The latest September update of new RPGs and turn-based strategy games is here. For me personally, this September has flown by extremely fast, but it has still delivered a lot of great game releases.
Before I dive into my recap, I wanted to take a moment to share a few other things I am working on for TBL website. I have begun constructing a large-scale database of ALL the turn-based games I write about and discuss on these pages. Like anything else, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort, but I plan to take it slow and do it ONE STEP AT A TIME so I don’t put too much pressure on myself. I’ll keep you posted on how everything goes.
Anyway, in this recap you can find a tactical roguelite, which was just out of early access, another D&D Campaign, and a Survival Horror RPG where cutting off an enemy’s limbs may actually increase or decrease the danger level of your battle.
With those three as a base, we have a good amount of variety to start our Saturday Roundup. Additionally, I’ve pulled together several demos and a playtest, along with a couple of older games to catch back up on. While many are introductory demonstrations to games coming out soon, the others give us a look at how certain projects are progressing over time. Let’s get started.
Deified – Version 1.0
- Developer: Unexpected
- Release Date: September 21, 2026 – Full release
- Platforms: PC
- Steam Page: Deified
Let’s start with a game graduating from Early Access. Deified is a tactical roguelite about collecting relics and figuring out how their effects work together. Matching relic types activates synergies, while assembling identical fragments lets you improve your equipment. There’s another decision involved, though: each equipment slot applies its own bonus and drawback, so where you place a relic can be as important as which one you choose.
The unusual detail is that combat doesn’t use mana, action points, or cooldowns. Your relic combinations and their restrictions take center stage, with boss curses introducing complications that can disrupt a carefully planned setup.
Skill trees and unlockable rooms expand the possibilities across runs. For anyone who enjoys spending time experimenting with equipment combinations, that’s the part of Deified I’d pay attention to.
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked – New Campaign and Xbox Release
- Developer: Resolution Games
- Release Date: September 22, 2026 – Xbox launch and Twilight’s End DLC
- Platforms for the new campaign: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5/PSVR2, Meta Quest
- Steam Page: Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked
For a session with friends, Battlemarked is the perfect tabletop-style option. You move class-based heroes across miniature battlefields, use ability cards, and coordinate attacks with a party of up to four people. Solo play is also supported, and a VR headset isn’t required on Steam.
The new paid campaign, Twilight’s End, continues the story from the previous adventures, taking the party from Mithral Hall into the Silver Marches. Along the way are new locations, weapons, monsters, bosses, and one-shot dungeons. It arrives alongside the game’s Xbox release, while the campaign’s Nintendo Switch 2 and PICO versions are still to come.
There’s also something here for existing owners who aren’t buying the expansion: a separate free update adds local co-op outside VR. Steam and Xbox support multiple controllers, with a single-controller Pass and Play option available as well. That’s a useful addition for anyone who would prefer to gather around the same screen.
Scorched Sun
Developer: Skeleton Coffee Games
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Scorched Sun
Scorched Sun takes us somewhere considerably less welcoming: a monastery in a village that has stopped communicating with your order. It’s a short, top-down survival horror game with turn-based combat, resources to gather, and visibility restricted to what your character can actually see. Walking into an unfamiliar area therefore means accepting that part of the danger may still be hidden.
The combat feature that caught my attention is individual body-part targeting. You can sever an enemy’s limbs, but some creatures change their behavior afterward and become more dangerous.
Before choosing a target, you have to consider what that injury might cause the creature to do next. Your equipped weapon also determines the offensive actions available, tying those decisions to the equipment you bring into the encounter.
Nightbound – Demo
Developer: Crooked Cats Studio
Release Date: September 23, 2026 – Demo
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Nightbound
Two people sharing a house at the end of the world is a premise that immediately gives Nightbound a more personal scale. This is a single-player tactics game I’m very excited about, where you control both Jun and Loren as they prepare for nightly attacks by the Bloom.
During the day, they scavenge, clear spores, repair defenses, and spend time together. After dark, the game switches to turn-based battles featuring cover, manual aiming, and interception fire: walking into an enemy’s sights can get you shot during movement.
Their relationship also affects combat. Growing closer unlocks cooperative moves, including healing an adjacent partner and following up on each other’s attacks. The demo covers the first three days and nights, giving you a look at both the domestic routines and the defensive battles. The full game is currently targeting January 2027.
Knights of Frontier Valley – Second Playtest
Developer: Adamant Studios
Release Date: September 15, 2026 – Second public playtest
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Knights of Frontier Valley
On top of my personal wishlist, there’s for sure Knights of Frontier Valley, and this week we can try the second playtest. An open-world RPG with procedurally generated environments, professions, crafting, changing seasons, and characters who follow their own schedules.
