YAR: the Forgotten Throne will see you “Choose your path as a Warrior, Volkhv, or Archer and journey across the lands of Borea in a story-driven open-world RPG. Uncover the source of the darkness poisoning its forests and wildlife...
Culdcept the First (also attributed as Culdcept the First Saturn Tribute) is a very fun game, that does show its age. This is basically a re-issue of the 1997 Sega Saturn game that mashes together deckbuilding (think Magic: The Gathering) and boardgames (such as Monopoly).
Sometimes a game will hit your feed that is completely unexpected. That is the reaction I had when I discovered Map Map - A Game About Maps (which I'll refer to as Map Map from here on out). It is a puzzle exploration game where you take the role of a young cartographer setting out on a relaxing journey to many unknown islands.
Welcome to an adventure across the land of Raoah! Help guide Hira on this metroidvania quest across a land that is being choked by corruption. Can you help Hira return peace to Raoah with the help of the companions he meets along the way, or will the world fall into desolation? Only you can help out in Fallen Tear: The Ascension!
Let me tell you about this cozy game my daughter and I are playing together called Outbound. Now, I've been following this game from the initial Kickstarter back in April 2025 to its full release in May 2026. The best Mother's Day gift for myself and my first ever collector's edition in a physical copy!
In OVER REQUIEMZ Yuhiru is thrown into the castle of Oz and is immediately accused of trying to assassinate the King and shoved into the dungeon. Not only is she treated like a criminal...
Today we’re looking at what has rapidly become an absolute favorite in the open-world RPG genre for me. An interesting story, memorable NPCs, stunning visuals, and a setting absolutely dripping with flavor, Dread Delusion sets its tone immediately and sticks with it.
...and I have been playing NHL games since. It didn't matter whether it was EA or another game like 2K in the 2000s; I loved hockey games and still do, but is NHL 27 a step in the right direction?
Asdivine Knot is the latest title in the Kemco JRPG library. Following protagonist Verselio, who's on the run from the church that they once served, he'll be accompanied by an odd selection of party members as they all find a reason to band together…
Nivalis Nights is an experience that gives a strong sense of what a talented team of visionary minds can create. Nivalis Nights crafts a living breathing painting of neon basked splendor with a futuristic new art style of game that is both beautiful and urban futuristic.
Planet Crafter Information taken from News post on Steam:
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Hello Terraformers!
Planet Crafter new DLC "Magnetaris" will be released on December 8th!
This DLC will be a brand-new planet. A place scattered with huge magnetic storms and anomalies, a place that once hosted people who flew away for unknown reasons...
You'll have to use new technologies to stabilize and protect yourself from the planet's magnetism.
Discover new lore, secrets and explore multiple exciting new biomes. And finally terraform this world to create a lush paradise once again!
As usual, you'll only need to buy one copy to host a game and play with your friends!
The size of the map will be similar to Toxicity and should provide multiple hours of content.
You'll be able to either start a new game on this planet, or join it using a current save file once you have finished your first planet. The design of the planet should make both experiences equally fun.
This will be released on all platforms the game is available on
Playtests are open! If you want to help us playtest it, read this.
Stay in the loop
As always, don't miss any information about Planet Crafter and Miju Games :
October 26, 2026 | Aya Games has launched AYASA: Shadows of Silence on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The atmospheric horror puzzle-platformer takes players into the Inverted World, where light reveals hidden paths and survival depends on observation, puzzles and stealth. The game first launched on PC via Steam on November 28, 2025.
The story
AYASA: Shadows of Silence is set in the Inverted World, a realm once held in balance between light and shadow under Tas, the Absolute. War has shattered that harmony, leaving six lands - Faith, Hope, Love, Greed, Indifference and Betrayal - caught in a spreading darkness. Ayasa, a young girl traveling alone, sets out to recover the scattered remnants of Tas's light and restore her world's lost balance.
Her journey leads through environments shaped by the values and failings their names represent. Players must observe their surroundings, solve environmental puzzles and use light to reveal hidden routes and awaken ancient machines. With threats too dangerous to confront directly, survival depends on timing, stealth and finding a way forward. Uncovering the secrets of each land brings Ayasa closer to understanding what it means to have a conscience. Yet the mysteries she leaves unresolved can draw her into the darkness, changing the person she becomes.
The story unfolds without spoken dialogue, through movement, surreal imagery and music. Its soundtrack is composed by Arman Msryan and draws on the music of Komitas. The art direction takes inspiration from Tim Burton, René Laloux, Robert Sahakyants, Hayao Miyazaki and Sergei Parajanov.
“Ayasa was always meant to speak without words. We wanted players to feel the story rather than read it,” said Edgar Janoyan, Founder and CEO of Aya Games. “Seeing players on PC connect with Ayasa's journey has meant everything to us. Today, players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S can finally step into the Inverted World and find their own light in the dark.”
Key Features
Six symbolic lands. Explore surreal environments shaped by hope, conflict and corruption.
Environmental puzzles. Use light to reveal hidden paths and activate ancient machines.
Stealth and survival. Read your surroundings and evade the dangers waiting in the dark.
Visual storytelling. Follow a story told through movement, imagery and sound, without spoken dialogue.
Armenian musical influence. A soundtrack by Arman Msryan drawing on the music of Komitas.
Availability
AYASA: Shadows of Silence is out now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S for $19.99, and on PC via Steam for $24.99. The Soundtrack and Digital Artbook are available separately on Steam. The PC version supports menus and interface text in 24 languages.
About Aya Games
Aya Games is an independent game studio operating in both Armenia and the United States, with a team of 10+ people. Its debut title, AYASA: Shadows of Silence, brings together atmospheric horror, environmental puzzles and visual storytelling. Self-published on PC via Steam in November 2025, the game is now available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
October 29, 2026 | Brightstone was never meant to be left. Today, Dionous Games and X Interactive release the Last Dream Update for Inner Voice, the first-person psychological horror-adventure, dragging players back into its dark, dreamlike world with fresh secrets to uncover and new horrors waiting in the silence. The update is free and live now on Steam.
