Five new Steam games you probably missed (December 9, 2019)

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Sorting through every new game on Steam so you don't have to.

(Image credit: Cleaversoft)

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 2019. 

EarthNight

Steam page
Release: December 3
Developer: Cleaversoft
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$n/a

EarthNight is a colourful platformer with procedurally generated levels and a focus on going very fast. A dragon apocalypse has forced humans off the surface of the planet, and in order to try to wrest the earth back from the beasts, two heroes have decided to skydive down and take the bastards out. Starting from space and working downwards, what follows are platforming gauntlets that occur along the back of gigantic creatures and in the air itself. There are dozens of "gameplay-altering" powerups to collect on the way, and of course, no two runs are the same.

Door in the Woods

Steam page
Release: December 5
Developer: teedoubleuGAMES
Price: $9.99 | £7.19 | AU$14.50

Here's an old school roguelike with a ye olde ASCII aesthetic, though if you look closely you'll notice that the ASCII is rather advanced compared to the classics. The top down view retains nothing but keyboard characters, though some very clever tricks have been pulled in order to give it a 3D resemblance. As for the story, it's set in a world where "every possible extinction scenario became reality", which is a hell of a concept for a post-apocalyptic, Lovecraft-inspired game. If you're struggling with what disaster theme to go with, why not choose 'em all?

Feria d'Arles

Steam page
Release: December 6
Developer: Tom Simpson
Price: $3.99 | £2.89 | AU$5.95

Feria d'Arles is a point-and-click adventure game about one young girl's attempt to get into bull fighting. The Feria d'Arles is an actual bull-centric event in France, and it's fair to say pre-teens aren't usually aloud to fight with bulls during world renown occasions like this. So don't expect to just waltz in there: expect puzzles and zany scenarios aplenty.

Retimed

Steam page
Release: December 6
Developer: Team Maniax
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50

Retimed is a couch multiplayer game (with online functionality!) with a neat time slowing mechanic. When one of the four players on screen face an imminent threat, a time bubble encases them which slows both the endangered player and any nearby projectiles. Therefore, the game switches at a fairly frantic pace between twitch-oriented run and gun movement, and "tension-filled slow motion moments". Looks like the kind of game you'll want on your system during the holiday break.

ASTROPUPPA

Steam page
Release: May 11
Developer: Stovetop, LLC
Price: $1.99 | £1.69 | AU$2.95

Steam has no lack of retro-styled bullet hell shooters but Astropuppa has the advantage of a weird monochrome aesthetic that looks great in action. The game has 14 levels and they're all meant to be incredibly hard – the developer says if you don't like the game it's because you're "a NOOB" which seems a bit rude. But it's easy to forgive when the game's list of features includes "audio FX produced by mouth", which, well, I guess I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's a feature or not.

These games were released between December 2 and 9 2019. 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
Australian Editor

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.