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 new games of 2020.
Heal
Steam page
Release: April 11
Developer: Jesse Makkonen
Price: $6.99 | £5.19 | AU$9.95
From the creator of Distraint and Silence of the Sleep comes Heal, which (at a glance, at least) somewhat departs from Jesse Makkonen's psychological horror roots. It's a sidescrolling point-and-click adventure with all the usual trappings, but expect a game rich in discomforting atmosphere and cryptic storytelling. The protagonist is an old man who must navigate a world that seems right on the threshold of reality and dream. I haven't played it yet, but Makkonen's games are always worth a look.
Chatventures
Steam page
Release: April 11
Developer: Sokpop Collective
Price: $2.99 | £2.99 | AU$4.50
Released on itch.io back in February, Chatventures is a text adventure MMO by Sokpop Collective. If you're not entirely sure what a text adventure is, it's a game controlled by text commands, and there's a long history of text-based MMOs, usually better known as MUDs. I'm not sure what the story details of Chatventures is, only that it's set in a "fantasy world" and that you can "punch" other players, which fulfils the base criteria for a Good Videogame.
Radio General
Steam page
Release: April 10
Developer: Foolish Mortals
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
In strategy games we're used to witnessing, usually in real time, how actions on the battlefield play out. Radio General takes a different approach, aiming instead to simulate the predicament of a World War 2 era general. You're listening to reports from the battlefield, and issuing directives based on them. "Unfortunately for you, war is confusing," the Steam description reads. "Your units won't always know what's going on, and you must make tough decisions based on these incomplete (and often confused) reports." Yes: it's voice controlled.
Alders Blood
Steam page
Release: April 10
Developer: Shockwork Games
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$27.99
Alder's Blood is a tactics RPG with a "twisted" Lovecraftian theme. Apparently God is dead, but not in the Nietzschean sense: it's actually dead, and this proves troublesome, because now the world is broken and ghastly creatures roam the land. Oops. The art style here is engaging, and studio Shockwork Games reckons you'll get around 40 hours out of it if you pay attention to side quests.
Balls Royale
Steam page
Release: April 9
Developer: Meaty Ore Games
Price: $1.99 | £1.69 | AU$2.95
Atari is making an official Pong RPG, so I'm no longer surprised when it comes to variations on the Pong theme. Balls Royale is fairly self-explanatory: it's a 50 player battle royale with a Pong bent. Every paddle is attached to a 'base' which they must protect, while trying to destroy the bases of others. If Tetris can have battle royale, why not Pong?
These games were released between April 6 and 13 2020. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
