Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Prime Day Deals
  • Superman
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Upcoming video game movies - Five Nights at Freddy's
Movies Every upcoming video game movie you need to know about
Toem 2 screnshot showing the photographer climbing up little hillsides with goats roaming
Games Upcoming indie games for 2025 and beyond
Toem 2 screenshot showing the photographer meeting a character with a photo request who holds up a little flag with a camera on it
Games From a Stardew Valley-like with a horrifying twist to an adventure from the artist behind Journey, these are the Day of the Devs SGF Edition 2025 games I need in my life
Dave the Diver
Games The 20 best Switch indie games you should play right now
Two players in horror game REPO.
Horror Games REPO and Schedule 1 receive the highest honor an indie game can possibly get outside 2 seconds in a Nintendo sizzle reel: Geoff Keighley telling the world they're outselling some genuine AAA juggernauts
Neverway closeup of main character
Simulation Games Cozy game nerds can keep their Stardew Valley, I'll take this "nightmarish life sim RPG" with Zelda dungeons from Celeste's pixel artist where you're "the immortal herald of a dead god"
Relooted screenshot showing a cinematic of all of the characters that make up the heist team
Games Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest Edition 2025 brought us 7 new reveals - here's what they were
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Action Movies

Other indie games that should get their own movies

Features
By GamesRadar Staff published 9 April 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Time for the little guy to shine

Time for the little guy to shine

Calling all fans of jump scares, here's some news that will make you scream with something other than flash-bang terror: indie horror and recreated childhood nightmare Five Night's at Freddy's has been picked up by Warner Brothers and will soon be getting its own feature film. How a game about hiding in a tiny room waiting to be attacked by animal-tronic terrors will work as a movie is yet to be seen, but if anyone can do it, it's the fine folks in Hollywood.

Though a movie based on a game isn't anything new, in a sea of Tomb Raiders and Resident Evils, it's rare to see a small-scale indie title be offered the silver-screen treatment. That got us wondering what other indie games would make good films and what directors would make them shine. And oh boy, did we have a lot of thoughts. Here you'll find those very thoughts on what indie games deserve their own movies and the film-focused minds that would treat them right.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, directed by Guillermo del Toro

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, directed by Guillermo del Toro

Mr. del Toro has a peculiar filmmaking specialty - on one hand, he can create fantastical monsters, weaving traditional fairytale tropes into the slimy substance of horror. On the other, he really likes making me cry.

Starbreeze's 3D puzzle-platformer Brothers embodies both of these tenets - its world is a twisted, Nordic fantasy, but its heart is decidedly human. Sadly, between Insane and Silent Hills I can't help but think del Toro's game-related luck might mean this project is doomed from the start.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
Never Alone, directed by Kevin Costner

Never Alone, directed by Kevin Costner

While Costner may be better known for his acting roles, such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Crash Davis in Bull Durham, he has also directed movies - including the seven Academy Award-winning Dances with Wolves. That had a wolf in it, which dies. Never Alone has a fox in it that well, you'll have to see what happens to the fox.

The game's sweeping, windswept ice-scapes and the so-worthy-it-hurts Inupiat storytelling would translate beautifully to the big screen. Costner's film version would be three hours long, feature real Inupiat dialogue, and probably feature a diary or something that gets lost in the snow, only to be found later. It would win all the awards and have the added bonus of not being a bug-ridden mess of a game.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Westerado: Double Barreled, directed by Quentin Tarantino

Westerado: Double Barreled, directed by Quentin Tarantino

It doesn't matter if he's working on a World War 2 epic or a kung fu action flick, Quentin Tarantino's love of Spaghetti Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars remains a constant through all of his work. It's why Tarantino would be a perfect fit to direct a silver screen adaptation of Westerado. It's a game about Western films as much as it's a story set in the Wild West, which makes it just meta enough for Tarantino's taste.

Westerado also has a very dark sense of humor, letting you pull your six-shooter on (and gun down) anyone in the game - even mid-conversation. Considering Tarantino wrote an entire (admittedly hilarious) sub-plot about two hit men who accidentally shoot an innocent man in the face, Westerado would be right up his alley.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Monaco, directed by Wes Anderson

Monaco, directed by Wes Anderson

It's a Wes Anderson heist movie, people. Get on board. Brought together by a mysterious benefactor, an eclectic group of thieves, ruffians, and general ne'erdowells must learn to work together if they're going to perform the biggest heist of their lives.

