September is here, and it seems like every developer and publisher dived out of GTAVI’s path so forcefully that they flew straight past the sparsely populated October release schedule into a giant pile of new releases.
Not that I’m complaining – we really do have a tonne of interesting stuff to play this month. The longlist for this month’s indie game guide was the longest ever, with over 50 games to draw from; the list below is a whittled-down top twenty comprising the best, brightest, and weirdest.
There are, of course, a lot of AAA releases too, including new entries in the CONTROL, Onimusha, and Fire Emblem series – but those games have big enough budgets that you’ll hear about them elsewhere. So this list is all about the indie minnows.
As always, you can see the games in motion in the extended video version here – likes and subs appreciated. Enjoy the list, and roll on autumn!
1st: Cognition Method (PC)
A first-person sci-fi puzzle game inspired by cinematic classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris. We play as an astronaut investigating a space station that went silent after discovering a mysterious artefact. Finding out what happened involves a journey through the brightly lit chambers and corridors of the station and the surreal, Escher-like spaces of the artefact – and if its cinematic references are any indicator, this is a story that will go places.
2nd: Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox)
I was a big fan of the original Moonlighter – a top-down pixel art game where you go adventuring by night in a roguelike dungeon crawler and then sell the monster parts and treasures by day in a shopkeeper simulator. The sequel makes the shift from pixel art to 3D, adding depth to the mechanics – and the chat coming out of early access is that there’s more new stuff here than you might expect. The story of these games has a twist, too, in that it considers who all this loot is coming from – a rare thought in video games, which tend to be fairly mindless about the consequences of endless extraction and acquisition.
3rd: Liminal Shroud (PC)
It’s a little too early to officially be Halloween season, but I know some people like to play spooky games for the whole of the autumn. One title to consider could be Liminal Shroud, a creepy exploration game that’s all about the atmosphere. It has no splatter, monsters, or survival horror, instead playing on our imagination to surface inbuilt fears of desolate play parks, tight corridors, and slides that lead downwards into inky darkness.
3rd: Orbitals (Switch 2)
A rare third-party Switch 2 platform exclusive, Orbitals captured our collective imagination after a strong showing at a Nintendo Indie World showcase. It’s an anime-inspired co-op adventure with mini games, rhythm elements, two-person puzzles, and flying sections where one pilots the ship and the other operates the guns, like the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. It Takes Two and Split Fiction really popularised co-op games in recent years, paving the way for indie hits like PEAK and Big Walk – the table is set for Orbitals to be a sleeper hit.
4th: Isle of Reveries (PC)
Fans of retro Zelda-likes have been eating well this year, and Isle of Reveries is another contender. It was successfully kickstarted into the stratosphere, reaching over double its $25,000 goal and hitting all of its stretch goals along the way. This means that in addition to numerous biomes and dungeons, the final version will include player housing, co-op sections, a dynamic soundtrack, a customisable town, and more – so it’s kind of launching as a people-powered deluxe version.
10th: Welcome to Elderfield (PC)
A life-sim RPG set in the dark, eerie, cursed town of Elderfield, this is the latest entry into the emerging “creepy-cosy” subgenre after Besmirch and Moonlight Peaks earlier this year. It has all of the cosy game staples, but with a twist – for example, your farming is interrupted by Eldritch tentacles that you have to keep under control, and fishing could result in a catch that wants to eat you rather than the other way around. The lo-fi soundtrack adds a strong vibe, and the character art is on point.
10th: Magical Blush (PC)
The 10th also sees the release of Magical Blush, which looks a lot like Celeste but switches out masocore platforming for top-down fantasy adventuring. It has Metroidvania-style gated exploration, an overworld map with various areas, castles, and dungeons to visit, and in-depth RPG combat with spell combos and elemental effects to master.
10th: Shroom and Gloom (PC, early access)
A first-person “double decker” deckbuilder with distinctive visuals that manage to be both grimy and psychedelic, Shroom And Gloom is a fungal roguelike that promises hundreds of customisable cards, deep dungeons with rich 3D spaces, and an impressive array of enemies to defeat along the way. It blew up on social media on account of its visuals, and with Devolver publishing, it looks set for success.
