It’s October, and you know what that means: monsters and scares abound! There’s no better time to dive deep into wildly experimental and stylish survival horror than the spooky Halloween season, and this month’s PlayStation Indies delivers on that front. As for the “monsters” – well, we have a herd of very strange creatures and beastly brawlers straight out of the barnyard. Oh, and a geometric object so terrifying it makes alien predators tremble in fear. Let’s take a look at what you can expect on PS4 and PS5 this month.
The Eternal Cylinder
The imaginative minds of developer ACE Team (Rock of Ages, Zeno Clash, Abyss Odyssey) are back with an otherworldly adventure. A majestic planet exists far out in the universe, teeming with strange life forms all struggling for survival. Yet even in this hostile environment, one threat towers above all others: the overwhelming and destructive power of the Cylinder.
You take control of a Trebhum, a strange pack-travelling creature with the power to transform and adapt to environments by eating. Explore four beautiful alien biomes – savannah, tundra, desert and a bizarre mutated Infected Sector – while shapeshifting your herd of Trebhums to react to the dangers posed by the environments and other creatures. Develop extra legs to build stamina, extendable eyes to get a better view of your surroundings, and pump up your body for extra inventory space. Explore, evolve and uncover the secrets of the Cylinder before it destroys everything.
Release date: October 13 | Editor: Good Shepherd | PS5
They fight against the herds
Cute little animals bring big action in this unorthodox one-on-one fighting game from Mane6. Designed by and for fans of the genre, Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a beautifully animated and humorous critter fighting game, featuring character designs by acclaimed animator Lauren Faust. These fuzzy, scaly fighters can run on all fours, but they have as many cunning combat skills as their human counterparts, bolstered by magical energy that can be used for movement and attack skills that are unique to each character. If kicking down barn doors with your local friends isn’t enough, you can battle with friends online and offline, thanks to a smooth back netcode.
Release date: October 18 | Editor: Mod Games | PS4, PS5
Saturnalia
Some historians speculate that the Roman holiday customs of Saturnalia were absorbed into the Christmas holiday. But in the case of Saturnalia, a game from acclaimed Italian indie studio Santa Ragione, Halloween is a far more appropriate season because this survival horror roguelite is anything but festive.
You will travel to Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy and home to the village of Gravoi, where a strange ritual takes place every winter solstice. Taking control of four different characters, you’ll explore bewildering corridors and terrifying, winding passageways as you struggle to keep the ever-encroaching darkness from consuming you.
Saturnalia’s stunning and unique graphics, which blend vivid colors with high-contrast pencil shades, perfectly enhance the rambling and otherworldly atmosphere. Gravoi’s winding, labyrinthine structure also changes completely with each playthrough, giving a new set of scares every time you play.
Release date: October 27 | Editor: Holy Reason | PS5, PS4
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In the distant future at the edge of space, a ship crashes on a cold and arid planet. As android tech Elster searches for her missing teammate, she discovers what appears to be an abandoned “re-education” camp. As terrifying visions and unknown memories race through her mind, the answers to her many questions lie in strange radio transmissions. They point to something mysterious deep below the planet’s surface that Elster must travel to discover.
Signalis combines tense and terrifying survival horror combat and resource management with a mix of 3D polygons with 2D sprites that creates a unique and exceptionally detailed pixel-art look. Explore the moody and surreal environments of the planet from a top-down perspective as you piece together the twisted psychological thriller story. Can you overcome the visible and invisible malevolent forces long enough to reach the stunning conclusion?
Release date: October 27 | Editor: Humble Games | PS4
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