On average, about a dozen new games are released on Steam per day. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can be understandably difficult to deal 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 did. If nothing took your fancy this week, we’ve rounded up the best PC games (opens in new tab) you can play now and current list of 2023 games (opens in new tab) which start this year.
Grund
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 27
Developer: Sektahouse
Starting price: $15 | £11.39 | AU$21.50
The revival of point-and-click adventures continues apace, with Grunnd being the standout among the handful released last week. Melancholic and picturesque, Grunnd follows the misadventures of a main character who, having overslept his train stop, gets off in a mysterious city. The people here are weird, and to make things weirder, there’s “something ethereal and all-powerful” watching from the sky. Inspired by Franz Kafka, David Lynch, Southern Gothic and black metal, studio Sektahouse insists that Grunnd is more about weaving a compelling story than delivering a series of dumb puzzles.
Temple of Starlight
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 25
Developer: Enlit Games
Starting Price: $4.49 | £3.59 | AU$6.75
Portal started many first-person puzzle games, but Temple of Starlight can join Manifold Garden and Superliminal when it comes to the simple intelligence of its premise. Set in a surreal and monochromatic world, the player must use different colored light sources to solve problems. This often involves mixing the primary colors of light – red, green and blue – to find the right combination to trigger events. The game spins a tale of a fallen civilization around these economic puzzles, slowly revealing why the starlight of the Saasil people has failed them. There are 30 puzzles in total, and Enlit Games predicts that it will take players around two hours to complete them.
Atone: Elderberry Heart
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 28
Developer: Wildboy Studios
Starting price: $12 | £10.23 | AU$17.56
From the creators of Nitro Kid (opens in new tab) comes this interesting hybrid of rhythm game, puzzle game and visual novel. Drawing heavily from Norse mythology, Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree has a heavy focus on harrowing decisions that will change the course of the narrative, but you should also expect a generous helping of puzzles, some of which can be permanently failed as well way, as a consequence of history. It’s probably the battle that will raise the most eyebrows, though: it’s run as a rhythm game, with Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution cited on the Steam page. It looks like a brilliant fit for a Steam Deck if you’re lucky enough to have one.
Rogue Station
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 27th
Developer: Quint Studio
Starting Price: $10 | £8.50 | AU$14.50
Launched into Early Access last week, Rogue Station appears to be a pure hybrid of Rimworld, FTL, and Into the Breach. Your job is to build, manage and defend a mining station in deep space, taking care to manage all the many and varied tasks and problems that arise from this stressful role. It doesn’t help, of course, that your station will be attacked from time to time, so it probably won’t hurt to make friends with some other colonies – probably especially the mercenary agencies. Rogue Station looks promising, but within a year it will get more content, including more enemies, maps, weapons, build options and more.
Garden In!
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 27
Developer: Dramatic Iceberg
Starting Price: $9 | £7.19 | AU$12.59
Here’s another gentle game of making things look good. As the name suggests, Garden In! allows you to decorate different environments with many different plants. It’s pretty simple: get a pot, fill it with soil, and then plant one of the many seeds you can choose from. You will then need to look after them and each plant has different requirements to keep you busy, which is no doubt compounded by the fact that you can also create hybrid plants by planting different seeds in the same pot. This game aims to make you feel good, so the environments can be customized as befits a game about beautifying your personal plant space.