Summary
With hundreds of thousands of games to choose from,Itch.iois the one-stop shop for beautiful, terrifying, cozy, adventurous, mysterious, indie games of all kinds. Whether players yearn for a simpler time in one ofthe various farming simulatorsavailable or they’re looking for a spooky hack-n-slash for a dark and stormy night, Itch.io has what everyone wants —including lots ofSoulslikegames,where the gameplay is difficult (or frustrating, at times), skills-based, and hard to master, akin to its namesake, theDark Soulsseries.
There are almost three hundred games tagged as “soulslike” on Itch.io, all different in art style, music, and plot, but alike in their action role-playing genre.Some are totally free, whereas some cost a pretty penny. The question is, which will have the more impatient players throwing controllers and mice at their unsuspecting computer screens?
8TUNIC
A Tiny Fox Protagonist In A Zelda-Inspired Soulslike
In this isometric action game, players tackle colossal beasts, mysterious legends, and magical powers while reconstructing the game’s Instruction Manual — a game mechanic and tutorial hunt all in one.
Playing as a little fox on an epic quest,TUNICis perfect for fans ofHyper Light Drifterand othergames with adorable protagonists.This game in many ways put Itch.io on the map and earned itself a few Game Awards nominations as a result.
TUNICis available on Windows and macOS.
7Brume
A Classically Styled Adventure
Inspired by classic adventure games of old,Brumechallenges players to explore a deserted island on their way to an abandoned stronghold.
Knights, slugs, beetles, and ghosts assail the player, but with powerful weapons and three different challenging modes of gameplay,Brumeis a short and sweet story for fans ofDeath’s DoorandTitan Souls.
Brumeis available on Windows and macOS.
6Featherfall
Players take on the role of a bird freshly hatched from their egg inFeatherfall,a dark action RPG that takes place in an expansive forest. In order to solve the mysteries of this abandoned setting, players need to upgrade their stats and gear to defeat seven difficult, but strangely adorable, bosses — and find more than thirty different items that can help unravel the story.
Featherfallis a great game for players who enjoyLittle Nightmares, with its tiny but mighty protagonists.
Featherfallis available on Windows and macOS.
5White Lavender
Collect Fun Hats And Brew Tea
With its deceptively adorable art style and has fun hats to collect,White Lavender’spremise is simple: brew a special tea to save the protagonist’s sister.
Melee and magic both feature in the difficult battles versus giant snails and magic frogs, and each run can be different with player traits to pile points into. For fans ofCupheadandHollow Knight,White Lavenderis a perfect, pastel-themed parallel.
Where To Find White Lavender
White Lavenderis in development, and the demo is available on Windows and macOS.
4LIGHTDANCER
A Low-Commitment Soulslike With Great Gameplay
As a Lightdancer, players wield their bows and shed (or shoot) light on their journey to restore the balance of light and shadow. This game is short and sweet, boasting an average session time of justa few minutes.
LIGHTDANCERis a great foray into soulslike games for those unfamiliar with the genre’s difficult gameplayand puzzle mechanics. Just be careful not to burn anything important along the way.
LIGHTDANCERis available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
3GRIME
Gorgeous Art And Gruesome Combat
GRIME’ssurrealist, gruesome art style is immediately eye-catching, and the combat is no different; weapons can mutate form during fights, adding variety and surprise to each battle that players face in this otherworldly game.
Lovingly rendered in “unearthly 3D”,GRIMEis a beautiful, difficult, and sometimes gross soulslike that’sperfect for fans of theCastlevaniaseries,featuring platforming and plenty of gory bosses to destroy.
Where To Find GRIME
GRIMEis available on Windows and macOS, with DLC titledGRIME: Colors of Rotcurrently in development.
2Sang: The Desert Blade
A Demo With Stunning Combat
WhileSang: The Desert Bladeis still in development, the demo flexes its intense battle gameplay and immediately catches the eye. Players take on the role of Sang, a wolf on the hunt for her kin with the help of her ominous visions of death and destruction.
With spells to cast and weapons to upgrade, Sang will be a great game for fans ofHades, as with each death in the game, more story unlocks as players learn from their mistakes.
1Strato-Spear
Winner Of The 32-Bit 2022 Game Jam
Strato-Spearmay take less than half an hour to play, but it proves itself to be strong in both gameplay and story — so strong that it won the 32-Bit 2022 Game Jam. Players control VT, separated from her spaceship on a faraway planet.
In order to get back to her ship, VT will need to fight through an island of hostile aliens… which shouldn’t be a problem, if she only had her spear.Strato-Spearpays homage to theSuper Metroidseries and classic adventure games, a clear passion project from a development team of just one person.
