Happy new year to all and happy first birthday to Indie Selects! A year ago, we set up the Indie Selects program with the goal of highlighting and recommending indie games found on the Xbox Store that aren’t necessarily part of the Xbox Game Pass service, so that great games and great teams never go uncelebrated. Think of Indie Selects as the “Staff Picks” shelf at a Blockbuster Video or Tower Records. And now you think I am 80 years old. Ah well.
Today, we’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of this program with a 2024 Anniversary Collection featuring our six top Indie Selects titles from 2024 that we believe you need to play – they will be enshrined for all time (or until the Xbox Store team tells us to stop). So, without further ado, here are the six titles we picked for our first Yearly Selects line-up: Balatro, Animal Well, The Plucky Squire, Neva, Crow Country, and Hypercharge: Unboxed.
Whether you come home from a rough day and need to unwind, or you’re just looking for the right adventure that can connect you with a family member, games like these six matter – and so do the teams that make them. These contributions to the industry deserve attention, celebration, and enjoyment.
The Anniversary Collection can be found in the Indie Selects row on Xbox Store Games home from January 29 to February 11. Here’s how to find it:
- From Xbox Home, select Store
- On Store go to the left nav bar and select Games Home.
- On Game Home scroll down until you see the collection!
Each of these titles are a great representation of what our industry strives to achieve. To celebrate and thank each of these developers for creating such beloved pieces of work, we asked each of them if they would be gracious enough to reflect and share their thoughts with us on the following question:
“Looking back at the entire development process, what does it mean to your game studio to launch this project and receive so much high praise from both the gaming audience and critics alike?“
Balatro (Developed by LocalThunk Inc.)
“While the praise for the game is certainly nice, Balatro is and always has been a personal passion project more than anything else. I am lucky that the game performed well in this industry at all, and I’m really glad to use the attention from Balatro to shine a light on some of the other incredible indie games out there right now. I think it’s a great time to be a fan of indie games!” – LocalThunk, Developer of Balatro
Animal Well (Developed by Billy Basso)
“Seven years ago, I started building a new game/engine from scratch, more as a learning experience than out of any ambition to create the new big indie hit. I drew a few animal sprites. Got a candle to glow the way I wanted. As the game and the engine organically fed off of one another, it took a shape I never would have predicted when I first started. And now that Animal Well is out in the world, players continue to color it with their own perspectives, their pet theories, their love for the game. I feel like I was able to make a small contribution to video game culture and my efforts have been rewarded a hundredfold.” – Billy Basso, Developer of Animal Well
The Plucky Squire (Developed by All Possible Futures)
“Working on The Plucky Squire has been an amazing journey for all of us at All Possible Futures. From those first prototypes of Jot leaping from desk to book, to seeing players light up as they experience it – it’s been a joy to share with the world. We poured all of our heart into the game, and it’s been incredible to see players and critics connect with it in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Knowing that the game has brought smiles to so many faces is the most rewarding part of it all. That’s what it’s all about for us, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the love and support along the way.” – Jonathan Biddle, Co-director, All Possible Futures
Neva (Developed by Nomada Studio)
“Launching Neva has been a journey of four years—more than double the time it took to develop [our last game] Gris. It has been a long and challenging process.
“Our biggest fear was living up to the expectations of our fans and critics. After the huge and unexpected success of Gris, we felt the pressure of both external expectations and our own ambitions. Every element of Neva, from its storytelling to its art and gameplay, was crafted with the hope of creating a meaningful connection with players. This is the kind of game we aspire to create as a studio.
“Seeing both critics and players enjoy and praise Neva has been incredibly fulfilling—a perfect final gift to its long development journey and a transformative milestone for our studio. It has proven that players are truly eager for games capable of evoking powerful emotions and telling unique, meaningful stories that resonate with them; and for us, this recognition has provided the strength and motivation to continue pursuing this goal for as long as we can.” – Conrad Roset, Creative Director, Nomada Studio
Crow Country (Developed by SFB Games)
“We had hopes that people would get excited for Crow Country when even early, out-of-context teaser screenshots would get very positive attention. Nothing is certain in game development though, so to have had this many people write so many lovely things about the game, recommend it to their friends or audiences, and rate it so highly – it’s really reassuring that the kind of games we want to make are the kind that people want to play. It’s also been a morale-boosting liferaft in a very troubled time for the games industry, and will keep [studio co-founder] Adam and me going through the next game and beyond!” – Tom Vian, Co-founder, SFB Games
Hypercharge Unboxed (Developed by Digital Cybercherries Limited)
“Power Your Dreams is more than just a slogan: it speaks to the heart of every dreamer, reminding us that with passion and determination, even childhood dreams can come true. We believed in that message and powered our dream of creating Hypercharge. With Xbox’s support, we were able to launch on this incredible platform and witness it not only change our lives as a small indie studio, but also bring families closer together through the magic of couch co-op.
