Darkest Dungeon DLC, a BioShock-style shooter with clowns and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Gamescom is fast approaching, but there are still lots of new games you can check out before the tidal wave of announcements from that event next week. We'll take a peek at some games that are a little further out as well.

Before we dive in, let's take a look at some news from the last few days. Ternox Games says PlayStation is blocking a PS5 version of its stock market game, STONKS-9800, which debuted on Steam in early access in 2023. Not only that, the developer claims Sony is delisting games it previously released on the company's consoles, including those from other indie developers that it published. Ternox says Sony scrapped its developer and publisher agreement without explanation. The developer still plans to bring STONKS-9800 to Xbox and Switch, ideally with physical editions.

I enjoyed this story from Rock Paper Shotgun about a developer who is creating an experimental RPG every week. To date, Sraëka Lillian has released 31 of these "sketches" on Itch and you can play them in your browser. While these games are, by nature, unpolished, I think there's a lot to be said for trying lots of ideas very quickly, making them public and getting feedback from players.

I've mentioned a co-op cult survival RPG called Join Us in a previous edition, and I was interested to read more about the background of the game. Just 12 people (some of whom have a background in Hollywood) are making it and, thankfully, they're not using generative AI to make the game. I was already interested in playing Join Us, but I'm even more likely to do that when it arrives in March after learning it features a gun that fires snakes.

Also, I just quickly want to note that the game I've enjoyed the most so far this year is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 14 (yes, yet another September arrival). Truck-kun is Supporting Me From Another World?! — a blend of visual novel and chaotic driving game — is a blast. It's currently on Steam, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox for PC.

Darkest Dungeon: The Fire's Edge

Developer/publisher: Red Hook Studios
Platforms: Steam (Windows, Mac, SteamOS/Linux; base game is Steam Deck Verified), Epic Games Store, GOG, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Price: $7

It's been six years since the last Darkest Dungeon expansion. Red Hook has even released a sequel since then. So it was a bit of a surprise to learn recently that the studio (which is now under Behaviour Interactive's umbrella) made new DLC for Darkest Dungeon.

The Fire's Edge brings The Runaway and The Duelist — two heroes who debuted in Darkest Dungeon II — to the original game. They each expand your roster of characters by one slot, so you won't have to worry about how to make space for them. The Runaway has a burn ability that's unique to that hero. The DLC adds a string of new trinkets, three more districts and fresh town events while giving your heroes some damage boosts.

If you haven't delved into the darkest of dungeons as yet, you can snap up the base game for just $3.74 on Steam until September 1 and PS4 until August 27. You'll need that before you can play the DLC anyway. Or maybe, like me, you snagged Darkest Dungeon as an Epic Games Store freebie ages ago and forgot all about it.

(I have devoted entirely too much brainpower this week to trying to figure out what makes the supposed "darkest dungeon" even darker and how to name a sequel other than adding a "II" to the title. The English language is a complex and vicious beast.)

Twisted Tower

Developer: Atmos Games
Publisher: 3D Realms
Platform: Steam (Windows; Steam Deck Verified)
Price: Usually $15, with a 10 percent discount until September 1

Ready for a nightmare trip through an abandoned theme park in the 1950s? Of course you are. Twisted Tower is a horror first-person shooter in which you'll battle hellish versions of mascots with an array of upgradable toy-based weapons. Those include a mallet, rubber-band pistol, a chain gun that fires bubblegum and a "fartin' shotgun."

This game appears to have a heavy BioShock influence, right down to the vending machines where you can buy upgrades (you won't have elemental powers at your disposal, sadly). With no sign of the next game in that series — 13 years after BioShock Infinite — Twisted Tower might give fans of those games something to chew on. I loathe clowns and would be more than happy to blast through a bunch of them, so I am very much tempted to grab Twisted Tower.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint

Developer/publisher: NerveLabs
Platform: Steam (Windows in early access)
Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until August 24

It's going to be quite some time until Bethesda releases The Elder Scrolls VI, even if Xbox might be trying to speed things along. But if the Oblivion remaster grabbed your interest or reignited a passion for pre-Skyrim games in the series, it might be worth taking a look at The Lantern of the Laughless Saint.

This open-world RPG, which you can play solo or in co-op, is inspired by Morrowind. It's set on an island that has a tower as its centerpiece. As you explore, you'll learn more about this part of the world and encounter strange inhabitants. There's an amphitheater with seats that gradually fill with "phantoms" linked to island dwellers that you help or hinder. I don't know what the point of the theater is yet, but it seems to tie into the game's climax. I'm intrigued!

