Top indie games of October 2026

Today I am starting a section I want to keep up every month. Just as I used to do on my old YouTube channel, I will put together a list of the indie releases that have caught my eye, not ranked from best to worst, only by release date. Let’s start with the indie games of October 2026!

Forever Ago

• Title: Forever Ago
• Developer: Third Shift
• Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
• Genre: Narrative adventure
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: 8 October 2026

The first of the indie games of October 2026 is a new offering from Annapurna. After a stroke of bad luck that changes his life, Alfred takes to the road heading north. He is looking for something close to redemption. Forever Ago is a single-player journey where you stop off in quiet forests and scorching deserts. You examine objects to understand the places and the people who live in them. You also take photos with an old instant camera that doubles as a way to solve small environmental puzzles. Between stops you piece together the life Alfred shared with his beloved Audrey.

Dancing with Ghosts

• Title: Dancing with Ghosts
• Developer: HumaNature Studios
• Publisher: HumaNature Studios
• Genre: Narrative and simulation
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: 8 October 2026 in early access

Mai used to dance before it all happened. Now she keeps to herself in her Thai village by the river, running errands and drawing in her notebook. One day Pim turns up, a little ghost who has lost almost all of her memories. What she has not lost is her joy. Helping her piece her story back together means dancing, making roti and lending the neighbours a hand. That is what slowly brings Mai back to the dance she learned from her mother. It is the work of Greg Johnson, creator of ToeJam & Earl, and Thai artists illustrate it.

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Truckful

• Title: Truckful
• Developer: MythicOwl
• Publisher: MythicOwl and Pocketpair Publishing
• Genre: Adventure and driving
• Platforms: PC, Mac and Linux
• Release date: 9 October 2026

You have an old pickup, a winding rural valley and a list of errands to run for the neighbours. Truckful is about hauling fragile cargo from one village to the next. One run is frozen fish that has to arrive fast, the next is grandma’s prized vase. What you earn goes into upgrading the truck so it takes more weight and handles rougher roads. What starts out looking like a cozy driving game slowly turns. The old forest around the valley hides secret paths, swamps and an ancient mystery.

Colorbound

• Title: Colorbound
• Developer: Panpipe Studio
• Publisher: Whitethorn Games
• Genre: Puzzle and platformer
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: 12 October 2026

Anku is an Aymara boy with a very particular gift. He can pick up colours, store them in his palette and use them to reshape the world around him. He needs it for a lovely errand. He has to reunite his late grandfather’s band and give him the farewell concert he deserves. Along the way he crosses lush forests and forgotten cities solving logic puzzles and light platforming. I really like that a game like this draws on Andean culture instead of the usual aesthetic.

The Witch’s Bakery

• Title: The Witch’s Bakery
• Developer: Sunny Lab
• Publisher: Silver Lining Interactive
• Genre: Cozy narrative RPG
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: 14 October 2026

Another of the indie games of October 2026 I am really looking forward to is this one. Lunne is a young witch who has just arrived in Paris and opens a bakery. Her magic lets her see what people carry inside so she can heal their emotions. The day splits into three. In the morning she serves customers and lifts their worries with a little magic. In the afternoon she wanders the districts of the city and looks into the aching hearts of her friends. At night she rests, improves her spells and decorates the bakery. It is hand drawn and it is the coziest thing all month.

Pixel Washer

• Title: Pixel Washer
• Developer: Valadria
• Publisher: Acclaim
• Genre: Casual simulation
• Platforms: PC
• Release date: 15 October 2026 in early access

You are a little pig with a pressure washer and the whole world is caked in filth. Pixel Washer is about aiming the jet and watching mud, slime, tar and even snow disappear. Underneath, the hidden pixel art shows up, which is the part that really hooks you. Cleaning earns you coins to spend on gear with more pressure and more reach. That is how you go from muddy pens to entire city streets. It is the classic almost-zen game to put on with a podcast in the background and lose track of time.

Back to the Dawn

• Title: Back to the Dawn
• Developer: Metal Head Games
• Publisher: Spiral Up Games
• Genre: Narrative RPG
• Platforms: PS5, already available on PC, Xbox and Nintendo Switch
• Release date: 22 October 2026 on PS5

This is the only one on the list that is not a new release. It came out on PC in 2025, but it reaches PS5 this month and I am including it anyway in case you missed it. It is a prison-escape RPG where you choose between Thomas, a reporter caught in a web of lies, and Bob, an undercover agent. Each route runs over twenty hours of investigation. Three gangs rule the prison, with forty-seven inmates who each have their own personality and more than a hundred handcrafted quests. There are several different ways out, each with its own risks. Several possible endings too.

Emberville

• Title: Emberville
• Developer: Cygnus Cross
• Publisher: Cygnus Cross
• Genre: Action RPG
• Platforms: PC and Linux
• Release date: 27 October 2026 in early access

You wake up with no memories in the Vitromotus, an underground dungeon that seems to have no end. Death does not rest in there. Your only thought is getting out. Along the way you find out that the people of Emberville, a town that was once full of life, are trapped as well. Everyone you rescue teaches you their trade and helps you rebuild the town. The game alternates fighting down in the dungeon with the quiet rebuilding up above. The idea of earning neighbours as a reward strikes me as a brilliant hook.

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Usual June

• Title: Usual June
• Developer: Finji
• Publisher: Finji
• Genre: Action adventure
• Platforms: PC and Mac
• Release date: 28 October 2026

June wanted a quiet summer of walking around campus and catching up on the laundry. Instead, crystal creatures are turning up in the Fen Harbor cemetery, ghosts are vanishing and the town’s new billionaire is a piece of work. It is a third-person action adventure, with simple melee combos and a quick dodge you pick up in two minutes. Some bosses are enormous and that is where the ghosts tagging along come in. It is by Finji, the people behind Chicory and Tunic. There is already a demo on Steam.

Danchi Days

• Title: Danchi Days
• Developer: sandy powder, Melos Han-Tani, mogumu and gingham games
• Publisher: Analgesic Productions
• Genre: Slice-of-life adventure
• Platforms: PC and Mac
• Release date: 29 October 2026

We finish the indie games of October 2026 with Danchi Days. Hoshino is twelve and moves back to her childhood neighbourhood to be with her grandmother, who lives with dementia. To cheer her up she decides to revive the summer festival of the danchi, the housing block where they live. For that she has to win over some fairly peculiar neighbours, from older ladies delighted to chat to teenagers desperate to get out. There is an in-game internet you can snoop around to find things out. Not every website is friendly. It is set in 2000s Japan and mixes comedy with bittersweet without warning.