Grief has a way of leading people to strange places. For Booker, a man desperate to find his missing wife Diana, it leads to Brightstone and to a voice that guides him and haunts him in equal measure. With no weapons and no allies, Booker wanders a place abandoned by time and sanity, where the past refuses to stay buried and every answer comes at a cost.
“The darkness of Brightstone has grown,” said solo developer Nick Chronopoulos. “I’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make Inner Voice an even more immersive and unsettling experience and this update is the result of that work.”
What’s New in the Last Dream Update
2 new puzzles that expand the exploration and puzzle-solving experience
10+ new scares: disturbing encounters and unexpected moments of terror throughout the game
Quality-of-life improvements and refinements to the overall gameplay experience
Built for psychological horror fans, Inner Voice trades combat for dread, grief and memory, weaving story-driven puzzles into a world that tells its own story. Players are pulled through decaying spaces that shift around them, where lifeless mannequins stand in silent watch, every room holds a fragment of the past and every sound hints at something waiting in the dark.
Key Features
4 unique chapters blending linear storytelling with open-world exploration
Story puzzles embedded in the environment and narrative
Fully voice-acted with an original soundtrack and high-end visuals
3 story endings plus 1 hidden secret ending based on player choices
A haunted Victorian/Western world blending reality with fiction
Availability
Inner Voice is available for PC on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store and the Last Dream Update is live now as a free update for all players on Steam. Inner Voice is priced at €12.49 and is currently 35% off on Steam (€8.11) until November 2.
X Interactive is an independent studio by solo developer Nikos Chronopoulos. Inner Voice is their debut title.
About Dionous Games
Dionous Games is an indie game development and publishing studio with one simple vision: to create adventure games with rich narratives that speak to your heart and mind.
Melbourne, Australia — October 27, 2026 | Developer Orca Studio and publisher UltraPlayers have unveiled a new teaser for Bolt of Whalington, an exploration-first Metroidvania where a curious Siamese cat and his trusty mech explore Whalington, a mysterious floating whale-city. Alongside familiar Metroidvania mechanics like ability progression and interconnected exploration, players can also change the rules of the world itself, turning seemingly impossible obstacles into unexpected paths forward.
A free playable demo will launch on Steam on November 5, 2026, at 03:00 UTC (November 4 at 19:00 PST).
Turn Into a Mouse. Talk to Your Enemies
In Bolt of Whalington, the mysterious Rule Terminal lets players rewrite the rules of the world. Can't squeeze through a narrow passage? Turn into a mouse, slip through the gap, and discover that creatures who once treated you as an enemy might now stop for a chat. Stuck behind a solid wall? A bottle of soap might be all you need to get through.
In Whalington, the strangest ideas often open up new places to explore.
Walk on Walls. Follow the Light. Unlock New Routes
Every area of Whalington plays by its own rules. In one region, anti-gravity turns walls into walkable paths, opening up new ways to move and dodge danger. In another, Schrödinger's platforms appear and disappear depending on light. Elsewhere, even an ordinary toilet turns out to be a perfectly reasonable way to travel.
But learning each area's rules is only the beginning. Switch between Bolt's feline agility and his mech's power, unlock new abilities, and return to familiar locations to discover hidden routes that were previously out of reach.
Beyond exploration, challenging bosses bring their own surprises. Learn their attack patterns, master new weapons and combat abilities, and find the right moment to strike.
As Bolt grows stronger, places you've already explored can reveal something new.
Your First Taste of Whalington Arrives November 5
The new teaser offers a glimpse of Bolt of Whalington's hand-drawn world, unconventional mechanics, and playful approach to Metroidvania exploration.
The free Steam demo launches on November 5, 2026, at 03:00 UTC (November 4 at 19:00 PST), featuring four areas of Whalington: the Sardine, Kitchen, Cabins, and Residence. The Kitchen is fully playable, while portions of the other three areas are accessible. The demo's main story takes approximately 60–90 minutes to complete, extending to 90–150 minutes for players who take their time exploring. The map layout and story progression may differ in the full release.
Whether you're a seasoned Metroidvania explorer or someone who simply can't resist poking around every suspicious corner, Whalington invites you to follow your curiosity and see where it leads.
CURIOSITY DOESN'T KILL THE CAT
Watch the new teaser and wishlist Bolt of Whalington on Steam:
Orca Studio is a three-person indie team brought together through an online game development community. Sharing a love for Metroidvanias, the team formed the studio to pursue indie development as a long-term career.
Bolt of Whalington began with founder Josh’s love of Howl’s Moving Castle and the team’s passion for exploration games. Rather than building the experience around punishing difficulty or a grim atmosphere, Orca Studio wants exploration itself to be the reward, filling Whalington with humor, surprises, and Eureka moments that keep players curious about what comes next.
About UltraPlayers
UltraPlayers is a Melbourne-based game publisher working with independent developers to bring distinctive and creative games to players around the world. The team supports developers across publishing strategy, marketing, community building, and international market expansion.
UNITED KINGDOM, OCTOBER 2026 | With the annual Steam Scream Fest approaching, solo developer DERANGED GAMES is opening a new playtest for LAG KILLS, an upcoming horror game where breaking into a seemingly empty house for loot turns into a fight for survival.
Players take on the role of a desperate intruder who breaks into what they believe to be an empty house, only to discover that the owner is home, lagging badly, and angry. The objective is simple: know when to loot, know when to hide, and try to escape before he catches you.
Players can request access directly through the LAG KILLS Steam page. The current open playtest marks an important milestone for LAG KILLS, being the last build update to the single-player update before game development shifts toward co-op.
WHAT PLAYERS CAN EXPECT
The latest LAG KILLS playtest introduces several new features and improvements, including:
Fully playable level with new hiding spots
Playable lobby featuring a new building and placement system
In-game shop with upgrades and accessories
Inventory system with item inspection
UI overhaul for improved player experience
Gameplay and performance optimizations
More jumpscares to keep players on edge
New lights-out sequence featuring new cutscenes and unique gameplay towards the end of the level.
