Summary
While indie games had been gradually making their presence known all throughout the seventh generation of consoles, they were largely viewed as more of a curiosity. For every Braid or Super Meat Boy, there were literally hundreds of games that went completely ignored. But with the release of the PS4, all that changed.
Right out of the game, Sony’s eighth generation titan leveraged indies to fill the gaps. Nearly every console launches with a pretty shaky first year of games. But while many of the big Triple-A PS4 titles that released in the first year would end up falling short, the indies kept that system primed with great experiences. And theyneverstopped coming.
While we wish we could stick to the most rigid definition of what an Indie game is, doing so would remove some of the most noteworthy PS4 “indie” exclusives from our list, as Sony ended up funding a number of these titles. So, while all entries were independently developed, therewillbe some fudging when it comes to who footed the bill.
Additionally, while we wanted to aim for indies that are exclusive to the PS4, we didn’t want this list to only contain games made by the same two developers. So, we’ve included the exclusivity status for each title.
Updated June 13th, 2024 by James Kennedy:Despite the PS5 being damn near four years old now, the PS4 is still going strong. Hell, great indie games are still releasing for this beast of a console, despite how long in the tooth it has gotten. For this update, we are going to add one game from the back catalog, and another that was just released this year. Giving you a nice spread of options. Neither are exclusive to the PS4, but both are great games that deserve a place in your collection.
PS4 Exclusivity Status
TowerFall is also on Switch and PC
TowerFall has a rather odd origin story. Back in the day, there was a crowdfunded console called the Ouya. While the console didn’t make an impact, it did have one killer exclusive: TowerFall. Flash forward a few years, and TowerFall Ascension would launch on the PS4. The rest, as they say, is history.
This fantastic,pick-up-and-play friendly, party gamedelivers on being everything you would want from this type of title. Hit your opponent with a single arrow, and they’re dead. Though if they dash through your shot they’ll take that arrow. you’re able to understand how to play it in seconds, and its smooth platforming, and intuitive aiming system, feel great. If you have friends over, you can throw this one on and have a laugh. But don’t be surprised if things get oddly sweaty and the hours melt away.
No exclusivity whatsoever
We have to start this list withEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. This JRPG is a spiritual successor to the Konami’s legendary Suikoden series, and it fully lives up to its reputation. Not only does it feature beautiful pixel art, but it is packed with excellent content, a great cast of characters, and sharp writing. Moreover, it doesn’t have any of the embarrassing otaku-bait that has poisoned the JRPG genre in recent years.
Make no mistake about it, despite being a Kickstarter-funded game, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes isone of the best best RPGs to release in the last decade. It is an impressive, sprawling epic that deserves your attention. Is it best played on the PS4? No, you will run into some performance issues here and there, but if you don’t have a more modern console, then that shouldn’t stop you from playing this masterpiece.
Sony Exclusive
Also available on PS3 and Vita
Flower is a free-flowing, expressive experience. It doesn’t feel like a “game” necessarily, which is one of its strengths. To this day, you can hand anyone the controller and have them experience the novelty that is Flower. ThatGameCompany would go on to make bigger, more impressive titles that would contain a great deal of the wonderment of Flower, while also providing a little more structure.
Flower was an important stepping stone for the indie scene, showing how these titles can have artistic heft, and it was one of the marquee indie games of Sony’s PS3 and PS4 consoles. You don’t hear many people talk about Flower these days, but we’d like to think that it exists as more than just an interesting footnote in the indie landscape. To this day, it is still a serene and beautiful experience.
Timed Exclusive
Also available on PC
Put the shape into the hole. That’s the whole game when it comes to SuperHyperCube. As you successfully put the shape into the hole, more cubes will be randomly affixed to your shape, typically changing its silhouette. You’ll then need to twist and turn your new shape until it fits into the next hole. Continue doing this until you fail.
The game does allow for some creativity, as it will reward you for fitting your shape through a space in an unconventional manner. Similarly, rotating the shape to fit at the last second would yield bonus points!
This is a PSVR title, and while it may seem like it is too simple to be worth mentioning here, we feel like SuperHyperCube is VR gaming’s version of Teris. Extremely simple, yet perfectly executed. Unfortunately, it was never updated for PSVR2, so you can only play it using the well-aged original PSVR or by playing it using a PCVR set. However, though it may not have ever made much of a splash, we wanted to give it a little praise here. SuperHyperCube is fantastic!
