3 new turn-based games for September

Just in time for back-to-school

It’s been a while since I had a look at upcoming games, but I hope to bring some lesser-known titles to your attention with these lists. Besides, there are only 3 games to read about!

Hello JOMT Reader!

It’s hard to believe that in less than a week, the summer will have officially ended with the kids going back to school. For me, as a parent, that means Back-to-School shopping and less money for games. Fortunately, these indie game selections won’t set you back too much so hopefully you can squeeze them in to your budget.

Let’s kick off the new school year with three great-looking turn-based games being released in September.

Demonschool

🔗 Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1900250/Demonschool/
📅 Release date: used to be September 2024, now Q1 2025
🖥️ Developer: Necrosoft Games
📢 Publisher: Ysbyrd Games
🎮 Platform: Steam (PC)

Most of us study fairly boring subjects like art and science in school. Not so if you are a student at Demonschool, as you’ll be fighting “big weirdos” alongside your new friends in university.

What is most intriguing about this game is the planning system. You’ll plan the order of actions of your characters before you get to see it all play out in real-time. The actions can interact with each other (i.e., a rock on the battlefield could be moved by one character and used by the another character to inflict damage) and you can even make combo attacks. Your success on the battlefield will depend on how well you can plan for some of these combinations.

With a cast of four announced characters, the game promises to offer some replayability as you navigate life in Demonschool. At the time of writing, the game was planned for a September release; unfortunately, the release date got pushed back to Q1 2025 by the time this post got published. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a unique twist on the turn-based formula, have a look at this game!

Sumerian Six

🔗 Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1429850/Sumerian_Six/
📅 Release date: September 2, 2024
🖥️ Developer: Artificer
📢 Publisher: Devolver Digital
🎮 Platform: Steam (PC)

The Steam page description for Sumerian Six starts off with “commando scientists”. If that isn’t enough to get anyone hooked, I’m not sure what is. In any case, you’ll lead a team of scientists tasked with disrupting Nazi operations during an alternate version of WWII, where demons exist (there’s a demon theme for turn-based games in this post, it seems).

As far as I can tell, the game plays like Shadow Tactics and Shadow Gambit — you lead your team around levels with enemies in real time, sneaking around (or not) and completing your objectives. With plenty of different environments to explore and presumably many ways to navigate those environments, there will likely be many different ways to disrupt enemy operations.

Having multiple ways to solve a problem sounds like you can expect to replay the game many times. I’m looking forward to causing chaos on these maps and seeing how the other characters react to it!

Silence of the Siren

🔗 Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2147380/Silence_of_the_Siren/
📅 Release date: September 30, 2024 (early access)
🖥️ Developer: Oxymoron Games
📢 Publisher: Oxymoron Games
🎮 Platform: Steam (PC)

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the demo of this game, which is still available from the Steam page. It is a modern take on Heroes of Might and Magic, where you move your commander and units on a map, collecting resources and fighting enemies as you spread your influence across the map.

During battle, you’ll move the units on the hex-grid battlefield and take advantage of your unit’s abilities to take down the enemy army. While most of the time, greater numbers will work to your favour, the right combination of army and abilities will allow even a small army to defeat a much larger force. Each unit has their own unique characteristics and upgrade paths that I think will make playing and replaying this game a lot of fun.

Be warned though, it’s a lot more slower paced than action-oriented turn-based games. But if you enjoy spending hours planning and replanning your moves, look no further than this game!

If you liked what you read, please consider giving this post a like! What games are you most looking forward to in September? Let me know below!