Howdy y’all, we’re back to the latest iteration of the newest recurring bit: indie games that were on my Steam personal calendar! As before, I’m only giving glimpses at the games that Steam diagnosed me with. And as before, I will omit games that plainly aren’t indie or use AI. On that note, do let me know if previous games I held up include AI.
And for a correction, Intergalactic Puzzle Touchdown from the last post is actually coming out on the 28th of October. I don’t know if I was just delirious and messed things up, or if the date changed (like, 10 Beautiful Postcards was originally set to release at the end of August but came out on the 17th of that month). Penguin Colony‘s in that screenshot, and it was rescheduled to release later, so it might just be a date change.
Surprisingly, there isn’t a single game Steam felt that I vibed with until the 8th. So, we’re starting October off with the 8th’s Echo Weaver, developed by Moonlight Kids and published by Akupara Games. It’s a metroidvania where you’re trapped within a time loop. As a Weaver with the ability to exploit time anomolies, you’re working to put an end toward the cycle.
Besides time itself being a consumable resource, your main weapon… is your brain. You’re meant to be looking for new things that can break out of the cycle and progress things. All the tools the Weaver needs is there, they just need to learn how, where, and when to use those tools on past loops. Echo Weaver is a “metroidbrainia” in the most truest form, at least from what I’ve seen. Of course, you could always cheat… but come on, that’s loser behavior.
Also there’s Order of the Sinking Star coming out the same day, I guess. I recommend checking this story out on that. Rather apporpiate that a game about exploiting time comes out the same day as this.
On the 9th, we have Car Park Capital releasing into Early Access, developed by Hilkojj Interactive and published by MicroProse Software. Hey, you know how in Cities Skylines you could build nice clean cities? Bah, that’s not realistic – you gotta ruin that shit with parking lots. The game is a take on older city building games that’s a satire of America’s car dependency, where you’re making cities car first. Foster dependency, build parking lots, drill for oil… go live the American dream!
As a piece of satire, Car Park Capital looks like it works. As a simulator, it looks fun. As a reminder of the state of this country, A+. I personally wouldn’t touch it for mental health reasons, but if you’re looking for city builder simulators (less emphasis on the city), Car Park Capital seems like a fun one.
Also releasing is Beat, Heart, Beat, by The Wacy. The surreal world of the Psyche is collapsing, and you’re on a weird quest to recover the world’s missing Heart. The story mode has you progressing through a mix of platformer and rhythm game action, tapping your way to the beats of a grungy soundtrack. Much like the soundtrack stylings, the world is just as fractured and messy with an inconsistent look – and I mean that as complimentary.
Now, Beat, Heart, Beat is something that I personally gel with. I love mixed media presentation and having a midwest emo soundtrack sweetens the deal as someone whose music tastes lean in that direction. Looking at the forum showed me that some people had issues with the demo, and hopefully those problems are resolved in the full game.
Do you consider yourself an empath? Well, this might be the game for you: The Second Reality Room: Unspoken Truths, developed by Shadow Glove and published by FINE Co. You run The Second Reality Room, which seems to be an advanced form of conducting therapies. You see to helping visiting teenagers who constructed their own sense of reality around themselves – and you can see directly into their own worlds yourself. With this better way of understanding people, maybe you can truly understand what’s biting at these visitors.
As we all know, all empaths can see into the mind palaces of the people they talk to. Jokes aside, this seems alright. Shadow Glove had past experience with a game called Yokai Landlord and that seems to be generally liked by the people that played it, so Unspoken Truths may be continuing the trend.
To close out the 9th, we have Stray Fawn Studio’s Kill Your Darlings. You are a mere human condemned to a dungeon, where you’re forced to do gladiator battles. Thankfully, your fellow inmates who are monsters can stand with you… or maybe more, if you can swing it. You’re managing a day-to-day dungeon life of getting to know your new buddies, prepping everyone, fighting together, and figuring out a potential escape. It’s a choice heavy game with limited time and permanent death, so you need to get good at management.
Kill Your Darlings seems like a pretty neat game! I kinda see it as a more serious and bisexual cousin to that Rizz Dungeon game I tried a while back. Not to pit them against each other, they both seem cool on their own merits.