These updates deliver a more developed single-player experience players can try out during the playtest.
ABOUT DERANGED GAMES
DERANGED GAMES is an independent game studio dedicated to delivering immersive, high tension gaming experiences. With LAG KILLS, the studio aims to combine psychological horror with cooperative gameplay, offering players a raw and unpredictable survival challenge. Additional details, including a press kit, will be made available as development progresses.
You can follow LAG KILLS and DERANGED GAMES through development by joining the Official Discord Server, as well as other social media accounts such as Twitter/X, BlueSky, Facebook, and Instagram.
DERANGED GAMES AND LAG KILLS CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON THE FOLLOWING PLATFORMS:
Los Angeles - October 16, 2026 | Things are heating up on the slopes for Wabisabi Games’ high-energy love letter to the classic extreme sports games of the Y2K era. During The MIX: Fall Online Showcase, publisher Acclaim Inc. debuted an all-new gameplay trailer for HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate, revealing never-before-seen areas, new playable riders, and even more of the adrenaline-pumping arcade action and over-the-top tricks fans have come to expect ahead of its launch on Steam and consoles next year.
The new trailer takes the action beyond the powder, cranking up the heat with brand-new areas to test their riding skills and pull off death-defying tricks. Players can grind their way across an active volcano, race through shimmering ice caves, and even conquer the courses as a giant snowboarding kaiju.
“The extreme sports games in the golden age of the late 90’s & early aughts had something special. The speed, the banger music, the outrageous tricks, all pure fun. HYPERyuki captures that spirit immediately. Wabisabi is building something with its own identity, and every new reveal gets more ridiculous in the best possible way. Acclaim is proud to be part of this journey & can't wait for players to experience it with a new demo soon.”- Marc Anthony Rodriguez, Director of Publishing & Strategic Partnerships, Acclaim, Inc.
First revealed at last year’s Play Acclaim Showcase, HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate is developed by Mexican indie studio Wabisabi Games (RKGK / Rakugaki). Inspired by the fast-paced gameplay and stylish excess of classics like SSX and Jet Grind Radio, the game delivers a modern take on white-knuckle arcade-style snowboarding.
Key Features
Challenge – Think you have what it takes to impress? In Challenge mode you’ll have to complete objectives to hit the highest score possible. Ride rails, collect trinkets, and hit impressive tricks to top the leaderboard.
Race – Speed down the slopes against NPCs or other players in this fast-paced game mode. Tricks will increase your boost meter, making style and speed an important balance.
Chill – Enjoy a calm experience, hang around the tracks, and enjoy the view in this endless mode. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even find some secrets along the way!
Multiplayer – Compete against friends both online and in person! Play online with up to seven of your friends or play local multiplayer through split screen.
Shred – Bomb the slopes as a sentient snowboarding taco!
About Acclaim:
Originally founded in 1987, Acclaim established itself as a leading global developer, publisher, and mass marketer, bringing beloved franchises such as Mortal Kombat, Turok, and NBA Jam into homes worldwide. Today, Acclaim carries its legacy forward with an unwavering commitment to supporting talented indie developers and delivering high-quality, premium indie games to a global audience. Acclaim’s modern revival stands as a testament to the strength and enduring appeal of its iconic brand.
October 16, 2026 | Independent studio One Way Eleven today shared a new look at Hanno: A Magical Tale, a story-driven action-adventure about a boy and a baby elephant who become family. Inspired by a real Asian elephant sent from Portugal to the Pope in 1514, the game gives him a story of his own.
In Hanno: A Magical Tale, you play as Vimal, an orphaned boy from a small village who finds Hanno, an unusual baby elephant, alone and wounded in the forest. He promises to take care of him. What he doesn't know is that Hanno is the magic that will make him strong and that magic only works while Vimal carries him. Through exploration, puzzles and combat, the two face a mysterious threat that begins corrupting their world and neither can go on without the other. Now and then they part ways and you can play as Hanno himself.
The journey unfolds across Ashar, an original world with its own written language, built to feel like a forgotten legend. Its lush forests, old water channels and murals hold tenderness and threat in the same frame and most of the story lives in what you find along the way. You've protected a companion in a game before, but you've never needed one this much. Everyone who meets Hanno asks the same thing: what happens to the elephant? We're not telling.
"It started with wanting to respect the animal. Elephants have been treated as transport, as spectacle, as a gift - the real Hanno was shipped across the world as a present. We didn't want to build another creature that exists to carry the hero.
In our game, the magic belongs to the elephant and it only works while the boy carries him. We wanted a companion you can't do without and who can't do without you. The question we want players sitting with is who's protecting whom and we'd rather they never quite settle on an answer," said Pedro Campos, Creative Director at One Way Eleven.
KEY FEATURES
You carry him. He makes you strong: A baby elephant to protect, yet the very one who makes you strong. Hanno's magic only works while Vimal carries him.
Sometimes, You Are Hanno: Now and then the two part ways and you can play as the elephant too and feel the weight of the bond when it returns.
Tender and Tense: Explore, solve environmental puzzles together and fight as one, while a mysterious threat closes in on everything you've promised to protect.
A Real Elephant, an Original World: Inspired by a real Asian elephant sent from Portugal to the Pope in 1514. This time, his story is his own, told in Ashar, a world with its own forgotten language.
AVAILABILITY
Hanno: A Magical Tale is in development for PC via Steam, with release planned for 2027.
Players can wishlist it on Steam today to be the first to hear what comes next and follow One Way Eleven on X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Bluesky.
About One Way Eleven
One Way Eleven is a Portuguese independent games studio. Its first commercial game, Hanno: A Magical Tale, has been in development since 2023 by a small team. The game took 2nd place at the GameStar FYNG Indie Award 2026 at gamescom, was an Indie Arena Booth Official Selection 2026 at gamescom and was selected for GDC Pitch 2024.
