2024 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best MMOs: Massive worlds
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
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 2024 games that are launching this year.
Minami Lane
Steam page
Release: February 29
Developer: Doot, Blibloop
Minami Lane is an easygoing management sim about the upkeep of a street. That means you'll need to build houses for people to live in, sprinkle in some vibe-boosting parks, and also add shops that increase the standard of living (ramen restaurants, karaoke and bookshops, of course). The roaming citizens will voice their opinion about your carefully plotted street, all the better to make sure you're keeping everyone happy. This isn't the kind of management game you can play forever: the play time is about four hours, and that's reflected by Minami Lane's $4 price tag. It has cats and a very pretty, detailed art style.
KeeperRL
Steam page
Release: March 1
Developer: Electric Succubi
KeeperRL first launched into alpha a whole decade ago, so it's pretty significant that this uber-complex take on the Dungeon Keeper format has just hit 1.0. Often described as a mix between that old dungeon management sim and Dwarf Fortress, KeeperRL takes place in procedurally generated worlds that are simulated "on a very detailed level", which means actions can have reverberating consequences. Interestingly, in addition to managing dungeons, a big part of KeeperRL involves engaging in combat as one of your demonic minions, so expect to wreak havoc, spread evil, and destroy villages in tactical turn-based combat.
Secrets of Grindea
Steam page
Release: March 1
Developers: Pixel Ferrets
Like KeeperRL, Secrets of Grindea has also spent a decade in development, so this retro-styled action RPG is definitely a labour of love. It's basically a retread of ye olde NES RPGs like Secret of Mana, with a dash of Zelda, and with support for up to four-player co-op and tonnes of side content. In addition to a lengthy story campaign boasting a cast of upwards of 300 whimsical fantasy characters, Secrets of Grindea also has a fully-fledged roguelite mode, which is basically its own separate standalone game. Ten years ago (!) Tom Sykes checked out the demo, and while things have no doubt changed dramatically in the ensuing decade, his early verdict described it as "nostalgic, loot-obsessed and a lot of fun".
Timemelters
Steam page
Release: February 28
Developer: Autoexec Games
Timemelters is a strategic third-person action game starring a time-manipulating witch. Its most fascinating feature is the ability to rewind time and accompany your older self in combat, which opens up a lot of opportunity for tactical thinking: if any given encounter seems insurmountable, that's because you've got to be thinking about how your time-travelling future self will aide you in the fight. In some ways it's basically a puzzle game, with spellcasting. Better still, you can rely on a friend, because the whole campaign can be played in online co-op. There are some genuinely new ideas here.
Cricket Through the Ages
Steam page
Release: March 2
Developer: Free Lives
From the studio responsible for Gorn, Broforce and Terra Nil comes a bizarre physics comedy about the history of cricket. One look at it, and it's pretty obvious this so-called history takes very many liberties in the interest of comedy. For example, why is it possible to use a tennis racket to decapitate your opponent? Was cricket a blood sport in the olden days? This is clearly best played on the couch with friends, just like Free Lives' other weirdo classic, Genital Jousting.
