04/09/2026
Every Wednesday, dive into the Indie Select Hub — your gateway to a fresh, curated indie collection plus four themed spotlights that rotate weekly! You can always find this collection hub in the XBOX Store and on XBOX.com/IndieSelects.
The grill’s cooling down, school is starting up, and the weather is changing. You know what that means: it’s time for a seasonal refresh. So, before you go shopping for your new fit, let’s make sure we also add some bold indie originals to your gaming queue. We’re thinking: classic foundations but with some new ideas thrown in the mix.
This season, the ID@Xbox team has handpicked six Indie Selects that reinvent familiar genres with unforgettable worlds, creative mechanics, and unique perspectives. Every game delivers a distinctive premise, whether it’s managing superheroes, driving a magical truck, surviving nightmares, building kingdoms, or fighting in massive wars. Here’s what we’ve got for you this month (in no particular order):
Dispatch
Dispatch
AdHoc Studio
☆☆☆☆☆
974
★★★★★
$29.99
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What happens when a superhero loses the thing that makes him super? Apparently, he gets a desk job. Dispatch takes the superhero formula and flips it completely. You play as Robert Robertson, better known as Mecha Man. After losing his mech suit, Robert joins the Superhero Dispatch Network, where instead of saving the day himself, he’s responsible for sending others to do it. The problem? His team consists largely of former supervillains trying to become heroes. And they are wonderfully dysfunctional.
At its heart, Dispatch is a workplace comedy wrapped inside a superhero adventure. The writing is easily one of its greatest strengths, balancing genuinely funny moments with a story about identity, failure, relationships, and second chances. But you aren’t just watching everything unfold. As emergencies appear across Los Angeles, you decide which heroes to send. Each team member brings different strengths and abilities, turning every call into a small strategic decision. Sometimes the obvious hero is unavailable, forcing you to improvise – and occasionally hope you haven’t just made everything considerably worse. Those moments help Dispatch stand apart from other narrative adventures. Your team isn’t simply a cast of characters you’re watching; they’re people you’re responsible for managing. And before long, I found myself genuinely caring about them. The game’s animated presentation only strengthens that connection. Dispatch often feels like you’re playing through an adult animated superhero series, backed by excellent performances from a cast including Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew Mercer, and more.
What surprised me most, though, was the heart underneath all the chaos. Robert’s story asks an unexpectedly relatable question: When the thing you used to define yourself disappears, who are you without it? Come for the superheroes, questionable management decisions, and workplace chaos. Stay because somehow this dysfunctional team starts feeling like your own. Dispatch proves you don’t need to wear the cape to be the hero.
– Steven Allen
Truck-kun Is Supporting Me From Another World?!
Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?!
Frosty Pop
☆☆☆☆☆
3
★★★★★
$19.99
Get it now
Ever wonder why there’s a “strange” in Strange Scaffold, the developers on Truck-Kun is Supporting me from Another World?! Strange can mean unknown, unique, bombastic or otherworldly. That about covers this game.
Oh wait, fun comes to mind, too. Absurd, frantic fun.
Same old story, right? Truck driver runs over office worker (Carissa) who’s immediately possessed by anime elf girl from the Isekai world of Talinfold. Destroy everything and everyone in your path with your truck to buff the elf’s power, but don’t forget your daily deliveries. If Carissa can defeat the Skeleton King she can open a portal home. Pretty simple.
It’s you against the timer, racking up as many points as possible in this enticingly replayable sandbox. You need to cause maximum mayhem because every human you hit spawns monsters in Talinfold for elf Carissa to slay for experience points. Hitting stuff charges her sword so eventually Carissa can get back to work!
But it’s so much more than that. It’s ring-jumping, point-scoring, physics-shattering heroism where total annihilation makes another great day at work. It’s also edgy, acerbic and preposterous, with plenty of humor woven through characters and gameplay.
