Southeast Asia's Indie Moment: Eight Games From the Region to Know Now
A Malaysian solo RPG just conquered Kyoto, a Thai cosy game is chasing Taipei's top prize and an Indonesian café is now serving yokai in Tokyo. Our guide to the Southeast Asian indies worth your wishlist.
In May, the grand prize at Japan's biggest indie festival went to a game made by one person in Malaysia. In November, a cosy Thai game sits on the shortlist for one of Asia's most competitive indie awards. If you have been waiting for Southeast Asia's indie scene to break through, it is happening right now.
The region has been building to this for years, with studios in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam making games that draw directly on their own food, folklore and history. Here are eight to know, from finished games you can play tonight to projects worth adding to your wishlist.
Already out: start here
Artis Impact (Malaysia). The headline act. Solo developer Mas made this turn-based JRPG about a girl named Akane in a future shared by humans and AI, and it won the Vermilion Gate grand prize at BitSummit PUNCH 2026 in Kyoto. It has been on Steam since August 2025.
Coffee Talk Tokyo (Indonesia). The newest entry in the series from Indonesia's Toge Productions, co-developed and published with Chorus Worldwide, launched on 21 May 2026 for $14.99 on Steam. The formula is the same comforting one: you run a late-night café, brew drinks and listen. This time the café is in Tokyo, in a modern, fantasy-tinged world where yokai and other mythical beings live alongside people.
The Scourge | Tai Ương (Vietnam). A Vietnamese psychological horror game with puzzle elements, set in the 1990s, which is now available on Steam. It belongs to a growing wave of Vietnamese horror that uses local settings and beliefs instead of generic haunted houses.
Coming next: wishlist these
Lost and Found Co. (Thailand). A cosy hidden-object adventure from Bit Egg Inc. You play Ducky, an employee at the company of Goddess Mei, tracking down lost items for eccentric clients. Its art has a distinctly Thai flavour, and it is now a second-round finalist for the Taipei Game Show's 2027 Indie Game Award.
Kriegsfront Tactics. Turn-based tactics with giant legged war machines, openly inspired by Square's Front Mission series. The twist is its setting: an alternate Southeast Asia where guerrilla wars and revolutions are fought with customisable mecha. There is a separate prologue and a demo on Steam if you want to try it first.
Agni: Village of Calamity. A 3D survival horror game starring Agni, a police officer who breaks protocol to investigate a haunted site and rescue missing people. Expect running, hiding and only limited combat against tough enemies, the classic recipe for making players feel vulnerable.
Kooeh: A Timeless Delight (Malaysia). A narrative restaurant-management game about rediscovering lost family recipes and reviving a family eatery. It leans heavily on Malaysian food culture and culinary history, which may make it the most mouth-watering game on this list.
Night Shippers (Vietnam). A spooky indie game that puts Vietnamese delivery couriers in the spotlight, an everyday job turned into a ghost story.
What these games have in common
Look at the list and a pattern stands out. These games are not trying to look like they came from anywhere else. Kooeh is about Malaysian food. Kriegsfront rewrites Southeast Asian history with mecha. Night Shippers makes heroes of Vietnam's couriers. Lost and Found Co. wears its Thai art style proudly. That specificity, the same quality that made Taiwan's Red Candle Games famous, is exactly what makes them stand out on a crowded Steam front page.
How to follow the scene
- Wishlist on Steam: for small studios, wishlists are one of the strongest signals publishers and Steam's own algorithm pay attention to.
- Watch the festivals: BitSummit in Kyoto and the Taipei Game Show have both become strong stages for Southeast Asian teams.
- Try the demos: several games here, including Lost and Found Co., Kriegsfront Tactics, Kooeh and The Scourge, have free demos or prologues on Steam.
Why it matters
Southeast Asia is a fast-growing games market, but for years it was seen mostly as a market to sell into rather than a place games came from. This year's awards suggest that is changing. For Korean players, the region's indies are also a natural fit: many share the same love of cosy sims, story-heavy games and local folklore that Korean indie hits are known for.
WGC's take: if you only try one, make it Artis Impact. If you want to bet on the next breakout, wishlist Lost and Found Co.