When it comes to the world of extreme sports games, Roll7 has been doing god’s work. Ever since they released the fantastic OlliOlli title, they have, essentially, been the only game in town when it comes to the genre. But as good as the OlliOlli games are, and they are VERY good, their 2D engine prevents them from being able to scratch that THPS itch.
Well, that all changed withRollerdrome. This is Tony Hawk Pro Skater by way of The Running Man. The trick system will feel familiar to all the THPS fans, as will the stages, but tricks aren’t the only way to increase your combo multiplier: kills will as well. It all ends up working extremely well. Activision has consistently been a letdown, but Roll7 is forever our savior.
We considered choosing the excellent OlliOlli for this list instead, as it did spend a period of time as a Sony exclusive, but Rollerdrome is too damn good for it to not be given its roses.
WhileNight In The Woodsis by no means exclusive to the PS4, it is a heartwarming, complex look into the ennui of early adulthood. It is a story that grapples with the reality of working-class families living on the margins, but young adults struggling with the strong sense that they have failed. It’s engaging stuff!
And while, in a lot of ways, Night in the Woods is a visual novel, it wraps itself in enough classic gameplay elements to feel suitably gamey. You traverse the world like a platformer, there are rhythm sections, and hey, there is a whole Zelda-clone contained within as well. A Night in the Woods is a singular experience and one that will likely strongly resonate with any person who remembers what it felt like to be a young adult.
When you think of the behemoth that is the PlayStation 4, you probably think of a number of games.Bloodborne,God of War,The Last of Us Part 2… But it wasn’t those games that propped the PS4 up in those early days. That distinction belonged to a plucky side-scrolling, indie shooter named Resogun.
This Housemarque title featured arcadey gameplay that felt like a call back to all the great looping side-scroller shooters ranging from Defender (that Resogun feels like a spiritual successor to) to the likes of Mr. Heli (and absolute banger, don’t at us). What really helped Resogun pop is its unique aesthetic, which recreates a pixel-like look using voxels, while leveraging modern lighting game particle effects. To this day, Resogun is smooth as silk and deserves your attention!
Now available on all consoles
This is a funny one, as you wouldn’t necessarily even think ofRocket Leagueas being an indie game, as ithas become a force to be reckoned with in the live-gaming world.But Rocket League was made by around a dozen people or so. While it has gone on to be available everywhere, at launch, Rocket League was exclusively available on the PS4.
But what is Rocket League? Well, it is a loosey-goosey version of soccer played using cars. While that sounds like more of a novelty than something that could sustain long-term interest, the truth is that Rocket League manages to be extremely approachable, while also having a relatively large skill ceiling. So many indies are evocative and emotionally resonant, so it is great to have those weightier titles balanced out by something more twitchy, arcadey, and fun. Rocket League is an all-timer!
The Usual Suspects
We’ve carved out a section here for all the obvious indie bangers you can play on the PS4. You know ‘em. You love ‘em. They deserve some praise too.
Timed Console Exclusive with PC release
Furi is now available on every modern console
Originally an exclusive PS4 title, Furi is a bullet hell, boss rush defined by its gorgeous aesthetic, cinematic interludes, and driving, synth-based soundtrack. And the gameplay? Well, it is refined, tight, and utterly exacting. The entire game may only consist of boss fights, butthey are some of the best boss fights seen in gaming.
Furi is, to this day, an excellent title that will push you to your limit. Each boss fight has a number of phases, and each phase will add a novel wrinkle to the encounter. Better yet, Furi has since been updated with the Onnamusha content, which provides the player with another wholly unique character to play through the game with.
Console Exclusive with PC release
We don’t want to just flood this list withHousemarquegames, but comeON, how could we not include this classic? Nex Machina takes a lot of the elements that made Resogun such a hit and reincorporates them into a Smash TV-esque twin-stick shooter.
In an era where arcadey games are dying out, and where everything needs to have a grand narrative driven by a cast of top-tier actors helping to tell a complex story with twists and turns, Nex Machina is a golden example of how great those arcade classics that ate all our quarters in the early-to-mid 90s were. We are happy thatReturnalwas able to repackage what made so many of their games great in a triple-a title, and we think that one is a classic, but Nex Machina feels like an invaluable relic from a forgotten time.