“Seeing parents and children laughing and working together to overcome challenges in Hypercharge has been truly heart-warming. That shared experience, playing together in the same room, on their Xbox – that’s something really special, where memories will last a lifetime. We’re immensely grateful to Xbox for helping make our dream come true and for allowing players to join us on this journey! The overwhelmingly positive response to Hypercharge has been truly inspiring. To everyone who has played and supported our game, thank you!” – Joe Henson, Creative Gameplay & Marketing Director, Digital Cybercherries
On top of the Collection itself, we’re running an Indie Selects Anniversary Sale from January 28 to February 3, featuring over 200 indie titles that launched in 2024. This is the perfect opportunity to save on titles we recommended, including Balatro, Phasmophobia, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Rounds, and more.
Check out the full list of on-sale titles below. Thanks for playing, and stay tuned for even more Indie Selects in the years ahead!
Full List of Games in the Indie Selects Anniversary Sale
Content Title Discount Notes 3XTINCTION 40% Indie Selects Sale 8 Bit Adventures 2 20% Indie Selects Sale A Perfect Day 35% Indie Selects Sale A Time Traveller’s Guide To Past Delicacies (Xbox Series X|S) 50% Indie Selects Sale Aaero2 20% Indie Selects Sale Abathor 25% Indie Selects Sale ABRISS – build to destroy 40% Indie Selects Sale Access Denied: Escape 30% Indie Selects Sale Across the Obelisk 50% Indie Selects Sale Aerial_Knight’s We Never Yield 50% Indie Selects Sale Aero The Acro-Bat: Rascal Rival Revenge 20% Indie Selects Sale Albatroz 30% Indie Selects Sale Alien Hominid HD 20% Indie Selects Sale Alien Hominid Invasion 20% Indie Selects Sale Alina of the Arena 30% Indie Selects Sale Alisa Developer’s Cut 30% Indie Selects Sale Another Crab’s Treasure 35% Indie Selects Sale Aquarium Designer 35% Indie Selects Sale Armed and Gelatinous: Couch Edition 25% Indie Selects Sale Astor: Blade of the Monolith 50% Indie Selects Sale Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles 20% Indie Selects Sale Athenian Rhapsody 30% Indie Selects Sale Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan 50% Indie Selects Sale Backpack hero 30% Indie Selects Sale Balatro 15% Indie Selects Sale Bang-on Balls: Chronicles 60% Indie Selects Sale BBQ Simulator The Squad 50% Indie Selects Sale Between Horizons 50% Indie Selects Sale Beyond Galaxyland 35% Indie Selects Sale Bio Inc. Redemption 30% Indie Selects Sale Bioframe Outpost 20% Indie Selects Sale Blacksad: Under the Skin (Series) 65% Indie Selects Sale Blacksad: Under the Skin (X1) 75% Indie Selects Sale Blindfire 20% Indie Selects Sale Bloomtown: A Different Story 20% Indie Selects Sale Born of Bread 55% Indie Selects Sale Botany Manor 20% Indie Selects Sale Braid: Anniversary Edition 75% Indie Selects Sale Brocula 40% Indie Selects Sale Broken Roads 50% Indie Selects Sale Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake 50% Indie Selects Sale Builder Simulator 40% Indie Selects Sale Bullet Runner 40% Indie Selects Sale Burger Bistro Story 30% Indie Selects Sale Candle Knight 50% Indie Selects Sale Capes 35% Indie Selects Sale Capes – King City Edition 35% Indie Selects Sale Cat Quest III 30% Indie Selects Sale Choice of Life: MIddle Ages 2 65% Indie Selects Sale CLeM 35% Indie Selects Sale Closer the distance 35% Indie Selects Sale CorpoNation: The Sorting Process 40% Indie Selects Sale Crow Country 20% Indie Selects Sale Crypt Custodian 20% Indie Selects Sale Cryptmaster 20% Indie Selects Sale Ctrl Alt Ego 30% Indie Selects Sale Dagon: Complete Edition 20% Indie Selects Sale Darkest Dungeon II 25% Indie Selects Sale Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow 50% Indie Selects Sale Deadlink 35% Indie Selects Sale Deep Beyond 30% Indie Selects