October 15, 2026 | Independent studio Psychic Software today announced The Lich Wars, a story-rich Gothic RPG that blends branching interactive fiction with RPG skills and narrative-driven combat. The game is a prequel to the studio's critically acclaimed CRPG The Necromancer's Tale, and its reveal trailer is available to watch now.
In The Lich Wars, you begin as a new recruit in the Rychva Musketeers in the alt-history kingdom of Rulsthen, near Venice and are soon thrown into a bloody war won by raising the dead. What follows is a military career shaped by the choices you make, as fear and superstition spread across the land until civil war erupts and the Lich rises.
The story is told through an estimated 300,000 words of hand-written narrative, with skill checks across nine RPG skills and a combat system built on hand-written prose and randomised critical-hit tables. Battles move seamlessly from duels to skirmishes, naval clashes to full-scale battlefield manoeuvres.
The Lich Wars is entirely stand-alone: no knowledge of The Necromancer's Tale is needed and the two games can be played in either order. Returning players will meet familiar characters earlier in their lives and discover the events that brought necromancy to Rulsthen.
Visually, the branching narrative plays out in a 3D book, while key scenes are staged as hand-painted miniatures on the tabletop beside it. Hundreds of original illustrations, portraits and maps accompany the text. Partial voice acting brings key characters and moments of narration to life.
"In The Necromancer's Tale, the years between 1700 and 1728 were only a brief prologue, yet players kept asking about them. The Lich Wars is our chance to tell that story properly and to lean into the writing that players responded to most.
At its heart it's a Gothic tale about a society haunted by its past. Necromancy works, but nobody fully understands its cost and every character remembers the war in a way that lets them live with what they did. Those questions about progress, responsibility and the ethics of war feel as relevant today as they did in the 1700s," said Sam Redfern, lead developer and narrative lead at Psychic Software.
KEY FEATURES
A Soldier's Life Across Two Wars: Live a 30-year military career, from the Venetian War of 1701-08 to the civil war of 1727-28, with three main career paths to follow.
Interactive Fiction Meets RPG: Explore an estimated 300,000 words of branching, hand-written narrative shaped by nine skills spanning physical, social and intellectual abilities.
Tabletop-Inspired Combat: Fight through duels, naval battles and full-scale warfare in narrative combat driven by randomised critical-hit tables.
Unreliable Memories: Follow Aleks and three lifelong friends who live through the same events but remember them differently and not always honestly.
A Hand-Painted Gothic World: Experience the story through a 3D book, tabletop miniatures, hundreds of original illustrations and partial voice acting.
The Prequel to The Necromancer's Tale: Discover how necromancy came to Rulsthen and meet familiar characters in their earlier years, in a fully stand-alone adventure.
The Lich Wars is currently in development for PC via Steam.
Players can wishlist the game today and follow future updates as the story of Rulsthen's wars unfolds.
About Psychic Software
Psychic Software (Psychic Games Ltd.) is an award-winning Game Studio whose founders have been making games since the 1980s, collaborating with various artists, musicians and other game studios. Games range from a car-combat MMO which has been live and online since 2006, to casual smartphone puzzle games achieving millions of downloads, arcade-adventures, platformers, multiplayer online racers, CRPGs and more.
The studio's previous title, The Necromancer's Tale, a Gothic open-world-style CRPG, launched on Steam in July 2025 and arrived on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox and GOG in June 2026.
Development of The Lich Wars is co-funded by the Creative Media Programme of the European Union.
UNITED STATES, October 2026 | Katanagari, a single-player RPG that brings the spirit of early-2000 games to a handcrafted fantasy world and is solo developed by Jucheh, has just been announced by Zemore Indie Games. Built around exploration, discovery, and player-driven adventure, Katanagari aims to recapture the charm of classic RPGs, where curiosity is rewarded and the journey matters more than the grind.
Inspired by Asian history and folklore combined with medieval elements, players use a five-element magic system to train their skills, complete quests, fight creatures, gather resources, upgrade their equipment, and make permanent progress without being locked into artificial gameplay. Players are rewarded not by how much grind is done, but by their observation, curiosity, experimentation, and childlike wonder in exploration.
“This is the core design principle of my game: to recreate the feeling of those early years of MMORPGs in a uniquely different world and despite solitary play,” Jucheh, Katanagari’s solo developer, stated.
You could be anything!
Katanagari features a cozy handcrafted, non-procedural world that houses the things people loved about classic MMORPG games: the exploration being less about the grind and click-intensive boss fights, but more about the memories you gather during the adventure. Quests are relevant to the story as they are also rewarding, moving, and hilarious. The small things players find along the way: NPCs, quests, minigames, random events, and small easter eggs around the world are well-written, memorable, and charming despite the simple graphics.
The official Steam playtest program is expected to arrive by the end of the year.
Players looking to stay up-to-date with Katanagari can join the official Discord server, where they can bond and discuss the game with the community.
ABOUT JUCHEH
Jucheh is the solo developer behind Katanagari. A RuneScape player since childhood, he spent years living in Japan and dreaming about a game that brought those two parts of his life together. His path led from a degree in East Asian studies, working as a translator and interpreter, to teaching himself programming and completing a master’s in analytics and machine learning. By graduation, however, his plans for a career in big tech had given way to a stronger ambition: building a world of his own.
Katanagari draws on RuneScape’s open-ended adventures, the emotional storytelling of Kingdom Hearts, and the sense of belonging found in Stardew Valley. Jucheh wants to create a world players can grow attached to, where quiet afternoons fishing sit alongside stories that stay with them. As a single-player game, it’s also a world their actions can permanently change. It’s the game he’s long wanted to make, even knowing it would take years of learning and building. Fortunately, RuneScape had already prepared him for one part of the process: the grind.
