Five new Steam games you probably missed (November 4, 2024)

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.

Homicipher

Steam ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ November 1
Developer:‌ 八名木（yatsunagi）

Here’s a horror point ‘n’ click adventure about translating the cryptic languages of strange monster men. The protagonist wakes in a dank, labyrinthine dungeon riddled with mysterious figures. These figures speak a bizarre language which you’ll need to decipher, and finding translations in the environment—usually via objects—is where the game’s point ‘n’ click rhythm emerges. The narrative branches according to decisions made and, most importantly, yes, there is a potential romantic element in your conversations with the monster men. That presumably accounts for the more than 700 “overwhelmingly positive” reviews.

Sulfur

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ October 29
Developer:‌ Perfect Random

Imagine if Sokpop made a sprawling survival FPS: something like Sulfur might come to mind. It’s a single player shooter RPG with lots of familiar ideas—there’s loot, dungeons, crafting—but it replaces the usual gritty hyperrealism with an inviting high contrast art style. It’s a singleplayer affair with roguelike randomness and replayability; gear is lost upon death and ill-considered decisions can prove fatal. Sulfur is an Early Access affair: maps, gear, weaponry and more will be added during the course of what Perfect Random hopes will be “the shortest Early Access period in history”.

Fruitbus

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ October 29
Developers:‌ Krillbite Studio

In Fruitbus you get to drive a food truck around a pleasant open world. When you’re not in your truck cooking and serving meals to various alien-looking beings, you’re out exploring for ingredients. As your food truck venture grows you’ll be able to fit it out with all manner of cutesy adornments, but for that to happen you’ll need to establish a good customer base. That, of course, requires making good and novel food, so prepare to do a lot of experimenting. If this sounds like a familiar business management sim, think again: the world is full of characters to meet and there’s a narrative holding everything together.

Tostchu

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ October 29
Developer:‌ Ravenscape Collective

A PS1-style horror set in a remote part of Turkey, Tostchu has you running a toast shop. In other words, you’re the manager of a little hole-in-the-wall joint selling piping hot toasted sandwiches. For a while you’ll spend most of your time making toasted sandwiches and dealing with customers, but this being a horror game, I think you can probably guess that the routine comes unstuck over time. This is a slow burn horror: don’t expect jump scares or excessive gore.

Clock Tower Rewind

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ October 29
Developer:‌ WayForward, Limited Run Games

Horror point ‘n’ click adventure Clock Tower first released in 1995 and, though it’s definitely not a household name, it’s definitely exerted an influence over Japanese horror games since. This WayForward re-release delivers the original intact while also featuring a Rewind mode, which brings a handful of quality-of-life improvements that will prove essential to modern players. There’s also new cinematics and music, as well as supplementary material including a creator interview and gallery.