Sale Democracy 4: Console Edition 20% Indie Selects Sale Desktop Dungeons: Rewind 30% Indie Selects Sale Dinobreak 50% Indie Selects Sale Downward: Enhanced Edition 40% Indie Selects Sale Drova – Forsaken Kin 20% Indie Selects Sale Dungeon Drafters 40% Indie Selects Sale Dustborn 60% Indie Selects Sale Elderand 60% Indie Selects Sale ELDERBORN 20% Indie Selects Sale EMPTY SHELL 25% Indie Selects Sale Endless Dungeon 50% Indie Selects Sale Endless Dungeon Last Wish Edition 50% Indie Selects Sale Espresso Tycoon 30% Indie Selects Sale Eternal Threads 60% Indie Selects Sale Everafter Falls 20% Indie Selects Sale Everdream Valley 60% Indie Selects Sale Exhausted Man 20% Indie Selects Sale Fabledom 35% Indie Selects Sale Flooded 50% Indie Selects Sale Garden Witch Life 30% Indie Selects Sale Garten of Banban 3 20% Indie Selects Sale Garten of Banban 4 20% Indie Selects Sale Gift (Xbox Series X|S Edition) 65% Indie Selects Sale GNOSIA 30% Indie Selects Sale Goons: Legends & Mayhem 50% Indie Selects Sale Great God Grove 20% Indie Selects Sale Hand in Hand 40% Indie Selects Sale HARDCORE MECHA 30% Indie Selects Sale Heretic’s Fork 30% Indie Selects Sale Heroine Anthem Zero 2 : Scalescars Oath 30% Indie Selects Sale Hidden Cats in London 33% Indie Selects Sale Hidden Cats in New York 33% Indie Selects Sale Hidden Cats in Paris 33% Indie Selects Sale Hidden Cats in Rome 25% Indie Selects Sale Hidden Cats in Spooky Town 25% Indie Selects Sale Highwater 75% Indie Selects Sale Home Safety Hotline 30% Indie Selects Sale Horizon Chase 2 50% Indie Selects Sale Horror Tales: The Beggar 30% Indie Selects Sale Howl 50% Indie Selects Sale HYPERCHARGE COMPLETE EDITION 20% Indie Selects Sale HYPERCHARGE Unboxed 20% Indie Selects Sale INDIKA 25% Indie Selects Sale Insurmountable 50% Indie Selects Sale Iron Meat 20% Indie Selects Sale Jorel’s Brother and The Most Important Game of the Galaxy 50% Indie Selects Sale Just Crow Things 25% Indie Selects Sale Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge 25% Indie Selects Sale Kena: Bridge of Spirits 50% Indie Selects Sale Keylocker 20% Indie Selects Sale Kill Knight 33% Indie Selects Sale King Arthur: Knight’s Tale 60% Indie Selects Sale Kingdom Eighties 50% Indie Selects Sale Kitten Island 50% Indie Selects Sale Knights of Braveland 25% Indie Selects Sale Laika: Aged through Blood 40% Indie Selects Sale Landnama 30% Indie Selects Sale Let’s! Revolution! 40% Indie Selects Sale Lifeless Moon 30% Indie Selects Sale Lil Gator Game 40% Indie Selects Sale Lil’ Guardsman 50% Indie Selects Sale Little Noah: Scion of Paradise 70% Indie Selects Sale Little Noah: Scion of Paradise Special Edition 70% Indie Selects Sale Long Gone Days 40% Indie Selects Sale Lords of Exile 35% Indie Selects Sale Loretta 40% Indie Selects Sale Lunar Landar Beyond 35% Indie Selects Sale Manor Lords (Game Preview) 30% Indie Selects Sale Mediterranea Inferno 60% Indie Selects Sale Motesolo 30% Indie Selects Sale My Child Lebensborn – Remastered 25% Indie Selects Sale My Time At Sandrock 35% Indie Selects Sale Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters 60% Indie Selects Sale Nerd Survivors 50% Indie Selects Sale Ninja Village 50% Indie Selects Sale Offroad Mechanic Simulator 20% Indie Selects Sale Panzer Paladin 25% Indie Selects Sale Paper io 2 50% Indie Selects Sale Paper Trail 50% Indie Selects Sale Parkitect: Deluxe Edition 50% Indie Selects Sale Pepper Grinder 40% Indie Selects Sale Pets Hotel 70% Indie Selects Sale Phantom Spark 35% Indie Selects Sale Phasmophobia (Game Preview) 25% Indie Selects Sale Pixel Cafe 90% Indie Selects Sale PO’ed 35% Indie Selects Sale Promenade 50% Indie Selects Sale Prune & Milo 50% Indie Selects Sale Puppet House 30% Indie Selects Sale pureya 25% Indie Selects Sale Qomp 2 35% Indie Selects Sale Rage of the Dragons NEO 20% Indie Selects Sale Ready Steady Ship 50% Indie Selects