September is here, and with it, the deluge has begun. This month, gamers are scrambling to figure out which AAA games they have the time and money for; between The Blood of Dawnwalker, Control Resonant, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Marvel’s Wolverine, Silent Hill: Townfall, and Onimusha: The Way of the Sword, there are simply not enough hours in September. Bad news – there’s a ton of great indie games this month as well, so just give up now and silently surrender your wallet. It’s already over.
Below are five indie games that we recommend checking out this month, so get your wishlisting finger ready!
Well Dweller
Coming off a wave of overwhelming critical acclaim, this new metroidvania from Kyle Thompson (creator of Crypt Custodian and Islets) promises to bring a dark spin to fairy tales. If you’re a fan of the genre, there’s essentially no reason not to jump in immediately. The dark fantasy tone and haunting music are perfect for the start of fall as we approach spooky season. For gamers aching for more of Hollow Knight Silksong, this beautifully drawn fantastical world promises to deliver something memorable with precision combat and strange worlds to explore. Well Dweller is out now and has a demo on Steam if you’d like to give it a run first!
Steam Page | Nintendo eShop | Xbox Store | PlayStation Store
Emberward
Emberward is a painfully addicting hybrid of roguelike deckbuilder, tower defense, and… Tetris? This Taiwanese solo-developed game has been crushing it in Early Access over the past two years with hundreds of new cards, blocks, towers, and characters with new abilities. I’ve personally sunk 30 hours into the Early Access launch version without any of those additions, and would describe it as a perfect “podcast game”. In our 9/10 review, Nima says: “Emberward fulfills my desire for a fun, challenging, and replayable tower defense game almost perfectly. It combines all the different gameplay elements into a cohesive roguelite experience and can offer dozens of hours of engaging and fresh gameplay before you have seen everything the game has to offer.”
Welcome to Elderfield
Is Stardew Valley just a little too… peppy for your tastes? Roll for sanity, because Welcome to Elderfield is calling your name. This Lovecraftian horror take on a farming sim RPG is a brilliant combination, embracing the inherent stress of farming and introducing a wealth of eldritch mutants that would make John Carpenter do a double take. Elderfield sets the player in a surreal and unsettling town where nothing quite makes sense, and elder gods wait around corners in dark alleys to collect taxes. In our 8/10 review, Alyssa said: “Romance skeletons and ghosts; farm radishes and eyeballs! Slowly unravel the mysteries of Eldenfield… Or don’t! With gorgeous hand-drawn art and witty dialogue, you’ll mostly be upset that you, unlike your character, can’t play for three days without taking heavy penalties.”
Dressmaker
This dedicated fashion game from the South African studio behind Terra Nil is already making waves, having amassed an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam across 1,300 reviews after one day. There are, frankly, not a lot of fashion games on the market right now; this niche has been aching to be filled, and Dressmaker has everything that millennial fans of Style Savvy miss from the long-departed series. With precise tailoring, dozens of color and pattern options, hand stitching, tons of accessories, shop management, and lots of requests to fill, Dressmaker is proving that this subgenre of game has a rabid fanbase. Fashionistas rejoice! Dressmaker is only on PC right now, but the developers have promised it will be releasing on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 as soon as possible.
Nivalis Nights
Finally, over 5 years after its announcement in 2021 and following several delays, Nivalis Nights is really launching. For real! German indie studio ION LANDS, known for their cozy game Cloudpunk, has confirmed that their long-anticipated cyberpunk life sim is hitting (digital) shelves September 27. This combat-free life sim focuses on slice-of-life interactions, managing chains of businesses, farming and fishing, surviving under the watchful eye of the all-seeing corporations, and meeting NPCs with meaningful and dynamic relationships – all in a cyberpunk city. And perhaps a mysterious serial killer is terrorizing the citizens? Nivalis Nights promises to be a game like no other; if you want something as immersive as CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 but without the guns, pop some eddies on this game pronto, choom.
This is an excellent crop of indies, so perhaps you’ll need to shelve a couple of those AAA blockbusters this month. What a shame. Did we miss any of your favorites? Which one are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments.
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