The indie strategy space is thriving, with passionate developers delivering experiences that reward creativity, patience, and sharp thinking. This September, a wave of new titles has captured the attention of players looking for both deep tactical layers and approachable, bite-sized challenges. Whether you’re the type to meticulously plan every move or dive headfirst into adaptive decision-making, these trending releases offer plenty to explore.
IDLE BOSS RUSH – $8.99 USD on Steam right now
IDLE BOSS RUSH is an incremental, idle game with epic boss fights, where you progress even if you’re not playing. Advance from a wretched camp to a lively city by raising an army able to slay giants.
Slay Giant Bosses
There are no mere monsters here. Every enemy takes time or a good strategy to beat. Every kill matters. Giants can be seen from any point in the town—melting right before your eyes.
Build a Kingdom
Customize your land as you progress from a simple town to a grand kingdom by raising an army able to slay giants. Manage your town’s residents and resources. Strategically select structures and synergetic upgrades to your liking.
Always Advancing
Want to go make a coffee? Your troops will fight on their own and you come back to collect the loot. Take over and optimize your build for specific bosses to progress faster. Keep the preferred balance between active and passive gameplay.
Discover Crazy Combos
Upgrade items to discover additional unique effects. Select advisors specialized in either military, economy, or magic. Equip advisors with powerful items. Combine it with synergetic town upgrades to unleash crazy combos to annihilate bosses even faster.
ENDLESS Legend 2 – $39.99 USD on Steam right now
ENDLESS™ Legend 2 is a fantasy strategy game where you lead wildly varied factions as they build grand empires and wage planet-spanning wars on an ever-evolving ocean world at the brink of extinction. Cataclysmic events have wrought havoc on the natural order, and the very world will change as time goes on revealing new opportunities for exploration and conquest to the bold and daring. Establish expansive cities to spread your influence and strengthen your economy, raise armies and command troops in turn-based tactical battles to overcome your enemies by force, and push forth into the unknown to uncover the dark secrets that lie at the planet’s core.
Whether you command righteous warriors descended from the stars, cursed knights seeking reprieve from their misfortune, or hive-minded beasts that know only how to fight, feed, and propagate, ENDLESS™ Legend 2 features vastly different factions each driven by their own philosophies, histories, capabilities, and narratives. Each of the factions have unique traits that set them apart from one another whether on the battlefield, in matters of commerce, with regards to empire-building, or in diplomatic affairs – it is up to you to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses and build strategies and distinct playstyles.
Empires will rise and fall based on their ability to adapt to a changing world. Starting from a single humble city, expand according to your faction’s unique strengths and limitations while adapting to the periodic monsoons and tidefalls. Build districts around your cities’ central structures, exploit strategic and luxury resources littered around the world, and develop your technological capabilities and industrial might.
A deep mystery lies buried beneath the surface of this once-tranquil ocean world, where an ancient power stirs in the darkness. Gain dominion over the planet through violent conquest, seek victory through diplomatic and technological advancements, pursue quests and tackle events that can alter the course of a campaign, or empower your sworn heroes to unveil the story of your people – the choice is yours.
Will you be a ruthless conqueror or a cunning builder? A cultivated diplomat or a flesh-eating beast? Will you bring harmony back to the planet, seeking out lost legends and heroes, or will you defy the fate that drives your faction and carve a legend of your own?
Town to City – $24.99 USD on Steam right now
Break free of the grid in Town to City: a cozy city builder that invites you to create a beautiful and bustling community.
Freely place houses, shops, and amenities and natural elements to delight your residents and encourage new families to move in. As your population grows, so can your ambitions: create multiple towns that can grow alone or thrive together, helping the whole region develop and prosper.
In story or sandbox mode, you’re free to build at your own pace, placing each flower bed with pixel precision, or prioritize growing your economy and developing your town into a thriving city.
Shape Your City
Truly grid-less building sets you free to lay out your town however you like. Plan out carefully ordered rows of houses and city districts, or grow outwards organically with residences, amenities, parks and plazas connected by winding streets and alleys.
Unleash Your Creativity
Beautify your settlement to your heart’s content with a plethora of customisation options. Set up lighting, plant flowers and wooded parks, and decorate houses and buildings to complement or contrast. With gorgeous voxel graphics as a base, it’s easy to create something beautiful that you’ll want to capture with the in-game photo mode.
Nurture Your Community
As your town flourishes, you’ll need to meet the needs of your growing population. Provide amenities that will cater for everyone – from workers to artisans and the bourgeoisie – alongside specific requests by individual residents. Get to know each person as they arrive in town and watch them settle down to form new families in the homes you built for them.
Grow Your Economy
Assign workers to jobs, research new buildings and decorations, and boost your sleepy settlement into a bustling center of commerce. As you expand beyond the bounds of your first town, you’ll pursue new developments in farming and tourism by building new towns, all connected by trade and travel routes.
Lost In The Open – $14.39 USD on Steam right now
A demanding roguelike tactical RPG, where every fight and decision revolves around YOU.
You are King Nrvesk, despot of Ruedome. Your reign was bloody, oppressive, and unjust, but was brought to an end by your neighbouring ruler, Boros II of Stratha. Under the pretence of a diplomatic meeting, an attempt on your life was made as you sat across a man you once considered an ally. Narrowly, you escaped.
Nrvesk is your company’s most powerful asset, but also your greatest vulnerability. His death in battle means the end.
Lost In The Open is designed to be a challenging experience. You will face an ever-growing roster of deadly, unique enemies. They will pull your allies out of position, lure you into traps, and coordinate to flank you. Learn their weaknesses, fight strategically, and protect your King.
