Apparently, game developers would rather stay cool, head to the beach, and relax than sit in front of a computer working on their next game, or maybe that’s not true at all, and I’m just talking nonsense.
I say that because June’s release schedule has been remarkably light. Sure, we had Steam Next Fest, which at least gave us plenty of new demos to check out, but when it comes to full releases, you can count them on two hands.
Today, we’re taking a look at everything worth checking out from the past couple of weeks, including last week’s releases, since I dedicated last Saturday’s recap entirely to Steam Next Fest.
R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos
Developer: Granzella Inc.
Publisher: NIS America
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2
Release Date: June 18, 2026
R-Type is best known for side-scrolling shoot ’em ups, but R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos takes its ships, weapons, and Bydo threat into a turn-based tactics game. The collection rebuilds R-Type Tactics from 2007 and R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate from 2009, bringing both PSP strategy games to modern systems. It also marks the first official Western release of the second entry.
Battles revolve around fleet composition, positioning, scouting, supply management, and electronic warfare. Players can develop fighters and warships before deploying them across more than 100 missions. Individual units have different movement ranges, sensors, weapons, and battlefield roles.
Multiple campaigns cover both the Space Corps and the Bydo, while the second game contains branching story routes. The collection also adds new missions set after R-Type Tactics II. PC players can find it through Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store.
Eternal Exodus
Developer: Fordesoft
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: June 15, 2026
Following its earlier console versions, Eternal Exodus has now completed its journey to Steam. It is a pixel-art creature-collecting RPG set in an afterlife controlled by powerful rulers. The protagonist gains access to a forbidden device called the Subjugator, which can capture and summon the demons found throughout Hell.
More than 100 demons can be recruited and fused. Fusion creates stronger species while allowing spells and passive abilities to pass from the original creatures to their successor. Players can also craft weapons and armor for their demons, learn spells from party members, and complete side quests tied to legendary creatures.
Its influences are easy to identify, with Fordesoft directly citing Pokémon and Shin Megami Tensei.
Querent
Developer and Publisher: Turn Da Page
Platform: PC
Full Release Date: Coming Soon
Demo Release Date: June 19, 2026
I talked about Querent back in May 2025, and knowing there’s now a playable demo is great news. Indie dev Turn Da Page brings its RPG with deckbuilding and turn-based combat to an alternate version of the American Southwest.
Players arrive at Sunset Junction, an exile colony surrounded by hypnotized wildlife and strange technology buried beneath the desert. Psychic abilities known as Mesmerism can be used during exploration to free animals, remove environmental barriers, and uncover different solutions to quests.
Each party member carries a customizable skill deck built from six suits. These cards define their combat abilities, personality traits, and role within the group. Players can recruit other exiles, strengthen relationships, and unlock hidden talents as the community prepares to confront the force operating below Sunset Junction.
The free demo contains four playable characters, three battles, and full voice acting. It offers an early look at the game’s fast-paced turn-based encounters, character-specific decks, and tarot-inspired presentation. The full version does not yet have a confirmed release date.
Atre: Dominance Wars
Developer: Ironward
Publishers: Ironward and Phoenix Game
Platform: PC
Early Access Release Date: June 8, 2026
Now, a game that combines real-time 4X management with turn-based tactical battles. Atre: Dominance Wars put players in control of an Elder seeking godhood while expanding settlements, upgrading cities, researching unit mutations, forging artifacts, and commanding hero-led armies.
The world is gradually consumed by a force called the Merge, adding pressure to secure territory and bind endangered regions to the player’s Throne before they disappear.
The current Early Access build includes four factions, single-player and multiplayer Skirmish modes, and the opening section of the campaign. It supports solo play, co-op, and multiplayer matches with up to 32 participants.
Campaigns also involve diplomacy, temporary alliances, betrayals, army customization, and spells powerful enough to alter the map. Ironward plans to expand the campaign, AI, procedural generation, faction rosters, heroes, spells, and user interface during Early Access.
Into The Depths
Developer and Publisher: SmelJey
Platform: PC
Release Date: June 10, 2026
Into The Depths combines deckbuilding with colony management and roguelite progression. Each expedition sends players underground to establish settlements, gather resources, and descend toward increasingly hostile cave systems.
