Xbox Indie Selects January 2026: Demonschool, Morsels, Gigasword, Goodnight Universe, Suzerain, and Rue Valley Lead a Huge Year for Indies

Xbox Indie Selects level up for 2026

Xbox is kicking off 2026 by putting indie games front and center with a refreshed Xbox Indie Selects lineup on the Xbox Store and Xbox.com/IndieSelects. Every Wednesday, players can dive into the Indie Select Hub, a curated page that highlights a rotating collection of indies plus four themed spotlights designed to surface the kinds of smaller titles that often get buried under AAA releases.​

For January, the ID@Xbox team is focusing on late‑November and early‑December 2025 releases that may have slipped past players during the holiday rush, building a six‑game collection that ranges from tactical RPGs and roguelites to narrative adventures, political drama, and even a psychic baby simulator.​

Demonschool – stylish tactics RPG with modern-retro flair

First up is Demonschool, a “new‑style” tactics RPG that follows demon hunter Faye as she tries to avert the apocalypse while juggling classes, classmates, and a demon‑infested island campus. Combat uses a two‑phase, turn‑based system where motion equals action, and players queue up movements and abilities in a planning phase before watching their choreography unfold, trying to maximize damage by lining up characters in the right order and position.​

Outside of combat, Demonschool leans into exploration and personality: you can roam the campus, poke at environmental details, trigger mini‑games, and stumble onto Easter eggs like dogs that hand over items or NPCs with bizarre backstories. The Xbox Wire write‑up calls out its modern‑retro aesthetic, “FIRE” soundtrack, and forgiving rewind system, making it feel approachable even for players who don’t usually touch tactics RPGs.​

• Demonschool on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/demonschool/9p7d4xfj2xwf​​

Morsels – roguelite creature collector with a weird edge

Morsels, developed by Furcula and published by Annapurna Interactive, takes the roguelite formula and wraps it in an oddball creature‑collector concept where you transform into different “Morsels” mid‑run. Instead of locking into one hero, you build a rotating roster of playable creatures, each with distinct abilities and combat styles, and success depends on knowing when to swap rather than stubbornly clinging to a favorite.​

Runs play out across procedurally generated rooms with escalating difficulty and persistent progression, but what really stands out is the unsettling, grimy art direction—environments and enemy designs are intentionally strange, keeping players slightly on edge even when things are going well. Progression is driven by unlocking new Morsels and card‑based modifiers, encouraging experimentation until a particular build suddenly clicks—right before the roguelite chaos sends you back to square one.​

• Morsels on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/morsels/9p1lss0c81v5​​

Gigasword – NES-style metroidvania built around one massive blade

If you’ve ever dreamed of wielding the biggest sword imaginable, Gigasword is here to show you why that might not be as practical as it sounds. This action‑puzzle metroidvania from Studio Hybrid looks and feels like it walked out of a curated NES collection, but it builds its identity around a single mechanic: your gigantic sword is powerful, heavy, and central to both combat and puzzle‑solving.​

Every swing is deliberate with a noticeable wind‑up, forcing you to time attacks carefully, especially in boss fights that demand pattern recognition and patience. The twist is that you can detach from the sword, using its weight to hold down pressure plates, affect platforms, or act as an environmental tool, which turns levels into intricate brainteasers. Xbox Wire compares the vibe to classic Castlevania with a dash of Zelda‑style puzzle design, noting that save points keep the challenge fair and that dungeons designed around fighting with or without the blade add serious replay value.​

• Gigasword on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/gigasword/9mtgjfg42d20​​

Goodnight Universe – a psychic baby, telekinesis, and a heartfelt story

On the narrative side, Goodnight Universe is one of January’s most unique picks: a “supernaturally gifted baby sim” where you play as Isaac, a six‑month‑old infant with telekinetic powers that catch the eye of a shadowy tech corporation. The Xbox Wire feature highlights the strong voice acting and writing, praising how the narrator and cast bring family dynamics, everyday struggles, and touching moments to life in a way that feels both funny and deeply human.​

