As far as new turn-based RPGs, strategy games, and roguelites go, this week is packed with indie projects. Of course, leading the charge and overshadowing everything else is Final Fantasy Resonance, which kicked things off with an introductory demo featuring the first chapter of Square Enix’s highly anticipated new FF game with turn-based mechanics.
Beyond Final Fantasy, you’ll find plenty of interesting new demos worth checking out, along with a few releases hitting both Early Access and full launch. Among the full releases is one game I’m especially curious to dive into. It just wrapped up its Early Access phase, but you’ll find out which one as you make your way down the list.
With that said, here are the best new releases from the first week of September.
FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE – Demo
Play the complete first chapter and carry your progress into the full game
- Developer: Square Enix, LANCARSE Ltd.
- Demo Release: September 3, 2026
- Full Release: October 22, 2026
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
- FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE on Steam
Finally, a new Final Fantasy RPG that’s fully turn-based, and this week we can also see what it’s really made of thanks to the newly released demo.
The free Final Fantasy Resonance demo covers the entire opening chapter, with save data transferring into the full release on October 22. Combat revolves around identifying weaknesses and staggering enemies, which breaks their defenses, creates extra turns, and opens the way for powerful Resonance attacks. Party building also incorporates Visions, manifestations of familiar Final Fantasy characters that bring their own abilities and customization options.
Since this is the full first chapter rather than an isolated battle challenge, the demo provides a useful look at the game’s exploration, storytelling, progression, and HD-2D presentation, not only its combat system.
Order Automatica
Nine spaces, automatic battles, and a formation to get right
- Developer: New Beings
- Release date: September 4, 2026
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
- Order Automatica on Steam
A 3×3 board doesn’t leave much room to hide a bad arrangement. Order Automatica puts demonic units on that small ritual grid and lets the fighting play out automatically. Your work goes into placing and merging units, changing tile effects, and finding combinations of relics and abilities that support the formation.
Curses complicate those builds, while each new encounter gives you a reason to reconsider the setup. The appeal is in adjusting a small number of pieces and seeing how differently they behave together. If you enjoy the preparation phase of an auto-battler, that’s the part this roguelite is built around. Its September 4 launch announcement also confirms the console and mobile releases.
Champion of Lore – Demo
A well-timed kill can keep your card chain going
- Developer: Round 2 Games
- Demo release: September 1, 2026
- Full release: TBA
- Platforms: PC
- Champion of Lore on Steam
Killing an enemy in Champion of Lore draws another card. That gives target selection an extra consequence: finishing off a weakened opponent might supply the next move in a much longer turn. Cards connect by type or letter, and there are no conventional action points setting a fixed allowance for the sequence.
The two heroes, Kanna and Sayri, each have a deck, with a shared card pool expanding their options. Those cards still have to work on a hex battlefield, where movement, attack range, and hazards can determine whether a promising chain is possible. That’s the interaction I’d want to explore in this new public demo available now.
The Adventurers
A tabletop-inspired tactical sandbox reaches version 1.0
- Developer: Eternal Vigilance Entertainment
- Release Date: August 31, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- The Adventurers on Steam
This is the title I’m especially curious about, and this week it officially launched in version 1.0.
Battle Brothers’ premises, with tabletop influence, run through the campaign structure: recruit a party, take on quests, travel between settlements, and deal with whatever interrupts the journey. Caravans, raiders, ruins, and random events add more to consider on those trips.
Turn-based battles draw on terrain, spells, and class abilities, with attributes and talents letting you shape each recruit’s role. Morale, health, and stamina also need attention between encounters.
For anyone looking for an open fantasy campaign, the attraction is having room to choose the group’s next job while managing the consequences of the last one.
Contested Space – Demo
Build and rebuild your deck during every battle
- Developer: Null & Void Games LLC
- Demo: Available Now
- Full Release: Q2 2027
- Platforms: PC
- Contested Space on Steam
Most roguelite deckbuilders ask players to modify their decks between encounters. Contested Space moves a large part of that process into combat. Cards rotate through a personal market, creating a continuous choice between buying immediate firepower and investing in options that strengthen the deck over the rest of the fight.
Stations can also be deployed to attack or provide recurring bonuses each turn. Nine factions are divided among three alliances, encouraging both focused faction builds and more flexible combinations, while online co-op supports groups of two to four commanders. The newly available demo provides an early look ahead of the planned Q2 2027 release.
Dungeon Settlers – Early Access
Build a functioning colony before sending four explorers underground
- Developer: CanOpener
- Early Access Release: September 4, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- Dungeon Settlers on Steam
Dungeon Settlers entered Early Access on September 4 with the complete central gameplay loop and its first two dungeon regions. Above ground, settlers require housing, food production, crafting stations, research, equipment, and enough expedition supplies to survive the next descent.
