B-side Gaming

This is going to be the last one. The interest in these has dropped a lot, so for now I am putting this project on pause. I might try again sometime next year, but I am not sure.

A much shorter issue for this month. Only a collection of news and a poll about future articles.

Rebuild your kingdom and explore a vibrant fantasy world in this roguelite city builder. Defeat hordes of monsters with a unique team of defenders as you harvest, build, mine, cook, brew, and grow. But if your defenses should fail, be prepared to watch it all burn!

Welcome to Sunshine Heavy Industries! As the new spaceship engineer, solve increasingly tricky design puzzles with your own personal style. Manage customer demands, juggle budget and ship performance, and survive the questionable decision making skills of your business partner.

In 2021, developer World Eater Games ran a successful crowdfunding campaign for their narrative-driven action game, Bittersweet Birthday. Over the years, they’ve been refining this adventure with the help of backers and feedback from updated demos. Now, we’re finally about to celebrate the game’s actual birthday with its official launch. However, some of those added bittersweet bits might hold back what could have been an excellent weekend indie game.

In this 2D puzzle game you have the responsibility to arrange your feline friends in a way that fits the grid. Cats Organized Neatly comes with 80 different handcrafted levels and a whole bunch of cats in all shapes and sizes.

TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children is the first season of a turn-based strategy SRPG that takes place in the world of Troubleshooter.

In space, no one can hear you grieve

The best description of It Takes A War I’ve seen is that it mixes Counter-Strike and The Stanley Parable. Yes, the walking simulator. It uses the context of a first-person shooter that we all know and love, and twists it into new dimensions to tell a compelling and unexpected story.

Editor’s note: In this piece contributed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Tran Xuan Tien, M.A., deputy dean of the Department of Communications at Van Hien University in Ho Chi Minh City, looks at the recently unexpected rise of an indie game and what its success — and the challenges faced by its anonymous creator — reveals about the state of Vietnam’s creative and gaming industries.

Explore a strange world full of colorful friends and foes. When the time comes, the path you’ve chosen will determine your fate… and perhaps the fate of others as well.

Transform from a featureless nobody into a SLUG, a GHOST and a DRAGON in this new take on Action RPGs from the creators of Guacamelee! Discover 15+ distinct Forms, mix-and-match their abilities, clear evolving dungeons and… SAVE THE WORLD!?

Fading Serenades is a bite-sized life sim with a compact but terrific story and an even more compact backpack to play with.

“Whoa, watch out!” That was close, didn’t you know Dokimon are dangerous!?ーStep into Xelos region, where you’ll set off on an adventure to uncover the mystery behind your missing childhood friend.

The long-lost “PS1 roguelike that never was” is finally here. Eclipse Breaker brings fast-paced tactical combat, haunting retro visuals, and an evolving ATB system to Steam.

Radiolight, a thriller from developer Krystof Knesl, understands this feeling well. Set in 1985, you play as Ethan – a police officer for the town of Ashwood Creek, where a teenage boy has gone missing in its national park. When a second person goes missing, Ethan is sent out into Ashwood Creek National Park in the dead of night to look for them – and as someone who loves nature but struggles with horror, I hate that Radiolight’s investigative hook was strong enough to keep me tip-toeing beneath the trees.

Red Pine Lake alleges that Steam denied its store page for featuring a woman in a one-piece swimsuit, but that another agent overturned this decision.

A story-driven, action adventure combining exploration with fast-paced combat. Untangle the past as Kena, a young Spirit Guide in search of the sacred Mountain Shrine. Help free the spirits trapped in a forgotten village with the help of the Rot, her adorable (yet powerful) spirit companions.

A vividly animated action roguelite focused on boss hunting. Unleash an array of diverse weapons and powerups to combat the corruption of the Void.

The jailer is the key, kill him and you’ll be free. Fight your way free in this ultra-responsive, fast-paced sword-fighting and dual-stick shooting game.

Become a giant walking dice, explore dungeons and defy Lady Luck in this dice powered roguelike! Now featuring “Reunion”, a free DLC with six brand-new episodes!

Plenty of emotionally moving games have come out in recent years, and this one looks hand-crafted to turn on the waterworks.

