This saturday round-up of new RPGs and strategy games to play falls straight on Halloween. So first of all, Happy Halloween! If you’re in the middle of getting all your Halloween party stuff together, you’re not the only one. My wife and I are currently getting everything ready for a party at our home, and our little girls are absolutely buzzing about it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to putting together a proper article for the scariest day of the year this time. To be honest I’d say the scariest day of the year is probably the one when the taxes are due, but let’s not go there. Anyway, this Saturday’s roundup is very much in keeping with the Halloween atmosphere, with a number of dark games and genuinely creepy titles either having launched or having had some new content dropped over the past few days. That’s why I’ve decided to give them the nod at the top of the article. But no worries, it’s not all horror this week. There’s loads of other interesting stuff to look at, with 13 games in particular to keep an eye on.
WORLD OF HORROR – AS BELOW SO ABOVE Update
Developer: panstasz · Platforms: PC · Update: October 30, 2026 · Steam
Japanese horror has always been among the most unsettling for me, especially when it comes to movies. But apparently, Japanese video games are no joke either, and WORLD OF HORROR is a perfect example. This visually unique RPG features a retro black-and-white art style that practically oozes dread, suspense, and unexpected twists. The game originally launched in 2023, but a substantial update has just arrived, giving us more than a few good reasons to reinstall this wonderfully dark and disturbing little gem.
AS BELOW SO ABOVE is the biggest free update to date. It’s adding three new playable characters, new mysteries and encounters and two new Old God threats. Clearly one apocalypse wasn’t the most efficient use of everyone’s time. Scenario Mode is also coming in, with a number of self-contained stories set prior to the main game, starting with a student film in a rather unsuitable forest. The Steam Workshop is getting some significant new tools too which will allow players to create enemies, events and mysteries. Console versions of the update are due in 2027.
Into the Crypt
Developer: Megaglope Studios · Platform: PC · Release: October 29, 2026 · Steam
Cards do more than just deal damage in Into the Crypt. They also interact with doors, chests, and breakable objects as you’re exploring the first-person dungeons. It’s a roguelite deck builder that supports both solo and online co-op for two (each player has their own deck and can look at their partner’s hand to work out combinations).
The classes each have their own systems in play (Berserker’s Fury, Alchemist combat brewing, the Druid’s companions etc). You can selectively upgrade, imbue cards, pick up artifacts, and banish cards from a run, so there are a number of ways you can build up over the course of the crypt’s three different depths. The Co-op option could be a perfect excuse to play it with a friend.
Look Outside
Developer: Francis Coulombe · New platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5 · Release: 30th October 2026 · Steam / PlayStation / Nintendo
Another equally unsettling RPG that’s perfect for the occasion is Look Outside, and with its arrival on PlayStation and Switch, anyone who missed it now has a chance to experience this apartment-sized disaster, in the best and most disturbing sense of the word.
The premise is that if you look through the windows, you trigger a mysterious phenomenon that then leaves you to go around the building looking for food, weapons, and survivors (you just don’t want to make that mistake). Your expeditions feed into a fairly normal domestic routine of cooking, crafting, recovering, and deciding which of the neighbors you want to take into your refuge.
Turn-based combat takes into account the distance between the combatants and you’re hampered by the fact that you have very limited equipment and supplies to work with when you go up against the building’s rather grotesque inhabitants. There are multiple endings, and you can recruit various characters so your decisions have consequences that go well beyond just surviving the next trip down the hall. Give this little gem a go, and you will thank me later.
Shadows Of Thornkeep
Developer: Tryzna83 · Platform: PC · Version 1.0: October 28, 2026 · Steam
After nearly a year in Early Access, Shadows of Thornkeep is now at v1.0 with a bigger island to explore and a host of audiovisual and UI improvements. You’re still commanding a party of lost souls through a grid-based world, gathering gear and running a camp between turn-based encounters.
Death has a recovery cost even for companions who were already dead when you took them on. The dev team has added a persistent open world to the mix along with the original random expeditions and now has the Highlands and Deep Woods as well. The final update brings individual spell effects, more monster sounds, some bug fixes and a few refinements to the tutorial. If you love first-person dungeon-crawler RPGs like me, you should give it a try.
Nightmare Frontier – Wicked Harvest DLC
Developer: Ice Code Games · Platform: PC · DLC release: October 26, 2026 · Steam
The newly released Wicked Harvest DLC makes the world of Nightmare Frontier even richer in content and considerably more unsettling. Twelve distinct boss hunts form the core of Wicked Harvest. The Wicked Dreadweavers present a variety of specific combat challenges (e.g. pairs of enemies that must both be killed on the same turn, a creature that roots every unit in place).
They are located in different places on each successful raid, and once you’ve killed one, they are permanently removed from the Frontier. You can bring their hearts to the Serpent Apothecary to unlock new Hideout upgrade trees. You can then use their legendary gear on future expeditions. The DLC is a requirement of the base game, with its own questline becoming available once your company gets to Chinatown.
Aethermancer – The Maverick’s Compendium Update
Developer: moi rai games · Platforms: Windows, Linux · Update: October 29, 2026 · Steam
An apparently mismatched monster party can be a perfectly viable strategy in Aethermancer’s latest update. The new Aether Maverick class rewards you for having very few or indeed no matching Types in your party, which in turn changes the way you go about selecting your creatures and your combinations during a run. The class is available after your first win over Khepri and Philosopher’s Stone and Rivals of Aether’s Kragg are both added to the Alchemical Woods roster.
