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 2020 games that are launching this year.
Craftopia
Steam page
Release: September 4
Developer: Pocket Pair, Inc
Price: $24.99 | £19.49 | AU$35.95
Craftopia is an open world survival game, but as the video above makes amply clear, it's not your usual tree puncher. All the genre features are here: farming, making stuff, killing things, eating and drinking, and tiffs with other online players (yeah: there's tree chopping too). But aside from the art style there's some fairly neat automation features, you can capture and breed creatures, and the range of vehicles on offer is very cool: the motorbikes in particular. Most will detect a Breath of the Wild flavour in this (Nintendo, of course, invented survival games and pastel colours), but it appears to borrow from basically everything—even Fortnite. The game's in Early Access and will likely stay there for over a year.
Spinch
Steam page
Release: September 4
Developer: Queen Bee Games
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$14.50
Spinch is a reflex-oriented 2D platformer with one very obvious sales pitch: that art style. Featuring the art of famed Canadian graphic artist Jesse Jacobs, the game is truly a sight to behold, with an aesthetic of rich strobing colours and gorgeously high contrast world design. It is pretty tough: the difficulty ramps up fairly quickly in a way that would make Team Meat's work a bit shy, but the pay-off is seeing more of this uniquely surreal game, and it always proves worthwhile.
Stride
Steam page
Release: September 5
Developer: Joy Way
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
Launched into Early Access last week, Stride is a VR parkour game. The art style looks like a blend of Mirror's Edge, Superhot and Manifold Garden, and it's deliberately pared back to ensure clarity and, presumably, motion sickness mitigation. While three modes are promised for Stride's eventual 1.0 release, you're getting a single "endless mode" if you buy in today, which infinitely generates a world to soar and shoot through. There's also going to be a story mode, eventually, but the real appeal here is going to be the sensation of danger and speed.
20 Minute Metropolis
Steam page
Release: September 4
Developer: Dejobaan Games, LLC
Price: $2.99 | £2.99 | AU$4.99
20 Minute Metropolis actually released as a Humble Choice subscription exclusive last year, and it's also available on itch.io. But last week's launch on Steam seems a better time than any to bring attention to this strange little city builder, which as the name implies, imposes a strict 20 minute time limit to your creations. Hence the game's subtitle "the action city builder." So as opposed to City: Skylines, you can't pause time to make important decisions, you'll need to make them on the fly, and believe me you'll want to: you don't want a diabolical poop situation.
Deemo Reborn
Steam page
Release: September 4
Developer: Rayark International Limited
Price: $24.99 | £19.49 | AU$35.95
Deemo is a cult rhythm action game that had long been stuck on handheld platforms, before a remake, Deemo Reborn, launched on PS4 in 2017. Now that remake is available on PC, and like the console version it has VR support. Deemo is the protagonist: for some reason she's fallen from the sky into a vast mysterious castle, and the only way to unravel this castle's secrets is to, of course, play beautiful music in order to help a tree grow. Look: I don't know. It definitely looks like a bit of fun.
These games were released between August 31 and September 7 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.
