Indie Game Picker
Drop the gem
Line the board
Tap indie games to add or remove their slots (up to 12).
Drowning in a backlog of brilliant little indies? Drop a gem and let the board decide. Each game lines a slot at the bottom of a plinko board — drop the chip, watch it bounce down through the pegs, and play whichever slot it lands in. Fill the board with the games you own, add your own, and let the drop pick your next hidden gem.
- Indie & hidden-gem fans
- Backlog battlers
- The wonderfully undecided
Drop a gem to pick your indie game
Indie backlogs are the best kind of problem and the worst kind of decision — a hundred tiny masterpieces and no way to choose. The Indie Game Picker settles it the fun way: with a plinko drop. Each game lines a slot at the bottom of a peg board, you drop a gem-chip from the top, and it bounces down — pinging left and right off the pegs — until it lands in one slot. Whatever it lands on is your next hidden gem. The winner is chosen fairly before the chip even falls, so the bounce is pure suspense over a genuinely random pick.
Line the board
The drop only lands on games you put on the board. Tap games to add or remove their slots, and type in anything that's missing — a metroidvania you never finished, a cosy sim for a quiet night, a narrative game everyone keeps recommending. Keep it to games you'd genuinely start tonight and wherever the gem lands is a good result.
Add the indie games you'd actually play right now.
Release the gem and watch it bounce.
Whichever slot it lands in is your game — or drop again.
Know your indie flavours
If the gem lands on something outside your usual taste, here's what you're in for:
| Flavour | What you're in for | On the board |
|---|---|---|
| Metroidvania | Explore, unlock, get lost gloriously | Hollow Knight, Ori |
| Precision platformer | Die a lot, feel amazing | Celeste, Cuphead |
| Roguelike | Run, die, get stronger, repeat | Hades, Dead Cells |
| Cosy / narrative | Slow down, feel things | Stardew Valley, A Short Hike |
| Story-rich oddity | Writing and ideas front and centre | Undertale, Disco Elysium |
When to drop the gem
- Backlog overload. A wishlist of gems is why you play none — the drop just picks one.
- Bundle hauls. Grabbed a charity or itch.io bundle? Let the board choose your first play.
- Palate cleanser. Between big AAA games, drop the gem for a short, sharp indie.
- Stream nights. Let chat line the board, then drop the gem live for the reveal.
- Discovery mode. Fill it with games you've never tried and let the bounce surprise you.
A fair drop every time
No slot is wider or luckier than another. The winner is chosen with your browser's cryptographic random generator — the same kind of randomness used for security — before the chip drops, and the bounce is choreographed to reach it, deflections and all. The plinko drop is showmanship; the pick is genuinely unbiased.
More gaming pickers
Once the gem lands, line up the next one:
- Fancy a bigger world? Mine the Sandbox Game Picker.
- Want a genre first? Drop the claw on the Video Game Genre Picker.
- After a big adventure? Grab an RPG.
- Want more? Browse all random pickers.
Frequently asked questions
A note on the artwork. Every icon here is an original drawing of an ordinary object — a backpack, a leaf, a heart. No game logos, box art or key art are used. Game names are shown for identification only; each title remains the trademark of its respective owner. This is an unofficial fan tool and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any game publisher.