Australian indie dev running a portfolio of 30+ simple iOS apps
Card Value Scanner for Pokemon, Swipe the cat, PIANORUN +3$70K/mo
🎮 18 makers · 54 products
Best Indie Game Makers in 2026
Solo developers making and selling games. This list features 18 indie makers in this space, led by Adam Lyttle, Derek Yu and Jonathan Blow, ranked by profile depth, audience and reported revenue.
Top indie game makers
18 makers, ranked.
Indie game designer behind Spelunky, Spelunky 2 and UFO 50, founder of Mossmouth
Spelunky, Spelunky 2, UFO 50 +3
Designer of Braid and The Witness, creator of the Jai language, head of Thekla
Braid, The Witness, Order of the Sinking Star +2
German indie dev and YouTuber behind Islanders, Will You Snail? and Thronefall
Thronefall, Will You Snail?, Islanders +1
Solo developer of Stardew Valley, now making Haunted Chocolatier
Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier
Creator and composer of Undertale and Deltarune
Undertale, Deltarune
Creator of Minecraft, sold Mojang to Microsoft for $2.5B; now making Levers and Chests
Minecraft, Levers and Chests
Solo designer of Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn
Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn, Mars After Midnight +1
Chicago solo developer who spent seven years building the hit Metroidvania Animal Well
Animal Well
Finnish solo game developer known as Hempuli, creator of the puzzle game Baba Is You
Baba Is You, Environmental Station Alpha, Noita +1
Canadian game designer behind Celeste and TowerFall, co-founder of Extremely OK Games
Celeste, TowerFall, Celeste Classic +2
Vietnamese developer who made Flappy Bird, then pulled it at the height of its fame
Flappy Bird, Swing Copters, Flappy Birds Family +2
Italian developer known as poncle, creator of Vampire Survivors
Vampire Survivors, Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania, Vampire Crawlers +1
Canadian developer who spent seven years making Tunic, the fox adventure about secrets
Tunic
Data scientist and game designer making visual automation, music video and game tools
Craftar, Chimp, Lambda Games
Solo developer recreating retro tech as apps: Win7 Simu and Brick 1100
Win7 Simu, Brick 1100
Freelance B2B SaaS engineer and maker of the Everyone Draw collaborative pixel canvas
Everyone Draw
RizzScoreApp.com (iOS): Up your dating text game and get more matches.
Rizzscoreapp, Pickeraiapp, Roleway
Products by indie game makers
54 products in this category.
Vibe Jam
vibejam.com
Game jam for games built mostly with AI coding tools.
$44K/moby Pieter Levels
fly.pieter.com
fly.pieter.com
Multiplayer browser flight simulator built largely with AI prompting that went viral.
by Pieter Levels
Co-founded company that built programming games (like Stockfighter) to identify talented engineers for hiring; shut down in 2016.
by Patrick McKenzie
Survive 10 Waves
survive10waves.com
A small browser game experiment.
by Tony Dinh
Swipe the cat
apps.apple.com
Casual game built around a viral TikTok trend.
by Adam Lyttle
PIANORUN
apps.apple.com
Game that teaches you to play piano notes.
by Adam Lyttle
Full Send
fullsend.game
Top-down 2D browser racing game with time trials, multiplayer races and a global leaderboard.
TrustMRR ↗by Daniel Vassallo
S
Spelunky
spelunkyworld.com
Roguelike cave-exploring platformer with procedurally generated levels; free original in 2008, HD remake in 2012.
by Derek Yu
Spelunky 2
mossmouth.com
Sequel to Spelunky set on the Moon, with deeper systems and online multiplayer.
by Derek Yu
UFO 50
50games.fun
Collection of 50 original single and multiplayer games styled as the library of a fictional 8-bit console maker.
by Derek Yu
Aquaria
bit-blot.com
Underwater exploration action-adventure co-created with Alec Holowka as Bit Blot.
by Derek Yu
Eternal Daughter
en.wikipedia.org
Freeware Metroidvania-style action game he co-designed and illustrated.
by Derek Yu
Related categories
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Top countries for indie game makers
Indie Game Makers FAQ
Who are the most popular indie game makers?
The best-known indie game makers on IndieMakerList are Adam Lyttle, Derek Yu, Jonathan Blow, Jonas Tyroller and Eric Barone. In total 18 makers are listed in this category.
What products do indie game makers build?
Notable products include Vibe Jam by Pieter Levels, fly.pieter.com by Pieter Levels, Starfighter by Patrick McKenzie, Survive 10 Waves by Tony Dinh and Swipe the cat by Adam Lyttle. 54 products are listed in this category.
How much do indie game makers earn?
Publicly reported revenue varies widely. Examples: Adam Lyttle ($70K/mo). Figures are self-reported and sourced from public posts.
Where are indie game makers based?
The most common countries in this category are United States (5), Australia (1) and Germany (1).
How do I get listed as one of the indie game makers?
Submit your profile via the Submit page. Listings are free and reviewed before publishing.
Know one of the best indie game makers we're missing? Submit a maker to IndieMakerList →