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.
Lucy Dreaming
Steam page
Release: October 18
Developer: Tall Story Games Ltd
Launch price: $16.14 | £12.79 | AU$22.90
Lucy Dreaming is a point and click adventure described as “a splendidly British comedy”. It follows Lucy as she explores the small “run-down” town of Figgington, chatting with its amusing inhabitants, and investigating the mysteries of the town. But it’s not just Figgington you’ll be exploring, because you’ll also be entering Lucy’s mind, all the better to get to the bottom of some eerie nightmares she’s been having. This is a heavily puzzle-oriented affair, so it’s lucky the pixel art is so gorgeously detailed and varied, ranging from the small town humdrum through to the surreal. For the genre fanatics, it’s worth noting that the voice actor behind Monkey Island’s Guybrush Threepwood is involved in this.
Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip
Steam page
Release: October 22
Developer: Beautiful Glitch
Launch price: $10.79 | £10.79 | AU$16.15
The third instalment in the world’s premier thirsty monster dating sim. But this time it’s not all about dating, and if you’re familiar with the first two instalments of this narrative adventure series, you’ll note some big changes in this threequel. You see, this one has survival elements. It’s a co-op game about surviving a hectic road trip with up to three friends (monsters), and in addition to managing resources, you’ll also need to manage the kind of “wacky conflicts” that can emerge when four monsters have to share a vehicle for days on end. Don’t worry, though: If you play your cards right, you can still score a date.
Faith: The Unholy Trinity
Steam page
Release: October 22
Developer: Airdorf Games
Launch price: $13.49 | £10.25 | AU$19.35
Faith is a creepy 8-bit style horror game that has spawned two chapters since 2017. Faith: The Unholy Trinity packages those with the final, third instalment, which is apparently “twice as long” as the second. Complimenting the unheimlich, minimal art style is a very promising narrative setting: you play as a priest in a desolate rural area, tasked with exorcising the demonically possessed locale. It’s not confined to the one house: expect to explore churches, forests and more. The last five years has seen a healthy blooming of indie horror games taking an conventional approach to mood-setting, and Faith has got to be right up there when it comes to terrifyingly unconventional presentation.
Fhtagn Simulator
Steam page
Release: October 21
Developer: 锁眼工作室
Launch price: $7.19 | £5.21 | AU$10.35
Publisher INDIECN describes Fhtagn Simulator as a “Cthulhu roulette deckbuilder”, but it’s probably more useful to describe it as a Slay the Spire clone. I’m not complaining, especially in light of Fhtagn Simulator’s brilliant art style, which carries a potent occult vibe not to dissimilar to the above-listed Faith. Indeed, that’s probably the biggest selling point here: another fun and moreish roguelite deckbuilder, but with an art style that isn’t boring to look at (sorry, Slay the Spire and Monster Train).
Robot Resistors
Steam page
Release: October 22
Developer: Crablacksmith Studios
Launch price: $5 | £4 | AU$7.50
Speaking of clones, here’s another game following in the footsteps of Vampire Survivors. There are differences, though: the obvious one is that you’re obliterating hordes of robots rather than vampires. Robot Resistors also has a variety of playable characters, all with different abilities. The list goes on, including discrete procedurally generated level biomes with “different moods and objectives”. Robot Resistors is an Early Access affair, and between now and mid-2023 the game will receive new characters, weapons, new stages, upgrades, and lots more.