Hey all. Been a very busy week in terms of new announcements (at least that’s how it felt for me, having published a fair number of overviews over the past few days). Same with the new RPGs and strategy games that are now playable.
Above all else and purely because they’re absolutely the kind of games I like, the spotlight this week goes to two tactical RPGs which have just completed their Early Access phase and are now available in full 1.0 form. I’m sure a lot of you have been looking forward to this.
Then there’s an interesting monster collecting RPG really (instead of collecting monsters you collect gladiators) and it looks absolutely like it’s straight out of a Game Boy. There are a few other interesting titles you shouldn’t miss over and above the normal pile of demos to try as we head into October’s Steam Next Fest.
So no point in wasting any more time. Let’s get into this week’s new releases and see if I can find you anything interesting to play.
Frosthaven
- Developer: Snapshot Games
- Release Date: October 15, 2026 – Full release
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Frosthaven
Frosthaven is the obvious place to start if you’ve been waiting for the full digital version of the tabletop game. V1.0 contains the entire campaign and all 17 heroes so you’ve got a good amount of class combinations to work with.
Be prepared because we are talking about a challenging game where, in combat, each character picks two cards and uses the top action from one of them in conjunction with the bottom action from the other. That forces you to think about movement and abilities in tandem, particularly when you have multiple characters who need to be in the right place at the right time.
In between expeditions, you build and upgrade your northern outpost, unlocking further systems as the settlement grows. Solo and online co-op (up to 4 players) are both supported and the full release also includes improvements to the tutorials, multiplayer and the digital exclusive Road to Frosthaven intro. A very sensible place to begin a campaign. Whether you can find the time to complete it is entirely down to you.
Blightstone
- Developer: Unfinished Pixel
- Release Date: October 16, 2026 – Full release
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Blightstone
In the space of a blink (and frankly I didn’t see any announcements from the PR team or the developers at all), Blightstone has hit 1.0. I did a piece on it some time ago when it was first launching in Early Access and I’m now very keen to see how this rather interesting tactical roguelite has developed.
Protecting a crystal is simple enough until the surrounding landscape starts to get involved in the fight. Blightstone sends a party of adventurers into the Infernal Rift with the Earthglass Crystal, utilizing turn-based battles with free movement and environmental interaction. Tall grass can be used for concealment or burned away, water and rain will boost your electrical attacks.
Your path through each run will also affect the abilities available to your party and to the crystal. For returning players the big progression change prior to 1.0 is worth noting: Relics alter the rules of the run, Gems determine the crystal’s abilities and the more Loops you go through the harder it becomes.
Hero corruption is no longer an issue, the other resource systems have been simplified. Those changes mean that the emphasis is now on combat combinations and trying out different starting setups, so the final version is definitely worth a proper look if your initial impression (like mine) is from the early days of its development.
Blessing In The Darkness
- Developer: Oldbookstudio
- Release Date: October 14, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Blessing In The Darkness
The cleric in Blessing In The Darkness has taken on a holy mission in a very hostile working environment. It’s a 2D dungeon crawler where combat is really a matter of resources and positioning.
If you have the requisite resources, you can kill an enemy and take their tile. The problem is that you know the outcome immediately, so you’re left with the question of what you can afford to spend before you get to the next hurdle.
Light has to be conserved, attributes have to be looked after, and the dungeon’s mechanics make the journey between encounters a real pain. There are Divine Items, skill upgrades, and random ruse cards you can pick up to change the rules and improve your odds.
Letalis
- Developer: Monkiato
- Release Date: July 16, 2026 – Catch-up pick
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Letalis
Let me start off by saying Letalis isn’t actually a new release this week as it originally launched in June 2026. I only found out about it today and with that very distinct Game Boy look there was no way I wasn’t going to bring it to your attention.
It’s a monster-collecting RPG really (the monsters being gladiators in this case) with over 1000 of them. You can fuse them together as well, though exactly how you go about fusing two gladiators I’m probably better off not thinking too much about. It’s not sexual, I’m sure of that at least.
The aim is to build up your roster and eventually get your fighters into the various battles in the game’s colosseums. You field a team of five for tactical 3v3 combat, matching up fighting styles and weapons to the opposition. There is also the potential to lose a fallen fighter permanently, which does add a fairly sharp edge to roster development.
When you’re not in the arena, you have a fairly non-linear world to explore through towns, side quests, hidden dungeons, rare encounters, and new Letalis to catch up.
Hungry Horrors
- Developer: Clumsy Bear Studio
- Release Date: October 13, 2026 – Full release
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Hungry Horrors
A princess being forced to save her country by catering is a premise I can get behind. In Hungry Horrors you face creatures from the British and Irish folklore in turn-based encounters and your job is to feed their hunger before you become their dinner.
Cards are your dishes, and the five tastes will affect how well you satisfy each horror’s hunger. The order in which you serve the dishes is important, and seasonings and cookware will alter the flavors, abilities, and combinations available in your deck. You gradually gather ingredients and discover recipes to expand your options.
