It's a huge week of new indie games once again with a number of grim dark titles, demos to try, thirdp person and 2D action adventure titles, and a lot more. So, let's begin with Drp Duchy, a puzzle strategy rogue light where you have to build and defend a kingdom using falling blocks instead of clearing lines. Each block you place becomes part of your realm, influencing resource production and military strength, mixing city building management with almost RTS style combat with the core Tetrislike action remaining intact.
There is a deck building element with over 110 unique cards, three factions to play as which are completely unique and has rogike procedural generation for replayability and looks cleverly made. Trench Tales is an intense third-person shooter which blends horror and action in a setting somewhere between World War I and two. You are on a secret mission and have to uncover the truth as to why you were summoned to this desolate realm, hinting that you might be a traveler from out of time rather than a soldier in the war.
You will get access to an array of period appropriate weaponry like old school rifles, submachine guns, and grenades with firearms being customizable to suit your play style. Speaking of which, you will also get access to special powers such as slowing down time, rapid healing, seeing through walls, and unleashing burst energy. So, somewhat of a supernatural element as well with a fantastically crafted grim environment.
This video is brought to you by Nightmare Busters Rebirth, a reimagined 2D runand gun action game originally conceived for the Super Nintendo in 1994, later released in 2013, and is back with a new version, having been meticulously overhauled and blends classic arcade gameplay with modern enhancements. You play as Flynn or Floyd, twin leprechaun brothers and season nightmare hunters as they embark on a perilous journey to stop the diabolical tyrants plan to corrupt children's dreams, having fun-l lookinging action with local co-op support for two players as well. Battle through six diverse and vividly animated environments, each teaming with relentless waves of enemies and formidable bosses that test your reflexes and strategy.
You will get access to a variety of magical attacks and weapon upgrades during up the game play with gorgeous traditional handdrawn arts and animations. And we'll also be making physical cartridges for the SNES as well. If interested, their Kickstarter will launch soon, so follow the campaign via the link in the description below.
A stunning openw world 3D platformer adventure game is Spirit of the North 2 in which you play as a lone fox accompanied by a wise raven on a quest to restore the lost guardians, cleanse the land from corruption, and to return home. You make your way through different biomes from dense woodlands, snowy peaks, and ancient crypts, each presenting unique challenges and secrets to uncover. Our dynamic duo will have a number of traversal abilities like a dash or a glide which you can use to explore mixed in with puzzlebased encounters as you take on these powerful corrupted guardians but does not include traditional combat per se.
Find runes to enhance your skills and gain new abilities with cosmetic customization options for the fox and raven as well. This is the follow-up to the original Spirits of the North from 2020, which has over 4,300 Steam reviews and is good. So, I'm excited for this.
But do note that no prior knowledge is required to enjoy the sequel. Hordes of Hunger is a dark fantasy thirdp person action rog light inspired by vampire survivors in which you face off against endless waves of grotesque enemies. Each run offers a chance to craft unique builds from diverse weapons and abilities used in intense combat with the different types of enemies such as boots or howlers requiring different strategies.
The 3D environment means that tactics like utilizing choke points and high ground will be crucial for survival. And as you progress, you rescue survivors and NPCs, uncovering fragments of the haunting narrative mixed in with intense postponing action, and you have a high potential title. Love indie games?
Sign up to my newsletter to get a weekly dose of what's hot along with some news and of course weekly game giveaways. So if interested, link is in the description below. In the quiet ruins of a forgotten world, Dlock Town invites you to rebuild life from the ground up.
This sidescrolling farming adventure blends cozy routines with unexpected challenges. You start with simple planting pots, nurturing crops amid unpredictable weather like acid rain and heat waves. As your skills grow, so does your farm, expanding into automated systems, and crafting tools to thrive in this harsh environment.
Exploration leads you through treacherous wetlands and abandoned ruins where secrets and resources await. Along with farming, you engage in platforming and combat using drones to fight off mysterious creatures with there also being a town with quirky residents each with their own stories who also offer quests and companionship enriching your journey combining elements of RPG simulation and adventure and looks pretty cute. Other games begins with Among Us 3D.
On paper, one of the more popular games of the week since it taps on the Among Us theme, the social deduction title that has become one of the most successful indie games of all time. This transforms the familiar gameplay into a firstperson experience where the core remains the same where crew mates have to navigate the corridors and complete tasks while the imposters have to play along and find the right time to strike. with the same emergency meeting system being in place as well.
