Five new Steam games you probably missed (February 13, 2023)
Sorting through every new game on Steam so you don’t have to.
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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 thebest PC gamesyou can play right now and a running list of the2023 gamesthat are launching this year.
Scorchlands
Steam pageRelease: February 8Developer: RinglabLaunch price: $10.79 | £9 | AU$15.97
Launched into Early Access last week, Scorchlands is a hex-based colony builder with a big focus on resource extraction and all the complex logistics associated with it. So instead of just going out there and digging up stuff, you’ll need to take care of how thatstuffgets where you want it. So yes, there’s a little bit of Factorio in here, but the setting is far less grounded: you’re building on and exploiting a procedurally generated volcanic satellite, and more importantly, there’s magic. This magical technology will open up better ways to go about your colonization, but naturally there are baddies out there that you’ll occasionally run foul of. Studio Ringlab predicts an 18 month Early Access period, during which time new features will be added, as well as the usual spit and polish.
Midnight Scenes: From the Woods
Steam page Release: February 10Developer: Octavi NavarroLaunch price: $4.49 | £3.86 | AU$6.75
Best known as the artist behind Thimbleweed Park, Octavi Navarro has also issued a lot of solo-developed adventure games, usually with a strong psychological horror bent. Last week Navarro released Midnight Scenes: From the Woods, which by my count is the fourth in the Midnight Scenes series. This entry is set in the Fernwood Creek Mental Health Center, which is suffering “disturbing incidents” following the arrival of a new patient. Protagonist Elijah befriends this new patient, and… then the horror starts. This is a short adventure which can be completed in one sitting, and as usual with the Midnight Scenes series, it’s all about Twilight Zone-inspired eeriness.
Yggdra Union
Steam page Release: February 7Developer: StingLaunch price: $20 | £16.75 | AU$29.50
Yggdra Union first released for Game Boy Advance back in 2006, and has since been ported to PSP, smartphones, the Nintendo Switch, and now PC. Originally published by Atlus but now handled entirely by its Japan-based developer Sting, it’s a fairly orthodox tactics RPG, with a bird’s-eye view overworld map used for navigation, and battles taking place from a sidelong perspective. It’s not exactly a lost classic, but if you’re fond of Japanese fantasy RPGs you’ll probably dig its vibe, if nothing else. Curiously, the PC port is an Early Access affair, but only so that any lingering bugs can be fixed. It’s a substantial port, after all, with a new PC-friendly control interface and other bonuses, like the ability to rewind and adjust battle speed.
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Pentacore
Steam page Release: February 12Developer: Jonathan Collier, Jason MartinLaunch price: $10 | £8.50 | AU$14.50
If you’re craving a conventional, old school Metroidvania, Pentacore could do the trick. An unabashedly nostalgic affair, Pentacore could make even the likes of Astalon: Tears of the Earth look experimental, but its art style is very charming, with an approach to pixel art that seems to wend closer toye oldeApogee shareware games than, say, an 8- or 16-bit console game. It ticks all the boxes: a large, interconnected world, a nice variety of permanent upgrades, and lots of gnarly baddies to repeatedly shoot to death. Looks like a lovely labor of love.
Mystic Gate
Steam pageRelease: February 10Developer: Zoo CorporationLaunch price: $8 | £6.80 | AU$11.60
Wow, it feels like ages (read: probably just a few weeks?) since a new twin-stick shooter roguelite hit Steam. That’s what Mystic Gate is, bearing a strong resemblance to the likes of Enter the Gungeon, Nuclear Throne and others of that ilk. The loop is what you’d expect: enter a dungeon, shoot the crap out of bullet-spewing foes, collect loot that will improve or diminish your chances of winning, and then die. There are the now-expected permanent upgrades that stay good from run-to-run, but most importantly, there’s two-player local cooperative play. If you can’t get enough of this genre, it looks like a blast.
Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.
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