The Maverick’s Compendium also brings the Siriux Journal (a combat log to track triggered effects) and a preview of the enemy action order. There are some new skills, some new upgrades and of course a seasonal Golden Pumpkin snack to go with it all as the game continues through Early Access.
Culdcept BEGINS
Developer: Neos Corporation · New platform: PC · Steam release: October 27, 2026 · Steam
Roll the dice, claim the territory, and then get ready to defend it with creatures from your deck. Culdcept BEGINS brings the board game/card battling combo to PC following the earlier Nintendo releases, with over 400 cards available across creature, item, and spell strategies.
Movement is a factor of chance, your deck and the decisions you make about which territory to take will dictate how effectively you can use each one. A new story follows Kamur through the Royal Cept Academy and on into the wider world of conflict, with online competition also available. The Steam version adds in battle maps and some interface improvements to the existing formula.
DarkBlood -ReVerse-
Developer: Toihaus · Platform: PC · Full release: October 30, 2026 (Steam listing) · Steam
I have absolutely no idea why people are so obsessed with the hyphens in the game’s title, but I do like the look of DarkBlood -ReVerse- which has now officially left Early Access. So that makes it a perfect time for anyone who’s into that sort of thing (dug in tight little dungeons full of all manner of hostile creatures) to give it a go. Apparently that’s what we all consider to be a good time, i.e. crawling through dark tunnels full of things that want to kill you.
The original turn-based system has been swapped out for Active Time Battle. You still get the benefit of combining cards to create a stronger attack, but action gauges will be filling up as you’re deciding whether to attack or to improve your hand. In the game, you’re on the hunt for the stolen Holy Grail of Souls, which sees you trek through procedurally generated dungeons and a town whose population changes over time. Character quests will unlock additional protagonists and their associated storylines, and there’s stat allocation and equipment to support a variety of builds.
Mercenary Brotherhood
Developer: SC Strategy Games · Platform: PC · Early Access: October 30, 2026 · Steam
A mercenary’s career in the Mercenary Brotherhood will inevitably leave behind memories, a reputation and eventually an obituary. One of the strategy RPGs inspired by Battle Brothers has just entered Early Access, and there was no way I was going to leave it out of this week’s roundup. This fantasy tactics sandbox follows the career of individual recruits as your company comes up against other factions, the ever-shifting tides of world events and the inevitable turn-based combat.
Positioning, morale, terrain and abilities all have an effect on the battle, and there’s a great deal of scope for specialization through the various playable races and individual skill trees. Magical gear can have its own set of drawbacks as well as its benefits so that’s another consideration when you’re going about equipping your veterans. SC Strategy Games describe the Early Access release as having the core features in place, with further balancing, interface work and additions to come during the course of development.
MMA Tactics – Martial Arts
Developer: The Slanted Room · Platforms: Windows, macOS · Release: October 28, 2026 · Steam
Running a gym in MMA Tactics – Martial Arts becomes a roster management exercise with some very permanent consequences. You recruit fighters, train their stats, give them perks and manage their injuries as you work towards championship fights. The cage combat is turn-based and includes striking, ground positions, and seven submissions (with an optional auto-battle mode for those who just want to do the management).
Different strikes have different functions in addition to damage and fighter talents will affect their development. There’s permadeath and as the launch announcement makes clear there’s no tap button. A rather reassuring package for anyone who was worried that professional fighting had become a bit too considerate.
Outcast Tales
Developer: Hardlane Studio · Platforms: Windows, Linux · Release: October 26, 2026 · Free · Steam
Outcast Tales is completely free (the actual cost of entry is provided by the dysfunctional traveling companions). You’re leading three adventurers across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, combining classes and personality types which in turn affect both your combat capabilities and your response to events. A character who’s going to be all about negotiation will deal with a situation in a very different way to one who’s going to be all about shooting straight away.
Relationships can develop into friendship, romance or outright hostility. Turn-based encounters reward the use of complementary skills and the identification of enemy weaknesses, and the roguelite structure is designed to encourage you to experiment with different crews. The dev have also confirmed that the release contains no paid DLC or microtransactions, So, whether you’re a fan of the genre or not, you should definitely give it a chance. And don’t forget to let me know what you think!
WoundWake
Developer: Mauricio Sámano · Platform: PC · Release: October 30, 2026 · Steam
Nora is the guardian of one of the last surviving cities of humanity, with the angel commanders having started to feed on the population left under their control. That’s the premise of WoundWake, a dark fantasy RPG that blends turn-based combat with the ability to parry and send damage back at your enemies.
You have six playable characters, all of whom are companions that you unlock through their individual storylines. Your choices can result in one person being saved at the expense of another. The world changes between day and night, opening up different events to discover and Nora’s violin is a key to unlocking secrets. The emphasis on the outcomes of your individual character choices gives the experience a very personal feel alongside the huge scale of the threat to humanity.
Northern Saga
Developer: Bluetome · Platform: PC · Demo: October 29, 2026 · Full release: TBA · Steam
I’m finishing off with a bonus for Ogre Battle fans: Northern Saga now has a playable demo. It’s a strategy RPG that uses real-time exploration with the option to pause and have automatic skirmishes, so a lot of the work is done in terms of planning your formations prior to the actual clashes.
Soldiers, Archers and Pilgrims are the base classes and your placement on the 3×3 grid will affect your abilities, your bonuses and your combinations. You can of course change equipment and classes to tailor your squads for the role you want them to play as Una progresses through the story and becomes more involved in the struggle to bring the northern clans together. I tried the demo myself, and I can’t suggest it enough.
Now, it’s time for me to get back to preparing for my Halloween party. I hope you have a terrifying day (gaming-wise, of course!), and I’ll see you soon. Ciao
