Anybody who knows anything about video games knows that theytake a lot of work to create. Just look at the credits for any AAA release. You’ll see that literally hundreds of people have been involved in its production. But that’s not the case for all games. Plenty of games are made by a teeny, tiny team. In some cases, games are made by just oneperson. And when those games turn out to be excellent, it’s an incredible feat.
Here we’ve rounded up the best games made by just one person. There are lots more that we haven’t mentioned, but these are the ones we’ve played and can attest to. We’ve ignored games like Minecraft, which started life as a solo developer project but have gone on to become something much bigger. These are all truly made by just one person — and they’re all worthy of your time and attention.
This list was originally published in 2015 and it has been kept updated since.
1. Among Ashes
- Developed by Daniel Ferrer, under the name Rat Cliff Games
- Available on: PS5, PC
- Original release date: 9 December 2024
One of the newest titles on our list of best games made by one person is also one of our favourites. Among Ashes is an original horror game, featuring a game-within-a-game, developed by Daniel Ferrer under the name Rat Cliff Games. Much of the game takes place on your computer screen where you’ll be playing a strange game called ‘Night Call’. It’s just an executable file sent to you by a friend — nothing can go wrong, right?
Within Night Call, there are puzzles to solve and plenty of scares waiting for you. You’ll also occasionally be distracted by an MSN Messenger-style notification coming through from your friend, taking you out of the game. Sometimes, you’ll also have to leave the safety of your desk when strange and spooky things start happening around the house, too. It seems opening strange .exe files carries more risk than simply getting a computer virus!
Read our full review of Among Ashes
2. Moving Houses
- Developed by Gordon Little, under the name Gord Games
- Available on: PC (coming soon to console)
- Original release date: 1 October 2024
A short but wonderful little game, Moving Houses exists to subvert your expectations. Presented as a moving simulator, you’ll initially spend your time in Moving Houses packing up your belongings ready to move house. You’ll carry boxes to the back of the moving truck and load it up, room by room. At first, everything seems fine. But the more of your belongings you pack up, the more strange things you seem to notice.
Did you know you had an extra room downstairs, for example? And why does this hallway seem to go on forever? We can’t say too much about what Moving Houses has in store for you, but suffice to say, it’ll surprise and delight in equal measure.
Read our full review of Moving Houses
3. Balatro
- Developed by LocalThunk
- Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC
- Original release date: 20 February 2024
We couldn’t have a list of the best games made by one person and not include Balatro, could we? A roguelike card game based around the rules of poker, Balatro is equal parts wonderful and addictive: trust us, once you start playing, you’ll struggle to stop.
Developer LocalThunk may have teamed up with independent publisher PlayStack to help bring the game to audiences, but this is very much a solo-developed project — and one of the best we’ve ever played. It’s a roguelike card game unlike anything you’ve ever played before, and once you’ve started it, you won’t be able to tear yourself away.
Read our full review of Balatro
4. Hollowbody
- Developed by Nathan Hamley, under the name Headware Games
- Available on: PC
- Original release date: 12 September 2024
Hollowbody was one of our favourite horror games of 2024. It packs in a clever story, a fascinating world to explore, and feels very much inspired by the likes of Silent Hill and Resident Evil — what’s not to like? Horror is one of the most common genres for solo developers to tackle, but very few games manage to be as successful as Nathan Hamley’s Hollowbody.
Set in a futuristic recreation of England where much of the country has gone to ruin, you find yourself stepping into the shoes of Mica. She’s heading out into the dangerous ‘exclusion zone’ to try and find her missing sister — but she’s going to find far more than she’s bargained for. There are enemy encounters galore, but it’s the puzzles and storytelling that we really love most about Hollowbody.
Read our review of Hollowbody
5. The Renovator: Origins
- Developed by Peace_Studio
- Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
- Original release date: 13 July 2024
Here’s another horror game by a solo developer that’s well worth your time. The Russian developer, Peace_Studio, has created something truly original in The Renovator: Origins. We’ll admit, we weren’t expecting anything special — but when the credits rolled around four hours later, we were left very impressed indeed.
You play as the son of a restoration worker, who has sadly just passed away. When going to visit his studio, you suddenly find yourself locked in — and strange things begin to happen all around you. Before long you’ll be exploring creepy environments, solving puzzles and even literally travelling into a series of paintings. The Renovator: Origins is just the right amount of scary: you’re always kept on edge, and it doesn’t overdo it with the jump scares — when you do catch something out of the corner of your eye, it truly is terrifying.
