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 you can play right now and a running list of the 2023 games that are launching this year.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons
Steam page
Release: July 27
Developer: Secret Base Lte Ltd
Another one of those retro-style games where you walk in a straight line and beat the crap out of anyone (or anything) that gets in your way. Double Dragon is one of the oldest names in the beat ’em up annals, and this reboot of sorts doesn’t mess with the formula much at all. There are 13 unlockable characters all up, and in an interesting twist on the genre, you play two at once, tagging between them at will. Oh, and uh, it’s a roguelite, in the sense that the level structures shift around. That may be a gamebreaker for some, but each run earns tokens that can be used to permanently upgrade characters. There’s two player local cooperative play, too. Definitely one to check out if you’ve lately enjoyed TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and the River City Girls series.
Terminal 81
Steam page
Release: July 28
Developer: David Pateti
Terminal 81 is a psychological horror game set in a rundown São Paulo neighborhood controlled by a “mysterious criminal organization”. It follows the life of protagonist Lorena who, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has moved to the city for work. Playing as Lorena from a first-person perspective, you’ll carry out your day job at the local supermarket, explore the city’s varied locales in your downtime, and slowly come to understand the scale and true nature of the local crime problem.
Arcadian Atlas
Steam page
Release: July 28
Developers: Twin Otter Studios
This one has Final Fantasy Tactics written all over it. Arcadian Atlas has been in development for a very long time; its successful Kickstarter campaign launched back in 2016, when Kickstarter was still all the rage. A lot of heart and soul has gone into this tactical RPG, which looks pretty conventional by every other measure. Across 12 main classes you’ll get to execute more than 150 combat skills from 25 skill trees, so if you love tinkering and optimising in your SRPGs you will likely not be disappointed. The pixel art is utterly gorgeous and contributes to the overall sense that this is a FF Tactics love letter.
Delivery Inc
Steam page
Release: July 28
Developer: Digifox
In the great PC gaming tradition of games about real life things that are very stressful and not much fun, here’s a management game about running a delivery company. Utilising real world map data, Delivery Inc will let you run your business in any city in the world, which is a really neat touch. Most of the time you’ll be juggling loads of deliveries at once, micro-managing your drivers, combining trips, and offering advice in the face of unexpected adversity. But you’ll also get to upgrade your fleet and manage the personalities of your staff.
Endlight
Steam page
Release: July 28
Developer: Bigpants
Endlight is an action game belonging to the tradition of Rez, Thumper et al, which is to say, it’s an arcade action game with a focus on mind bending surrealist landscapes. But that’s not the most remarkable thing about it. According to studio Bigpants, the game’s 100 levels cannot be replayed, every month 25 new levels are added until the game has received a total of 500 levels. There will be a chance to permanently unlock all levels in December, but in the meantime, you’ll need to bend to the studio’s inexplicable whims. It’s “not a game, an assault” so reads the Steam page.
