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 2022 games that are launching this year.
Rise of the Third Power
Steam page
Release: February 11
Developer: Stegosoft Games
Launch price: $20 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
From the creators of Ara Fell comes another 16-bit styled old school RPG, welcome news for everyone (myself included) who maintains that the market for chunky turn-based adventures is not saturated. This one claims to be a fictionalization of "the political climate of Europe in the late 1930s," but it still apparently hits a tone somewhere between melodramatic and whimsical. You'll control a party of eight unique characters, all of whom will play their own crucial role in turn-based battles that are bereft of "tedious party management." In another nice quality of life improvement, equipment is upgraded rather than replaced, eliminating both inventory management and the risk of buyer's remorse. As you'd expect from a Dangen-published game, that pixel art here is gorgeous.
Blood West
Steam page
Release: February 11
Developer: Hyperstrange
Launch price: $12 | £9.19 | AU$17.20
A lot of bullet points ticked here: it's a horror retro (check) first-person shooter (check) set in a "wicked Wild West" (check) that rewards stealth just as much as it does point blank shotgun aggression. For all that, this ain't just another boomer shooter: the Early Access affair borrows some immersive sim qualities, both in its non linear approach, and the "trait-based character progression" which should allow for some wriggle room when it comes to how you want to play. This studio has pedigree: Jupiter Hell and Elderborn are both Hyperstrange affairs, and this Early Access build is only a fraction of what the end game will be, once it releases in around 6-8 months.
Diplomacy is Not an Option
Steam page
Release: February 10
Developer: Door 407
Launch price: $22.49 | £18 | AU$32.35
While it's a shame that diplomacy isn't an option, that ethos has birthed a real-time strategy game that sheds some of the busywork from that genre, leaving a brisk action-oriented outing focused on defending settlements against literal thousands of enemies. Sure, you're a lord, and it's ostensibly your task to raise a prosperous kingdom, but you're not one to get lost in the weeds: survival is about bolstering your walls, kitting out your infantry, building and carefully placing your siege engines, all the better to fend off the relentless waves of invaders. Joseph played an early build late last year, and enjoyed it.
Nebulous: Fleet Command
Steam page
Release: February 12
Developer: Eridanus Industries
Launch price: $20 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
Launched into Early Access last week, Nebulous: Fleet Command is a simulation focused on building a fleet of space warships, and then putting them to good use smiting enemy space warships. According to the Steam page you're afforded a great amount of freedom when it comes to not only your individual warships, but also their fleet configuration, and diving into a battle requires a fair amount of tactical pre-planning—if you hope to win, anyway. Nebulous will stay in Early Access for up to two years, but the planned feature list is lengthy, and after two days it's already built up a healthy "very positive" status on Steam.
Over the Counter
Steam page
Release: February 13
Developer: Brody Rampono
Launch price: Free
Originally launched on Itch, this free business management game is all about running a big pharmaceutical company. But, as you can probably guess, it's not a feel good game about doling out important medicine to folk in need. In addition to the expected sim elements—employing scientists, inventing medicines, finetuning your supply chain—you'll also have to "hire lawyers to defend your unethical acts," while making the ultimate decision: why are you in this business? To make a lot of cash no matter the cost, or to do something good for humankind? Seems relaxing.