BRAZIL, October 14, 2026 | Brazilian independent developer Manabrew Studios and Brazilian publisher Odd Loop Games are proud to reveal Jinx It, a hand-drawn roguelike dicebuilder currently in development for PC via Steam. Set in a rubber-hose world of strange tables, unlucky characters, and high-stakes matches, Jinx It begins after the player loses a life-or-death bet against Jinx, the Unlucky One. To earn a rematch, they must fight their way back to his table, facing a series of opponents who also challenged Jinx and lost. Its defining mechanic lets players arrange rolls into Straights and Sets, with individual dice able to contribute to multiple combinations and bring their own unique behaviors, such as splitting, consuming other dice, or changing how a roll works. Progression revolves around building increasingly powerful combinations by collecting new dice and Lucky Charms, reshaping individual dice at the Forge, and using systems such as Dice Sets, Blessings, and the Seer to take each run in a different direction. Now each table brings another opponent to overcome on the journey back to the one who started it all.
ROLLING THE DICE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
At the center of Jinx It is a scoring system where what you roll is only part of the equation. How you arrange it matters too.
Players roll their dice, choose what to keep, reroll the rest, then arrange the results from left to right to create Straights and Sets.
A single die can contribute to more than one scoring combination at the same time. The same roll can therefore produce very different results depending on how its dice are positioned, making arrangements an important part of every turn.
But these are not ordinary dice.
EVERY DIE HAS A TRICK
Each die can bring its own faces, behaviors, and abilities to the table.
Some split into additional dice. Some consume other dice. Others change the way a roll functions entirely.
At the Forge, players can reshape individual dice even further by modifying face values and weights, duplicating or removing faces, adding scoring bonuses, and discovering specialized upgrades created for specific dice.
A die that starts as a small part of a run can eventually become something the entire build revolves around.
Players are not simply looking for stronger upgrades. They can change the dice themselves, then combine those changes with everything else they find throughout the run.
EVERY TABLE FIGHTS BACK
Building a powerful combination is only half of the challenge.
Each table puts an opponent across from the player for a multi-round match. Every opponent brings powers capable of interfering with the player's strategy, and those powers change and become more difficult to handle as the confrontation progresses.
A build that worked perfectly at one table may need to be rearranged, upgraded, or reconsidered at the next.
And every opponent shares something with the player: they once challenged Jinx, made their own bet, and lost.
To earn another chance against him, the player will have to outplay everyone standing in the way.
BUILD SOMETHING BROKEN
Between matches, winnings can be invested into new dice and Lucky Charms, while additional systems including starting Dice Sets, Blessings, the Forge, and the mysterious Seer can send a run in completely different directions.
The goal is to discover interactions between them and keep pushing those combinations further. A simple setup can grow into a build where dice, Charms, upgrades, and carefully arranged rolls all work together in increasingly powerful ways.
The goal is simple:
Turn bad luck into a broken build, defeat the opponents between you and Jinx, and earn your seat at the table for one final rematch.
KEY FEATURES
ROLL, ARRANGE, OUTSCORE: Roll, keep, reroll, and position dice from left to right to form Straights and Sets, with individual dice able to contribute to multiple scoring combinations at once.
EVERY DIE HAS A TRICK: Build around dice with distinct faces, behaviors, probabilities, and abilities instead of a pool of interchangeable numbers.
REWRITE YOUR DICE AT THE FORGE: Modify face values and weights, duplicate or remove faces, add scoring bonuses, and discover specialized upgrades for individual dice.
BUILD SOMETHING BROKEN: Combine dice with Lucky Charms, Dice Sets, Blessings, Forge upgrades, and other systems to discover increasingly powerful interactions.
EVERY TABLE FIGHTS BACK: Face opponents whose powers interfere with your strategy and become increasingly difficult to overcome as each confrontation develops.
CHALLENGE JINX AGAIN: Fight through a hand-drawn cartoon world populated by others who also lost their bets, then return to the table for a rematch with Jinx, the Unlucky One.
Jinx It is currently in development for PC and is coming to Steam. Players can wishlist the game now.
Manabrew Studios is a three-person independent game studio made up of two programmers and one illustrator, all longtime friends who have spent years playing games and talking about what makes them worth playing.
We have always had our own ideas about how games could be more fun, more expressive, or simply done differently. At some point, we decided to stop just talking about those ideas and start putting them into practice by making the kinds of games we would want to play ourselves.
There is a lot of content being produced automatically today, and that is not the path we want to follow. We care about art, identity, and making sure our games have personality. From code to illustration, we build them together, with one simple goal: to create games we would genuinely want to have in our own libraries.
ABOUT ODD LOOP
Odd Loop is a Brazilian independent micro-publisher focused on distinctive games from small development teams. Working closely with developers, Odd Loop supports games across positioning, Steam strategy, go-to-market, creator relations, PR, events, paid media, and launch strategy.
Jinx It is Odd Loop and Manabrew first announced title.
Developer 6side Studio and publisher Rekoup have announced that RTS × Tower Defense roguelite Dawn of Defense will launch on Steam on November 17, 2026.
Ahead of release, players can experience a significantly expanded demo during Steam Next Fest, October 19–26, alongside a new trailer showcasing how battles grow beyond the defensive line.
In Dawn of Defense, defending is only half the battle. Players build towers and hold back relentless enemy waves while commanding warriors in real time, expanding their economy, capturing territory and assaulting enemy strongholds across the battlefield.
THE WAR JUST GOT BIGGER
The new Steam Next Fest demo significantly expands the scale of Dawn of Defense, introducing a much larger map with three enemy fortresses and a new objective that challenges players to build their economy and defenses, raise an army and push toward the first fortress.
Waiting there is the new Troll Rider boss, alongside new enemies, units and progression systems designed to open up more strategic options between and within each run.
The expanded demo introduces:
A much larger battlefield featuring three enemy fortresses and a new objective to conquer the first
Between-run progression, allowing players to unlock additional towers and upgrades for future attempts
New threats including the Troll Rider boss, Banner Carriers and Elite enemies
A new recruitable Hog-riding Pikeman, alongside expanded Runestone effects and greater build variety
DEFEND. EXPAND. STRIKE BACK.
