Five new Steam games you probably missed (November 5, 2018)

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.  

Project Hospital

Steam page
Release: October 31
Developer: Oxymoron Games
Price: $24.99

Project Hospital is, as the name implies, a hospital management game in the vein of Theme Hospital and the recent Two Point Hospital. It's a matter of opinion, but the clean and almost diagrammatic art style of Project Hospital is much more attractive to me than Two Point Hospital, but other than that it seems to make the same promises: you'll be building a hospital, managing its processes and staff, and helping doctors diagnose the more complex illnesses. There's a sandbox mode and a campaign, as well as a handful of challenge levels. If you've been hungering for a fully-fledged hospital sim for years, 2018 has been very kind to you.

The Blackout Club

Steam page
Release: October 30
Developer: Question
Price: $19.99

Launched into Early Access last week, The Blackout Club is a four-player cooperative horror game about a small town harbouring a "monstrous secret". It casts players as four teenage friends determined to uncover this secret, and in addition to the usual horror beats of "being scared" and "running away" you'll also need to gather evidence that this monstrous secret is real. "Using tools such as drones, noisemakers, and grappling hooks, you will outwit and outmaneuver the adults while attempting to obtain and record evidence that will prove what is happening to the rest of the world," so reads the description. It'll likely stay in Early Access for between 3-6 months.

Phantom Halls

Steam page
Release: October 31
Developer: Incendium LLC
Price: $19.99

Here's another horror game featuring curious teenagers, only this is a side-scrolling squad-based shooter set in a haunted mansion. Aside from including "officially licensed Evil Dead 2 content", the game also apes its bizarre comedy, and as a couch co-op game it looks like a romp. It's been in Early Access for over a year, but last week saw it's officially 1.0 launch.

The Witch's House MV

Steam page
Release: October 31
Developer: Fummy
Price: $14.99

Halloween was last week, so here's yet another horror game! The Witch's House MV is a retro-styled RPG Maker horror first released in 2012, but last week marked its addition to Steam. It's not as obtuse as last week's The Mirror Lied, but it'll probably appeal to the same folk: those who prefer their horror eerie and foreboding and weird, rather than grim and bloody. This re-release upgrades the graphics and adds a new difficulty mode, but aside from that, expect careful exploration, puzzle-solving and surprises aplenty. You've been warned.

Save me Mr Tako: Tasukete Tako-San

Steam page
Release: October 30
Developer: Christophe Galati, Nicalis
Price: $14.99

As a palette cleanser after all that horror, Save Me Mr Tako is a Game Boy-style platformer whose protagonist, Mr Tako, bears a strong resemblance to everyone's favourite terrifying pink blob, Kirby. With six worlds to explore and 50 different ability hats to wear, "Mr Tako will solve puzzles, explore mysterious dungeons and fight tenacious bosses on his mission to end the war between the undersea octopus kingdom and the terrestrial human world." Hopeless nostalgics and fans of blob-shaped platforming heroes: this is for you.

These games were released between October 30 and November 5, 2018. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.  

Shaun Prescott

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.