This is also a remade/fused version of Among Us VR with this game having VR support but can also be played on a regular monitor supporting four to 10 players crossplay with features like proximity voice chat. New objectives, including a whack-a-ole style miniame, have been added along with the introduction of star dust, an in-game currency used for cosmetic customization, as well as a new tag mode, which introduces the infected role, adding more variety. But I have a feeling that this will not be as popular as the original threequarters view version.
But it is still great that there is this option. Chinese developers tend to use the Chinese cultivation theme, a mishmash of Chinese mythology, folklore, and ancient Chinese history with Ascension being the next game to do so. But unlike other Chinese titles like Blackmith Wukong or Amazing Cultivation Simulator, this is a 4X strategy title instead, which is extra interesting.
You play as a young disciple, the last hope of a fallen sect, having to rebuild your organization, explore uncharted lands, establish a new home, manage resources, expand your influence, and battle formidable creatures and rival clans. Diplomacy and warfare will be critical, but it's very interesting that we have a Chinese title in the 4X genre. In the smoky heart of Pukui, a city teetering on the edge of unrest, the last speak easy stands defiant.
Behind its bar, you mix more than drinks. You stir secrets in best served cold. This is a visual novel adventure game where you step into the shoes of a bartender detective.
Each cocktail you craft isn't just a drink. It's the key to unlocking hidden truths. As jazz melodies play, patrons from all walks of life confide in you, revealing tales that intertwine with a series of chilling murders.
Your choices matter. Charm, intimidate, or deceive, to extract information, where every interaction could be a crew or a trap. The game challenges you to solve five intricate cases, each more complex than the last.
All set against the backdrop of labor strikes and looming war, which results in a tense atmosphere. Taking the Valhalla or coffee talk formula and putting their own spin on things. There's something about massive trains as a setting which is very interesting.
From snowpiercer to carbonary of the iron fortress with another such title of interest being break siege which puts you in command of such a locomotive having to power it up and get strong enough to break through Imperial forces. Most interestingly, while it is a rook-like deck builder, combat is in real time, so you have to think on your feet, whose most direct comparison would be run go, but with a different theme. So, if you love trains or just curious about realtime card combat, do check this out.
A very ambitious looking 3D action adventure RPG is bygone Drams. Set within a surreal dream world where you play as Wah, a spiritual entity on a quest to save the dream realm of Loom and its matron deity from a devouring nightmare, releasing the prophecy free prologue demo this week. This draws upon Slavic mythology and medieval Bosnian folklore with a ton of work going into the game, including an orchestral soundtrack with over 50 unique tracks as well as 2 hours of fully voiced cutscenes.
Combat is fast-paced and intense, mixing melee, ranged, and elemental magic to overcome enemies and powerful boss encounters. Further customization exists in the form of the abilities you select and multiple difficulty settings as well as optional challenges like time trials and no damage boss challenges with exploration and puzzle solving as well. The prophecy version comprises of the first two levels with two to three hours of gameplay.
to try this out to get a feel for the game. Even more so than other indie games, we are taking a step back in time with Captain Blood this week. A title that was in development for 10 years and then got abandoned, but from the ashes rises this pirate themed action adventure game in the 17th century Caribbean.
Live a pirates's life filled with peril and plunder as you participate in intense sword fights, explosive ship battles, and go on a quest for treasure. This has all your expected pirate weapons from cutlesses, pistols, and musketss to be used in fleshy combos and finishes on land and on ships. As you defeat foes, you earn points to unlock new fighting techniques and acquire gold for weapon upgrades.
According to Wikipedia, this title was announced in 2003 and it shows in terms of graphics and gameplay even in 2025 with this having more than a passing resemblance to Prince of Persia: Descends of Time, at least in terms of art style. So, what is old is new again and does look pretty nostalgic. In Deck of Haunts, you embody a vengeful mansion abandoned in the 1920s, now alive with malice.
By day, design your lair with traps and eerie rooms with the main goal being to protect your hut room, which is the source of your power. Nightfall brings intruders from regular humans to drain to more concerning visitors like law enforcement, priests, or even the stonemasons. Use a deck of 35 types of cards to summon phantoms, shift hallways, and unleash terrors where bone chilling screams to creaking floors intensifies fears, pushing your visitors towards madness.
Once their sanity breaks, extract their essence to expand your mansion, unlocking new rooms and powers. And while it's not October, looks to be an excellent spooky title worth picking up and perhaps revisiting when the time is right. Speaking of horror titles, one about the very real threats of war is Deck Line, which places you in a dire situation.