The 12th brings us Burn With Me, developed by Nozomu Games who recently founded Inner Pocket as a publishing group. Burn With Me is a story-based deckbuilder game, where you’re an occult student diving into the unknown. Place down cards in formations like a proper magic ritual to call forth mysterious forces. Do some card burning and soul burning, will you?
Burn With Me seems like a relaxed yet spooky time – just perfect for the Halloween season. The store page notably has an endorsement by Daniel Mullins – the creator of Inscryption – and if the creator of one of the most notable story deckbuilders likes this, that’s a shining endorsement.
The 13th gives the full release of a different sort of story driven deckbuilder. Originally released in Early Access in January, we have Hungry Horrors by Clumsy Bear Studio. In a world shaped by English and Irish folklore, hungry monsters run rampant. To deal with the issue, you’re a princess feeding the monsters instead of slaying them to truly get them to fuck off. You spend the game assembling a deck of food that you prepare to play against monsters. You gradually learn the tastes of each monster from past encounters and learning their lore, and how to gather the pieces needed. No Dungeon Meshi type of action, just good cooking vibes – well, you can die, but that’s how it be sometimes.
I think that it’s an interesting take on deckbuilding action, and it’s got harder modes if you really want to lock in on the cooking action. It’s generally been liked by the people that played the Early Access version, so I’m sure Hungry Horrors will turn out good.
Releasing the same day, we have Deep Dish Dungeon, developed by Behold Studios and published by Raw Fury. It’s a survival dungeon crawler where you explore an atmospheric dungeon that encourages exploration. You’re encouraged to solve the mysteries of the dungeon with friends, who you can enjoy a nice meal around a fire with; if you’re looking for Dungeon Meshi vibes, Deep Dish Dungeon embodies that, as the dungeon provides you the resources you’ll need for tools and much needed food.
Deep Dish Dungeon seems like a pretty nice game to enjoy with friends. Only two other people can play with you, but I suppose it’s fitting since it looks like a more constrained survival game experience compared to others.
In My Beautiful Faraway, Please Don’t Be Cruel to Me, by arch1t3ct, takes you nowhere in particular. Nobody knows or remembers why they’re there, but surely, there has to be some answers, right? The game bills itself as a short adventure in the vein of older adventure games, telling an implicit story that offers multiple endings and abstract puzzle solving.
The screenshots presents an unsettling dreamlike unease – and we all love that, don’t we folks? It’s not exactly a point-and-click adventure, nor is it like a standard horror game. It’s a psychological horror, and as the page’s content warnings states, you’re not directly engaging with the content – you’re only bearing witness. Seems cool!
Legion Was Here is a different sort of adventure game, developed by Geoffroy Monde and published by Surefire(.)Games. You are Legion, a famed international spy on a variety of missions. Step one is to study a man close to the case, making sure to note his appearance and behavior. Step two is to perfectly disguise yourself as that man through rigorous surgery. Step three is to approach the target, and of course, it’s not enough to look the part, but you have to act the part through choice-based visual novel conversation.
I think that Legion Was Here is interesting because spy stuff in games is usually action-focused. Legion Was Here focuses on the more covert aspect of spy work instead of just sneaking, and I think that’s pretty cool. It’s definitely something I personally like and it’s on my wishlist.
On the 14th, we have The Witch’s Bakery, developed by Sunny Lab and published by Silver Lining Interactive. In the day, the witch Lunne runs her bakery, preparing baked goods for her customers and helping them with her magic. After work, Lunne heads out to explore Paris and make friends. For the most troubled people, Lunne explores their very heart and engages with personifications of their emotions, and through that hard work, she may find a key ingredient that she could use to bake something that’d truly help them.
It’s a cute looking game with a really nice hand-drawn look. You’re not quite a witch finding a lost cat in the Alps, but it’s a neat looking story game for that crowd; actually, who knows, part of the Alps is in France, maybe you’ll end looking for a lost cat in the Alps at one point. Jokes aside, I personally think The Witch’s Bakery is cool and it’s up on my wishlist.