A powerful Strathaian vanguard follows you tirelessly. You must traverse the dangerous terrain between Stratha and Ruedome and encounter hundreds of difficult decisions. Do you take the well-forested path where you risk becoming beasts’ prey, or the high ground, where you are exposed and easily tracked by man? Do you pay a hefty toll to avoid a fight with bandits?
You will not be alone in your adversity. Manage a diverse roster of recruits. Train them to become specialists, or jacks-of-all-trades. Create quick-bladed bloodletters, mighty human shields, patient bowmen. Equip them with strange trinkets, bolster their weapons and armor with unique attachments. Nrvesk’s life lay in his companions’ hands; shape them to your advantage.
Defeating enemies, aiding strangers, and trading with merchants are your means of sustaining yourself on this journey. Balance your resources, between unlocking new traits and abilities, upgrading your equipment, and sustaining your companions.
Defeat rears its head at every turn in Lost In The Open. Prepare for the worst. Face the consequences of your choices. Return to your throne.
Pompeii: The Legacy – $19.99 USD on Steam right now
Twenty years after the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, Pompeii rises from the ashes. As the head of a Roman family, you will guide the city’s rebirth, shaping its future through politics, trade, and the challenges of life in the Empire.
The city may have been destroyed, but its spirit endures. Rebuild Pompeii from the ground up, balancing the needs of patricians, plebeians, and slaves, each with their own ambitions and grudges. Every street, forum, market, and aqueduct shapes not just the city, but the fortunes of your family for centuries to come.
Lead across decades, navigating the shifting tides of Roman politics. Shape laws, negotiate trade rights, and form alliances through marriage or contract. Secure favor with emperors, outwit rivals, and expand your family’s influence far beyond Pompeii’s walls.
Construct housing, temples, arenas, and more to meet your citizens’ needs. Establish trade routes across the Empire, monitor shifting markets, and keep your economy strong. Every decision, good or bad, can echo for generations.
The game incorporates active and passive bonuses through Family Bonuses, Research and Development, and Imperial Privileges. There are two main research branches: Technology and Philosophy.
The greatest threats are not always on the battlefield. Earthquakes, fires, famine, plagues, and political sabotage can strike without warning. Some enemies will wear armor, others will smile as they shake your hand, all will test your leadership.
Stash: A Card Looter – $8.59 USD on Steam right now
Above all else, Stash is a Looter game with randomized cards inspired by Loot from ARPG-games.
With an endless variety of unique cards, no two drafts are ever the same.
Every decision is a razor-sharp balance between pushing your luck for that perfect chase card and the urgency of locking in a game-changing pick before the next battle begins.
Make quick decisions with intuitive swipe-based card selection that feels just like opening a real pack of cards. Thanks to procedural generation, no two choices are ever the same. But don’t let the smoothness fool you, this is a game of deep strategy.
Choose from six distinct card types: Heroes, Weapons, Relics, Quests, Consumables, and Upgrades. Craft unique heroes, build strategic advantages, or grab a quick buff to turn the tide of battle.
Compete against players who came before you in asynchronous multiplayer battles. Draft the right cards and combine them into unique Heroes that your overall strategy perfectly.
Explore a world map filled with bits of lore and opportunities to unlock new allies, uncover powerful weapons, and expand the pool of cards available in your loot.
Command Deck – $13.49 USD on Steam right now
Command Deck is a sci-fi, deckbuilding, turn-based roguelike where you control your starship with a deck of cards.
As the Captain of the starship Peregrine, you’re on an exploration mission to the Outer Reaches, a remote frontier. Face a hostile civilization that has a secret to keep. Uncover the truth behind an ancient and powerful artifact that threatens the entire galaxy.
Your cards direct your ship in combat. Will you raise shields, or will you play cards to fire your blasters? Careful choices and strategic thinking will be required to survive in the Outer Reaches.
Fata Deum – The God Sim – $29.99 USD on Steam right now
With the power of a god, who will you become?
In Fata Deum you build settlements and compete with other gods for influence. The more followers you have, the more power you wield.
You can lift mortals into the air, toss them around for fun, or guide them with care and help them thrive. Whether you’re a warm-hearted deity, a cold-hearted tyrant, or something in between, your playstyle shapes the world. The environment reacts to your actions, becoming bright and beautiful or dark and corrupted.
Mortals will respond to your presence. They’ll pray, plead, and ask for help—or punishment. Grant their wishes, smite them for disobedience, or… just kick them in the butt. Your actions shape not only the world, but your followers’ very behaviour.
That’s all too nice? Sacrifice them to summon a mortal or kill them and use their corpses to resurrect some zombies! Steal their energy to get more mana or sacrifice the weak to boost one of your strong warriors. You have many options!
During the day, use your influence on the mortals. Will you bless and inspire them onto good work, or strike fear into their hearts with terrifying visions? But be wary, the townsfolk have their own free will.
At night, you can manipulate settlements. Instruct the mortals to build you mighty temples for worship, farms and lumber mills so that they may prosper, or even to ruin other villages.
Perhaps you’d like to be a tyrant, ruling over a kingdom of debauchery and blood. Raise an army and sacrifice your mortals to summon terrifying demons. Your choice.
Or maybe you do believe in fun, festivities and spreading the love, but have no qualms weakening your enemies by spreading fear – or just hitting them with a Thunderstrike.
As your influence grows, the living world will shape around it, getting ever more vast. Each god manifests their kingdom differently.
Will yours be a kingdom of crops and light, or twisted trees and glowering darkness? You’ll battle gods of Violence, Deceit, Fertility and Pleasure.
Master different challenges set by the goddesses of fate themselves and write your own story as a young deity who grows up to fame and honor.
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This month’s trending strategy games offer something for every tactician, whether you thrive on complex planning or quick, decisive moves. September has set the stage, and the indie scene shows no signs of slowing down.
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