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 (opens in new tab) you can play right now and a running list of the 2022 games (opens in new tab) that are launching this year.
Cats and the Other Lives
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: November 21
Developer: Culstic Games
Launch price: $16 | £13.40 | AU$23.60
You’re a cat in this game, hence its headline appearance in 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. Upon his death, his family descends on the home, and as adorable ginger kitty Aspen, you’ll navigate this fancy old manor, witnessing the conversations and reactions of your dead owner’s family. This is no superpowered cat, or talking cat; Aspen is a good ol’ fashioned normal animal (think Stray (opens in new tab) rather than Cat Quest) so you’ll be taking advantage of her natural instincts. Nevertheless, as the narrative unfolds you’ll play an important part in how the dysfunctional family reacts to, and copes with, Mason’s death.
Ship of Fools
Steam page (opens in 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, apply a Saturday morning cartoon art style, and make it a roguelite, then you have yourself Ship of Fools. With support for up to four cooperative players, both online and locally, you’ll take command of the Stormstrider. As well as maintaining the upkeep of this vessel, your team will also need to fend off sea monsters, who have appeared by dint of there being a looming “Aquapocalypse”. There’s also an Everlasting Storm that you’ll obviously need to avoid. Along the way you’ll find treasures, including more than 100 “trinkets and artifacts”, and there are vendors dotted around the lonely sea. While Ship of Fools was clearly designed as a coop game, there are singleplayer modes available too.
Gungrave G.O.R.E
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: November 23
Developer: Iggymob Co., Ltd
Launch price: $50 | £45 | AU$69.95
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is a third-person action game—a character action game, some would call it—starring Grave, a hectic, buff guy with some impressively oversize weaponry. Given the prominence of guns, you might take this to be 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 Grave’s unrelentingly aggressive approach: cover ain’t an option here, as the focus is on balletic, reflex-oriented movement rather than long range skull popping. This is a linear, story-oriented action game that probably would have felt right at home on the Xbox 360, though the graphics are obviously prettier.
Springblades
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: November 26
Developer: Sokpop Collective
Launch price: $8 | £6.69 | AU$11.79
Sokpop Collective’s latest missive is an action RPG set on “a fantasy island filled with funny characters”. The combat is played from a third-person perspective, while navigating the island itself is a top-down affair akin to ye olde CRPGs like Wasteland. There’s loot, special gear, a range of over 200 enemies, and plenty of distinct biomes to explore. There are also bees. Unlike a lot of Sokpop’s bite-sized gems, Springblades has an advertised “7-9 hours of playtime” and lots of potential for mixing and matching items and gear. I haven’t played it yet, but Springblades could very well be the perfect entry point to the weird and wonderful world of Sokpop (opens in new tab).
Opaloid Kingdom
Steam page (opens in 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 elder). This dungeon crawler is all about fast action and honed reflexes, and in fact, the Steam blurb positions Opaloid Kingdom as an antidote to “slow games with multiple story cohices at every turn”. It’s not all hacking, slashing and shooting though, because you will also visit towns and converse with “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, baddies and more during its six month EA stint.
[email protected] (Shaun Prescott)
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