On an average day about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we’ve gathered the best PC games (opens in new tab) you can play right now and a running list of the 2022 games (opens in new tab) that are launching this year.
The Outbound Ghost
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: September 21
Developer: Conradical Games
Launch price: $16 | £12.39 | AU$23.16
The Outbound Ghost is a Paper Mario-style RPG about freeing ghosts from the meatspace plane. In other words, the ghosts you’ll encounter in The Outbound Ghost are all stuck in a literal ghost town due to “unresolved earthly issues”, mostly regret for how they lived their now-finished lives. You need to help these ghosts come to terms with their regrets, which feeds into the turn-based combat where you’ll wield party members based on the full gamut of human emotion. Oh, and you’re a ghost as well, which means in addition to helping other ghosts on their way to the afterlife, you’ll need to contend with your own problems, too. The Outbound Ghost has a gorgeous 2.5D art style, and has a setting unlike any you’ve probably seen before.
SpiderHeck
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: September 23
Developer: Neverjam
Launch price: $13.49 | £11.69 | AU$17.95
The most salient line in the Steam description for SpiderHeck is “spiders with laser swords”. The trailer shows exactly that: spiders with laser swords, moving around artfully minimal 2D arenas, attacking and being attacked. Because they’re spiders, they’re able to crawl up, down and around surfaces in any direction, all the better to slice other spiders to bits with their laser swords. SpiderHeck seems to excel as a couch (or online) PvP game, but there’s also a cooperative horde mode, and a single-player component. And don’t worry: while the spiders are best known for having lasers, they can also have other weapons like shotguns, mines and rocket launchers, the latter all the better to enjoy the game’s comedic take on physics.
No Place for Bravery
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: September 22
Developer: Glitch Factory
Launch price: $20 | £18 | AU$30
No Place for Bravery is a pixel art action RPG about Thorn, an ex-soldier, now making a living as an innkeeper. When the figure responsible for the disappearance of his daughter re-emerges, Thorn is dragged back into violence, resulting in a narrative that “examines the role and duties of father figures and the consequences of their choices in a troubled world”. As far as top down isometric pixel art goes this is an incredibly rich and detailed world, dripping with atmosphere. Expect a lot of dextrous combat, but also expect exploration and some light puzzling: this ain’t Diablo, but rather something a little closer to the Zelda series.
Room 301 No.6
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: September 21
Developer: Inter Frame Studio
Launch price: $4 | £2.89 | AU$5.95
Here’s a puzzle game that strives to put the player in the role of an Alzheimer’s patient. I’m not sure whether the game has any success in that pursuit, but on its own terms Room 301 No.6 looks interesting. With two perspectives, the player navigates a maze on one side, while that movement is traced along a more detailed image on the other. Your field-of-vision is limited (all the better, apparently, to simulate the cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s), but you can find medicine throughout the environments to gradually expand it. As you navigate these mazes, and explore their associated environments, you’ll find belongings which can be discussed with your daughter, all the better to remember.
Employee of The Month
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: September 22
Developer: Projeckt Skeleton
Launch price: $10 | £8.50 | AU$14.50
I counted at least three new PS1-inspired retro horror games on Steam last week, and the sub-genre is quickly reaching the point of oversaturation. But… I can’t get enough of this style, and Employee of the Month looks to be the most interesting among this week’s crop. You’re a night worker in a rural convenience store known for its friendliness, but as you can probably guess, this being a horror game, not everything is as it seems (things, as it turns out, are actually really effed up). Played from a first-person perspective, you’ll carry out a number of retail-oriented duties, but don’t expect to be restocking toilet paper baskets and cleaning spills for the whole duration of the game. Expect to probably die.