The developers admit it's not a fully polished game. It's in early access, after all. They expect it to remain in EA for less than a year and to deploy updates every week or two. As it stands, The Lantern of the Laughless Saint has a main campaign that you can complete with more than 50 quests, 60-plus distinct enemies, more than 100 items you can equip and "fully featured spell crafting and alchemy systems." NerveLabs suggests the game has north of 30 or 40 hours of gameplay for completionists.

Sensory Overload

Developer: Pancake Studios
Platform: Steam (Windows, SteamOS/Linux)
Price: Usually $10, with a 20 percent discount until September 4

This is a precision-based dropper game that's all about messing with your mind. Developer Pancake Studios says "every effect in this game is designed to overwhelm your brain." You might find your depth perception is thrown off as you make your way through tunnels and try to avoid obstacles for as long as you can in an attempt to move up the leaderboards. The levels are named after "what they'll do to you," such as Vertigo, Nausea, Peristalsis and Apocalypse.

There's zero chance of me playing Sensory Overload. I could barely make it through the trailer without feeling my eyes glaze over and my head pound. It's probably not for folks who are prone to motion sickness. Still, this will speak to a certain kind of sicko (a term I use with nothing but affection in this context), so I thought I'd include it in this week's roundup for such folks.

Rebind

Developer: SteleDev
Publisher: Fallen Games
Platform: Steam (Windows; demo available)
Price: $5, with a 21 percent discount until August 26

This pixel art platformer has a fun concept that its name hints at. At the start of every level, the keys that you use to control a little frog (left, right and jump) are reassigned at random. That seems absolutely terrible for accessibility, even if it's broadly a neat idea. You can forget about muscle memory.

There are echoes of Celeste and Super Meat Boy here. There are walljumps and instant respawns, and dying leaves a blood splatter. You unlock harder levels by collecting fruits. I played the demo and enjoyed the challenge of trying to remember which button does what while avoiding deadly obstacles. Rebind is much more my kind of brain-bending game than Sensory Overload.

Mixtape

Developer: Beethoven and Dinosaur
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Platform: Steam (Mac), Mac App Store. Already available on Steam (Windows; Steam Deck Verified), PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox for PC

Mixtape is one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2026 so far. Just look at all those 10s and 100s and positive adjectives in the accolades trailer. I didn't love it nearly as much as that, unfortunately. Still, more people will get the chance to check it out when the native Mac version is released. Annapurna hasn't said exactly when that'll happen, but the port will be available "soon."

This is a coming-of-age tale set in the '90s about three friends having one last wild adventure before going their separate ways into adulthood. It's full of memories orchestrated around mini-games. Appropriately enough, Mixtape has a killer soundtrack that features the likes of Devo, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Smashing Pumpkins and Iggy Pop.

Hyperdrop

Developer: Dark Dark Goose
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: Steam (demo available on Windows and SteamOS/Linux)
Release window: 2027

Another week, another Steam festival. The Pins and Pegs Fest is a fun one. It features pinball and bowling games, as well as others that have pins and pegs. Along with discounts, demos and so on, some new games were announced during the festival. One of those is Hyperdrop.

This is a pachinko-based incremental roguelite that seems to draw inspiration from Tetris Effect. It's ultra-stylish and there's lots of neon to catch your eye. You'll upgrade your balls and your pegs as you try to achieve large scores and keep your run going. There are boss battles as well. I haven't had a chance to check out the demo yet, but I aim to do so this weekend. 

Shroom and Gloom

Developer: Team Lazerbeam
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: Steam (demo available for Windows and SteamOS/Linux)
Release date: September 10 (early access)

Here's another Devolver game and this one has a firm release date. I'm not sure we needed yet another game to arrive in an astonishingly packed September, but the publisher is adding Shroom and Gloom to the fray as well.

This is a roguelike deckbuilder with hand-drawn dungeons. You'll actually be juggling two decks, one for exploration and another for combat. All of the attacks are "infinitely upgradable," according to the latest developer diary. The early access version will have a small number of playable characters, and developer Team Lazerbeam plans to add more on the road to the game's full release.

I really dig the art style. The way that the illustrations shift as you move through the 3D dungeons makes me want to try Shroom and Gloom, even though I generally steer clear of turn-based combat. Any game that enables you to eat your enemies is always going to catch my interest too.