Another cold, wintery month means we need some more indie titles to keep us warm! Here are 10 coming out in August we think you’re going to want to cuddle up to…
Lotus: Lost Memories
Developer: Fenyx Digital
Release Date: August 2nd
Platforms: PC
Step into the richly woven tale of Atsushi, a young samurai bound by duty to his ailing father. Undertake a journey of purpose as he faces skilled adversaries and uncovers the echoes of a legacy that will shape his destiny. Realized in a pixel art visual novel with turn based combat.
This 2D visual novel set in the times of the samurai visually looks stunning. There’s something about a pixelated side-scroller that speaks to me, especially when the images represent ancient Japan! I also love how developers Fenyx Digital have combined the visual novel genre with turn-based strategy and quick time events. It will be interesting to see how all these elements work together.
Artis Impact
Developer: mas
Release Date: August 7th
Platforms: PC
Tiny Bookshop
Developer: neoludic games
Release Date: August 8th
Platforms: PC
Leave everything behind and open a tiny bookshop by the sea in this cozy narrative management game. Stock your tiny bookshop with different books and items, set up shop in scenic locations, and run your cozy second-hand bookshop while getting to know the locals.
Two of my favourite things in this world are books and video games, so anytime these two mediums collide, I’m happy. In this cosy, management sim, you will get to run your own portable tiny bookstore, where you will need to learn the reading habits of your customers and help them find their next favourite read! Such a great game to cuddle up with this winter!
Ritual of Raven
Developer: Spellgarden Games
Release Date: August 7th
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
Ritual of Raven is a story-based farming sim – but you don’t do the farming yourself! Enchant Arcana Constructs to grow a magical herb garden, befriend a cute bunch of weirdos and use your witchy skills to perform powerful rituals to stabilize the portals that are causing trouble for the village.
An enchanted farming sim that also has an LGBTIQ+ tag on it? Yes please! Also love that you can become friends with cute eccentrics – because who would want to be friends with people who aren’t a bit weird?!
1,000 deaths
Developer: Pariah Interactive, Inc.
Release Date: August 7th
Platforms: PC
1000 Deaths is a gravity-bending 3D platformer where your choices matter. What you choose defines the game’s levels, mechanics, and story. Dash through platforming hubs and decide your character’s fate while exploring surreal worlds. Speedrun, or don’t!
The gameplay in this seems like a mash-up between AstroBot and a ’90s morning kids TV show. I’m interested to see how your choices will matter in a platformer! You play as a TV with legs, and you get to decide your pace through this weird and wacky world of 1000 Deaths.
GUG
Developer: Martian Lawyers Club
Release Date: August 12th
Platforms: PC
Type anything, generate a creature. Outwit, outlast, and out-weird your enemies in a sandbox tactics battler with deep simulation systems, wildly varied combat and endless procedurally-generated chaos!
I’m kind of obsessed with typing games, and GUG seems to do something different with that game mechanic by incorporating turn-based tactics. With every GUG that you create, they will regenerate in other players’ games, meaning that you could really mess up someone’s run with one of your creations! I’m excited to see how GUG plays and uses all these different game mechanics.
Bendy Lone Wolf
Developer: Joey Drew Studios
Release Date: August 16th
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Bendy: Lone Wolf™ will tests your ability to survive against ever increasing odds. Monsters and obstacles emerge from every direction as you journey into the rubberhose halls of the world’s most evil animation studio. Every day is a challenge.
This is another instalment in the popular horror Bendy series, one that takes 1920s cartoon-style characters and makes them murderous. In this game, you’ll be running around the halls of Joey Drew Studios with strange creatures around every corner, ready to kill you….
Sword of the Sea
Developer: Giant Squid
Release Date: August 20th
Platforms: PC, PS5
Surf across magnificent waves of sand and glistening waters on an epic quest to restore a lost ocean. From the visionary artist behind ABZÛ, The Pathless, and Journey, Sword of the Sea is an atmospheric surfing adventure with fast movement inspired by classic skateboarding and snowboarding games.
I love the games that Giant Squid create, mainly because it’s so satisfying getting into a flow state and gliding around their beautifully crafted worlds. Their last game, 2020’s The Pathless, combines that ability to flow through the world with the help of your pet eagle. This time, your vehicle will be a snowboard-type device that looks like it may be enchanted by some ancient powers.
All Systems Dance
Developer: Mighty Yell Studios Inc.
Release Date: August 21st
Platforms: PC
Automation is not the answer; DANCE is the key to disruption! Help liberate citizens of a consumption-obsessed, corporate dystopia in All Systems Dance: an expressive dance battle adventure. Connect moves, express yourself, feel the music. Join The Movement. The revolution will not be choreographed.
Mighty Yell Studios Inc. developed a game I really enjoyed – 2021’s The Big Con, which was a colourful, fun adventure set in the 90s. All Systems Dance is a little different, but it also seems to include fun cartoony vibes. I really love that the main premise of the game is to become liberated from a corrupt society by finding your voice via dance.
Discounty
Developer: Crinkle Cut Games
Release Date: August 22nd
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S
Manage your own discount supermarket! Get caught up in small-town drama, organize and plan your shop’s layout, and strike lucrative trade deals as you expand your secretive aunt’s business empire. Selling more frozen fries will surely heal this broken community…right?
Discounty provides the player with the ability to run a discount supermarket in a close-knit town that they have just arrived in. Seeing as the residents are a close bunch, you’ll have to get to know the town’s personalities when the store is shut to earn their trust and also figure out the items that they need. You may also get the chance to uncover some town secrets along the way…
What a month of stunning indies! Have fun checking out these August titles, and we’ll see you next time for our list of 10 September 2025 indies!
About the Author
Lisa Pollifroni
she/her
PS5/PC gamer with a passion for RPGs . Other obsessions include eating/making good food, reading, Queer history/theory and puppies, especially her own - a Beagle Staffy x rescue named Boo.
