Last week on April 4, Gamer Matters attended Indie Jam 2026. Organised by The Magic Rain, the annual event now in its 4th year is an amalgamation of a student game jam, a B2B event for game devs in Southeast Asia with workshops, networking opportunities, and GDC-style game developer presentations.
But more pertinent to us gamers is that it also hosts the Southeast Asian Games Showcase. Over 60 different games was showcased this year at Indie Jam 2026, the biggest yet, with games ranging from independent game developers of various sizes and experience, from debutants by students and solo game makers to established studios that has been operating for years. With a variety of genres and states of completion, there’s a lot to discover to the show floor.
Here are Gamer Matters’ choice picks of what we think were the coolest games at Indie Jam 2026. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and the two staff have very specific taste in games so some didn’t make the list not because they’re not good, just not our… jam, if you will. But might be yours!
If your gaming tastes aligns with ours, as evident in our 10 years of work covering games big and small, regional and international, and based on our previous “coolest games at Indie Jam” lists, these might be for you. But do explore the rest of the featured games! They’re currently on showcase as part of the Indie Jam 2026 event on Steam, some with public demos available to download.
Isekat: Crushed by a Computer, my Beloved Kitten is Transported to a Fantasy World where its Typing Skills Save the Kingdom!
- Meck: Typing games are in vogue these days, huh? This one has a cutesy artstyle, roguelite elements and fun ways of providing a typing challenge that feels video-gamey rather than a class session of drills upon drills. My favourite bit of the day is when a bunch of media folks took turns playing through the game, each beating the allegations. Game journalists are journalists at the end of the day, and they sure can type!
- Read more: Our impressions of Isekat: Crushed by a Computer, my Beloved Kitten is Transported to a Fantasy World where its Typing Skills Save the Kingdom!
Axeras
- Meck: As a strategy tactics/strategy-RPG/tactical RPG fan, Axeras feels right at home. It plays like you’d expect it to for the most part. But the scaled-up battles where you are controlling large units in large maps where transport vehicles and tanks come into play is absolutely intriguing.
- Danial: As a fellow commander of the Girls Frontline games,I have to commend the folks (who are also fellow Shikikans) working on Axeras to make an indie version of this XCOM style game, that includes anime cutscenes that reminiscing of Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles and the easy to pickup and playstyle of 2nd Frontline game, cannot wait to see how they cook.
- Read more: Our impressions of Axeras
Strik-9: Rhythm Rat Rampage
- Meck: I didn’t think I wanted a rhythm game that’s also a bullet heaven/survivors-like but this one works incredibly well! Having to shoot and dodge to the beat changes the bullet heaven experience from like mowing grass to keeping tempo in like I was marching as part of ci-curricular studies back in school. More active, more pressure and painful consequences when you messed up the beat.
- Danial: Combo games are sometimes the best thing that happens to us, the players, since the return of the KFC Jimat value meals. Like mixing together two genres like Rhythm and Bullet Heaven/Hell (insert lets rock here), and making the music not only catchy but part of the attack sequence is top notch, hats off to them.
- Read More: Our impressions of Rhythm Rat Rampage
FiresOut!
- Meck: I feel like firefighters are getting romanticised recently, with folks fawning over the buff “abam bomba” in Malaysia more often than not. That’s all okay, but the idea of having the direct opposite of the chad “abam bomba,” a group of cute animal interns, having to work miracles by saving people trapped in ridiculously designed houses, on fire, that regularly gets hit by meteor strikes, is just a perfect contrast that needed to exist. Fun with friends and, as we learned at the show floor, acquaintances!
- Read more: Our impressions of FiresOut!
Majulah
- Meck: Never have I thought to myself you can make a city builder that’s actually a deckbuilder in disguise. Genius design that clearly inspired by Balatro, but isn’t just doing the “Balatro but with a twist” bit. Rather, Balatro is the twist!
- Danial: I got to play this game more, due to the fact that it tickles the same endorphins as getting that sweet Multiplier of Balatro, and making my second home of Singapore look exactly how I envision it, structurally mismatched and all for profit.
Tales of Sang Kancil
- Danial: So, how does one tell the tales of the ever brave and cheeky animal to the modern audience? By making it a video game, of course. But also making it look like games from the Atari era just feels right, since it is tales from the bygone era, so why not make it feel timely too, and I respect that decision.
- Check out Tales Of Sang Kancil on itch.io
Honourable Mentions
A special shoutout to the following games that attended Indie Jam 2026:
- GigaBash by Passion Republic Games
- Wyrdlets by Wyrdworks
- Of Blood And Decent (previously known as Project Descent) by Kotakoren Games
- Duo Quest by 1+1 Studios.
We have nothing but praise for GigaBash as per our review back at launch. Meanwhile, the three other games had attended Indie Jam previously and are certified “cool” as they were all featured previously.
Read more: Check out our previous round-ups of the coolest games from Indie Jam’s past: