Steam releases an average of 10 new games per day. We think that’s a good thing, but understandably, it can be hard to keep up.Unless you’ve sorted through all the games released on Steam, an exciting potential gem is Definitely lost in the flood of new things to play.If you don’t like anything this week, we’ve rounded up the best PC games (opens in new tab) A running list of games you can play now and in 2023 (opens in new tab) It will start this year.
Age of Sailing
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 12th
Developer: GY Games
Price at launch: $22.49 | £18.89 | AUD 32.85
At first glance, Sailing Era looks like a whimsical visual novel, but it’s actually a full-featured sailing simulator. Set in 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 the elite, or indeed Sid Meier’s pirate spirit! There’s quite a bit of room for role-playing here, though, with over 30 captains piloting ships, from ‘legendary pirates’ to Japanese ronin. There are also naval battles. Conflict is inevitable as you explore the vast ocean in search of secrets and treasures. This looks like a very ambitious simulator, but if you haven’t decided yet, you can try the demo.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13th
Developer: Joymasher
Launch price: $15.29 |£12.59 |AU$22.45
Watch the 30-second trailer above to get an idea of what to expect from Vengeful Guardian. This is his sci-fi platformer, with its rich 16-bit pixel art, and by all appearances the studio, Joymasher is determined not to deviate from it. you are old method. No: As vivid as the platforming and combat looks, Vengeful Guardian comes across as a gathering of pixel art enthusiasts who appreciate the inherent beauty of forms, and then make it into a game, they speculate. There are eight eye-pleasing stages, easy customization options for main character Robo, and perhaps many frustrating deaths.
life gallery
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13th
Developer: 751 Games
Price at launch: $2.69 |£2.24 |AU$4.05
First released for smartphones in 2020, Life Gallery is a surreal puzzle game with a truly bizarre approach to horror. Through 50 illustrations, you’ll slowly learn about a “broken home” and its connection to a sinister cult. The storyline sounds fascinating, but it’s the art itself that grabs my attention. Each illustration serves as its own host of puzzles, requiring you to pay as much attention to the story as you do normal lateral thinking. There’s also a rather jarring take on .
Under Dungeon
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 13th
Developer: Josian
Launch price: $10.19 |£8.49 |AU$15.08
This is a dungeon crawler using 1-bit monochrome pixel art veneers. The main character, Kimto, who looks like a cat, has just started a new job, and things quickly go from bad to worse, as is often the case in video games. Before long, Kimto crawls through the dungeons in the style of his old 8-bit Zelda game. There’s a nice mix of reflex-oriented combat and puzzle-solving here, and while there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly original, the trailer above hints at some big formula shakeups (spoiler : like forays into first person view) ).
pan island
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 11th
Developer: Doguu
Launch Price: $15 |£11.61 | AU$21.71
Pan Island is another surreal entry this week, but this time it’s a VR-compatible first-person adventure. Set on a remote Nordic island filled with ‘pocket portals’ to strange otherworlds, the goal of Isle of Pan is simply this. Cleaner. There are over 100 “creatures” inhabiting these various worlds, but don’t worry. They are all passive, although they can be very intrusive in some cases. You can play this on your monitor, but it feels really alive in VR.