Every run forces players to balance defense with aggression.
Build towers and rally troops to withstand increasingly dangerous waves, while venturing beyond the safety of your stronghold to capture territory and attack the Empire.
Every island reclaimed expands your war economy, opening access to Wood, Stone, Iron and Food that can be invested into stronger defenses, a larger army or the next offensive.
Ancient Runestones introduce powerful effects and upgrades that reshape each run, while progression between attempts unlocks new strategic options for the battles ahead.
PLAY DURING STEAM NEXT FEST
The expanded Dawn of Defense demo will be playable during Steam Next Fest from October 19–26, 2026.
Dawn of Defense launches on Steam on November 17, 2026.
6side Studio is a three-person independent game development team based in Germany. Dawn of Defense is the studio’s debut title.
About Rekoup
Rekoup is a Stockholm-based, studio-first publisher of premium PC and console games, helping independent studios fund, launch and grow their games under their own name.
Map Map - A Game About Maps by developer Pipapo Games and publisher Rekoup—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Sometimes a game will hit your feed that is completely unexpected. That is the reaction I had when I discovered Map Map - A Game About Maps (which I'll refer to as Map Map from here on out). It is a puzzle exploration game where you take the role of a young cartographer setting out on a relaxing journey to many unknown islands. Not only will you be marking key locations on each map, but you will be hunting for hidden treasure as well. So, let's search for some treasure and hope we don't dig up a soggy boot or something, eh?
Gameplay
Map Map is a cute little game that you can spend several hours exploring the different islands with unique features and biomes. You begin with a brief cutscene of drawing your first map, although it doesn't go as well as you had hoped. In efforts to improve, you search for adventure in the way of a hiring flyer. Billie's Bunch is on the hunt for the Raven King's lost treasure. Naturally, you decide you will apply.
After reaching the first island, you find a large stone compass embedded in the ground which serves as a guide. Though, as you progress through the game, these are not always present. With your map and observation skills, you start marking specific locations that it asks for. These first couple of islands serve as a bit of a simple tutorial.
Once you get through the first island or two, you will meet a couple of people who are looking for the Raven King's treasure. Billie, Milo, Rue, and Byte are part of Billie's crew whom had put out the original post you read back at home. They are eager to test your skills as a cartographer and ask you to pinpoint the location of several landmarks. To succeed at your task, you are given a map and a locator to begin. As you progress through the game, you will find other useful tools like a protractor, some stickers, and more! All of the tools will be helpful during gameplay and I had the most usage out of the stickers to mark locations on the map.
Each map begins to have additional objectives like finding a couple of hidden treasure chests. These can be found after you locate the cryptic clues that direct you to the treasures' location. Chests will have new stickers and sometimes other useful tools to assist you in your journey, but they are not required to progress in the game. Now, if you cannot find their locations, you can always go back to the map and try again because each map shows the total number of treasure chests that are discoverable.
A feature that Map Map has which is not present in many games is Twitch Integration. People in chat can guess the location of your objective. An interesting addition to this is that in your settings, you can put a limit on the number of guesses shown on the map. It is also possible to set the guessing to subscribers only to potentially reduce the amount of guesses. While that doesn't seem like much of an integration, it could be fun to have a playthrough where chat controls the guessing. And wouldn't it be fun to have that kind of chaos when you're in a dangerous biome like a lava one? I think so!
It may not seem like an amazing game at first, but you do get sucked into cartography fairly easily. Especially when it comes to finding treasure, because we all like treasure, yeah?
Graphics and UI
Let's talk about the graphics and UI of Map Map. On first glance, the game has a cute animated aesthetics that works very well for the style of game. The maps have unique enough features that make it easy enough to pin point the locations of key points like the tallest tower or a group of fish near a distinctive landmark. Once you know the unique elements of the island, then the world is your oyster!
In the gameplay portion of this review, I talked a little bit about some of the treasure chests that are strewn about. Many of the treasure chests have stickers which you can use on your map to keep track of where unique features are located. The map is accessed through hitting Tab on your keyboard and clicking on the sticker box or using the pencil to mark information down. By using the map to mark key locations down, it means that the UI of the game doesn't take any space. This is a different experience than other games where sometimes the information can clutter the whole screen. Map Map is the complete opposite by not displaying any real information on your screen, which certainly makes your job as a cartographer more interesting!
While I adore the non-existent UI, I personally am not much of a fan of the Raggedy Ann face for our character. This stems back to when I was much younger and those dolls were everywhere. I recall not liking the character or the style of doll - not that I was horribly interested in playing with dolls in the first place, but you get the picture. Map Map unburied the memory of the dolls from my childhood and I almost based my entire decision about it on that fact - truth be told.
Audio
One of the few aspects of Map Map that I dislike is the character 'dialogue'. Unlike other games that either have voice acting or don't, this one has 'voice acting' in the form of repetition. The characters don't say what the dialogue box displays, they instead simply repeat the word 'map'. While I, too, am an enjoyer of 'I am Groot', the sentence isn't repeated throughout the whole Guardians of the Galaxy movie. When the characters are talking, they repeat the one word and it's infuriating. Personally, I would rather there not be any voice acting if it isn't in the language displayed on the screen. The audio is wasted because most people would also turn off the character audio.
As for the rest of the game, Map Map has some soothing audio that sits in the background while you puzzle out the precise locations of unique objects on the island. The music doesn't overstay its welcome and the sound effects for water and birds, or jumping onto ledges add enough realism to the game without distracting you from concentrating on the task at hand. As such, it is quite easy to lose yourself in the world.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Map Map surprised me. The Raggedy Ann looking character almost drove me away from the game, I took a chance and decided to play it. I was quite surprised at how much time I spent getting lost in exploration and discovery of treasure chests. Who could honestly resist THAT temptation, eh?
