by On an average day, about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can understandably be difficult to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to get lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing grabs your attention this week, we’ve rounded up the best PC games (opens in a new tab) you can play right now and a running list of the 2022 games (opens in a new tab) which will be launched this year.
Cats and the other lives
Steam page (opens in a new tab)
Release: November 21
Developer: Culstic Games
Launch Price: $16 |£13.40 | AU$23.60
You are a cat in this game, hence the title of this week’s column. Cats and the Other Lives is a point-and-click adventure set in the home of the wealthy and recently deceased Bernard Mason. After his death, his family descends on the home, and as adorable ginger kitty Aspen, you’ll navigate this fancy old mansion, witnessing the conversations and reactions of your dead owner’s family. This is no super powerful cat, or talking cat; Aspen is a good old-fashioned normal animal (think Stray (opens in a new tab) instead of Cat Quest), so you want to take advantage of her natural instincts. Yet, as the narrative unfolds, you will play an important role in how the dysfunctional family reacts to, and copes with, Mason’s death.
Ship of fools
Steam page (opens in a new tab)–
Release: November 23
Developer: Fika Productions
Launch Price: $13.49 | £11.69 |AU$20.65
Take Sea of Thieves, give it a top-down perspective, use a Saturday morning cartoon art style, and turn it into a roguelite, and you’ve got yourself Ship of Fools. With support for up to four co-op players, both online and locally, you take command of Stormstrider. In addition to maintaining this vessel, your team must also fend off sea monsters, which have appeared due to a looming “Aquapocalypse”. There is also a perpetual storm that you obviously have to avoid. Along the way, you’ll find treasures, including more than 100 “trinkets and items,” and there are vendors scattered around the lonely sea. While Ship of Fools was clearly designed as a co-op game, single player modes are also available.
Gungrave GORE
Steam page (opens in a new tab)–
Release: November 23
Developer: Iggymob Co., Ltd
Launch Price: $50 | £45 | AU$69.95
Gungrave GORE is a third-person action game – a character action game, some would call it – starring Grave, a dashing, buff guy with impressively oversized weapons. Given the prominence of guns, you could mistake this for a shooter, and while it definitely has shooting (a lot!), it steers closer to Bayonetta than it does Gears of War. That has a lot to do with Graves’ relentlessly aggressive approach: cover isn’t an option here, as the focus is on balletic, reflex-oriented movement rather than long-range skull leaping. This is a linear, story-driven action game that would probably have felt right at home on the Xbox 360, although the graphics are obviously nicer.
Feather leaves
Steam page (opens in a new tab)–
Release: November 26
Developer: Sokpop Collective
Launch price: $8 |£6.69 | AU$11.79
Sokpop Collective’s latest missive is an action role-playing game set on “a fantasy island filled with fun characters”. Combat is played from a third-person perspective, while navigating the island itself is a top-down affair similar to you old man CRPGs like Wasteland. There’s loot, special equipment, a host of over 200 enemies and many different biomes to explore. There are also bees. Unlike many of Sokpop’s little gems, Springblades has an advertised “7-9 hour playtime” and plenty of potential to mix and match items and gear. I haven’t played it yet, but Springblades may well be the perfect entry point into the weird and wonderful world of Sokpop (opens in a new tab).
Opaloid Kingdom
Steam page (opens in a new tab)
Release: November 23
Developer: JohnPeppermint
Launch Price: $5.39 | £3.71 | AU$7.77
Opaloid Kingdom is an old-school dungeon crawler with an art style that will appeal to anyone who actually lived through the 1980s (hello, fellow elders). This dungeon crawler is all about fast action and honed reflexes, and indeed the Steam blurb positions Opaloid Kingdom as an antidote to “slow games with multiple stories at every turn”. It’s not all hacking, slashing and shooting, because you’ll also visit towns and talk to “weird wizards” (the name of my new dungeon synth project). This is an Early Access affair: Developer JohnPeppermint intends to add new story chapters, areas, villains and more during its six-month EA stay.
