Indian games
Video game development is prominently done in western nations. However, these Indian game developers are making waves in the industry. Source: Anirudh Singh (Concept artist for Raji: An Ancient Epic) / Art Station

Game development has always been prominent in western nations. There’s never enough spotlight for Asian countries making phenomenal games … until now. Indian game developers have been working hard creating fun and interesting games — whether including western themes or weaving their culture through them.

Without further ado, here are five of the best Indian games that are leading the nation’s game development scene:

Raji: An Ancient Epic

Raji is an action-adventure game where a young girl Raji in ancient India is on a mission to save her brother, Golu, from demons and defeat the demon-king Mahabalasura. On her journey, Raji completes various tasks which help her get different weapons blessed by various Indian Gods.

The game strategically uses various aspects of Indian mythology, like Mandala paintings, local music, temples, idols on the walls of these temples etc, with each of them carrying a unique logic, immersing the player in the intricacies of ancient Hindu mythology.

Price on Steam: US$12.49

Asura: Vengeance Edition

Asura is a rogue-like game, available since 2017. It is a top-down game that is set in a fantasy world, and the players’ skill tree changes every time they die. This game is heavily inspired by Indian mythology, which can be easily established by the name itself, and has the gamer reincarnated as an Asura, or a demon, who with the help of powers fights against the “God-king” Hasirama.

The latest “Vengeance Expansion” adds more features and content to the game. It adds a Vengeance mode, where you’ll be fighting with the unending waves of invading God king’s army.

Price on Steam: US$4.99

Rainswept

Rainswept is a cinematic adventure mystery game that is based in a small town. The player is part of a story that involves grief, loss and a murder mystery. While the game does touch upon sensitive topics like child abuse and domestic abuse, however, as the story unravels it creates hope and uses the art of storytelling effectively.

Dressed as a typical detective, Stone takes you through the streets of the town and interacts with various characters in a bid to solve the murder mystery. The gameplay also has emotional flashbacks, coupled with soundtracks that sets the mood, of how the now-dead couple met and the drama in their lives making this a game that’s hard to forget.

Price on Steam: US$4.19

The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands

The Bonfire is a unique game that has been around for over three years. It’s a survival and strategy game that helps the player build a settlement. It has five minute cycles of day and night where you build your settlement, manage your craft, gather resources and manage them during the day. At night, you’ll combat with the monsters to save your settlement.

The player is aided by visitors who help build the structures for the settlement. As a player, you need to manage the workforce that is available at your dispense and use them strategically, maintaining the balance between various tasks.

Price on Steam: US$2.71

Gamedev Beatdown

Planning to build your own game? Well, Gamedev Beatdown is a single-player hybrid 2D strategy game that makes you experience the struggles of a game developer in a gamified way.

As a decision-maker, this brawler-type game takes you through the entire life cycle of a game like building your own game right from scratch, creating a team that has a right mix of developers and designers, plus strategising to solve real-time scenarios that are fabricated to highlight issues a game developer would face.

Price on Steam: US$6.99