Underground groups contain up to four members selected according to their race, background, traits, skills, and equipment. Dungeon layouts and environmental conditions change between expeditions, while character death is permanent.
This is the main genre exception in the roundup: battles take place in real time and can be paused at any moment to issue commands. Status effects, enemy patterns, ability timing, and positioning still demand considerable tactical planning, but readers looking exclusively for turn-based combat should keep the distinction in mind. Developer CanOpener currently expects the Early Access period to last approximately two years.
The Black Breath – Demo
Keep a collapsing caravan alive through tactical battles and scarce resources
- Developer: Silverland Games
- Demo Release: September 1, 2026
- Full Release: 2026
- Platforms: PC
- The Black Breath on Steam
An exhausted fighter is still exhausted after the battle ends. In The Black Breath, illness, fatigue, and permanent death make the condition of your defenders a concern throughout the journey. They protect a caravan fleeing a spreading pestilence, and keeping civilians alive also requires supplies and careful route choices.
Combat takes place across opposing grids, with six character classes supplying different abilities and formation options.
On the road, groups of travelers may join the caravan and contribute their own benefits. The demo covers the Burning Forest, the first region on the way to Serria. That gives this opening stretch a clear purpose: get the caravan through with enough people and resources left to continue.
Chaos Front
Lead a mecha mercenary company through a changing interstellar war
- Developer: Han Zhiyu
- Release Date: September 3, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- Chaos Front on Steam
Solo developer Han Zhiyu released Chaos Front this week, the sequel to Chaos Galaxy I and II. The campaign places an independent mercenary corps inside a conflict among several galactic powers, allowing it to accept missions, support competing factions, and influence the strategic situation across the Centersea Sector.
Captains, pilots, staff officers, merchants, pirates, scientists, robots, and other recruits bring different personal abilities, while the armory contains 70 usable unit types ranging from mecha and artillery to fighters, submarines, and capital ships.
A fixed campaign deadline prevents indefinite preparation: the mercenary group must reach the required strength before the final battle or face a bad ending.
Stories of Somnia – Demo
A turn-based JRPG structured around Metroidvania-style exploration
- Developer: Lydian Games
- Demo Release: September 2, 2026
- Full Release: Coming Soon
- Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux
- Stories of Somnia on Steam
A new spell in Stories of Somnia can change how you explore. Its Magical Arts have uses in combat, but they also solve puzzles, reveal secrets, and help you reach new areas. That connection gives this JRPG its Metroidvania influence: gaining an ability is a reason to think back to the paths you couldn’t take earlier.
Lumia begins the story aboard the Lullaby Express, in a dream world threatened by a fog that erases memories.
Exploration happens in real time, while turn-based encounters bring collectible Dreamkin companions into the party. The demo now available is a chance to see how the traversal and combat systems work together, especially if exploring dungeons matters as much to you as fighting through them.
Survive The Apocalypse – Demo
Plan a route through the city with enough food and stamina to finish it
- Developer: Mehmet Emin Uyar
- Demo Release: May 23, 2026
- Full Release: November 2, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- Survive The Apocalypse on Steam
Survive The Apocalypse is an indie turn-based survival roguelite set across 11 procedurally generated districts of a city transformed into a sun-scorched wasteland. Exploration takes place on a grid, with combat commands currently centered on attacking, waiting, or attempting to escape.
Hunger, fatigue, health, stamina, inventory space, and access to supplies must all be considered before entering another area.
Loot can be used directly or traded with traveling merchants, while branching skills support combat, survival, and cartography-focused builds. Permadeath makes poor route planning just as dangerous as losing a fight. The complete game is scheduled for November 2, 2026.
Deck & Conn
Command a nuclear-powered corvette in a future imagined from 1989
- Developer: Funtime Electrics
- Release Date: September 1, 2026
- Platforms: PC
- Deck & Conn on Steam
Deck & Conn puts you in charge of a nuclear-powered space corvette, with a crew to manage and ship systems to keep working. Its Cold War aesthetic suits the job: read orders, respond to distress calls, and decide how to handle hostile vessels with the resources available.
Turn-based combat sits inside a dynamic campaign of patrols, upgrades, and promotions. Enemy ships can be captured or destroyed, and standalone scenarios are available when you want a more contained assignment.
Published by MicroProse, this is the week’s option for readers drawn to command simulations, where managing the vessel matters alongside the decisions made during an engagement.
That’s everything these first few days of September 2026 had to offer when it comes to turn-based RPGs, strategy games, and roguelites. Let me know what you think by joining me on my social channels and over on the Reddit community. Have a great weekend. Ciao