Wait, there’s also a free-roam mode? Check out the city, get yelled at and pestered by cops, destroy cement mixers and hotdog stands, pretty much everything we love about driving, right? Or maybe that’s just me (it helps that the driving controls are deliciously responsive).
Even in mission mode this game is forgiving. Not to say it’s easy, but it’s so fun – and funny – that I was happy to keep making those deliveries and doing good work. Don’t be ridiculous and think about the implications or the consequences. Just go, get the job done. The clock starts now!
– John Sherwood
CULTIC
CULTIC
Atari, Infogrames, 3D Realms
☆☆☆☆☆
74
★★★★★
$19.99
Get it now
Now this is what I’m talking about. CULTIC has all the hallmarks of a great retro FPS: explosive action, vicious firefights, and a thick layer of survival horror tension. But calling it a boomer shooter undersells what it brings to the table. After spending several hours with it, I came away feeling like CULTIC isn’t just inspired by the classics – it’s building on them in a way that feels fresh, modern, and genuinely exciting.
Narrative takes a back seat in CULTIC. The premise is simple: you’ve been brought back from the dead, and now it’s your job to wipe out a cult and the horrors it summons. On the surface, that may sound familiar, especially to fans of Nightdive Studio’s title Blood: Fresh Supply. Both games share a love for dark environments and fanatical enemies, but CULTIC quickly distinguishes itself through deliberate gameplay choices and effective horror design.
Naturally, CULTIC wants you sprinting, sliding, and leaping through chaos while turning cultists into red mist with a growing arsenal of destructive tools. From axes and handguns to ri**es and dynamite, every weapon feels satisfying to use. What impressed me most, however, is how the game modernizes the retro FPS formula without losing its soul. Weapons offer distinct playstyles, progression feels rewarding, and combat rarely grows stale. Even when enemy hordes become overwhelming, boss encounters crank up the intensity with genuinely punishing fights that demand your full attention.
Where CULTIC truly shines is its approach to horror. The environments are deeply unsettling, and the focused level design creates a steady sense of dread between bursts of explosive action. That pacing leads to several nerve-racking moments. I won’t spoil the details, but navigating a pitch-black mine armed with nothing more than a lighter for visibility… that’s a whole lot of nope for me right there.
CULTIC earns its place among the best modern boomer shooters on our platform this year, blending fast-paced brutality with an effective horror atmosphere. For fans of retro FPS action and survival horror, it’s an easy recommendation.
– Raymond Estrada
Duskfade
Duskfade
Fireshine Games
☆☆☆☆☆
43
★★★★★
$29.99
Get it now
With the impending return of Spyro, it seems fitting that 3D platformers are on folks’ minds these days. I did my time in the genre from the late ‘90s into the mid ‘10s (from Crash to Sly Cooper, etc.) but since then the entire category seems to have taken an impromptu back seat to the new flavors in everyone’s gaming playlists – a disappearance marked more with a whimper, not a bang. All of this is to say that when Duskfade showed up on the storefront, it felt more like a warm welcome back from an old friend rather than anything wildly out of left field. And that’s exactly how it plays as well.
Set out on a journey as Zirian who recently lost his grandfather – a well-respected figure in town for his way with clocks – as well as his sister, who’s buried herself in a secret project to distract herself from her grief. But her project somehow grows out of control and overtakes the city they live in by opening the gates to hostile creatures, transforming the outskirts into alien areas, and on the plus side, ushering in a sarcastic mechanical cuckoo. From there on out, it’s navigating dangerous landscapes, collecting loads of well-placed currency, and bashing/dodging/blocking your way through enemy encounters. You’ll unlock upgrades, visit merchants, and slowly cleanse the various areas around town from the dangers that have beset them.
There’s nothing here that’ll create a galaxy brain-moment for those raised on 3D platformers, but what does stick out is the level of just incredibly sincere, earnest love the developers have for this genre. From the way Zirian controls to the visual details and colors of every object or area… you can absolutely tell this team LOVED making this game. And that counts for a lot and feels contagious in each boss encounter or the layout of gem trails leading you to secret coves or chests.
