[Up to 6] Raccoon Trash-Raiding Co-op “Trash Day” Is “Overwhelmingly Positive”: Goof, Detour, Blow Up [This Week’s 3 Indie Picks]

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

This week, we’ve got “Mana Alchemy,” an action RPG that feels like an open-world version of “Vansaba,”“Dungeon Settlers,” a colony sim and dungeon crawler inspired by “RimWorld” and “Darkest Dungeon,” and “Trash Day,” a raccoon co-op action game supporting up to six players.

Mana Alchemy

This is a *VanSaba*-style open-world RPG where you fight your way through an island overrun by monsters.It’s developed by METASLA, an indie studio known for *Sea Fantasy*, a fantasy RPG where you save the world through fishing. Players take on the role of Merlin, a girl with no magical talent who was abandoned by her mother—a great witch—when she was young. Together with the mysterious grimoire Harley, she seeks revenge against the witches who rule the island.

In this game, you can create new spells by alchemizing materials and spells you’ve already learned. The spells you create can be arranged like pieces of a puzzle within your companion grimoire, and the combination of spells determines your attack patterns. Since spells are cast automatically, you can focus on movement and positioning while building your own unique spell build.

In the story, after defeating the seven sisters who rule the island, you’ll face the choice of whether to execute them or grant them mercy—a decision that will alter the story’s ending. Game*Spark has also published a hands-on report and a developer interview for this title.

Dungeon Settlers

A dark fantasy strategy simulation RPG that blends colony management with dungeon exploration. Players take on the role of an expedition leader, building a base in a wilderness corrupted by magic while aiming to conquer the dungeon that is the source of the calamity.

At the base, players can design rooms by placing walls and doors, as well as build structures such as bedrooms, dining halls, smithies, and fields to produce food and equipment. Team members possess unique traits based on their race, background, and personality, and players can form an exploration party of up to four members while developing their stats and skills.

Combat takes place in real time, but you can pause at any time to devise a strategy, requiring you to consider enemy weaknesses, status effects, and skill combinations. Furthermore, since dungeon layouts are procedurally generated, each exploration presents a unique environment and different enemy encounters.

Since the death of a team member is permanent in this game, the decision to retreat is just as important as equipment and character development. The Early Access version includes core systems ranging from settlement construction and management to equipment crafting, research, and dungeon exploration, with plans to add new regions, monsters, weapons, and skills in the future.

Trash Day

This physics-based adventure game supports online co-op play for up to six players, where you team up with a group of raccoons to collect trash and reach your destination. Players take on the role of a raccoon who has escaped from the Animal Control Agency; you’ll steal a wagon, load it with trash, and head for the coveted Raccoon Paradise.

Along the way, you’ll rummage through trash cans and large garbage bins to collect useful items and valuable trash, all while pushing or steering your wagon forward. Obstacles such as busy roads, bear traps, landslides, and rivers stand in your way, and you’ll need to use tools like stretchy ropes and planks to overcome them.

Wheels may come off or the wagon might tip over, so you’ll need to work together with your friends to repair and right it. In addition to freely running around as the raccoon, you can enjoy side quests like dressing up in hats and goofing around with your friends.