October is always a special time for indie releases. The indie games arriving in October 2025 range from haunting horror tales to heartfelt adventures and bold experiments. It’s the month when spooky gems appear in time for Halloween, while cozy titles and story-driven experiences provide a softer balance. For this roundup, we’ve highlighted 9 standout indie games with confirmed dates, demos, or Game Pass availability. Each one brings something unique, whether it’s a chilling mystery, a clever mechanic, or the return of a fan-favorite series.
Here’s what deserves a spot on your watchlist this October.
Bye Sweet Carole — October 9
Platforms: PS5 / Xbox Series / Switch / PC
Hand-drawn horror rarely arrives with this kind of presence. Bye Sweet Carole looks like a children’s storybook at first glance, yet its pages hide something far more sinister. Chris Darril, the creator of Remothered, leans into unsettling details where rabbits smile too wide and familiar gardens twist into eerie landscapes. Exploration flows into puzzle-solving, pulling you deeper into its world and rewarding careful observation. Every step is meant to keep you slightly uneasy, but in a way that feels captivating rather than overwhelming. As one of the standout indie games of October 2025, it carries both beauty and dread, making it an ideal companion for long October nights.
SOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato — October 7
Platforms: Xbox / PC (Day-One Game Pass)
There’s a special kind of charm in games that start with something ordinary and slowly peel back layers of meaning. SOPA begins with a boy searching for a stolen potato, but it turns into a story about family, childhood, and the kind of small moments that linger in memory. The art direction is warm and inviting, borrowing from Latin American culture to give the world its own identity. With each step, the story dips between fantasy and reality, asking you to see the extraordinary in the mundane. It isn’t long, but it’s the type of experience that leaves you thinking about your own family connections when the credits roll. Game Pass availability makes it one of the easiest recommendations this month, especially for players looking for a heartfelt pause between bigger releases.
BALL x PIT — October 15
Platforms: PS5 / Xbox / Switch / PC (Game Pass)
If October has a surprise candidate for “game everyone suddenly talks about,” it could be BALL x PIT. It takes the familiar rhythm of a brick-breaker and transforms it into a roguelite survival where bouncing projectiles become both weapon and chaos. Every round grows wilder as new upgrades stack, balls ricochet in unpredictable ways, and survival depends on adapting in the moment. Kenny Sun’s design thrives on the strange middle ground between strategy and pure reaction. Devolver’s backing ensures it won’t fly under the radar, and Game Pass means plenty of curious players will give it a shot. It’s easy to imagine streamers showing off their most chaotic runs once it drops, which may help it snowball into something bigger than expected.
Dreamed Away — October 23
Platforms: Xbox / Switch / PC
Dreamed Away feels like it was made for this season. The pixel art paints a world that looks soft at first glance but hides an underlying tension, echoing games like Undertale while still carving its own path. You explore dreamlike spaces where reality bends and fades, and the story leans into themes of fear, loss, and resilience. What makes it stand out is its balance: the eerie atmosphere never overshadows the heart at its core. Combat is straightforward but intentionally layered with moments that make you pause and consider. The early demo has already shown it resonates with players who like narrative-driven indies with emotional weight. Releasing in late October makes it a perfect companion to cooler nights and quiet play sessions.
Bounty Star — October 23
Platforms: PS / Xbox / PC
If you’ve ever wished for a game that let you pilot a battered mech by day and run a homestead by night, Bounty Star is that dream materialized. Annapurna is known for supporting ambitious ideas, and this one blends fast-paced desert combat with downtime that’s about tending to your base and rebuilding your life. You play as Clementine McKinney, a former soldier trying to find purpose while surviving in a harsh frontier. The mech combat feels weighty, full of clunky yet satisfying destruction, while the homestead management adds a quieter counterpoint. It’s rare to see such a mix of genres, and rarer still to see it backed with the kind of polish Annapurna tends to ensure. For players who like games that shift gears between adrenaline and reflection, this is one of October’s most intriguing bets.
Super Fantasy Kingdom — October 24
Platforms: PC (Game Preview, Game Pass)
Hooded Horse has carved out a niche for publishing ambitious strategy titles, and Super Fantasy Kingdom might be their most unusual yet. It blends the careful planning of a city-builder with the intensity of bullet-hell defense, forcing you to balance resource management with fast reflexes. Each run is roguelite in nature, so no two kingdoms unfold the same way. For strategy fans, the appeal is in that tension between order and chaos — you can spend minutes perfecting a layout only to watch it collapse under the next wave. Launching into Game Preview with Game Pass support means it will get immediate attention, and it could easily become a new obsession for players who love testing systems until they break. It has the potential to sit comfortably next to Manor Lords as another Hooded Horse standout.
Welcome to the Dark Place — October 24
Platforms: PC (Free)
When Zeekerss announces something new, the indie world pays attention. After the viral explosion of Lethal Company, expectations are high, and Welcome to the Dark Place feels like a deliberate contrast. It’s a free single-player text-horror experience, leaning into minimalism instead of multiplayer chaos. That shift makes it all the more interesting, with the developer experimenting with mood and pacing rather than repeating the same formula. Among the most notable indie games of October 2025, it brings fragmented storytelling, eerie imagery, and the kind of unease that lingers long after closing the game. The fact that it’s free will ensure a huge number of downloads, which might turn it into another cultural moment in indie horror. Whether it becomes a long-term staple or a short-lived curiosity, this release will dominate conversation once it drops.
The Séance of Blake Manor — October 27
Platform: PC
Haunted manors are familiar territory in horror, but The Séance of Blake Manor takes the idea and filters it through a detective’s lens. Developed by Spooky Doorway and published by Raw Fury, it puts you in the role of an investigator trying to untangle supernatural events in a sprawling house full of secrets. The perspective shifts from eerie first-person exploration to puzzle-solving moments where every clue could lead to another misdirection. What makes it appealing is how it leans into the uncertainty of the occult; nothing ever feels fully trustworthy. The demo already hints at an experience that blends atmosphere with logic, making it a strong fit for players who like their scares to come with a dose of deduction. With Halloween right around the corner, its release date feels almost too perfect.
Mina the Hollower — October 31
Platforms: PC / Switch / PlayStation / Xbox
Yacht Club Games earned their reputation with Shovel Knight, and Mina the Hollower carries that pedigree into a Game Boy Color-inspired adventure. It’s a throwback in visuals but modern in design, with fluid combat, hidden pathways, and a world that feels alive despite its retro palette. You play as Mina, a whip-wielding hero navigating dungeons full of traps and creatures, with movement that’s fast and precise. The studio has a way of making old-school mechanics feel fresh again, and everything shown so far suggests this will do the same. Launching on Halloween gives it an added sense of occasion, turning it into a holiday event for fans of indie action. It’s hard not to see this becoming one of the most talked-about indie releases of the season.
Wrapping Up
From heartfelt stories like SOPA to ambitious designs like Super Fantasy Kingdom, October is filled with indies that highlight the range of what the scene can offer. Players drawn to horror will find plenty to explore with Bye Sweet Caroleand Welcome to the Dark Place. Those who enjoy comfort, strategy, or slower-paced adventures will see options that feel equally rewarding. The month’s lineup shows how much the indie space has expanded, with games that are emotional, experimental, and confident in their ideas.
Overall, the indie games of October 2025 make it a month full of discoveries and memorable experiences. Keep an eye on Steam Next Fest as well, since demos will spotlight even more titles across genres.
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