Welcome to a new episode of the Indie Showcase! This series returns whenever my backlog of intriguing RPGs and Strategy Games starts to overflow—before I burst, I have to share them with you. So, let’s dive in!
Shadowgate 2
- Developer: Forever Entertainment, Highball Games
- Release Date: 14 February, 2025
The original Shadowgate was a classic of the point-and-click adventure genre. It saw its share of ports over the years since its original release in 1987, culminating with a full remake in 2014. Now, that remake is getting a proper sequel, letting players return to the titular castle.
Shadowgate 2 includes turn-based combat that can be just as much of a puzzle as the rest of the castle’s challenges, and the story has been crafted by the original game’s creators. If you’re a fan of true retro games, this will be a sequel that you won’t want to miss.
Underground Security Inc
- Developer: KRNK Studios
- Release Date: 2025
It’s not quite Dungeon Keeper, but Underground Security Inc introduces some new twists to the dungeon-building genre that fans of the classic should give it a look. As a roguelite, the focus seems to be more on smaller, short-term builds with focused challenges against increasingly-powerful heroes.
Defending your dungeon against pesky do-gooders requires traps and monsters, which Underground Security Inc has in spades. Keep the heroes from stealing your gold, earn more money, expand your dungeon, and repeat!
The Horror at Highrook
- Developer: Nullpointer Games
- Release Date: TBA
With its board-game feel and narrative focus, The Horror At Highrook could be a great choice for when RPG night is canceled. By playing cards to the various rooms within the mansion, you’ll craft new combos and effects, uncovering the mystery and summoning frightful entities to contend with.
Highrook‘s art style and gothic-horror themes are wonderfully atmospheric. You can try the demo right now – we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it releases in time for Halloween!
Aethermancer
- Developer: moi rai games
- Release Date: TBA
Monster Sanctuary combined monster training with Metroidvania-style exploration, creating a fun and exciting new experience. Now, the game’s creators seek to do the same thing with roguelites through their next title, Aethermancer.
Battles are a bit harder than in most other monster trainers, as you lose your beasts permanently when they hit zero HP. However, you can reincarnate their souls to make them stronger than they were in past lives, so like any good roguelite you’ll have to fail before you can truly succeed.
Singing They Pass
- Developer: Roguehaven
- Release Date: TBA
Fans of turn-based tactical RPGs are no strangers to challenges and permadeath, but they might be in for a real challenge with Singing They Pass. Cut off behind enemy lines on the losing side of a war, you’ll have to lead a squad of soldiers home with only your wits, skills, and any supplies you can scavenge.
There’s no rest for the weary in Singing They Pass, and hunger or exhaustion can claim your troops just as easily as an enemy bullet. Getting everyone home will likely be a challenge that only the most skilled players can manage… if it turns out to be possible at all.
Revenge of the Firstborn
- Developer: Sawtooth Games
- Release Date: TBA
There are plenty of RPGs out there based on the 5th Edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons. Revenge Of The Firstborn brings us back to the early 2000s, using the rules of D&D 3.5 instead. If you miss Base Attack Bonuses and Rangers that were actually good, this is a game you won’t want to miss.
A classic isometric CRPG, Revenge Of The Firstborn gives you the freedom to make choices that will affect entire kingdoms and alter the course of history. With a party size of six, you also get lots of options for building your perfect team.
Dead Underworld
- Developer: Manmachina, juicy.games
- Release Date: TBA
If you liked the unforgiving gameplay and mysterious, endlessly-explorable world of Caves Of Qud, then Dead Underworld could be the next game that takes up all your free time. This deadly, dungeon-crawling roguelike offers scavenging, faction status, and permadeath to immerse you in its dangerous world.
Dead Underworld is also quite a good-looking game, with pixel graphics in a color palette that highlight the strangeness of the environment. See how far you can make it in the demo – chances are you’ll need the practice to be ready for the full game.
Few Nights More
- Developer: Aeterna Ludi
- Release Date: 22 January, 2025
Humans have thrived in the absence of vampires, but now the lords of the night have returned to claim what is theirs. In Few Nights More, you’ll take on the role of a Vampire Lord rebuilding your castle and taking back the world from upstart mortals.
The game’s turn-based combat playing as the forces of darkness should be fun for anyone who enjoyed Iratus: Lord Of The Dead, and Few Nights More adds a castle management layer on top of that as well. There’s even an Infinity Mode, if you think you can truly grasp immortality.
He is Coming
- Developer: Chronocle
- Release Date: 2025
True to its name, He Is Coming is an RPG that rewards observation, planning, and patience. Like many RPG heroes, you’re tasked with defeating the Demon King, who is fated to rise any day now. In the meantime, his minions – the game’s bosses – will appear every three days.
Your job is to use those three days to figure out which boss is about to attack, determine their strengths and weaknesses, and adapt your build accordingly. With limited time and tons of options, there are plenty of ways to beat each boss… but even more ways to lose.
FUMEHEAD
- Developer: Team Fumehead
- Release Date: TBA
Imagine Darkest Dungeon meets Persona in a post-apocalyptic underground bunker (if you can), and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Fumehead. As Jack and Ami, you’ll explore the grimly stylish setting and face the odds in search of a way to stop the Slither, an alien disease.
Fumehead brings its world to life with some slick pixel animations, and both playable characters have a huge array of skills that makes it essential for you to have them fight together as a pair. You can develop your build according to your playstyle, as long as you have a plan to handle whatever perils District 4 throws at you.
