Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 1, 2023)
Sorting through every new game on Steam so you don’t have to.
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2024 games: Upcoming releasesBest PC games: All-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest MMOs: Massive worldsBest RPGs: Grand adventures
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.
ArcRunner
Steam pageRelease: April 27Developer: Trickjump Games LtdLaunch price: $18 | £12.29 | AU$26.55
It’s difficult to be blown away by cyberpunk stylings in this post Cyberpunk 2077 world, but ArcRunner still manages to look gorgeous. This third-person roguelite shooter is set on a space station under the command of a rogue AI, and it’s your job to mow down thousands of its robot soldiers along the way to taking this boss AI out. There are three character types, including the tanky Soldier, the nimble Ninja and the Hacker, and all have their own primary melee weapons as well as specialized abilities. Levels are randomized, gear and power ups are abundant, and best of all, ArcRunner supports online cooperative play.
Welcome to Goodland
Steam page Release: April 29Developer: Big City LabLaunch price: $17 | £14.29 | AU$24.95
Here’s a strategy-oriented adventure game about surviving, or maybe even flourishing, as a money launderer for a Mexican drug cartel. As you might expect, this is high pressure work and one wrong move could lead to disastrous consequences, so every business decision comes with double (triple?) the pressure it otherwise would. To make things worse, you’ve got the cops and other criminal upstarts to worry about. This is a tycoon game essentially, but with a strong narrative component centered around diplomacy, hard decisions and often tense negotiation.
Varney Lake
Steam page Release: April 28Developer: LCB Game StudioLaunch price: $10 | £8.49 | AU$14.50
From the team that brought usMothmen 1966comes Varney Lake, another unsettling narrative game presented in the style of 1980s CGA graphic adventures. It’s focused on the misfortunes of three 1950s teenagers on a summer vacation to Varney Lake, where the idyllic splendor is somewhat tainted by their discovery of a vampire. Suddenly, all the usual teenage concerns fall by the wayside, and things get grizzly. Nearly 30 years later, a paranormal investigator Lou Hill is on the case, and it’s partially via his discussions with the now-aged teenagers that the story unfolds. Expect puzzles, terror, nostalgia, and a gripping branching narrative.
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Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence
Steam page Release: April 29Developer: Blue Sunset GamesLaunch price: $17.09 | £13.04 | AU$24.25
Remember Skinny and Franko? I didn’t, but I Googled it and there was indeed a 1994 Amiga game calledFranko, upon which this newer beat ‘em up is based. Considered an Amiga Final Fight clone back in the day, this new instalment in the series looks like a pretty conventional sidescrolling brawler, albeit with a grittier vibe than most modern takes on the genre. There are eight main stages, over 50 weapons and special attacks, and—most appealingly—over “80 different bullies and morons” to pummel. As you’d expect, local cooperative play is supported, which is the very best way to beat the crap out of baddies.
Digital Exorcist case_(0);
Steam pageRelease: April 28Developer: Cool Beans ProductionsLaunch price: Free
This freebie is an adventure game visually inspired by the PC-98 catalogue, but it also takes cues from the likes ofThe Silver Case. A mix of horror and deductive gameplay, the protagonist is a washed out digital exorcist tasked with investigating a crime and then fixing it via the exorcism of a demon. This forbidding task takes him to some strange places, most notably to a “spooky deep web forum”. Expect to solve puzzles, fight demons, and reconstruct crime scenes, but most importantly, to soak up a very unsettling and weird atmosphere.
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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