Out of ammunition, surrounded and abandoned by command. In this bleak setting, you and your squad engage in one final game of Durac, a traditional Russian card game to distract from the inevitable. The game captures the raw essence of modern combat reflecting the gritty atmosphere of 1990s Eastern Europe.
Its dynamic randomized gameplay mechanics ensure unlimited replay-ability forcing you to constantly reshape your play style. With a story mode featuring multiple endings and an infinite competitive mode with global leaderboards, this looks to be quite the intriguing entry. In the shadowy realm of the afterlife, Dice with Death invites you to a high stakes game where your fate hinges on the role of the dice.
This rog light deck builder has you collecting unique dice and relics, creating combos to deal damage as you attempt to cheat death. There is a push your luck element as you decide on when to bank your points or to roll again, having ropike randomization in the dice and relics that you get, but also has multiple character classes to play as with some good pixel art as well. Set in the rugged wild west where dinosaurs never went extinct, Dino Path Trail challenges you to survive in this world which requires sharp instincts and swift actions.
Interestingly, this is a survival rogike title instead of action rog light where you do need to be concerned with hunger, thirst, and temperature on top of your health. Each biome, be it scorching deserts, eerie swamps, or icy peaks, presents unique threats and hidden opportunities as you gather resources, but fight when necessary. Crafting becomes essential as you scavenge for resources to build and upgrade your mobile base camp with intense twin stick shooter action rog light style combat making you use firearms and throwables to fend off predators and outlaws.
As your notoriety grows, so does the challenge with enemies becoming more relentless. But if you do fall, death isn't the end. Each demise unlocks new crafting recipes, encouraging you to adapt and strategize for future runs.
So if you love dinosaur games like me, this should be worth a look. If you want to unleash your inner rainboat within the convenience of Steam, then Jew guessesser Steam Edition will be the title to pick up where this trivia/detective title drops you into a random part of the world and you need to guess where you are. Carefully study signs, landscapes, buildings, car license plates, and more to guess your exact spot on Earth having a competitive aspect as you are pitted against another player.
Or why not play this in team duels as well? Each match challenges you differently, pushing you from the beginner ranks towards the excitement of championship level games with every guest suspense builds. So, will your careful observation reward you or will a tiny detail lead you astray?
Geography has never been this fun. Another demo to try is Grandvier Zero Front, a thirdp person Mac action rog light that places you in the cockpit of a customizable mech fighting against the invading Millennium Company. Scavenge the battlefield for parts to upgrade your grand arms, legs, and weapons, tailoring your machine to suit your combat style.
Between missions, manage resources carefully, from taking loans to buy ammunition or assisting the locals for support as you plan your route to extraction. This free release is a standalone title, which is the prelude to the Millennium Horizon campaign planned for the main game where I love my Max as well, so of course this is of note. Gun Switch is a top-own arena shooter where swarms of demonic aliens surround you on all sides and you have to fire your way out of this mess.
Set within the depths of a space prison named Cberus. You command a squad of androids named pawns as they work together synergistically to defeat the swamps of enemies. Utilize an arsenal of upgradeable weapons capable of unleashing thousands of bullets in mere seconds with a realtime weapon modification system which allows you to adapt swiftly, switching loadouts to counter evolving enemy tactics.
Each member of your Android squad serves as an extra life, enabling seamless character transitions, also having shared or split screen co-op, so you can play with friends. Of course, this looks very vampire survivors inspired, but nowhere on the Steam page do I see any mention of Rook Light, so perhaps this is a straight arena shooter more along the lines of Crimson Men. Hands down, Magic Studies is the prettiest title of the week, where you step into a tranquil realm where productivity meets enchantment.
This unique blend of cozy background application and productivity tool allows you to personalize your study space as you sit like the character in handdrawn environments ranging from a serene forest to mystical ancient cities. Adjust the ambiance to match your mood, day, night, or rainy settings while enjoying ambient sounds and created lowfi or fantasy music. Enhance your focus with built-in tools like a to-do list and a pomodoro timer, collecting elementals along the way as well, and looks perfect for study sessions, creative writing, or planning adventures.
Developer Rey World Studios have been making a very specific type of strategy game all these years. Do check out their back catalog to get an idea of what I mean. with Knights of the Crusades being their latest entry.
Sets of course during the first crusade where you command a fledgling holy order shaping its destiny across Europe. This real-time strategy game blends city building and sandbox elements allowing you to construct settlements, manage resources, and engage in epic battles on land and sea with massive armies. Choose to align with the Templars or forge your own path, expanding your influence through diplomacy or conquest.