Indie game developer TigerChainsaw Studios has announced that the Kickstarter campaign to fund the release of Maiden of the Dark, a retro-inspired action-platformer for the Game Boy, is now live.

Master Lemon: The Quest for Iceland is now available on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 (PS5), offering players a heartfelt, narrative-driven adventure that celebrates language, culture, and human connection.

The episodic superhero workplace comedy is turning heads with its quirky premise.

The indie game studio Lynkpin Game has officially launched its cozy companion idle game, NoSlack Pets: Lo-Fi Paws, on Steam today.

Retro-styled indie survival horror game with puzzle elements. Help Amy keep her life on the college campus overrun by cultists and maybe save her relationship in the process. Uncover conspiracies & sabotage occult rituals! PS1 aesthetics included!

Embark on a journey through a hand-drawn world of Bleeding Deities inspired by ancient tribes and their beliefs. Unveil dark secrets, face ruthless challenges, and confront evil deities as you search for the Legendary Baktun Stone. Will you restore peace to your people?

A Mortician’s Tale is a short, story-driven game about a mortician tasked with running a funeral home.

Mostroscopy is a fighting video game that takes up the aesthetics of the horror and Luchador films of Mexican cinema from the 1950s, with an eclectic roster of monsters and masked Luchadores and a simple gameplay style with a retro presentation.

A mystery adventure game about an aspiring actor turned detective. Dotson comes across a case where each clue unravels new details about his father’s sudden passing. Engage in a riveting story, explore vibrant modern India, and use your wits to uncover the truth.

Undusted: Letters from the Past is an emotional simulation game about cleaning your mom’s home that you haven’t been to since before she died.

A co-op survival horror game set in a dark medieval castle. Play as one of four resurrected knights and work together to find hidden runes, unlock the ritual chamber, and escape before the Jester hunts you down. Teamwork, stealth, and survival are your only hope.

Look Outside is a survival horror RPG set in a single apartment building. A mysterious event turns anyone who looks out the window into grotesque monsters, leaving the world in absolute chaos. Scavenge the building to seek food, supplies, and weapons while encountering strange characters.

The Séance of Blake Manor is a supernatural detective mystery, set in 1897 Ireland, where you investigate the disappearance of Evelyn Deane in a remote hotel full of secrets and other-worldly occurrences.

An otherworldly, story-driven shooter with aggressive gunfights and terrifying monsters awaits you. This is the story of a girl who, by the will of fate, faced the beast - and in order to become free, she was forced to study its nature. How far can you go in the fight for your freedom?

Expose, endure and expel evil from innocents on your hunt through a corrupted city. As Noah, former priest turned demon-hunter, you’ll perform exorcisms, forge precarious alliances and strengthen your deck of arcane tricks in this unholy roguelite deckbuilder.

IT HAS YOUR FACE. Now it wants your life. Hide, seek, and try to kill your clone in this deceptively simple first-person horror roguelite.

A new life awaits in Honeywood! Build a thriving community that will last generations in this cozy farm simulator. Farm, socialize, make friends, cook, craft, forage and uncover the secrets of the island! If someone doesn’t want to be friends? There are always other means.

Can we offer you a nice indie game in this trying time?

CARRION is a reverse horror game in which you assume the role of an amorphous creature of unknown origins, stalking and consuming those that imprisoned you.

A short horror game where you pilot a tiny submarine through an ocean of blood on an alien moon.

Navigate an open-world island in an old train, upgrade it over time, and use it to fight an evil spider train named Charles.

The shadows are growing longer and the best time of year for spooky games is finally here: The itch.io Halloween Sale 2025 is live! Creators across the site have summoned frighteningly good deals on thousands of games, tabletop RPGs, game assets, comics, and more.

DREDGE is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.

The initiative has reached the required signature threshold in 15 countries, with Germany and France – the two largest – expected to follow suit.

Grab your punching gloves, put your clogs on and smash your way in the world of Decline’s Drops, a fully hand-drawn platform-brawler full of weird frogs, bizarre chickens and odd hydras! Avenge your destroyed garden and defeat the 6 heads of the Eternal Corp.! If you can, that is.

