These are tumultuous times for indie games. Itch.io and Steam both recently removed a bunch of adult and indie titles due to the actions of a nut-job fringe conservative group out of Australia. The anti-porn “advocacy” group known as Collective Shout is just one of many pseudo-advocacy groups that advocate for nothing but censoring art.
Fortunately, this has sparked a bit of a backlash as gamers and developers alike have begun bombarding Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal with calls and e-mails expressing their distaste for this extremely foolish decision.
This event has actually caused enough of a backlash to be reported on by non-gaming related outlets, like cbc.ca. The response from both the distribution sites as well as the payment processors to a small, fringe group of conservative nut-jobs has been disappointing. Hopefully, though, the payment processors realize there’s little money in acquiescing to the demands of these terrorists.
The group of titles I have for you isn’t going to push the envelope necessarily, but I feel like I have hand-picked a variety of titles that are interesting and deserve a look. I hope that you’re able to find at least one indie game to purchase in the month of August and can continue to support these artists.
Although if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably wishlist and buy all of them. In that case, I hope you get the chance to play them too. Anyway, here’s a fun list of indie demos I played that are releasing in August.
Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune
Platforms: PC | Release Date: August 1st
Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune feels like a call back to an earlier point in gaming with modern improvements. I can see myself sliding a game like this into my 5¼ floppy drive, locking the bay, and going on an adventure selling wares across medieval Europe, Africa, and Asia. Silk Roads II has you building up a caravan, delivering messages and dignitaries, buying and selling goods, and maintaining supplies to make the long journeys.
It took a few tries to fully understand how to stay afloat and keep going, but eventually I felt like I had a decent handle on the game. Silk Roads II starts in 1295 and has random encounters happen every 100 miles, regardless of the method of travel. My caravan ran afoul of some pirates at sea, my mule at a thorny plant, and in one particularly rough stretch, I had to butcher the poor fella.
Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune releases on PC via Steam on July 1st, 2025. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page, and if you’re interested at all, please add the game to your wishlist.
Luck & Loot
Platforms: PC | Release Date: August 1st
Not that we need more roguelike deckbuilders, Luck & Loot offers a Slay the Spire experience with the help of a dice roll. Choose your character, forge into the dungeon with four die and be ready to take on foes in a perilous dungeon crawl.
Being able to customize the die with actions instead of numbers worked surprisingly well. The player is given four die to roll every combat round, with the option to reroll their die twice. Having all these options allowed a pretty strong amount of player expression, letting me have die for a specific purpose and keep my enemies in check.
Luck & Loot releases on PC via Steam on August 1st, 2025. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page if you’re interested, and you can always help out by adding the game to your wishlist.
Sands of Hope
Platforms: PC | Release Date: August 4th
Sands of Hope is an unusual title, with a slow-moving robot protagonist whose power is attaching cubes together. However, the puzzles are satisfying, and the promise of riding around on a hoverbike is appealing.
The goal is to find energy cores and use them to restore the water supply to the various areas the player visits. The real appeal is the low-poly, 3D pixel art style that gives the game its unique aesthetic. Likewise, Guateke Studios promises a small, hand-crafted world which is also extremely appealing. I love a short indie.
Sands of Hope releases on PC via Steam on August 4th, 2025. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page and if you’re interested, help out the devs by adding the game to your wishlist.
Artis Impact
Platforms: PC | Release Date: August 7th
Finding smaller JRPGs that set themselves apart, especially from the rabble of the AAA machine, is a damn treat. Artis Impact is a turn-based RPG set in the future with some stunning pixel art and animation. Akane, our protagonist, has long white hair, wears all black, and carries a big sword. Along for the ride is her learning AI companion, Bot, who serves as a non-player character that heals in battle.
What I got to play in the Artis Impact demo was a humorous and light-hearted adventure with endearing characters and a fairly interesting combat system. Learning new skills through manuals and upgrading your sword through defeating bosses gives the player a little control over their adventure. Conversations and cut scenes taking place through manga/comic-style boxes and sketches had me immediately wishlisting this gorgeous game.
Artis Impact releases on PC via Steam on August 7th, 2025. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page, and if you’re interested, please add the game to your wishlist.
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch (TBA) | Release Date: August 21st
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken has players controlling Amy, a woman whose brother died while lucid dreaming. In order to find him and figure out what happened, solving the mystery of her brother’s death, Amelia must, herself, lucid dream. Though the dream she enters is not her own, she meets a ‘friend’ who helps her along the way.
This friend helps awaken the power of focus, allowing Amy to recreate items she has previously lost in her inventory. Deep Sleep isn’t just a spooky point-and-click adventure though; there’s also turn-based combat and some real-time puzzles to solve. Playing through the demo was very fun with the puzzle solving and tense with the action, amped up by the music.
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken releases on PC via Steam on August 21st, 2025, with a Switch version in the works. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page, and if you’re interested, please add the game to your wishlist.
The Supper: New Blood
Platforms: PC | Release Date: August 26th
The Supper: New Blood has the look of an older LucasArts adventure game. Scenes are presented through the lens of a camera among the foliage and clutter of the forefront, as it invites you into the show. Stewie, our protagonist, begins to mete out justice as some colorful characters come to find respite at his family motel.
Stewie isn’t necessarily qualified to deliver justice, as he himself is not necessarily in his right mind. However, the characters presented unquestionably deserve it, with the first one bragging about running over dogs in his truck. The point & click mechanics aren’t entirely based on moon logic, but they’re bizarre. However, there isn’t a whole lot to interact with, so the solutions end up being fairly simple and straightforward.
The Supper: New Blood releases on PC via Steam on August 26th, 2025. A demo is currently available on the Steam Page, and if you’re interested, don’t hesitate to add the game to your wishlist.
Another great month of new indie releases! I relish the opportunity to get to present some of the games I check out and hopefully share them with those who will buy them.
That said, if you’d like to participate in helping fight against payment processors taking down indie games, I recommend following Ana Valens on Bluesky. She not only broke the story initially, only to have it taken down by VICE later, but also routinely makes posts about things you can do to help out.
As always, let us know if you ended up grabbing one of the games and enjoyed it. I’d love to know whether or not the list is helping. If there’s a game coming up you want to see covered, feel free to email us at will@monstervine.com or ping our BlueSky account. We’re always scoping out games to cover, so we appreciate the help. See you next month!