As you progress, you'll encounter dynamic events from naval seizures to faction wars with each decision influencing the course of history. In the eerie halls of Boyd Manor, you play as a babysitter in Midnight Special, navigating a night twisted by unseen forces. Interestingly, this is a pointand-click survival horror game drawing inspiration from '90s classics and looks like a traditional Scum Engine title.
However, reality bends at the shadows whisper. So, as you explore the manners corridors, each creaking floorboard and flickering light deepens the sense of dread. puzzles emerge not just as obstacles but as keys to understanding the dark secrets of the house with some horrifically macab pixel arts as well which is just so effectively done and is the hidden gem of the week.
We have had a number of farming sims in a row starting from last week. The latest of which is Pixel Shire, a game which has been in development for a little while and looks to be a fairly by the numbers one of these, but with an exploration element. You begin with nothing but a humble patch of land, yet soon find yourself building an entire community from the ground up.
As you plant crops and raise animals, the land transforms under your careful guidance. But farming isn't your only talent. You can also explore procedurally generated dungeons and lands, each filled with surprises and hazards.
Unique villages can settle in your town, each offering their own talents, friendships, and even secrets that might unlock new adventures. You decide where to place every home, road, or river, making your village truly yours, and participate in activities like fishing, mining, and brewing with each skill, unlocking another piece of the world's puzzle, and looks similar to Little Wood in the town building aspect, and should be neat. No, this is not a new Pizza Tower or DLC, but rather Rift of the Necrodancer will be releasing four new DLC tracks featuring music from the indie platformer hit from 2023, where each track offers a unique challenge with varying difficulties and a remix mode that shuffles the beat map for a fresh experience every playthrough.
These will include a fully animated papino spaghetti and a background visualizer adorned with pizza toppings adding a cheesy charm to your rhythmic battles. So grab a slice of the fun where it's interesting to see the strategy around this game looking like a guitar herolike model but for indie games. We also have the release of Rift Rift.
Say that fast five times. A charming tower defense title that has demoed well. Step into a vibrant world where strategy and adaptability are key to defending your base against relentless waves of monsters.
There are preset spots on the map to place your towers, choosing from 14 unique tower types, each with six powerful upgrades to counter 25 distinct monsters across 15 diverse worlds. Enemies have different behavior as well, targeting your extractor or attacking every tower in sight. So, you need to anticipate and strategize around this.
As you progress, you unlock companions who assist in battle, adding more variety to your strategy. But as a whole, it is relatively forgiving, allowing you to schedule builds, refund misplaced towers, and retry failed waves without penalty, encouraging experimentation and learning, and will be for fans of the genre. Now, hear me out on this one since Savara looks like a generic action rog light, yes, but it has a stamina system.
So, a roglike soulslike, but also an almost monster hunterlike element where you gather resources from defeated enemies and use it to craft new equipment. Also having a boons system that looks suspiciously close to Hades. So, it's mixing and mashing ideas and could be cool.
Our protagonist is taking part in the grand festivities honoring a warrior god in the form of trials designed to challenge the bravest fighters across dimensions. As you engage in combat, each weapon you wield, be it thrusting, slashing, one-handed or two-handed, offers unique advantages and disadvantages, allowing for hundreds of possible combinations to suit your play style. Defeating formidable monsters grants resources to enhance your arsenal at the blacksmith and to make offerings to divine statues, unlocking over 90 blessings that alter your abilities and looks kind of fun.
I love the art style of spreadsheet, a puzzle game centered around spreadsheets, which doesn't sound like fun, but it's so weird and unique. Set in a 1990s inspired office, your knack for spreadsheets will become your ticket to corporate ascension. As the new office prodigy, you're tasked with solving absurd challenges.
From balancing dubious budgets to covering your boss's antics using formulas and manipulating cells to achieve this, it's a nostalgic nod to Windows 311, complete with MIDI music and a clippy like assistant named Copy, adding a layer of charm to the game. Beyond spreadsheets, you engage in quirky office mini games like cleaning up after wild parties or fixing malfunctioning printers, all while navigating the satirical corporate culture of the '90s on the journey to become the ultimate bro. I'm always a bit skeptical when it comes to publisher playway and the myriad of titles that they publish, most of which appear to be firsterson simulator titles copypasted with a different theme.
But survival machine is something different and does have hype. This is a thirdp person action crafting survival title where you awaken aboard a colossal moving fortress, your only refuge in a world overrun by the undead. Build and expand your mobile base while navigating through everchanging biomes teaming with resources and dangers.