Read our review of The Renovator: Origins
6. Spilled!
- Developed by Lente
- Available on: PC
- Original release date: 26 March 2025
Spilled! is a very short game: you’ll be done with it in roughly an hour or less. But while it lasts, it’s utterly lovely — and packs in an important message to boot. Created by Lente, it puts you in control of a little clean-up boat with your goal being to clean waterways of oil spills and trash. As you progress through Spilled!’s levels, you’ll be faced with more and more pollution, so you’ll need to upgrade your boat to keep on top of it all.
There’s something rather soothing about driving over an oil spill to clean it up, and to sweep up trash towards a recycling plant. It’s a very simple game, but we absolutely adore it. We only wish it was a little longer, but we very much appreciate the message it packs in about taking care of our lakes and oceans.
Read our full review of Spilled!
7. Beyond Galaxyland
- Developed by Sam Enright
- Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC
- Original release date: 29 September 2024
Combine Final Fantasy with Star Wars and you get Beyond Galaxyland, a side-scrolling, planet-hopping adventure with turn-based combat that is absolutely fantastic. Doug is the star of the show here, a young boy who suddenly finds himself whisked away to Galaxyland, told that his home planet of Earth has been destroyed. He’s not buying it, however, and hatches a plan to escape and head back to Earth to see for himself.
And so begins an outlandish adventure, where Doug and his friends, including his gun-toting guinea pig which can now talk, get into various scrapes while trying to get back home and unravel the secrets of Galaxyland. It truly is an impressive piece of work considering it’s made by just one person, with a brilliant soundtrack, great mechanics, and lots of gameplay variety.
Read our full review of Beyond Galaxyland
8. Papers, Please
- Developed by Lucas Pope
- Available on: PC, mobile
- Original release date: 8 August 2013
Papers, Please is a 2013 PC game developed by Lucas Pope, a former Naughty Dog developer. Captioned “a dystopian document thriller”, the game chronicles your job as an immigration officer as you decide who can and can’t enter the fictional Eastern European country of Arstotzka.
Papers, Please was incredibly well-received; on PC, it has a Metascore of 85, and even bagged a BAFTA for best simulation game in 2014. It’s not Pope’s only game, either; he’s since gone onto create Return of the Obra Dinn, a game equally as well-received. But for us,Papers Pleaseremains one of the best games made by one person.
9. Will You Snail
- Developed by Jonas Tyroller
- Available on: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 9 March 2022
This tough-as-nails but absolutely wonderful title deserves a place amongst the best games made by one person.Will You Snailis the brainchild of Jonas Tyroller. It started out life as a “silly little side project” before eventually developing into a game that Tyroller spent years working on. The result is a hardcore platforming game set in a world that’s controlled by an evil AI – and it’s unlike anything else you’ll ever play.
Rather than double down into the twitch platforming category, Tyroller has created something truly unique withWill You Snail, adding in puzzles, an engaging narrative, funny commentary and plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Read more about Will You Snail
10. Mable & The Wood
- Developed by Andrew Stewart (Triplevision Games)
- Available on Xbox, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 23 August 2019
Mable & The Wood is a gorgeous pixel-art Metroidvania that puts you in control of a young girl – the titular Mable. A tiny wee thing, Mable can’t lift up her sword, so instead attacks enemies by changing form. She can, for instance, turn into a fairy, fly up into the air and call for her sword to fly through the air in her path. It’s a unique twist on a tried and tested formula.
Created by UK-based Andrew Stewart, it’s been a labour of love in his spare time, fitting in development over four years in between a full-time job and his duties as a dad. That’s a feat for anyone, but when the result is as something as charming asMable & The Wood, one of the best games made by one person, it deserves to be celebrated.
11. Axiom Verge
- Developed by Thomas Happ
- Available on: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 14 May 2015
Released back in 2015, Axiom Verge is the labour of love of Tom Happ. He spent seven years creating the game in his spare time. Seven. Years.
Happ has carefully created everything by himself, from set design to the music. The finished product is an immensely enjoyable side-scrolling Metroidvania. It’s probably one of our favourite Metroidvania games of recent years, in fact; not much else has come close to rivallingCastlevania: Symphony of the Nightin the way that Axiom Verge does. With gorgeous pixel art and some truly freaky designs reminiscent of HR Giger, it’s without a doubt one of the best games made by one person.
Axiom Vergehas been ported to every major format, most recently onto Nintendo Switch in October 2017. It’s even spawned a sequel,Axiom Verge 2.
