Best games
Best Indie games of 2009
The 17 best Indie games released in 2009, ranked from 6,792 critic and player ratings.
The best Indie game of 2009 is Ticket to Ride, with a critic score of 91/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 2009.
- 17 games are listed on this page, carrying 6,792 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 28 September 2026.
Top 17
01
Ticket to Ride
91
/100
02
Machinarium
Machinarium is award-winning independent adventure game developed by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.
88
/100
03
Trine
Trine is a physics-based action game where three characters allow clever solutions to challenges created by hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. The gameplay is based on fully interactive physics – each character's different abilities and tactics can be used to invent new ways to overcome obstacles and save the kingdom.
85
/100
Ticket to Ride
91
/100
02
Machinarium
Machinarium is award-winning independent adventure game developed by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.
88
/100
03
Trine
Trine is a physics-based action game where three characters allow clever solutions to challenges created by hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. The gameplay is based on fully interactive physics – each character's different abilities and tactics can be used to invent new ways to overcome obstacles and save the kingdom.
85
/100
04
S
Minecraft
Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with, and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs, and items. Some activities in the game include mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs, and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations, and artwork on various multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End, and defeat the ender dragon.
83
/100
05
Trine Enchanted Edition
80
/100
06
Osmos
Enter the ambient world of Osmos: elegant, physics-based gameplay, dreamlike visuals, and a minimalist, electronic soundtrack. Your objective is to grow by absorbing other motes. Propel yourself by ejecting matter behind you. But be wise: ejecting matter also shrinks you. Relax - good things come to those who wait.
80
/100
07
BIT.TRIP BEAT
From gameplay to visuals to music and imagination, Bit.Trip Beat is inspired by classic games in every way. Get sucked into a whole new world of sight and sound as you juggle beats and ride the vibe in this modern look at the beginning of it all. BIT.
80
/100
08
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Crayon Physics Deluxe is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics.
79
/100
09
The Path
The Path is a psychological horror art game developed by Tale of Tales originally released for the Microsoft Windows operating system on March 18, 2009 in English and Dutch, and later ported to Mac OS X by TransGaming Technologies. It is inspired by several versions of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, and by folklore tropes and conventions in general, but set in contemporary times. The player can choose to control one of six different sisters, who are sent one-by-one on errands by their mother to see their sick grandmother. The player can choose whether to stay on the path or to wander, where wolves are lying in wait.
79
/100
10
Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition
78
/100
11
Zeno Clash
77
/100
12
And Yet It Moves
75
/100
13
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
74
/100
14
Cogs
73
/100
15
WET
70
/100
16
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
68
/100
17
Hammerfight
60
/100
S
Minecraft
Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with, and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs, and items. Some activities in the game include mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs, and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations, and artwork on various multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End, and defeat the ender dragon.
83
/100
05
Trine Enchanted Edition
80
/100
06
Osmos
Enter the ambient world of Osmos: elegant, physics-based gameplay, dreamlike visuals, and a minimalist, electronic soundtrack. Your objective is to grow by absorbing other motes. Propel yourself by ejecting matter behind you. But be wise: ejecting matter also shrinks you. Relax - good things come to those who wait.
80
/100
07
BIT.TRIP BEAT
From gameplay to visuals to music and imagination, Bit.Trip Beat is inspired by classic games in every way. Get sucked into a whole new world of sight and sound as you juggle beats and ride the vibe in this modern look at the beginning of it all. BIT.
80
/100
08
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Crayon Physics Deluxe is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics.
79
/100
09
The Path
The Path is a psychological horror art game developed by Tale of Tales originally released for the Microsoft Windows operating system on March 18, 2009 in English and Dutch, and later ported to Mac OS X by TransGaming Technologies. It is inspired by several versions of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, and by folklore tropes and conventions in general, but set in contemporary times. The player can choose to control one of six different sisters, who are sent one-by-one on errands by their mother to see their sick grandmother. The player can choose whether to stay on the path or to wander, where wolves are lying in wait.
79
/100
10
Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition
78
/100
11
Zeno Clash
77
/100
12
And Yet It Moves
75
/100
13
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
74
/100
14
Cogs
73
/100
15
WET
70
/100
16
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
68
/100
17
Hammerfight
60
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Indie game of 2009?
Ticket to Ride currently tops the ranking with a score of 91/100 across 117 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.