What unfolds is perhaps the most polite, and slightly awkward, series of robberies in the history of the craft, starring Owen Wilson as a pickpocket with a trained monkey and Ben Stiller as a man who is angry. Ultimately, the group learns that the most valuable thing they possess isn't trinkets and baubles, but the friendship they share with each other.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Device 6, directed by David Fincher

Device 6, directed by David Fincher

A mobile puzzle game is perhaps not the obvious choice for a full-length motion picture, but Simogo's Device 6 strikes a perfect balance between the commonplace and the unknown, presenting a smart, smiling kind of dread. As for who should bring the world of Device 6 to life, when it comes to mysteries that intertwine with unsettling characters, it's hard to beat the touch of the man who brought us Se7en, The Game and Gone Girl.

Device 6's slick presentation and evocative 60s-esque spy atmosphere are a great fit for Fincher, who not only understands the value of distinctive visuals but also excels at putting relatable characters into unsettling situations. He's also one of the few directors who can pull off the game's memorable ending.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
To The Moon, directed by Richard Linklater

To The Moon, directed by Richard Linklater

For those who didn't play it (or those too tough and emotionally closed-off to admit to playing it), To The Moon is a bittersweet tale of mixed-memories, enduring love, and regret. It's a genuine tear-jerker, with an upbeat ending that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. What? I'm in touch with my emotional side.

If To The Moon was to hit the silver screen, who better to direct than Richard Linklater? He's the chap who brought us the delightful Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the technologically-weird A Scanner Darkly (which would tie in nicely with the game's memory-invading helmets), and the critically acclaimed Boyhood. That last film is literally about a journey through a boy's life, which is very similar to To The Mo... look, you get the idea. Pretty sure that To The Moon's delicate, emotional narrative would be safe in Linklater's sensitive directorial hands.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth, directed by David Cronenberg

The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth, directed by David Cronenberg

Who better to steer the journey of a young boy into the depths of his imagination, basement, and own mothers womb than the director responsible for Scanners and The Fly. Isaacs feces filled and schizophrenic quest for self discovery can only be brought to life by the twisted eye of David Cronenberg, the man who specialized in the bending of reality in Videodrome - even if you do just remember the intestines spilling out of the television.

Cronenberg would be perfectly suited to exploring the bloodied depths of the Binding of Isaac and take plenty of time to balance the religious themes of the game with actual fistfuls of gore. Isaacs demons would run terrifyingly free under Cronenbergs watchful gaze, and ensure a film that would, at the very least, be banned in Australia.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Child of Light, directed by Tomm Moore

Child of Light, directed by Tomm Moore

In case Tomm Moores name isnt familiar to you, perhaps youve heard of the Oscar nominated films The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea? Moore helmed both, melding Irish folklore and 2D animation in a field dominated by massive CGI productions. Hed likely find a kinship with the creators of Child of Light, a fairytale of an RPG that Moore would be perfect for translating to film.

Child of Light has a soft, painterly touch to its art, with visuals like a storybook come to life similar to Moores films. The animation director and his team would understand the little details of Auroras flowing hair as well as believably recreating the unique world of Lemuria. Child of Light is a poetic bedtime story come to life, and Moore is fully equipped to handle the games high adventure, as well as its deeper themes about family and loss. Forget Assassins Creed, Ubisoft - get started on this film!

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Limbo, directed by Tim Burton

Limbo, directed by Tim Burton

Tim Burton specializes in stories that are at simultaneously unnerving and full of heart. Even when you watch a rag doll character sew her own arm back on, you pay as much attention to her adventurous spirit as you do her uncanny burlap exterior. With a catalog full of bleached skeletons with big dreams and scissor-handed men who just want to be loved, the story of a little boy who goes through gruesome, gothic torment in his search for a special someone is right up Tim Burton's dark and creepy alley.

While the story of Limbo is vaguer than most of Burton's works, he'd undoubtedly be able to keep the movie version mysterious while getting the creepy bits just right. Giant spiders, brain-controlling slugs, ruthless assassins and an abandoned world full of death machines - he could bring all of these things together perfectly for the big screen, while never forgetting that this is a story of a boy who wants nothing more than to find his sister/childhood love/hide-in-seek champion friend.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Lights, camera...!