Sale Rebel Transmute 40% Indie Selects Sale Reel Fishing: Days of Summer 25% Indie Selects Sale Retaliate 50% Indie Selects Sale Reveil 50% Indie Selects Sale REVEIL – Funhouse Edition 50% Indie Selects Sale Rewind or Die 30% Indie Selects Sale Rogue Flight 30% Indie Selects Sale Rounds 50% Indie Selects Sale Ruff Ghanor 60% Indie Selects Sale Rusted Moss 20% Indie Selects Sale S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy 35% Indie Selects Sale Sail Forth + Maelstrom Bundle 40% Indie Selects Sale Sam & Max The Devil’s Playhouse 20% Indie Selects Sale SCHiM 20% Indie Selects Sale SCHiM 20% Indie Selects Sale Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn 20% Indie Selects Sale Shieldwall 30% Indie Selects Sale Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 50% Indie Selects Sale Shogun Showdown 25% Indie Selects Sale Silver Axe – The Honest Elf 50% Indie Selects Sale Skeler Boy 40% Indie Selects Sale Sky Oceans: Wing for Hire 25% Indie Selects Sale Slave Zero X 30% Indie Selects Sale Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut 20% Indie Selects Sale Slender: The Arrival 60% Indie Selects Sale Songs of Silence 20% Indie Selects Sale Speedollama 20% Indie Selects Sale Spellcats 50% Indie Selects Sale Spiral 20% Indie Selects Sale Star Wars Bounty Hunter 25% Indie Selects Sale Starship Troopers: Extermination 30% Indie Selects Sale Stolen Realm 50% Indie Selects Sale Stunt Paradise 25% Indie Selects Sale Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe 50% Indie Selects Sale Super Space Club 25% Indie Selects Sale Super Woden GP 2 25% Indie Selects Sale Tamarak Trail 50% Indie Selects Sale Tenderfoot Tactics 60% Indie Selects Sale Tetris Forever 20% Indie Selects Sale TEVI 35% Indie Selects Sale The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication 20% Indie Selects Sale The Coma 2B: Catacomb 25% Indie Selects Sale The Hong Kong Massacre 80% Indie Selects Sale The House of Da Vinci 2 40% Indie Selects Sale The House of Da Vinci 3 30% Indie Selects Sale The Inheritance of Crimson Manor 70% Indie Selects Sale The Invincible 40% Indie Selects Sale The Jackbox Party Pack 10 40% Indie Selects Sale The Land Beneath Us 30% Indie Selects Sale The Last Faith 35% Indie Selects Sale The Master’s Pupil 30% Indie Selects Sale The Palace on the Hill 40% Indie Selects Sale The Sparkle 2 Evo 50% Indie Selects Sale The Star Named EOS 20% Indie Selects Sale The Talos Principle 2 50% Indie Selects Sale Times and Galaxy 30% Indie Selects Sale To the Moon 30% Indie Selects Sale Tourist Trap 30% Indie Selects Sale Trail Out 50% Indie Selects Sale Train Sim World® 5 40% Indie Selects Sale Tri6: Infinite + 50% Indie Selects Sale Tribe: Primitive Builder 20% Indie Selects Sale Trinity Fusion 50% Indie Selects Sale Trinity Fusion Deluxe Edition 50% Indie Selects Sale Troublemaker: Raise Your Gang 50% Indie Selects Sale Turnip Boy Robs a Bank 35% Indie Selects Sale Ultra Foodmess Deluxe 40% Indie Selects Sale Unleaving 50% Indie Selects Sale Vampire Hunters 30% Indie Selects Sale Volgarr the Viking II 30% Indie Selects Sale Welcome to Empyreum 40% Indie Selects Sale While True: learn() 30% Indie Selects Sale Withering Rooms 50% Indie Selects Sale Wizard with a Gun: Deluxe Edition 67% Indie Selects Sale Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord 35% Indie Selects Sale Wordless 45% Indie Selects Sale WW2 Rebuilder 30% Indie Selects Sale YOHANE THE PARHELION -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE- 50% Indie Selects Sale
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ID@Xbox Celebrates Indie Selects’ Anniversary With Best Of 2024, Anniversary Sale
by Rainier on Jan. 30, 2025 @ 9:23 a.m. PST
For the past year, on the last week of every month, the ID@Xbox team has showcased six indie titles that they felt players would love.
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