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.
Moonscars
Steam page
Release: September 28
Developer: Black Mermaid
Launch price: $20 | £16 | AU$29.95
Moonscars is a Metroidvania with a decidely Soulsborne bent, but in the context of its genre it’s better to think of it as Blasphemous meets Hollow Knight. Protagonist Irma is on a mission to “unravel the mystery of her existence,” and the story unfolds in as cryptic a manner as you’d expect, but what matters most is that the 2D pixel world she explores is breathtakingly, beautifully miserable, making Blasphemous look like Ghosts ‘n Goblins. The combat is brilliant too, with a heavy emphasis on powerful parries (don’t worry, the window is unusually forgiving). It’s a tough game, but the difficulty curve levels out after five hours or so, all the better to understand some of its more impenetrable aspects which seem inspired by Demon’s Souls’ World Tendency system.
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
Steam page
Release: September 29
Developer: Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
Launch price: $27 | £23.39 | AU$41.35
Nothing screams “PC gaming” louder to me than a complicated military sim, and Destroyer resembles one of those ye olde Microprose games that came with 60 page instruction manuals. Launched into Early Access last week, you’ll be operating a “Fletcher-class destroyer”, in other words, a big ass warship with complicated controls and unfathomable fire power. Battle conditions, such as weather and enemy behavior, are procedurally generated across five locations, and there are a variety of captain profiles too, all with their own temperaments, to really aid the roleplay experience. The game will get more features and polish during its “6 to 8 month” Early Access period, but Iron Wolf Studio claims the current game offers a “stable and polished core experience”.
Click To Sail
Steam page
Release: September 30
Developer: EdFarage
Launch price: $1.49 | £1.26 | AU$2.21
If the stress of controlling an authentic U-Boat is too much for you, Click to Sail is a deliberately simple game that requires one input (a mouse click) to play. It seems to basically be an autobattler: you’ll configure your squad, and then send them into one of the game’s beautiful blocky battle arenas to wreak havoc and steal treasure. Various items will trigger various effects, buffs and debuffs, but the most important thing is to get that gold, all the better to keep paying units to fight for you. Click to Sail is in Early Access, and will stay there “for a few months” while more features such as classes, maps and cards are added to the game.
Funtasia
Steam page
Release: September 30
Developer: Fantastico Studio
Launch price: $9 | £6.83 | AU$12.90
The most immediately striking thing about Funtasia is its art style, which is extremely a lot. That’s probably by design though: this 2D sidescrolling racer is set in “a colorful paradise being polluted by airborne garbage”, and it looks like a sickly, psychedelic take on Trials. Except unlike in Trials, you can’t stop, so the wacky physics engine really gets a work out, especially with the presence of some truly diabolical obstacles. There are 40 cars, 10 tracks, global leaderboards, and even a local cooperative mode, which can work online using Remote Play Together. Italian artist Emanuele Olives worked on the art style, which is inspired by Adventure Time and Troma, the latter responsible for The Toxic Avenger, among other truly sick films.
Bad Writer
Steam page
Release: October 1
Developer: Riddle Fox Games, Paul Jessup
Launch price: $5.39 | £4.31 | AU$7.65
If you’ve ever had the aspiration to become a writer of fiction in the 21st century, you’ll probably have learned quickly that it’s a mug’s game. Bad Writer is a life sim that seems determined to demonstrate this: as Emily, it’s your job to submit short stories to various fiction journals. Don’t worry, you don’t have to actually write in this game, because it’s more about managing Emily’s happiness meter as she tries to succeed at something that rarely rewards real world gratification. Emily will roam her house accruing short story ideas, before finally sitting at her computer to turn them into little masterpieces. But watch out! Computers have distractions, like social media, and we all know that writers are among the worst social media characters out there (with the huge exception, of course, of Joyce Carol Oates). If Emily’s happiness meter depletes entirely, it’s game over, and a real job.
