On an average day, about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can understandably be difficult to keep up. Potentially exciting gems are bound to get lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you dig through every single game released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If you don’t like anything this week, we have the best pc games (opens in new tab) you can now play and a running list of the 2023 games (opens in new tab) which will start this year.
Sailing era
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 12
Developer: GY Games
Introductory Price: $22.49 | £18.89 | AU$32.85
At first glance, Sailing Era looks like a whimsical visual novel, but lo and behold, it’s actually a feature-rich sailing simulator. Played on a “real-world scale map” with a dynamic weather system and 200 ports to explore, this is basically a trading game in the spirit of Elite of Sid Meier’s Pirates! There’s quite a bit of room for role playing here though, with over 30 captains to command your ship, ranging from ‘legendary pirates’ to Japanese ronins. And yes, don’t worry, there are naval battles too, as conflict is inevitable as you explore the great ocean in search of secrets and treasures. This looks like a really ambitious simulator, but if you’re in doubt, you can try a demo.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13
Developer: JoyMasher
Introductory Price: $15.29 | £12.59 | AU$22.45
You know exactly what to expect from Vengeful Guardian after spending 30 seconds with the trailer above. It’s a sci-fi platformer with luscious 16-bit pixel art, and from all appearances studio Joymasher is determined not to deviate from that. you are old formula. No: As edgy as the platforming and combat looks, Vengeful Guardian comes across as a bunch of pixel art enthusiasts enjoying the inherent beauty of the form, then, you know, turning it into a game, they guess. There are eight stages of eye candy, some light customization options for the robo protagonist, and probably a lot of frustrating deaths, which we all love so much.
Life Gallery
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13
Developer: 751 Games
Introductory price: $2.69 | £2.24 | AU$4.05
Originally released for smartphones in 2020, Life Gallery is a surreal puzzle game with a truly bizarre approach to horror. Through 50 illustrations, you slowly learn about a “broken household” and its apparent relationship to an evil cult, and while the unfolding of that story sounds captivating, it’s the art itself that holds my attention. Each of the illustrations plays its own puzzle, all of which require close attention to the story, just as they do the usual lateral thinking. Among the eerie psychedelics you will also find some rather awkward interpretations of classic paintings.
UnderDungeon
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13
Developer:Josyan
Introductory Price: $10.19 | £8.49 | AU$15.08
Here’s a dungeon crawler with a 1-bit, monochromatic pixel art veneer. Main character Kimuto, who appears to be a cat, has just started a new job, and as often happens in video games, things quickly go wrong. Before long, Kimuto is crawling through dungeons in the style of the old 8-bit Zelda games. There’s a nice mix of reflex-focused combat and puzzle-solving here, and while there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly original here, the trailer above hints at some major formula shake-ups (spoiler: like forays into the first- person perspective).
island Pan
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 11
Developer: Dogū
Introductory price: $15 | £11.61 | AU$21.71
Isle of Pan is another surreal entry this week, but this time we’re dealing with a first-person photography adventure compatible with VR. Set on a remote Scandinavian island full of “pocket portals” to bizarre alternate universes, the goal of Isle of Pan is simply this: to roam, take pictures of weird things, and as you progress, gain more tools to make your photography even better. more beautiful. These various worlds are populated by over a hundred ‘creatures’, but don’t worry: they’re all of the passive kind, albeit extremely disturbing in some cases. While this can be played on a monitor, I feel like it really comes to life in VR.