The 15th gives a solo deductive roguelike: Dupery: A Game of Solo Deduction, developed by Gilded Rune Games and published by Yogscast Games and GamerSky Games. You’re a detective in a city where criminal syndicates run the streets, so you have to get on an arresting grindset. You’re presented a grid of randomized people of set roles giving hints on who’s a criminal; of course, you’ll need to consider who’s a liar based on the role they’re embodying, and if perhaps if they’re being coerced to lie. And to truly show this is fiction, you’re punished if you get too many innocent people arrested.
Dupery feels like a nice cousin to UmiArt’s Demon Bluff, with how they’re both embodying single-player werewolf experiences. Though, they clearly have different feels, especially as Dupery has an overarching goal of figuring out and arresting the role that’s secretly a syndicate leader. If you liked marathoning the Demon Bluff demo like I did, you might like this.
Releasing on the 16th is Penguin Colony, developed by ORIGAME DIGITAL and published by Fellow Traveler. The game is a re-imagining of HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. In that story, a geologist team winds up stumbling on the unknown on an expedition. In this game, taking place in 1939, groups of Nazis and Kaitiaki are actively investigating the unknown, whether to exploit it or to make sure it stays resting.
You, the player, belong to neither group. Rather, you play as penguins, who are third-party to what’s unfolding. Much like ORIGAME DIGITAL’s previous game, Umurangi Generation, you’re just bearing witness to things out of your control. Wow. Truly something true to life. Nothing ever happens. Penguin Colony sounds and looks cool, but as for me personally, it’s something that I won’t touch for the sake of my mental health. Who needs Elder Things to drive you to madness when seeing real life dynamics that haven’t been resolved already does the job?
But don’t worry, we have a different kind of horror! Releasing on the same day is Tenebris Somnia, developed by Andrés Borghi, Saibot Studios, and published by New Blood Interactive. You’re navigating the horrors in something intended to be like the older Resident Evils and Silent Hills in a 2D form. However, it won’t always be pixel horror – there are live-action cutscenes filmed by an Argentinian film crew that drags the horror into reality.
I’m not personally into this kind of horror too much, but Tenebris Somnia is admirable for the work put into it. And as I’ve said earlier, I respect mixed media presentation. Assuming that this Andrés Borghi is the same one listed on imdb, he seems to have a history of mixed reception, but perhaps he’ll shine better in video game form.
On the 20th, we have A Sister’s Journey, by Florian Lackner. A woman named Violet is out on a quest to look for her sister in a metroidvania run-and-gun. The game wears its inspirations on its sleeve with a strong pixel art presentation. It aims to be a tough but fair challenge, though there’s a Spiritual Guidance Mode that eases things a bit for people in it for the metroidvania exploration and story.
The game actually had a Kickstarter campaign that fizzled out, but despite that, the developer’s kept at it. It’s been 5 years since this interview, way past the projected release date of 2022, but A Sister’s Journey is finally here. As a solo endeavor, it’s something to be super proud of. I’ve wishlisted it, and I hope for the best for this game.
Over on the 23rd, we have Dungeon Inn, developed by Cat Society and published by Spiral Up Games. Originally released into Early Access in 2024, you are an innkeeper on a grindset that opened an inn outside of a dungeon. But not so fast – this isn’t a 100% cozy game. The guilds that pass through don’t see eye-to-eye, and having intraparty drama ain’t good for business. So, besides managing the growth of your business, you have to manage the flow of guilds and cleanly resolve whatever fights happen to keep the health and reputation of your inn.
To be honest, I feel that Dungeon Inn might have been boring if it was just maintaining an inn. However, the guest management system adds a really interesting layer that keeps Dungeon Inn fresh. The game seems to have been generally liked in Early Access, so I’m sure that the full game will be excellent.
Years after The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (played here by Fabby), Deconstructeam swings back into the fold with Virtue and a Sledgehammer on the 27th. You’ve returned to your hometown with nothing but a sledgehammer, surrounded by nothing but robots. As what many other games published by Devolver Digital may ask: do you enjoy hurting other people? Well, it may be a good form of therapy. You may not be hurting actual people, but maybe there’s a different kind of pain to be had…
Virtue and a Sledgehammer aims to be an emotional story wrapped up in the catharsis of violence. A rough past intermingles with rough action, and that’s just fucking beautiful to me. It’s power in misery with an emphasis on power. This is an easy wishlist for me.