Sharks and Minnows is an exploration-based survival horror game where players scavenge a haunted swim center and must complete ten laps to escape.

A retro mini-roguelike inside a slot machine. Steady your blade - and spin!

Classic survival horror is back! Inspired by the original Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark series, Tormented Souls modernises with a fresh twist on the fixed perspective adventure - as Caroline Walker investigates the mysterious disappearance of twin girls in a terrifying mansion-turned-hospital.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/post/578419

Perfect Tides is a point and click adventure game about the agony and anticipation of being a teen. Set in the year 2000, you follow Mara, an internet-obsessed young writer who lives on a so-called island paradise.

The Flayed Man is a short narrative-driven point and click horror game. Awaking without memories (or skin), you must uncover the sins of the past, pass judgement, and decide your fate in this macabre adventure.

Spooky Express is a charming little game where you’re tasked with building just the right track to get your monstrous passengers to their destination on time.

You’re a tiny pill-bug in a big world! Roll, zip, and slam your way through the gorgeous landscapes of the Australian bush, unite your fellow bugs, and fight back the greedy Fire Ant Conglomerate!

Escape from Duckov, a comedic looter-shooter parody of Escape From Tarkov, has sold over 500,000 copies and reached 182,000+ concurrent players on Steam. Here’s how it became a viral indie hit.

If running for your life at top speed whilst traversing an alien cave system that may or may not be a giant worm sounds like fun, then I’ve got great news!

Unique indie titles tend to underperform when it comes to translating wishlists to sales, while franchise titles exceed expectations.

The five crew members of the Tulpar are stranded in the empty reaches of space, shrouded in perpetual sunset. God is not watching.

Build, quest, and conquer across an infinite procedurally generated world. Play alone or with friends as you establish a settlement and explore deep dungeons, fight monsters and bosses, mine rare ores, craft magical equipment, recruit specialists for your colony, and more!

Starsand Island is exactly what it sounds like, and very good so far

Squirrel, meet gun. As the neighborhood’s most obnoxious rodent, develop a knack (and a love?) for crime and mayhem in pursuit of golden acorns in this nutty sandbox shooter and puzzle platformer. Fight tooth, claw, and gun to escape a secret underground facility and defeat the Agents.

Experience liminal spaces like never before. Dreamcore is the ultimate psychological exploration game, set in the largest liminal world ever made. No guides, no path—only intuition. Will you keep your bearings in a world designed to make you lose them?

Necesse is a blend of quite a lot of genres that can end up a bit like a top-down Terraria, it’s awesome and it’s finally out properly. No more Early Access for this one, but like a lot of games nowadays it’s not actually the end. It’s the 1.0 but there’s a lot more to come for it.

Those looking for a spooky but not scary game this Halloween season should look no further than Strange Antiquities, developer Bad Viking’s sequel to 2022’s Strange Horticulture. This rich, vibe-heavy indie game is perfect for lovers of reading and thought-provoking challenges.

8-Bit Adventures 1: The Forgotten Journey Remastered Edition is a retro-styled JRPG with polish and personality, that focuses less on references (although there are plenty!) and more on telling a story…

Relive the days of past social gaming networks in VIDEOVERSE – A decision-based narrative adventure focusing on character development, friendship and love, from the developer behind One Night Stand.

When a mysterious mechanical base begins to emerge in the Silent Forest, it falls to the focused and pacifist Agent Pax to infiltrate it. On a mission to deactivate the “Magic Gear,” the factory’s heart, and rescue her captured comrades, Pax will face any challenge to get the job done. After all, the future of peace… and her General’s lasagna, depend on it.

Shamogu is a coffee-break roguelike game with a focus on tactical movement and careful timing of totemic spirit invocation and comestible consumption. Visibility and noise stealth mechanics also play an important role.

Ball x Pit is like Breakout in that the goal is to shoot balls at blocks. That said, many of those balls have special attributes, like shooting a laser horizontally or healing the player every time they hit an enemy. You also don’t always need to catch them before they reach the bottom of the screen; they’ll just bounce or return to you so you can shoot them again. This emphasis on action is where the Vampire Survivors influence comes in. The blocks are enemies that can attack and kill the player, so the player has to fight back by leveling up to obtain new balls and passive abilities.

