From a rail-hopping arcade train game to an abstract monochrome puzzler to a family mystery set in a fictional OS, July’s indie releases are wild and varied as always. You can see the games in motion in the video version of this article here. I hope you find a game or two to wishlist — happy gaming!
7th: Moonlight Peaks (PC, Mac, Switch, Switch 2, Android)
A vampire cosy game in which you use magic instead of sunlight to grow your crops. You can trade them in to upgrade and customise your lair, play various cute mini games, and get to know other creatures of the night (and romance them).
13th: Ascend to Zero (PC, Xbox — day one on Game Pass)
An isometric action roguelike built around a time-freeze mechanic, Ascend To Zero lets you slow or stop time to gain position and unleash special attacks during roguelike runs. Whether it can differentiate itself in a genre that’s reached its full saturation point? Time will tell.
14th: D-Topia (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2)
D-Topia is a suspiciously idyllic human settlement run by AI. Your character’s job involves solving stupefyingly easy captchas and a few menial tasks before turning in for the night. But in the grand tradition of Brave New World and 1984, there’s more going on than meets the eye. The demo was intriguing — I need to know more!
15th: Denshattack! (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch 2)
A train-skating game where you trick, turn, power slide, and hop between rails: Denshattack! is a viral sensation even before release. It’s a bright, fun game that combines Japanese aesthetic craziness and an arcade spirit. I found the demo’s Street Fighter-esque combos tricky to pull off, so you’ll need a good controller and nimble fingers to fully enjoy the ride.
16th: The Mermaid Mask (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Switch 2)
Tangle Tower’s Clouseau-esque Detective Grimoire returns, this time investigating a locked room murder. This involves discovering clues, interviewing locals, and assembling the evidence as Grimoire wisecracks his way through the story. The jokes land more often than not — a rarity in video games — and the presentation is second to none.
16th: Moss: The Forgotten Relic (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2)
The acclaimed fairytale VR series comes to regular players. Given that the original gameplay involved physically reaching into small dioramas to raise bridges and open doors for your little adventurer mouse, I’m curious about how it’s been reworked — and eager to dip back into its storybook atmosphere.
16th: Dead Weight (PC)
A fantasy tactics roguelike in which you sail between sky islands and engage in miniature turn-based battles, this is Vandal Hearts nostalgia bait for sure. It’s yet another roguelike – a campaign mode would have been preferable for me at least. But consider me baited.
17th: Desktop Explorer (PC & Mac)
An intriguing puzzle game set in a fictional Windows-esque OS, where you solve puzzles using desktop features like resizing windows, checking file metadata, and parsing old emails to uncover codes and passwords. You’ll need keen eyes and sharp wits to uncover the family mystery that lies at its core.
17th: Fogpiercer (PC & Mac, Early Access — demo available)
Our second train game of the month is Fogpiercer — a turn-based card combat game where you try to fend off attackers as your Snowpiercer-esque megatrain rattles along the tracks. I’m always in the market for a game like this, and I’m curious to see if this one has the juice.
20th: ZeroSpace (PC, Early Access)
A hybrid RTS-RPG that involves chatting with your alien crew and making branching path decisions before deploying units to fight off enemy hordes. Imagine if Starcraft and Mass Effect had a baby — it might look a lot like this.
21st: Fading Echo (PC, then PlayStation & Xbox later in the year)
A third-person action-adventure where your young shaman heroine is sucked into another dimension and must unlock ancestral powers to escape. The traversal and combat is fun, with various forms you can turn into to swim up waterfalls and take down enemies, but the demo was held back by some perky Forspoken-esque dialogue.
22nd: Lost in Tandem (PC)
A mellow sci-fi puzzle platformer set on an alternate timeline where the end of the ‘90s actually did bring about a millennium cataclysm. In humanity’s absence, nature has reclaimed the earth, and as one of the last humans, you embark on a journey to see what’s out there with your robot pal. It’s playable solo but intended to be co-op — think Planet of Lana with two players and fewer deaths.
23rd: Helix: Descent N Ascent (PC, Switch)
It’s a brave game that adheres to an austere black and white palette. This one succeeds via an eye-catching art style based on Belgian surrealism and experimental Manga. It’s ostensibly a top-down puzzle game, according to the trailer, but seems to contain multitudes.
23rd: Doomsday Diner (PC)
A diner simulator set in a post-apocalyptic world — imagine Fallout 4 if you gave up on the search for your son and instead turned the Red Rocket truck stop into a diner. You’ll be cooking mysterious meats for your customers but also fending off raiders with traps and weapons before trying to wipe their blood off the tables and go again. A bit like working in McDonald’s on a Friday night.
27th: Forsaken Realms: Vahrin’s Call (PC)
A full-fat third-person action RPG of the kind we usually associate with AAA game production, this was somehow made by a team of just five people. The trailer shows a lush world with melee combat, archery, magic, exploration, skill trees, and boss fights – there’s a lot packed in here. I’m curious to see if this small UK team can pull off such an ambitious game.
29th: Joy Malignant (PC)
I love seeing new Sleeper-likes emerge. Following from the steampunk variant Duskpunk — play it if you haven’t; it rules — Joy Malignant takes dice-based RPG gameplay in a new direction. Playing as a formless being whose shape becomes manifest based on the decisions you make, you’ll wear the consequences of your actions overtly, raising the stakes of every action.
29th: Truck-Kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! (PC, Xbox)
A chaotic open-world driving game, I can’t describe this one any better than the developer does, so here it is: “Your truck is magic, and you now owe a Soul Debt to the buff isekai elf girl living in your head. Run over pedestrians as Truck-kun, make deliveries, and defeat the Skeleton King across two worlds in this chaotic run-based anime driving game.” Sold.