Version 1.0 completes the story and adds the Megaliths biome to make it eight biomes, 34 Horrors and 62 dishes. The Campaign keeps your unlocked recipes and all other progression between runs, whereas Banquet is a shorter, more difficult roguelike mode. There’s plenty to get your teeth into under the food humor for the deckbuilding fanatics.
Plague Lords
- Developer: Red Unit Studios
- Release Date: October 12, 2026 – Demo
- Platforms: PC (Windows)
- Steam Page: Plague Lords
Some games appear as if they’ll never actually materialize, and Plague Lords is definitely one of them. At one point they had a fairly playable prologue available on Steam (that’s since been taken down). The prologue has now been replaced by a completely new demo, though the release date remains completely undefined.
In any event, this is one of those strategy RPGs that’s very hard to pin down to a single genre, so the best thing you can probably do is just stop overthinking it and give the demo a go.
Medieval Europe is having another awful week in Plague Lords with a strange new infection that turns the dead into monsters and leaves the survivors with a massive amount of rebuilding to do. You’re leading a small party through the infected region, having tactical fights, gathering supplies and building up a settlement that can support further forays.
The various character professions are tied into that whole process with your recruits being able to contribute through construction and other specialist work as well as combat.
The new demo sees the opening of the main story and includes the base building system, the various professions and new enemies. This is a separate release from the Witch Hunt prologue so it gives those returning a taste of the wider game systems prior to the game’s planned early 2027 launch.
Hex Seculum
- Developer: Crit42 Studio
- Release: Demo available now
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Hex Seculum
For the diehard fan of the pre-dungeon prep phase, Hex Seculum has food, water, daylight and torchlight very firmly on the agenda. You move around on a hex map with a limited number of actions per day to be divided between movement, scouting, foraging, resting and interacting.
Inside the dungeon the actions move the clock forward, staying in one place can bring wandering threats in and not resting enough leads to the accumulation of exhaustion. Combat is a side view with multiple distance lanes and your options change depending on whether you’re advancing towards an enemy or you’re protecting a weaker companion.
The interesting link is between exploration and combat in that a poorly supplied expedition can find itself at its most dangerous encounter with the party already in a state of struggle. Towns are where you can go to trade and pick up some rumors prior to your next departure, provided of course you have enough people to make the trip worthwhile. The full game is due out November 3rd 2026.
Little Frontier
- Developer: Vedad
- Release Date: October 14, 2026 – Demo
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Little Frontier
Little Frontier is a 1836 American frontier title which sees you following three mountain men whose lives are inextricably linked to a wilderness in flux. The party comprises a seasoned trapper, a voyageur with a long-standing grudge and a plainsman type of hunter.
Exploration is in real time (on foot, by horse, or by canoe), with encounters of a dangerous nature leading into turn-based tactical combat. There’s plenty of time spent hunting, making camp and visiting forts and trading posts in between the actual battles.
The main adventure is also full of choices which will have an impact on the story and its possible endings. It’s a solo-developed title, so another good reason to try the demo, wishlist it, and wait for the Q1 2027 release.
Archrebel Tactics
- Developer: Ularis Badler
- Release Date: October 16, 2026 – Demo
- Platforms: PC (Windows, Linux)
- Steam Page: Archrebel Tactics
This is definitely one of the games I’m going to be spending some of my available time on this weekend. The demo takes around 6-8 hours to complete (in my case that’s about the amount of free time I can get together over at least three weekends).
Archerebel Tactics is clearly inspired by Rebelstar and Laser Squad in that it’s a grid-based tactics game with an action-point system, which makes it very much a bad idea to end your turn in an exposed position. The demo starts with 4 squad members and can grow to 12, with 10 unlockable human classes, a host of equipment upgrades and systems for stamina, morale and localized wounds.
Class is permanent, so those early promotions will have a massive effect on the strength and weakness of your squad later on. The mission also runs in Iron Mode (progress is wiped at the start of each turn). With the range of starting kits available and the commitment to the mission, there should be more than enough here for anyone who likes the idea of building up a squad and then having to take the heat when things go wrong.
Tactful Tactics
- Developer: Yokozuna Games
- Release: Demo available now
- Platforms: PC (Windows)
- Steam Page: Tactful Tactics
Last on the list, but no less interesting, is Tactful Tactics. It has everyone voting in the same planning phase. It’s playable solo or with up to 6 people online and allows your team to enter commands at the same time, look at each other’s intended moves, and then adjust their own before the actions all happen together.
That visibility allows the team to coordinate abilities and positioning prior to committing. Classes, weapons and a range of customizable skills will determine how each character contributes. It should be a particularly fun experience for those who like to go through the process of working out a plan and then see how that plan is actually executed.
Online multiplayer is already available in the demo. An Early Access release is on the cards with a date to be announced. For now, the demo is a great way to see how your friends fare when it comes to co-operative tactics, with everyone making their decisions at the same time.