Releasing in Early Access on the same day, we have Emberville by Cyngus Cross. You are an amnesiac condemned to the underground prison known as the Vitromotus. You make your way through with action-RPG fighting – but hold the phone, there are other people down there. On the surface is the abandoned town of Emberville, and as you explore Vitromotus, you’re freeing people to rebuild the town. Playing on, you’ll learn about the villagers, bring life back to the world above, and uncover the secrets of the prison below.
Emberville feels like a more action focused take on its contemporaries. It seems interesting, and I like its angle of rebuilding a city rather than just becoming another part of it. I’m curious about where the game will go during its Early Access period with its goal of having collaborative development.
The 28th brings the latest game by Finji, Usual June. Something is approaching the town of Fen Harbor, which is haunted by ghosts; the ghosts aren’t the problem, they’re chill. However, monsters made of crystals are popping up and the ghosts are disappearing as something big threatens to happen. June, a woman that could see the dead, tries to investigate the situation for the sake of her friends – living and dead – while still contending with ordinary high school problems.
Usual June has a dynamic third-person combat system to dedicated to smashing up those monsters. That certainly differentiates itself from its adventure game contemporaries and is a change of pace from Finji’s usual repertoire. I think it looks neat, but MAN, you just know that the most annoying content creators will be hounding this.
Do you like chess? Do you like deckbuilding? The 29th’s Checkmage! by posshydra might be for you. You go to a magic school, but eh, magic is just kinda whatever in this world and studying sucks. But you know what doesn’t? Checkmage! Cards shake up the usual game of chess by blessing the pieces with enchantments to make the game wacky and opens the door to all kinds of strategies. A cast of characters play against you, gradually improving their own decks alongside yours as the story advances.
We all love simple known games shaken up with weird mechanics, don’t we fools? As you might remember from my Puzzmo post, I’m not much of a chess boy, but I’m a girl that thinks Checkmage!‘s variation of chess looks cool. I think this is a game to look out for if you enjoy chess.
I’m surprised that there isn’t too much horror on my October calendar, even with my squeamishness. Thankfully, Tom the Postgirl, developed by Oopsie Daisies and published by ARTE Franc, arrives to solve that conundrum. You’re Tom the Postgirl, and you’re out to deliver the mail. And also to spy on the people you’re delivering mail to to learn about them. But that’s fine, because the locals may be weirdos in their own right. Two wrongs make a right, I guess.
Tom the Postgirl is a cutesy kinda creepy, expressed through a point-and-click, walk-and-stalk experience. The store page says that the mood the game tries to go for is between children’s book and Adult Swim animation. As someone that likes simple adventures and really liked Moral Orel, I’d say this is for me.
To end the day off, we have something that might be familiar to you regular readers: it’s Danchi Days, the bittersweet slice-of-life! I’m not going to be a video essayist restating old information, so I invite you to check out my ramblings on Danchi Days when I played it for a Steam Next Fest last year.
And to fully end off the month of October on my personal calendar, we have Hypernet Explorer entering Early Access. Developed by Esoteric Heavy Industries, it’s an insanely extensive immersive-sim roguelike inspired by Dwarf Fortress and Caves of Qud. Taking place in a 2001 where a Y2K upended reality, you aim to scale up a 92 floor skyscraper that’s barely keeping the cosmos together.
As you go up, there’s lots of things you can do. You can shift into a first-person battle system that uses 3D models where you can burn your stock options to perform a summon. You can learn to master one of 800 skills and branch that out with fusions. You can perform self-cest. You can recruit your tax collector as a party member in the middle of them trying to beat you to death.
I actually have a headache just thinking about Hypernet Explorer. I watched a video of that streamer Tomato playing the game to try to get a better understanding, and I’m still baffled. I’ll be honest, unless you’re one of the players that gets a hard-on about graphics, I think this is a must play. It’s an utterly fascinating game that’s as interesting as it is overwhelming.
And that’s the releases on my October personal calendar! There’s a whole bunch of stuff coming out that I think is really cool, and once again, it continues to strengthen my belief that the average gamer is fucking boring. But what can you do about them?
