You can defeat Game of the Month by pointing out that it’s running a week late, but you could also progress by claiming friendship and offering Game of the Month a hug. As it is here, so it is in inventive, uplifting RPG Undertale [official site]. As a human cast down into monster territory, you must explore and quest and combat, but can do all of them with kindness instead of violence. Drawing plentiful comparisons to EarthBound, it’s the one game you should play this month if you only have time to play one.

We’ve already written two lengthy pieces about Undertale, including a review and an exploration of its delights in our weekly RPG column. Quoting from the former:

The brilliance of Undertale, its delicate balance that it manages for most of the time you’ll spend playing it, is that it understands how to be scary and funny all at once. Inside the Snowdin library there are leather-bound books that contain strange prophecies, books that say profound and disconcerting things about the human soul.

Why is October’s game a game that was released in September?

We pick a released game because we want to be able to play the games we choose as Game of the Month, not speculatively guess at what might be worth your time. That means that the games we choose will already be out, and in some cases may have been released years ago if they have suddenly become relevant again. It also means you can start playing the game we pick immediately if you so choose.

Have you guys done this before?

Yes. We’ve so far included Cities: Skylines, Grand Theft Auto V, Invisible, Inc, Her Story, Rocket League and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I feel happy each time I look at that list of excellent games. All of their respective features and GOTM coverage can be read here.

More Undertale coverage will follow between now and the end of the month.