Explore the mysterious Wall World on your giant robospider: mine for valuable resources, upgrade your equipment to fight off hordes of monsters, and discover exotic biomes in-between attacks. Will you be able to survive and learn the secrets of the Wall World?

Fight as the outcast heroes of Talamh in a fierce battle to retake magic from Sun King Azra’s grasp in Absolum, an original roguelite beat ‘em up by Dotemu.

The Last Campfire is an adventure, a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home.

A spiritual return to Spencer Mansion from Resident evil

Bye Sweet Carole is a narrative-horror adventure game completely hand-drawn in the style of classic animated films. Follow the trail of missing Carole Simmons and uncover the dark secrets hidden behind her disappearance from Bunny Hall orphanage.

Turns out, once you drop the price of your game to free on Steam, you’re not allowed to charge for it ever again. I didn’t realize that, and neither did Pico Park developer Tecopark. That’s why Pico Park: Classic Edition is free right now, and will be forever, after its price was dropped to zero with the intention of introducing new paid plans for the game at a later date.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37146555

D*Fuzed is a modern-made retro game where you are a small robot, looking to save your friends.

A fateful meeting sets off a chain reaction, upending Mark’s life. People disappear and memories prove unreliable. Uncover a hidden truth with Mark and his friends in this narrative adventure and race to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.

From the creators of Battle Chef Brigade comes Battle Suit Aces, a charming card-battling RPG. You’ll recruit, befriend, and upgrade mech pilots on a heartfelt hunt for alien superweapons: the Relic Suits. Command them across monster-infested galactic wilds through sci-fi shenanigans and disasters.

Lost in a frozen wasteland and split up from your partner inside an abandoned castle, the only possession you have left is a walkie-talkie with a familiar voice on the other end. Can the two of you find your way out in time?

Making games is hard. But that doesn’t stop the thousands upon thousands of talented developers who put in good time to bring their dream game ideas to life. One of those developers is Klub Kofta Studio, a one-man “club” who recently put out their non-traditional tower defence title ‘Operation Octo’, which derives some heavy inspiration from everyone’s favourite lawn defence title ‘Plants vs. Zombies’. Operation Octo has received plenty of positive traction and fans have expressed how much they love the game to the developer, which in turn helped shape the game into the way it is today.

Shrine’s Legacy takes pretty clear influence from classic SNES-era 16-bit RPGs, with a fun blend of Zelda-style puzzles and action-based combat. Fortunately, it does an admirable job of using that inspiration to create its own identity, and doesn’t rely too much on the nostalgia of your youth. The combat does feel a little stiff, while the magic and jewel system is unnecessarily complicated. But even so, if you’re looking for an action RPG that scratches that retro itch, Shrine’s Legacy is definitely one worth diving into.

Sit on the throne as a benevolent (or malevolent) medieval monarch of the modern age and swipe your royal controller either left or right to impose your will upon the kingdom.

Sling discs through stylized cityscapes in this casual, physics-based disc golf game. Aim for the basket or rack up trick shots by bouncing discs off rooftops, signs, and benches in colorful urban environments.

Street Fighter One M.U.G.E.N Remake.

A classic survival horror experience set in a dystopian future where humanity has uncovered a dark secret. Unravel a cosmic mystery, escape terrifying creatures, and scavenge an off-world government facility as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost dreams.

Unravel the mystery of a cryptic box in this 2-player co-op puzzle game. Join forces as two detectives, solve cooperative puzzles, communicate effectively, crack the codes and outsmart the killer.

Moving Out is a ridiculous physics-based moving simulator that brings new meaning to “couch co-op”! Are you ready for an exciting career in furniture? As a newly certified Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technician, you’ll take on moving jobs all across the busy town of Packmore.

Heroes Against Time is the ally-drafting game where you build a team and power up in a dangerous enchanted forest. Navigate events, fight enemies and dig through ruins while trying to avoid the creeping magical fog… Will your team endure… or be lost to the mist?