive play sessions. And I think that that's something that, you know, for example, Bellatro did very well. It's something that vampire survivors did very well. well. And I think that you're seeing people move away from the longer engagement, you know,

40 minute, maybe 30 minute league games and people want a 10 minute game. They want a 15 minute game or a 5 minute game that they can pause or move in and out of. But polished, no chasing scale or endless content, just a tight replayable

loop. Back to basics. Yeah. I've got a feeling this one could blow up pretty soon. Another one I highly recommend checking out. Maybe I try it out. Can we covered this one already? A solo developer, vampire survivors in 3D, sold 1 million copies in two weeks, currently estimated around 3 million copies. This was a really good game.

I hate to say it. I actually liked ball pit more, but that also comes as a bit of a boomer who really just loves arcade games. I just, I really love arcade games. So, you know, ball pit was definitely for me, but I really, really liked this game too. He sold. It was amazing pattern, tiny team, weird idea, massive security. So what do all of these have in common? Innovation, risk, fun first, sales second. They were made with a combined budget of less than a meal for two people at five guys.

Vision from people who clearly love games. While 26% of European game professionals were laid off in the past year, with over 10% of them still looking for work and 13% of them leaving the industry entirely, these tiny teams were just building something genuine. Another thing too is that a lot of these videos, video game, like these guys that are really good at coding, some of them might have skills that are unique to the video game industry, but some of them have skills that I think can be translated to other industries. So, like, who do you, where do you think you're going to get paid better? Are you going to get paid better at, um, you know, one of these like new drone defense companies, like an Andoriel or something like that, or Palantir? Or are you going to get paid better at

Blizzard? Ah, geez, guys. Oh. Yeah, you've got Fent Tech. Yeah, well, that's another one too. Yeah, financial technology. Exactly. Yeah. ...inly new. The craziest part of all of this, you can buy all six of these games for less than one AAA release at 60 quid. Six completely unique experiences. Hundreds of hours of gameplay. All innovative, all made by people who took genuine risk because they love video games. And most of these games had more daily players than Bloodlines too. That was a flopperusky, wasn't it? A game, a game that peaked at 27,000 concurrent players on Steam for a fraction of the price and a fraction of the development time. The pattern's clear. Small teams moving fast, building what they actually want to play.

Well, it's what I've been saying before, right? Where a lot of these video games become too big to succeed. The machine becomes so big and so bureaucratic that it becomes oppressive and actually a barrier. to creativity and to productivity. And I think that you see this happen in all kinds of industries where small teams that are efficient can be more agile

and function like a Viking longboat. I feel like a lot of Viking longboats probably didn't crash and hit icebergs and fucking everybody dies. Right? I'm sure it happened, but not like the Titanic. You know, it's much easier to turn one of those than it is a Titanic.

And I think that's what happens is that you have these really, really big games that are in development for seven or 10 years and big surprise by the time this game comes out the entire industry has changed and I think that really small teams are able to look at a trend immediately see what the customers want react to it create a gameplay loop

and then put it out there I think that also there's a lot of video games now that have so many additional and extra things attached to them so like a really good example of this and this is like a criticism that I have is like Digimon has like a car card game that's built into it. I think it's kind of like Gwent. That's what I would assume. There is no reason for that to be in the game.

A lot of these like weird features that video games have that are like these like secondary game functions. Really, I hate the card game. I don't even know what it is. I never even played the LL people like those. I don't really think that they matter. Really, I don't like mini games inside of video games, I think are way overdone right now. They are tremendously overdone. And like meta-level progression, mini-game progression, stuff like that, I think is totally fucking overdone. And there's just so much of it now that it's exhausting.

He's diluting the vision. No focus groups. The reason why, for example, it works for a game like ball pit is that it's basically it's your upgrade function the same as you had in Hades, right? For example, so it's okay and it's also very, very fast. You place your buildings, then you shoot

the guys out, and then you're done and you do another mission, right? It's not this long-involved process. Yakuza says otherwise. Well, Yakuza has its own, like, I mean, so does Mario Party, right? But like, it's a different genre of type of game, but, and I think also it's known for that type of stuff.

It's like Wario Ware, for example. But I think that in general, a lot of these video games that try to try to be like an everything game I think that they just end up exhausting players it's just here's an idea let's make it ship it

yeah I played them a lot properly working that's how I know 2025 has truly proved something innovation beats budget passion beats polish fun beats everything yeah fun and just gameplay

gameplay matters more than anything right but the Digimon game is fun plus it's sprites from the original VPet toys Yeah, I just think it's just blowed. It doesn't matter and it's just more bullshit that I don't care about. Like, I get some people might care about it. They might like it. I don't.

I think it's a waste of space. It's a waste of time. And then there's no reason to have it. That's where I'm at. That's what I think. It's broken. It's just happening somewhere else right now. Yep.

In basements, spare bedrooms, small studios who still remember why they got into this industry in the first place. That's where all the innovation is happening right now. And if you can't see it by now, then you need to get your eyes checked. As always, thanks so much for watching. Appreciate you. If you enjoyed the video, make sure to give a like, drop a comment, and subscribe to the channel. There's plenty more where this came from. Thanks again. I'll see you in the next one.

W video. Absolutely, give me a second. Wait a second. Sorry. Another video. Anyway, my point is that I really, really like this. I totally agree with that. Have you beaten the Moon Boss? I have not.

Clover Pit is Fire, by the way. Maybe I should try it out. Here's the thing. Mouthwashing was also very good storytelling. Indie devs are just better at that. well are also better at that well i think that i mean you can have great storytelling at a triple a level like uh for example expedition 33 like you can have that it's just that in many of these games it just simply is not there give the video like i think this is really good from veteran joystick

and i saw it recommended to me and i wanted to try it out myself so this duck game is actually pretty popular i'll watch this i'm not going to watch it today but i'll watch it maybe tomorrow or something. I've never seen one of his videos before. He only has 25,000 subs. So I'll have to try it out and see what happens. And indie devs done of the restrictions on storytelling or interceptors. Well, I think also that here's another really big reason why indie devs are successful. The reason why is because indie development, you're telling a story and there's only like three or two people that are involved in writing the story. Whereas as whenever you're telling the story for maybe

Assassin's Creed Shadows, you had 30, 40, 50 people that are involved in one way or another with the narrative design. And so whenever you have such a large team spread out, the message of a story gets diluted.

And I think that unless you have like one guy that's at the helm that's directing this, like for example, the way the Kojima, right, is he's the guy that's directing the way the story is going to go. Then you're going to have a problem with making things like that happen. Yeah, also you have HR. Yeah, yeah, sure. And you have 30 people telling them how to change it. Yeah, it's like, it's very hard to design something that is a, you know, like a creative passion by consensus, especially not by corporate consensus. And I think that's the big weakness that a lot of these games have is that they're just designed by consensus. That's it. Have you been seeing Ben Shapiro crashing out in the Megan Kelly show? No, I haven't. I'll look at that in a minute. But, yeah, designed by HR. Well, it's approved by HR. It's not designed by HR, but it's approved.

Exhibition 33 Studio wasn't AAA size. Yeah, I think they had like 30 something developers, right? So it was actually extremely small. And everyone being on board for the creation journey, yeah. And also, whenever you have five people that you're working with, it's much harder for things to be lost in translation because there are a few people that are translating. So now, whenever you have all these people constantly talking and doing all this stuff, it's hard to really have a consistent universal message. And I think that's the big difference too.