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 new games of 2019.
Simulacra 2
Steam page
Release: January 31
Developer: Kaigan Games
Price: $7.99 | £6.99 | AU$11.50
Like its popular predecessor, Simulacra 2 is a horror game about rifling through the contents of a smartphone. Specifically, this smartphone belongs to a deceased "young social media influencer", and as a detective's assistant it's your job to figure out the circumstances that led to her untimely death. Of course, you shouldn't expect those circumstances to be obvious or anything short of disturbing, so be forewarned. If you liked Her Story, Orwell, or indeed the first Simulacra, this looks like (grisly) fun.
Elderborn
Steam page
Release: January 31
Developer: Hyperstrange
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50
Elderborn is a violent first-person melee combat game with a grim fantasy aesthetic and an insistence on how "metal af (as fuck)" it is. The trailer does indeed feature metal, as well as a very evil sounding voice espousing some impenetrable lore. The game looks fun though: if you're after a first-person take on hardcore Souls-like combat (the developer's reference, not mine) this could do the trick. It's not often you get a big first-person action RPG from an indie studio that isn't a rogue-like, and the Steam reviews are "very positive". Also if you're reading this and love metal, I've rediscovered the classic Australian doom death album 'Transcendence into The Peripheral' by Disembowelment lately - highly recommended.
Ministry of Broadcast
Steam page
Release: January 30
Developer: Ministry of Broadcast Studios
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50
Here's a 'cinematic platformer' that smashes together your typical Orwellian tropes with modern reality TV spectacle. In other words, a wall separates the protagonist from their family, and the only way to get through is to compete in a deadly reality TV show operated by 'the Regime'. Expect tense platforming, puzzle-solving, a bit of grim humour, and gameplay influenced by Oddworld and Prince of Persia.
Bookbound Brigade
Steam page
Release: January 30
Developer: Digital Tales USA LLC
Price: $19.99 | £17.49 | AU$28.95
Bookbound Brigade is a Metroidvania platformer with multiple playable characters (all with unique abilities) and a literary theme. It's hard for me to get a read on exactly how that theme applies: You'll apparently encounter various famous literary and historical figures throughout the game, but your relationship to them is vague. "What if all the protagonists of books lost their memory?" the blurb reads. "Venture into their world and beat the hell out of historical and literary characters you studied in school!" Sounds cruel, to be honest.
Impossible Soaring
Steam page
Release: January 30
Developer: Binary Jellyfish
Price: $4.99 | £3.99 | AU$7.50
Impossible Soaring is a game about doing mad (yet graceful) tricks through the air at blistering speeds. The gameplay video above is dreamlike and, frankly, beautiful: you can choose to take the safest routes through giant foliage, or crumbling bridges, or apocalyptic landscapes, or you can take the most dangerous routes and amass a ton of points. Whatever the case, this looks like a great little game to have installed for short blasts of cathartic airborne speed.
These games were released between January 27 and February 3 2020. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