Lights, camera...!

Those are our picks for indie games that deserve to hit the big screen, but we figure you probably have some ideas of your own. What director do you want working on your favorite small-scale game? Tell us in the comments below!

Want more awesome indie stuff? Check out The 25 best indie games of all time and The Top 7... Best indie crossovers.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
PRODUCTS
Never Alone The Binding of Isaac Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Child of Light Monaco Limbo To the Moon
GamesRadar Staff
Social Links Navigation

GamesRadar+ was first founded in 1999, and since then has been dedicated to delivering video game-related news, reviews, previews, features, and more. Since late 2014, the website has been the online home of Total Film, SFX, Edge, and PLAY magazines, with comics site Newsarama joining the fold in 2020. Our aim as the global GamesRadar Staff team is to take you closer to the games, movies, TV shows, and comics that you love. We want to upgrade your downtime, and help you make the most of your time, money, and skills. We always aim to entertain, inform, and inspire through our mix of content - which includes news, reviews, features, tips, buying guides, and videos.

See more Movies Features
Read more
Upcoming video game movies - Five Nights at Freddy's
Every upcoming video game movie you need to know about
Toem 2 screnshot showing the photographer climbing up little hillsides with goats roaming
Upcoming indie games for 2025 and beyond
Toem 2 screenshot showing the photographer meeting a character with a photo request who holds up a little flag with a camera on it
From a Stardew Valley-like with a horrifying twist to an adventure from the artist behind Journey, these are the Day of the Devs SGF Edition 2025 games I need in my life
Dave the Diver
The 20 best Switch indie games you should play right now
Two players in horror game REPO.
REPO and Schedule 1 receive the highest honor an indie game can possibly get outside 2 seconds in a Nintendo sizzle reel: Geoff Keighley telling the world they're outselling some genuine AAA juggernauts
Neverway closeup of main character
Cozy game nerds can keep their Stardew Valley, I'll take this "nightmarish life sim RPG" with Zelda dungeons from Celeste's pixel artist where you're "the immortal herald of a dead god"
Latest in Action Movies
The Fantastic Four: First Steps promo image
After Fantastic Four hits theaters, we've got our longest wait for a new Marvel movie since the pandemic
Superman
DC fans have noticed there's a fun surprise if you Google Superman or Krypto
David Corenswet as Superman in James Gunn's Superman
James Gunn says he turned down directing Superman in 2018 because it would've been "politically messy" in the old DC universe
David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in Superman
Superman debuts to strong Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics calling James Gunn's new DC movie "charming," "playful," and "a breath of fresh air"
David Corenswet as Superman inside the Fortress of Solitude in James Gunn's Superman.
Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
Julia Garner as Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
New Fantastic Four clip reveals the Silver Surfer's chilling introduction of Galactus: "Your planet is now marked for death"
Latest in Features
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay running with the Switch 2 upgrade
I wanted to make a beeline for Tears of the Kingdom's ending, but Zelda's Switch 2 upgrade has forced me to slow down
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) screenshot showing Darth Vader walking through a hangar flanked by two stormtroopers
I've spent 11 hours fighting AI in EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2, and it's taking me back to the glory days of PS2 skirmish modes
Dollman is lost in thought in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
This is now a Dollman fan account: Death Stranding 2's puppet pal makes for my favorite PlayStation duo since Ratchet & Clank
Agent 47 on a mission in Hitman: World of Assassination
I'm loving Hitman: World of Assassination on Switch 2, but the game's always-online requirement is worse than ever
Kaizen: A Factory Story key art featuring a production line making a toy electronic
"Make games and die. That's my plan": Coincidence's Zach Barth on making games about making things, a year of teaching, and being in it for the long haul
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Cyberpunk Edgerunners season 2: Everything we know about CD Projekt Red's anime
  1. A Gundam style mech in Mecha Break
    1
    Mecha Break review: "This mech battler makes up for lacking customization with a varied roster that lets me live out my Evangelion fantasy"
  2. 2
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  3. 3
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  4. 4
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  5. 5
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  1. David Corenswet as Superman inside the Fortress of Solitude in James Gunn's Superman.
    1
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  2. 2
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  3. 3
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  4. 4
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  5. 5
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...