The game is cozy and relaxing despite the challenge it poses in pinpointing landmark locations on later islands. And there are a surprisingly large number of islands to explore throughout your time in the game. Just don't be surprised when you discover that several hours have passed and you're still digging in places you think the map is pointing at.
October 6th, 2026 | OFF BOX Studios today released a new gameplay trailer for FLING UP TOGETHER, the upcoming 2-player co-op physics platformer built around a single rope tying two friends together. A free demo is available now on Steam.
Two players are bound by one rope, pulling and flinging each other up a vertical world of sky islands, floating ruins and monumental bridges. There's no climbing alone and one player's fall undoes the whole team's progress, exactly what the new trailer puts front and centre.
Where most co-op climbers link players with a passive chain, FLING UP TOGETHER makes the rope an active tool: launch a teammate across a gap, catch them mid-fall, or doom the run with one bad pull. Anyone can pull at any moment, so every rescue and every disaster has an author and every session becomes its own story of communication, blame and shared triumph.
"We wanted a co-op that you can't autopilot through. The rope means you're never just playing next to someone, you're constantly deciding their fate and they're deciding yours. That's where all the shouting and the laughing comes from," said Ammar at OFF BOX Studios.
Colour-coded platforms push the teamwork further. Each player can only stand on platforms matching their colour, so one player opens a route and then has to physically haul the other across it with the rope.
A single run swings between careful coordination and total collapse. One minute you're timing a fling perfectly, the next someone mistimes a pull and you're both watching the climb undo itself. Every session ends up somewhere between a team victory and a shared disaster and never plays out the same way twice.
Rope-and-fling mechanic: Pull the rope to launch your partner across gaps or catch them mid-fall, or accidentally ruin the whole run. Every success and every disaster has an author.
Forced interdependence: No solo progress, no separate checkpoints, one fall that resets everyone. Tension, communication and payoff, manufactured automatically.
Color-coded co-op puzzles: Each player can only stand on platforms of their colour, forcing constant coordination beyond the rope.
Comedy through failure: Ragdoll physics, silly characters and moving obstacles keep every mistake funny rather than punishing, built to be watched as much as played.
AVAILABILITY
FLING UP TOGETHER is coming to Steam. A free demo is available now, so co-op and party-game fans can jump into the chaos before launch and wishlist the game today.
October 7, 2026 | Tokyo-based horror publisher Serafini Productions and Singapore-based publisher Soft Source announced that BrokenLore: ASCEND, a first-person psychological horror game set on an officially licensed recreation of Tokyo Tower, will launch on January 7, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The news also brings attention to BrokenLore: MIKI-CHAN, the next chapter of the BrokenLore series, revealed last week.
In BrokenLore: ASCEND, players follow Ren and Yui, two rooftop climbers who live for views and likes on their channel, SKYLIMIT. Looking for the stunt that will top everything they have done before, they sneak into Elysium Tower, the tallest building in Japan, for a forbidden climb at night. Halfway up, the stunt turns into a fight to survive.
In the game, Tokyo Tower becomes Elysium Tower, the tallest building in Japan. Something is waiting on its steel beams: the Rokurokubi, a yōkai from Japanese folklore who looks like an ordinary woman until her neck starts to stretch and twist like a snake.
Every step counts. Players climb along exposed ledges, stay out of the Rokurokubi's sight and think through each move before they make it. For Ren and Yui, a fall is not only the end of the climb. It is the end of the fame and attention they have built their whole identity around.
KEY FEATURES
First-Person Free Climbing: Hold on to ledges and beams high above the city. One careless move and the climb is over.
Stealth on the Edge: Hide from the Rokurokubi as she hunts you across the tower, with nowhere to run.
Fear of Heights: Height, wind and darkness turn the climb itself into a source of fear.
A Real Tokyo Landmark: An officially licensed Tokyo Tower, reimagined as the cursed Elysium Tower.
Part of the BrokenLore Saga: A standalone story that also adds new pieces to the wider BrokenLore universe.
AVAILABILITY
BrokenLore: ASCEND launches on January 7, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Players can wishlist the game today.
Revealed last week, BrokenLore: MIKI-CHAN is a first-person psychological horror game set in a Japanese high school, coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Kazuaki is a student preparing for a tough university entrance exam. When he plugs in a mysterious thumb drive, he finds a study program and MIKI-CHAN, a cheerful AI anime assistant who promises to help him succeed. Soon she becomes jealous and possessive. The world around Kazuaki starts to fall apart. His only way through is the Rewriter, a strange tool that can change the reality of the simulation.
Players may recognize MIKI-CHAN from BrokenLore: DON'T LIE, where she first appeared as a helpful AI companion. Her own game shows a much darker side of her and explores trust, emotional dependence and our relationship with AI.
Serafini Productions is a video game studio based in Tokyo, founded in 2022. The studio focuses on narrative-driven horror experiences with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and character psychology. Its main saga is BrokenLore, a series of interconnected horror games that explore contemporary themes and social issues. Each chapter features a different story and style while contributing to a shared narrative universe.
Soft Source is a game publisher based in Singapore. With a penchant for home-grown, Southeast Asian titles, we’re just excited to work on bringing engaging games with standout, stylized visuals to life.
October 2, 2026 | Tokyo-based horror publisher Serafini Productions and Chilean independent studio Time Hunters announced Signal Veil, a third-person survival horror game with a strong focus on psychological terror, emotional storytelling and a 90s anime-inspired aesthetic. The game is in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The reveal is accompanied by the game's first announcement trailer, offering a first look at the haunted halls that await players.
In Signal Veil, players take on the role of Aki Mizuno, a teenage girl whose mother vanishes without a trace, leaving behind one final gift: an old cellphone that reacts to spirits no one else can see. Inside the seemingly ordinary halls of Nishikawa High School, a series of disappearances begins to unfold. Through tense exploration, ritual-like encounters and an increasingly fragile mind, Aki must uncover a past buried under false memories and silence.
