Darkest Dungeon DLC, a BioShock-style shooter with clowns and other new indie games worth checking out
This is Engadget's regular indie games roundup, covering recent news from the indie space and highlighting notable new and upcoming releases ahead of the Gamescom event. The article rounds up several distinct stories, from a publishing dispute affecting a small studio to a fresh expansion for a beloved roguelike, alongside previews of quirky forthcoming titles.
– Developer Ternox Games says Sony is blocking a PS5 version of its stock market game STONKS-9800 and has delisted previously published titles after scrapping its developer/publisher agreement without explanation; the game is still planned for Xbox and Switch.
– Developer Sraëka Lillian has released 31 free, browser-playable "sketches" (experimental RPGs) on Itch, one per week.
– Co-op cult survival RPG Join Us, made by a 12-person team without generative AI, is due in March and features a gun that fires snakes.
– Visual novel/driving hybrid Truck-kun is Supporting Me From Another World?! arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on 14 September.
– Darkest Dungeon: The Fire's Edge, Red Hook Studios' first expansion for the original game in six years, adds two heroes, new trinkets, three districts and town events for $7; the base game is discounted to $3.74 on Steam until 1 September and on PS4 until 27 August.
– The roundup also teases other upcoming indie titles, including a BioShock-style shooter and a Tetris Effect-style pachinko game.
- Sony reportedly blocked a PS5 release and delisted indie titles from Ternox Games
- Darkest Dungeon gets its first new DLC, The Fire's Edge, in six years
- Truck-kun visual novel/driving game heads to Switch 2 on 14 September
New here? Start with this
Indie games are made by smaller studios or individual developers, usually outside the biggest publishers. They can cover any genre, but are often known for unusual ideas, distinctive art styles and more experimental ways of telling stories or playing.
The games mentioned here range from role-playing adventures to shooters, visual novels and puzzle games. Darkest Dungeon is a well-known gothic role-playing game in which players manage a group facing dangerous expeditions and psychological stress, while BioShock is a major first-person shooter series often used as a comparison for story-driven, atmospheric games.
Publishing deals help developers get games onto console stores such as PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. If a platform holder removes a developer’s games or declines a release, it can limit the studio’s audience and income, even when the game remains available elsewhere.