The King Is Watching
The King is Watching
tinyBuild
☆☆☆☆☆
19
★★★★★
$14.99
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Real-time strategy games can be intimidating. Many of the genre’s staples throw so many systems and mechanics at players that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, especially for a more casual player like myself. My first few hours with The King Is Watching were exactly that: overwhelming. Every decision felt critical, and I constantly worried I was investing in the wrong resources. As it turns out, prioritization isn’t just part of the game, it is the game.
Your goal is simple: defend your kingdom from relentless waves of enemies. The twist is that buildings only function when you’re actively watching them. Early on, you can focus on just three spaces in a rotating, Tetris-like grid, forcing you to make difficult choices about what deserves your attention. Do I want to harvest crops, while building archers, or do I mine for gold while generating magic spells? Why did I put my well next to my market? Every placement matters, and every mistake can be costly.
The pressure is intense, and my first run ended in disaster. Thankfully, that’s where the roguelite elements shine. The very next attempt felt completely different, encouraging me to rethink my strategy from the ground up. As I unlocked permanent upgrades, new kings, and powerful advisors, each run became more manageable and I became more confident for future campaigns. It’s a satisfying feeling as long as you’re willing to put the time into learning all the mechanics at play.
The King Is Watching is a deep and demanding RTS with a steep learning curve. Between its diverse roster of kings, unlockable structures and units, and extensive progression systems, there’s a tremendous amount to learn and master. Its roguelite progression, including five upgrade trees and advisor bonuses, gives every failed run lasting value. If you enjoy challenging strategy games and don’t mind being pushed out of your comfort zone, this could easily become your next obsession.
– Raymond Estrada
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam
Team17
☆☆☆☆☆
834
★★★★★
$39.99
Get it now
It’s been a long time since I last immersed myself in a realistic historical shooter. Back in the day, I could lose entire weekends to Call of Duty, Battlefield, and even Medal of Honor. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam marks my first experience with the franchise, and it immediately sets itself apart from the more modern, almost arcade-like, shooters.
Outside of the historical context of the Vietnam War, there’s no traditional campaign or narrative here. The focus is entirely on authentic and uncompromising large-scale multiplayer warfare. The realism hit me right away. Every firefight is deadly, with a single bullet often deciding the outcome between you and any combatant on the field. There are no convenient mini-maps, enemy markers or constant streams of information feeding you situational awareness, so I highly recommend you get your headset ready and jump on squad chat, because success depends on communication, teamwork, and paying attention to your surroundings. With battles featuring 50v50 across sprawling maps, the scale feels genuinely warlike rather than a typical multiplayer deathmatch.
What makes the factions especially interesting is how differently they play. The U.S. forces have access to transport and attack helicopters, allowing squads and supplies to move quickly across the battlefield while providing aerial fire support. The Vietnamese forces counter with tunnel networks that create unique opportunities for flanking, mobility, and ambushes. These asymmetrical mechanics make the two factions feel genuinely different to play, though I did find myself questioning just how balanced the matchup really is.
With 17 classes, six large maps, and multiple game modes, there’s plenty of variety. I frequently switched between medic, machine gunner, and engineer, and each role offered a different perspective on the battlefield. I will say that your experience will vary, like most online multiplayer games, based on the level of communication and competency on the squad you land on, but the strong tutorials, diverse class selection, massive scale, and intense firefights consistently create memorable moments. I highly recommend Hell Let Loose: Vietnam to players looking for a more tactical and strategic shooter. If your instinct is to sprint headfirst into the action, you won’t last long.
– Raymond Estrada
The post Indie Selects for September 2026: Genre Mashups & Fresh Takes appeared first on XBOX Wire.
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Every Wednesday, dive into the Indie Select Hub — your gateway to a fresh, curated indie collection plus four themed spotlights that rotate weekly! You can always find this collection hub in the XBOX Store and on XBOX.com/IndieSelects. The g...