Gameplay starts from Isaac’s first‑person perspective with simple click‑to‑interact sequences before gradually layering in psychic abilities that let you move objects with your mind or dive into other characters’ thoughts. While the PC version supports the eye‑tracking mechanic familiar from Before Your Eyes, the console version skips it without losing the core experience, delivering a compact 4–5 hour story that the Xbox team “can’t recommend enough” for fans of narrative‑driven games—and, as one writer puts it, for fellow gamer parents.​

• Goodnight Universe on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/goodnight-universe/9nt35fwnb5pc​​

Suzerain Expanded Edition – political drama with massive replay value

For players who prefer reading, policy debates, and difficult moral choices over twitch reflexes, Suzerain Expanded Edition is January’s standout pick. You step into the role of President Rayne, the newly elected leader of the fictional nation of Sordland, and navigate a web of corruption, looming war, and economic crisis through text‑driven decisions and branching narrative paths.​

The Xbox Wire team notes that Suzerain feels like a rich political novel you actually play, with a lore‑packed introduction that sets up 50 years of history and a UI that makes long reading sessions comfortable and engaging. Its biggest hook is replayability: each run, about six to seven hours on average, can unfold completely differently depending on whether you pursue reform, embrace authoritarianism, chase personal gain, or try to balance competing pressures, and the Expanded Edition bundles in the Kingdom of Rizia DLC for an additional monarch‑focused campaign.​

• Suzerain Expanded Edition on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/suzerain-expanded-edition/9nkm2t9wq2v7​

Rue Valley – 47-minute time loop in a cozy mystery town

Rounding out the collection is Rue Valley, a cozy, narrative‑driven mystery adventure with a life‑sim feel and a sharp time‑loop twist. You arrive in a small, slightly uncanny town as its newest resident and quickly discover you’re stuck reliving the same 47‑minute loop, slowly piecing together secrets by talking to townsfolk, exploring, and paying attention to subtle environmental details.​

The Xbox Wire description compares Rue Valley’s tone to Night in the Woods and Oxenfree, highlighting how NPCs feel like real regulars at a local café rather than quest dispensers, and how the town encourages you to wander, revisit conversations, and notice the little things. There is a learning curve as you balance exploration, dialogue choices, and personality‑shaping status effects, but the payoff is an atmosphere that can quietly absorb hours as you experiment with different approaches through repeated loops.​

• Rue Valley on Xbox Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/rue-valley/9pjmhlrct0j2​​

How to find Indie Selects and what’s next

All six games are featured in the Indie Select Hub, which sits inside the Xbox Store on console and at the dedicated page Xbox.com/IndieSelects, refreshed weekly with curated picks and themed spotlights to help players discover new indie favorites. Microsoft frames 2026 as a year where ID@Xbox wants Indie Selects to be “the best year yet,” specifically by lifting up smaller titles that launch during crowded release windows and might otherwise slip by unnoticed.​

The post also teases the Indie Selects Anniversary Celebration on January 28, promising giveaways, discounts, and additional surprises for players who’ve been following the program since its launch. For Xbox fans—and for msftnewsnow.com readers—January’s lineup sets the tone: 2026 is shaping up to be a big year not just for the blockbuster releases, but for the inventive, experimental, and highly personal stories coming from the indie side of the Xbox ecosystem.

Related Posts

• Xbox’s ID@Xbox Indie Selects Demo Fest Is Live: 30+ Free Demos You Can Play Through December 31
• Xbox Reveals Exciting November 2025 Indie Selects and 2026 Anniversary Plans
• Indie Selects October 2025: The Best Spooky Season Games On Xbox, Including Jump Space, Detective Dotson, and More
• Xbox Indie Selects September 2025: 6 Epic Genre-Bending Indies You Can’t Miss
• 🎮 Back to School with Xbox Indie Selects August 2025: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Wildgate, Killing Floor 3, and More