Cards are drawn every turn and used to expand an outpost. The main challenge comes from balancing food production, research, and wealth while finding useful synergies between structures. A settlement can generate plenty of resources and still collapse when its population grows faster than its food supply.
Technology investments add stronger cards to the deck and improve the expedition’s chances. Deeper areas introduce new conditions across the Humid Caves, Magma Caverns, and the Abyss. Failure ends the current attempt, but permanent upgrades and starting deck adjustments carry into future expeditions.
Ward Off Evil
Developer and Publisher: Terminal Zero
Platform: PC
Release Date: Coming Soon
Demo Release Date: June 10, 2026
A demo I missed from the Steam Next Fest is Ward Off Evil. Developer Terminal Zero describes it as an open-world strategy RPG set during the final days of an apocalyptic sword and sorcery world.
Players take the role of a Guide whose background and tribal origin influence the starting character.
Progression includes active skills, passive perks, and supernatural powers. The Guide can then build an army by hiring soldiers from four major factions, recruiting members of smaller tribes, taming monsters, or summoning Elementals and Thoughtforms through rituals.
Exploration takes place across a desert wasteland filled with contracts, settlements, relics, and competing groups. Relics can further change the normal rules of combat, giving certain builds or formations an additional advantage. The demo provides the first chance to test how the open-world structure connects with its larger army battles.
Apathema
Developer: Sammy Makes Games
Publisher: DOSMan Publishing
Platform: PC
Full Release Date: To Be Announced
Demo Availability: Available Now
Apathema is a very original first-person turn-based RPG set inside the Chasm, a decaying structure filled with hostile creatures, forgotten shrines, acid, and near-total darkness.
Combat gives players a limited number of turns and supports limb targeting, parries, dodges, craftable spells, and equipment changes during battle. Destroying or crippling a specific body part can reduce an enemy’s options, though the protagonist remains just as vulnerable to targeted attacks.
The spell-crafting system provides only four slots, encouraging players to adjust their loadout for each area. Weapons, armor, passive effects, syringes, and spell-guns add further ways to build around specific threats.
The lantern also functions as a limited survival resource during exploration and combat. Losing its light causes sanity to fall and introduces additional dangers. Its bleak visual style and dungeon structure draw inspiration from games such as Baroque, King’s Field, and God Husk.
The free demo is now available for download on Steam, while the full game does not yet have a release date.
Beastro
Developer: Timberline Studio
Publishers: Timberline Studio and Kepler Ghost
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: June 11, 2026
Cooking, restaurant management, and deckbuilding meet in Beastro. Players control Panko, a young chef who takes charge of a restaurant in the village of Palo Pori after his teacher disappears. Ingredients can be grown, gathered, or obtained by caring for animals, while meals are prepared through a collection of cooking minigames.
The food is more than part of the management layer. Panko serves a group of adventurers known as the Caretakers, and each dish directly shapes the deck they carry into battle.
Individual ingredients unlock cards, while flavor profiles influence abilities and bonuses. Caretakers also have their own tastes, so preparing the right combination can strengthen their skills before an expedition.
Combat uses a turn-based deckbuilding system inspired by traditional trick-taking card games. Players can match an enemy’s flavor magic, neutralize it with balancing cards, or enhance an existing play. Ingredient effects introduce further options, including putting enemies to sleep or removing cards from their hands. Beastro is also available through Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
Mirklurk: Every Step Matters
Developer and Publisher: Edym Pixels
Platform: PC
Early Access Release Date: June 11, 2026
Last one on the list is Mirklurk: Every Step Matters. A turn-based RPG that puts the player in exile to the Mirk, an unforgiving swamp where travel consumes action points and poor preparation can be as dangerous as combat.
Characters must manage hunger, tiredness, energy, and warmth. Nights require a suitable campsite and enough firewood, while equipment carries practical tradeoffs. Heavy armor can help during a fight, but it makes climbing, traveling, or staying warm more difficult. Weapon types also use different attack patterns.
The terrain is procedurally generated, though handcrafted characters, ruins, locations, and events are placed throughout the world. Players can create paths, establish camps, forage, brew potions, hunt, trade, explore dungeons, or follow the optional main storyline.
Edym Pixels estimates that the initial Early Access build contains around 80 percent of the planned content. The developer hopes to keep the Early Access period to roughly three months, with additional enemies, items, discoveries, and general balancing planned for the full release.
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