Combat is turn-based and gridless, with automatic resolution available, while exploration and survival extend the game beyond individual battles.
Its second public playtest uses version 0.5, which expands the adventure with more quests, two cities, and additional systems. One addition worth highlighting is the ability to recruit mercenaries and temporary quest companions. These characters can support you in combat, help with flanking, and share duties such as keeping watch while others rest. Mining and expanded crafting are part of the update too.
This one arrived before the current week, but it belongs among the weekend catch-ups. It’s a playtest, and participation is requested through the Steam page’s Request Access button.
Impious – Demo
Developer: Flaman Studio
Release Date: September 24, 2026 – Demo
Platforms: PC, Linux
Steam Page: Impious
Honestly, I never heard anything about this one, and it looks like there’s a particularly unpleasant consequence for losing a fight in Impious: the people holding you captive get another opportunity to “correct” you.
This dark turn-based RPG takes place inside an underground indoctrination facility, where defeat reduces your will instead of immediately ending the run. Lose all of it, however, and that run is over. Combat uses resources called impulses, which you assign to skills and can generate or reroll by spending energy.
Outside fights, doors display the probabilities of finding enemies, loot, merchants, or shrines, giving you information before you choose a route. Equipment affixes, crafting, and bartering offer additional ways to shape your character.
Blood Sword – Demo
Developer: Prime Games
Release Date: September 14, 2026 – Demo
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Blood Sword
Here’s another demo worth catching up on, especially for anyone who likes gamebook-style adventures. Blood Sword adapts Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson’s books into a party-based RPG, with branching choices and grid-based tactical combat. Prime Games, the developer behind Fabled Lands, is handling the adaptation.
You control up to four heroes, coordinating their abilities and positioning while decisions outside combat can change the route through the adventure.
The demo covers the opening of The Kingdom of Wyrd, starting at a forest campfire and continuing to the shores of Wyrd, with all four heroes available. It was released during the Party-Based RPG Fest, but it remains playable beyond the event. The full game is currently scheduled for November 12, 2026, so this is an opportunity to get acquainted with the party before the larger adventure arrives.
Nocturne
Developer: Pracy Studios
Release Date: September 22, 2026
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Nocturne
Nocturne is a rhythm RPG that debuted this week. You explore, level up, change equipment, and buy items, but combat asks you to hit notes in time with the music. Accurate inputs can produce critical hits, while too many misses give enemies an opportunity to retaliate. Six difficulty settings let you choose how demanding that timing challenge becomes.
The setting is a digital afterlife that has persisted long after humanity disappeared, rendered in pixel-art environments.
Music is naturally a major part of the package, with 101 tracks and an Arcade mode for revisiting unlocked battles and chasing better scores. It’s a detour from our usual coverage, but one that may appeal to readers who enjoy RPG progression and don’t mind their reflexes getting involved.
Exodus Core – Demo
Developer: Osis Studio
Release Date: September 25, 2026 – Demo
Platforms: PC
Steam Page: Exodus Core
Now for the mechs. Exodus Core puts three machines under your command, each carrying the digitized personality of a soldier. Humanity has been driven underground, and these units are being sent back to the surface to confront the creatures occupying it. The important part for us turn based lovers is the combat of course, with different machines filling roles such as heavy assault and mobile artillery.
Customization includes swapping weapons, reinforcing armor, and modifying the squad for different threats.
Melee and ranged attacks give the units different jobs during a fight, so the appeal lies in finding a setup that lets three machines cover one another’s weaknesses. The demo is available now, with the full release scheduled for November 10, 2026.
Interregnum – Demo
Developer: Post-Capital Games
Release Date: August 28, 2026 – Demo
Platforms: PC, Mac
Steam Page: Interregnum
We’ll finish with something for the card-game crowd. Interregnum takes inspiration from Dominion, adding hidden information and bluffing to its turn-based deckbuilding.
Units enter play face-down, which means you have to read your opponent’s intentions without knowing exactly what they’ve deployed. Alternatively, powerful Announce effects let you reveal your plans openly and challenge the other side to respond.
That tension between concealment and declaration is the idea that stands out to me. You’re developing your deck and contesting the battlefield, but also deciding how much information to give away.
The full game lists a solo campaign against AI opponents, challenge scenarios, and online multiplayer. Its demo has been available since late August.
And that brings us to the end of this late-September recap of new RPGs and strategy games, with everything new you can play right now.
Let me know what you think by reaching out on my social channels, joining the Discord server, or stopping by our Reddit community, which has now reached 11,000 members. Also, don’t forget to add TBL to your Preferred Sources on Google, so you can make sure you never miss any of our stories and updates. See you next time. Ciao