By day, you scavenge for materials, craft tools, and fortify your machine. And by night, you brace for relentless zombie assaults that tests your defenses and strategy being funnily enough Fortnite Save the World, but with a mobile base, where co-op with friends looks like the ideal way to play this and could be huge. Here's another entry in the Toho project named Toho Spell Carnival, where instead of bullet hell shoots him up, this is a bullet hell strategy RPG instead, which definitely has me curious.
Taking place on grid-based battlefields, you recruit and place a diverse cast of characters, each bringing unique abilities and spell cards to your team as their placement counters the intricate projectile patterns of your enemies. Between battles, a shrine serves as your hub for character interactions, side events, and mission planning, looking like something different in this space. I love my tower defense games, so it's a good week for me.
With another title that I have my eye on being Tower Dominion, a rog light title with what appears to be quite the amount of replayability. You are in command of the last bastion of humanity against a relentless alien invasion, having to not only place towers, but also sculpt the battlefield itself, creating choke points and strategic elevations to outmaneuver your foes. Each tower and building is a scarce resource, requiring careful selection and placement to maximize their unique strengths and upgrades.
With 30 distinct heroes across various factions, each bringing unique abilities and strategies, your approach to defense evolves with every playthrough. After each wave, you must adapt by choosing from a set of upgrades and rewards, reinforcing your strategy against the everchanging enemy tactics with a fantastic art style as well. This one's for indie game developers.
The free indie game marketing resources are ready, so sign up via the link in the description below to get it in your mailbox. Here's a very interesting hybrid RTS citybuer named Darfall where you play as a hero tasked with safeguarding your settlement in the dark fantasy realm of Agon. It uniquely blends realtime strategy RPG and survival elements where like a couple of other games mentioned in this video by day you focus on gathering resources, constructing defenses and enhancing your hero's ability.
And as night falls, waves of the undead and other malevolent forces assault your city, so you need to defend. It has a diverse roster of heroes, each with distinct abilities and play styles with story campaign, a survival mode, and even a scenario editor for creating custom maps and missions, which provides extensive replayability where if you played a bunch of Warcraft 3 like me, I'm sure this will be of interest. In Yes Your Grace 2: Snowfall, you return to the troubled kingdom of Devon, where each decision you make as monarch carries weighty consequences.
This cinematic kingdom management RPG has you balancing limited resources, addressing the needs of petitioners and navigating the complexities of ruling a realm on the brink. New features includes the ability to pass laws, manage a marketplace, and hire agents with unique skills and personalities. The game also emphasizes family dynamics as caring for your loved ones becomes crucial amidst political turmoil.
Set against a backdrop inspired by Slavic folklore, this introduces over 200 new quest objectives, enhanced visuals, and deeper strategic elements, ensuring that every choice shapes the narrative and the kingdom's future. From the people that worked on Lost in Random comes The Midnight Block, a firstp person horror adventure game with an excellent claimation art style. You play as the burnt one, a fragile figure in a world where light is both your guide and your only defense.
You come across pot boy, a lanternheaded creature who becomes your companion, providing a flame that illuminates your path and distracts the grotesque monsters lurking in the shadows that just want to extinguish that very light. You are making your way through the twisted trail known as the Midnight Walk, solving puzzles, outsmarting monsters, and perhaps engaging in a little bit of stealth with a narrative unfolding across five interwoven tales, each set in haunting loc. The monster designs are pretty freaky and well done and hunted by the claimation and will be of interest to horror game fans.
Real Gods of Hystera is a survival crafting action adventure RPG in which you awaken as a dreamer, a character which is bound to a monstrous sentient train known as a real god, which is your only sanctuary in a world twisted by the great old ones. Your real god isn't just transportation. It's a living fortress that hungers for flesh, demanding sacrifices to fuel its journey.
As you traverse procedurally generated hellscapes, you gather resources, craft weapons, and build custom carriages to expand your mobile base. Combat is visceral, blending melee, firearms, and dark magic, allowing you to capture or destroy the Eldrich horrors and cultists that stand in your way. Between battles, you return to your real god to purge madness.
unlock godke keeper abilities and prepare for the next onslaught having co-op support for up to five players and looks high potential one of my most anticipated games makes it to launch so I'm more than happy to share the news since you can go back in time to find me talking about this game but it was then still known as project elicis and after further development a Kickstarter signing with a publisher and a couple of delays creature keeper will finally be playable an action adventure monster tamer with real-time combat checking all of the boxes that I look for in games. So fingers crossed this will be excellent. Watch this video for more action adventure games.