15th: Look to the Birds (PC)
An entirely wholesome photography game that’s based on birdwatching, Look To The Birds comprises five hand-crafted dioramas with 30+ bird species to find. You’ll have to slow your racing mind to listen for birdsong, notice each type, and catch them on camera before they flutter away; there are subtle background stories, for the most observant.
16th: Fallen Tear: The Ascension (PC)
A slick-looking Metroidvania with an eye-catching art style, Fallen Tear has a huge Hollow Knight-style map that promises 26 biomes. The combat looks tight, and there are over 150 enemies to battle. It also has 22 companion characters with questlines and abilities of their own – every genre game needs something to make it stand out from the pack, and this could be it.
21st: Dressmaker (PC)
Free Lives are a studio that seems aggressively determined not to be typecast. Having made a bunch of puerile dude-games, they zigged with the thoughtful eco-game Terra Nil, and now, they’re zagging with Dressmaker – a game about literally making dresses. It’s granular, too, involving sourcing patterns, cutting fabrics, stitching, sizing, beading, lace trims and more. Who knows what Free Lives will make next – they seem mostly drawn to being perverse, even when that means making a cosy game.
22nd: Well Dweller (PC & Consoles)
The latest polished gem from gamedev auteur Kyle Thompson, maker of Islets and Crypt Custodian. Well Dweller seems more poised to hit the mainstream than anything he’s made to date. It’s a 2D Metroidvania with winding levels, grotesque fairytale bosses, tough platforming, and a general sense of style and swagger. Expect to see it lingering in some discerning GOTY lists come year end.
22nd: Rivage (PC, PS5, Xbox)
An intriguing space-station exploration game that picked up some buzz at the last Next Fest, Rivage is a sci-fi exploration puzzler in which you open up locked areas and find your missing crew. The environments look detailed and fun to wander around in – what’s better in a space game than nosing through your crewmates’ emails, after all?
22nd: Nocturne (PC & Consoles)
A charming pixel art RPG that mixes traditional adventuring with rhythm-based combat, Nocturne has an intriguing story in which you arrive at a kind of digital heaven, expecting your lost relatives to be waiting to welcome you – only to find something has gone terribly wrong. No new inhabitants have arrived for a long, long time, and the only people you can find are lost souls who don’t know what’s up. I’m looking forward to finding out what lies at the heart of the mystery.
23rd: Otterly Lost (PC)
A chilled-out exploration game reminiscent of the Lil Gator Game – which is itself a kind of fox-boy Breath of the Wild – Otterly Lost lets us explore a sunny island. We glide from high peaks to ground level, wander beaches and coastlines, and dive into the clear blue waters to find the sunken ships and lost treasures below.
29th: Toem 2 (PC & Consoles)
TOEM was a very short and sweet single-sitting indie game in which we played as a little amateur photographer who was trying to follow his father’s footsteps and climb a mountain and get a photograph worth taking. This sequel builds on the premise with a new story, new environments, and an upgraded camera that can be used in new ways to solve puzzles, scan documents, and more.
29th: Nivalis Nights (PC & Consoles, MOST HYPE pick)
A cyberpunk adventure set in the huge neon city of Nivalis, this long-awaited sci-fi life sim is finally coming out this month. Starting with just a run-down Blade Runner-style noodle stand, you can try to build a business empire or spend your time fishing, wandering, chatting to friends and locals, or investigating an alleged serial killer at large. But most of all, the city of Nivalis is simply amazing to look at, and I can’t wait to get lost there.
30th: Songs of Glimmerwick (PC)
If you played Eastshade — a glorious, sprawling pacifist Skyrim — you might have wondered what the husband-wife development team has been up to since then. The answer is Songs of Glimmerwick, an enticing top-down spellcasting RPG about your time at witch school. The presentation is fantastic once again, with a lovely art style and soundtrack. It’s PC only for now, but console versions are planned.
30th: Plobania 47/B (PC)
A dystopian, Papers, Please-style bureaucracy game where your every decision is life and death for someone – literally, as the outcome of your handling of paperwork decides who will or will not be “put to sleep”. It’s an Orwellian premise with lots of room for storytelling, and the Steam page doesn’t give much away – so expect some twists.
