Imagine an evil laugh as you read this sentence, one which claims that the scary season is now upon us! Even though Halloween is still a month away, that doesn’t mean that you can’t start celebrating early. Start making your costume now, think about what routes you’re going to take through the city, or whether you’re going to have a party.
There’s a good amount of free time this season, and a good way to spend it is by playing great indie games coming out during this spooky period. While not all of them are scary, all of them are worth the time to take a look. Here are our picks for the best indie games in October 2023.
The Fabulous Fear Machine
Much like with comedy, horror can be very subjective and difficult to pin down. That’s not stopping the folks at Fictorama Studios from posing the idea that fear can be manufactured using The Fabulous Fear Machine. This game looks like it has time-traveled from the innocent art style of the 1960s with all the color and flair associated with pop art at the time.
It’s a game that puts you in control of a device known as the fear machine with one goal: To create fear. It’s a heavily story-based game where you have to create horror elements like urban legends, generating paranoia, and keeping an eye on anyone who would try to stop you. Would you rather be experiencing the fear, or causing it?
The Fabulous Fear Machine will be released on October 4 for PC.
The Bloodline
Blood is thicker than water, but that doesn’t mean you have to do what your blood says. The idea that you can live free of your bloodline is provided by Shieldbearer Studios in their game The Bloodline. This is a game where you are born into a large fantasy world with some foundation, but more or less a clean slate.
This world is your oyster and you can eat how you want. Do you want to be an adventurer helping the people? Go for it. Want to be a professional monster hunter? There are plenty out there. Want a quiet life of fishing and farming? Just pick out a spot to call your own. Your bloodline continues how you want it.
The Bloodline will be released on October 5 for PC.
Outpath
It’s amazing how popular idle games are in gaming considering that they prompt you not to play the game. Still, David Moralejo Sánchez wants to make the genre more active with the upcoming game Outpath.
At first glance, you’ve got an open and colorful 3D world with both 2D and 3D assets. Everything is so bright and enticing that you want to go right up to it to see what it is and what you can do. As soon as you get close, you’ll see that you can start clicking to harvest it. Before long, you’re clicking to harvest, mine, grow, and do everything else in the game. It’s the most active part of a game set in a world of idle activities, all just waiting for you to click on them.
Outpath will be released on October 6 for PC.
Strike Force Heroes
A lot of the big games involve picking up guns and shooting them at things, typically other people shooting guns. They try to be serious and realistic, but Sky9 Games goes for the more wacky and stylistic with Strike Force Heroes. You’ll be thrown into a run-and-gun arena full of 2D platforming opportunities while you aim all around your body.
This game features a variety of weapons to fire in all directions while running, jumping, or falling to make yourself less of a target. The arenas range from flying aircraft to watery jungles with plenty of space to move around. Games will be fast, with both victory and defeat coming just as quickly to earn your rewards to customize your wild experience.
Strike Force Heroes will be released on October 19 for PC.
Cavern of Dreams
Remember when the first 3D video games became available on home consoles? There were so many wondrous adventures and Bynine Studios wants to remind us of that with Cavern of Dreams. This nostalgic adventure puts you into the role of an adorable little dragon named Fynn who needs to save their siblings still in their eggs. The villain has scattered them all over a number of colorful and magical realms full of magic and danger. They’re also full of strange and interesting beings who you’ll get to meet as you try to gain new powers to reach new locations and uncover new mysteries.
Cavern of Dreams will be released on October 19 for PC.
Builderment
Overconsumption is a serious issue when it comes to natural resources. A possible solution to this is being explored by Builderment LLC with their game Builderment. The unfortunate scenario is that Earth no longer has any viable resources — but all is not lost yet. Another nearby world rich in resources has been found and appears to be within traveling distance of our home planet. That means we can send a bunch of machines and technology to mine and ship these resources back to Earth. Challenge yourself to make the most efficient and productive system in order to save the world!
Builderment will be released on October 24 for PC, Android, and iOS.
Pandemic Train
There are so many different apocalyptic scenarios that we’ve reached a point where we need to start combining them to make all new ones. Trigger Labs have chosen a combo and taken it for a ride on their Pandemic Train.
Enter a world that has been destroyed by both warfare and disease with humanity on the brink of extinction. A last ray of hope has talent in the form of a train that travels through this world keeping people as safe as it can and you’re in charge of running it. Manage the train, take care of your passengers, and then make stops to scavenge for resources. Only you can find a cure and you may need to risk everything to do so.
Pandemic Train will be released in October for PC.
GeoDepths
Space is mysterious, the ocean is mysterious, and the ground beneath our feet is mysterious. Another journey to dig as deep as possible comes from A Little More Games in the form of GeoDepths. The title really says it all, doesn’t it? You’re the pilot of a powerful drill that can carve a path into the depths of this new alien planet. The deeper you get, the more you’ll learn and discover about this world. The kinds of plants and minerals you find are all determined by the drilling path you take. Use what you find to upgrade your drill and tools so you can discover everything that you can.
GeoDepths will be released in October for PC.