Visually, the game blends the tension of classic survival horror such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill with a 90s anime aesthetic inspired by psychological horror series like Another and Jujutsu Kaisen.
Nishikawa High School is a place where every hallway hides a threat and every resource counts. Medicine, ammo and mystical weapons are scarce, so each fight against the school's spirits demands strategy over brute force. Aki's sanity adds another layer. As her mind slips, the world around her shifts, enemies grow more unpredictable and her own fighting becomes more desperate.
KEY FEATURES
Classic Fixed Camera: Explore tense environments with preset angles that limit vision and heighten suspense, inspired by Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
Spiritual Phone: Detect supernatural entities through vibrations, static or distortions. Use the flash to stun and the camera to reveal hidden objects or imprints.
Limited Tactical Combat: Scarce ammo and improvised weapons. Each entity has unique behaviors, demanding observation, strategy and environmental exploitation.
AVAILABILITY
Signal Veil is currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Players can wishlist the game today and follow future updates as the secrets of Nishikawa High School come to light.
Founded in 2022, Serafini Productions is a video game publisher and studio based in Tokyo, Japan. The company focuses on publishing, developing, and bringing distinctive titles to PC and consoles, working with developers and partners in Japan and internationally.
Serafini Productions is also the creator and publisher of the BrokenLore franchise, an expanding series of interconnected psychological horror games exploring human fears, trauma, and contemporary social themes.
October 1st, 2026 | Independent solo developer Baffled Engineer (Alfred Baley) and publisher Level Up Gaming are proud to announce that Legion Breaker, a 2D Incremental auto-battler with army building mechanics inspired by Mount and Blade and Total War and the visuals of Kingdom, is launching on Steam this October 13. The players control a novice wizard to become an unstoppable battlemage and defeat the Necromancer King and his army. Defeat skeletons, earn gold, unlock new spells across a massive skill tree and recruit a holy army. Each upgrade makes your wizard and troops stronger as the battlefields become larger and more dangerous.
Legion Breaker drops players into a losing fight against the undead legions of the Necromancer King. Starting with a single spell and a single defender, players cast, summon, and upgrade their way from a lone wizard into the commander of a full holy army, holding the line across battlefields that grow larger and more chaotic with every wave. Every victory feeds a deep skill tree, letting players shape their own path through elemental spell arsenals, distinct troop compositions, and build styles that change how each battle plays out. Boss fights punctuate the climb, testing whatever army players have built by that point.
Key Features
Command a Growing Army: Start with one spell and one defender, and build toward a full holy army capable of holding the line.
Army Progression: Recruit and strengthen troops that will fight beside your wizard.
Massive-Scale Battles: Fight across battlefields that expand with every wave, filling the screen with enemies and allies alike.
A Deep Skill Tree: Shape your own build through spell arsenals, troop compositions, and upgrade paths.
Boss Encounters: Face powerful bosses that put your growing army to the test.
Complete campaign: grow from a novice wizard into the ultimate battlemage.
About Baffled Engineer
Built by a solo UK developer, Alfred Baley (Baffled Engineer), with active devlogs shaping development in the open. Baley has been making and designing games all his life but Legion Breaker will be his first commercially released game.
Mini Motorways, the award-winning minimalist strategy traffic management sim with more than nine million players from Dinosaur Polo Club, puts the player in charge of Singapore’s traffic flow on Apple Arcade, PC and Mac via Steam, in addition to Nintendo Switch, in the free ‘Merlion’s Marina’ update launching today at 3:00 pm: PT.
Dinosaur Polo Club is a studio proud to be from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. This update introduces New Zealand’s indigenous language, Te Reo Māori, to the game!
Chosen via a community vote in May, Mini Motorways now weaves through lush landscapes and glistening waterways in the cultural melting pot of Singapore.
Orchestrate elaborate urban road networks for 6.1 million residents as they travel through the sustainable city center, down Orchard Road through Pagoda Street, across the tranquil Singapore River, and into the famous Marina Bay, guarded by the beloved Merlion!
As a studio based in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Dinosaur Polo Club is honored to include te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, in Mini Motorways. This update coincides with New Zealand’s annual celebration of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, which calls for support of both the language and culture - te reo Māori and Te Ao Māori.
The studio worked closely with Accredited translator and interpretator, Kristin Smith from Kūwaha Ltd to bring this translation to the game. To celebrate the addition of te reo Māori to Mini Motorways, the studio engaged local artist Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho to help celebrate with a piece of artwork commemorating the translation.
Redesign Singapore’s roadways with new achievements, daily challenges, weekly challenges, city challenges, and construct to the fullest with zero stops in ‘Continue in Creative Mode’!
Dinosaur Polo Club remains committed to its ongoing support of free map and content updates for Mini Motorways throughout 2026. Stay tuned for the fourth map update just around the corinthian!
The ‘Merlion’s Marina’ update and te reo Māori Language support are available today for free across all current platforms, including Apple Arcade, PC and Mac via Steam, and Nintendo Switch.
Mini Motorways is available for $9.99/€8.57 on PC via Steam, free for Apple Arcade Subscribers, including language support for English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Dutch, Vietnamese, Simplified, Traditional Chinese and, Te Reo Māori. Learn more about Mini Motorways by visiting Dinosaur Polo Club’s official website, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
About Dinosaur Polo Club
Dinosaur Polo Club is an independent game development studio based in beautiful Wellington, New Zealand. Founded in 2013 by brothers Peter and Robert Curry, the studio first made waves with their award-winning and BAFTA-nominated debut Mini Metro. Created in collaboration with Disasterpeace and Jamie Churchman, Mini Metro explores relaxed and minimalist subway design. The second game developed by Dinosaur Polo Club introduces a brand new type of city management with colorful road-building and resource management found in Mini Motorways. Combined, Mini Metro and Mini Motorways make up two parts of an expanding Mini Collection.
With an inclusive and supportive culture that believes in giving back to its creative community, the studio has grown and is now home to nearly 35 dinos as it works on new titles with relatable simplicity.
