“Paleokin”: a co-op open-world survival game with dinosaurs & mammoths; tame dinosaurs, survive harsh seasons [This Week's Indies]

Here are the Game*Spark editorial team’s top indie game picks for the third week of September!

This week’s picks include *Paleokin*, a prehistoric dinosaur survival game with co-op support; *Tape 101: Liminal Descent*, a psychological horror game where you explore “liminal spaces” using RC cars;*Tape 101: Liminal Descent*, in which you explore “Liminal Space” using a radio-controlled car, and *Batomon Showdown*, a monster-collecting, asynchronous multiplayer battle game where you evolve “Batomons” to aim for the championship.

Paleokin

This is an open-world survival crafting game set in the ancient prehistoric era, inhabited by mammoths and dinosaurs. As you explore an infinitely vast, procedurally generated world, you’ll gather resources to build a base and survive the harsh environment through farming, hunting, and more.Multiple survival mechanics—including hunger, thirst, sanity, illness, bleeding, and fatigue—are in play, and you’ll need to adapt to seasonal changes while establishing a foundation for your survival.

In combat, you can use spears, bows, slingshots, and more, and the game features a system where you must read enemy attack patterns to block at the right moment. The building system allows you to construct not only walls and roofs but also treehouses; you can bend wood or use branches, dinosaur hides, and mud to build walls, enabling flexible base construction.

You can also breed and ride creatures you’ve tamed rather than killed, allowing you to enjoy gameplay such as riding a Triceratops and firing a bow from its back.

The game is scheduled for release in Early Access. At launch, the basic survival loop—including seven types of creatures, farming, fishing, diving, building, and taming—will be implemented, and the game is expected to support online co-op play for up to four players.The developer is working on this title as a solo project, and the Early Access period is expected to last approximately six months. For the full release, the developer plans to add more creatures, biomes, skill trees, tribal roles and behaviors, crafting elements, and building components.

Tape 101: Liminal Descent

This psychological horror game involves exploring “liminal spaces”—where the boundaries between reality and memory blur—using a remote-controlled car. Set in a world where familiar-looking spaces, such as beige hallways, deserted offices, and tiled corridors, repeatedly appear, players must observe their surroundings as they move forward.

In the game, players can use a camera mounted on a small radio-controlled car to investigate narrow spaces that humans cannot enter. By operating switches, collecting items, and checking conditions ahead using the radio-controlled car, players carve out a path through the unknown.

The story is inspired by the “Five Stages of Grief” proposed by psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, with each stage—“Denial,” “Anger,” “Bargaining,” “Depression,” and “Acceptance”—depicted as a distinct space.

BattleMon Showdown

This is a monster-collecting strategy game where you assemble a team by collecting various Batmons and battle by leveraging combinations of abilities and synergies. With hundreds of different Batmons to collect, you’ll build your own unique team by combining not only Batmons but also Trainers, events, trinkets, and items.

Each Batmon has its own unique skills, and by combining them with enhancements from trinkets and items, you can create a wide variety of builds. Trainers also have different abilities—such as the Insect Catcher, the Dragon Master, and the Chef, who can grant new types to Batmons—and your tactics will change depending on the trainer you choose.

Additionally, the game supports asynchronous multiplayer, allowing you to battle teams created by other players. You can challenge players from around the world at your own pace as you strive to build the strongest team.