An Indie Backlog curated overview. We round up the best indie games on PS5 and how professional critics and players received each one — the scores below are theirs, linked to the source.
A deck-building card game that keeps tearing off its own mask — start as a horror, end somewhere you’ll never see coming. One of the most surprising games in years.
At a Glance
| Developer | Daniel Mullins Games |
| Release year | 2021 |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation, Switch |
| Subgenre | Roguelike deckbuilder |
| Length | ~14 hours (main story) |
| Metacritic | 85 / 100 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (~97%, 140,000+ reviews) |
| Steam Deck | Playable |
| Languages | 12 |
About the Game
Inscryption, from Daniel Mullins Games (Pony Island, The Hex; published by Devolver), begins as a sinister deck-building roguelike. You’re trapped in a dim cabin across the table from a shadowy figure, playing a card game where the creatures you draw are sacrificed and built from the woodland animals around you. It’s tense, tactile, and genuinely unnerving.
Then it becomes something else. Inscryption is built on twists — about what kind of game you’re playing, who’s running it, and what’s really going on — that reframe everything multiple times over. To say more would spoil it; part of its genius is how willing it is to abandon its own premise and rebuild.
Beneath the meta-narrative is a sharp, satisfying card game with escape-room puzzle elements and an oppressive, brilliant atmosphere. It won a pile of awards and remains one of the most talked-about indie games of the decade. On PS5 it’s an unmissable, unsettling night-time play.
Screenshots
Screenshots: official Steam media for Inscryption.
Why It Made the List
Inscryption earns its place for sheer audacity. It’s a great deck-builder wrapped in a story that refuses to sit still, and the less you know going in, the better. Few games surprise this hard — a modern must-play.
What the Critics Say
Inscryption holds a Metacritic score of 85, with multiple Game of the Year nominations. Critics praised its card combat, atmosphere, and audacious structure; the main caveat is that its later acts divide some players.
What Players Say
On Steam it’s rated Overwhelmingly Positive across more than 140,000 reviews — about 97% positive. Players are nearly unanimous that it’s best experienced blind.
Praise & Criticism
Praise
- Sharp, satisfying deck-building
- Audacious, ever-shifting structure
- Oppressive, brilliant atmosphere
- Genuinely surprising throughout
Criticism
- Later acts divide players
- Tonal shifts can jar
- Best blind — hard to recommend specifics
Games Like This
- Slay the Spire — the deckbuilder benchmark
- Cult of the Lamb — dark, moreish roguelike loops
- Disco Elysium — another genre-bending surprise
Where to Buy
Plain store links for now — swap in your affiliate-tagged URLs once you’ve joined Amazon Associates and the eBay Partner Network. (Steam and the PlayStation Store have no consumer affiliate program; those links are for convenience.)
← Back to Best Indie Games on PS5