Read our review of Axiom Verge
12. Cave Story
- Developed by Daisuke Amaya (Studio Pixel)
- Available on: Switch, PC
- Original release date: 20 December 2004
Originally released in 2004 for PC, Daisuke Amaya’sCave Storyhas been ported to several formats since. Most recently, it released on Switch in June 2017 asCave Story+.
A side-scrolling platform game,Cave Storyis rich with story and addictive gameplay. It’s a fairly sizable game, taking between six to eight hours to complete.
Considering that Amaya originally made it in his free time over a five-year span, starting while he was in college, that’s quite a feat. Even almost 18 years after it first released, Cave Storyis still a beloved indie classic that’ll never get old.
13. Dust: An Elysian Tail
- Developed by Dean Dodrill
- Available on: Xbox, PS4, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 15 August 2012
When we playedDust: An Elysian Tailfor the first time, we had no idea it was developed by one person. It’s so well-crafted and rich in detail that it surely had to have been made by a large team.Not so: it was made solely by Dean Dodrill, a self-taught illustrator. Henot only programmed Dustsingle-handedly, but he also did all the artwork. That’s an incredible feat.
Dust: An Elysian Tale puts you in the shoes of the eponymous Dust, a warrior who wields the powerful Blade of Ahrah. It’s up to him to battle his way through hordes of enemies, helping civilians along the way, completing quests and solving puzzles. Since its original release on Xbox 360 in 2012, it’s been ported to PC, PS4 and iOS. If you enjoy action-adventure titles and love gorgeous art, this is a game well worth playing.
14. Knytt Underground
- Developed by Nicklas Nygren
- Available on: PC
- Original release date: 18 December 2012
Developed by Nicklas Nygren – also known as Nifflas –Knytt Underground launched in 2012 on PlayStation Vita and PS3, later being ported to PC and Wii U. A 2D side-scrolling adventure, this is Nygren’s most ambitious project, fusing elements from his earlier games – Knytt and Deep Forest.
Although Nygren has some of his own original songs on the soundtrack, it does feature songs from other artists. But in terms of artwork and programming, it’s all Nygren. And considering the scope of the game – you’ll find yourself exploring over 1,800 rooms split over multiple environments – that’s a pretty impressive feat.
15. Lone Survivor
- Developed by Jasper Byrne (Superflat Games)
- Available on: PS4, PS5, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 27 March 2013
Lone Survivor is a 2012 game created entirely by Superflat Games, the one-man development company of Jasper Byrne. It’s a 2D pixelated survival horror game that puts you in control of a man wearing a surgical mask. ‘Unsettling’ is the theme that runs throughout Lone Survivor;you’ll encounter mutants and other horrors as you progress through the game.
Originally released on PC in March 2012,Lone Survivorhas since been ported to PlayStation as a ‘Director’s Cut’. Taking anywhere between three and eight hours to complete, it has several different endings, encouraging multiple playthroughs if you want to see the full extent of Jasper Byrne’s creation.
If you’re a fan of horror games and love eerie atmospheres, this is worth your time. It may be more than a decade old, but Lone Survivoris still one of the best games made by one person.
16. Thomas Was Alone
- Developed by Mike Bithell
- Available on: PS4, Xbox, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 30 June 2012
Thomas Was Aloneis perhaps one of the most well-known games made by one person. Created by Mike Bithell, it’s a puzzle game where shapes have personality. It was originally released as a Flash game in 2010, but later saw a wide release across PC and consoles.
The game puts you control of Thomas, a small rectangle, and his geometric companions. As you play, you’ll meet new shapes, each one having its own individual skill. There’s a tall rectangle, for instance, that can reach higher than Thomas, and a smaller shape who is very good at jumping. Each shape’s skill will need to be utilised in order to progress through the level. Yes, it’s a very simple premise, but coupled with the incredible narration by Danny Wallace, it becomes something rather special.
17. Undertale
- Developed by Toby Fox
- Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
- Original release date: 15 September 2015
If you ask any gamer to name some of their favourite indie games, Undertaleis sure to pop up more often than not. It’s a lo-fi RPG that puts you in control of a young child who finds themselves in the ‘Underground’; a region of Earth hidden away by magic. On your journey you’ll meet a wide range of characters, solve puzzles and engage in combat.
One area thatUndertalehas been largely praised for is its unique approach to combat. Most RPGs will have you swinging a weapon without asking questions, butUndertalegives you the option to attempt to befriend a lot of the monsters that you’d otherwise kill.
Developed by Toby Fox and first released in September 2015,Undertaleis now available on PC, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. It’s beloved by pretty much anyone who has ever been introduced to it, and without a doubt it’s one of the best games made by one person.
