Five new Steam games you probably missed (October 28, 2019)

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.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Steam page
Release: October 24
Developer: Megagon Industries
Price: $19.99 | £17.99 | AU$28.95

As the name suggests, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is about riding a bike through lonely mountains, specifically down those mountains, and never up them. Think of it as a pleasant marriage of Descenders and Trials, though its pleasant low-poly aesthetic does include some fairly graphic crash animations. Also, it's not circuit-based: the mountains can be navigated (downward) however you see fit. There are online leaderboards as well, and an array of different bikes, all of which handle differently.

stikir

Steam page
Release: October 23
Developer: Bilge Kaan
Price: $2.99 | £2.09 | AU$4.50

From the creator of Indecision comes Stikir, a short and abstract platformer with a colour palette that recalls the glorious EGA days (they were glorious, right?). "This game is about making this game," the Steam description reads, with an additional warning that the game "can be frustrating sometimes". It's not the kind of game that's super eager to sell itself, in other words, but Kaan's previous game was fascinating and charming so it's definitely worth checking this out.

MO: Astray

Steam page
Release: October 25
Developer: Archpray Inc
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50

This week's mandatory pixel-art platformer is MO: Astray, and not only does it have especially ornate and beautiful art, but it also lets you use "sticking, ramming" and "parasitic takeover" to navigate the world. You're MO: basically a horrible steampunk version of Kirby, who must navigate a creepy laboratory and contend with all the aggressive creatures there. That said, the character movement looks more akin to Ori and the Blind Forest than anything Nintendo has ever made.

Lakeview Valley

Steam page
Release: October 23
Developer: Roope Tamminen
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.99

Lakeview Valley is a retro-styled, topdown 'Murder RPG'. Set in the nominal town, you play as a new home owner who arrives just as the place is embroiled in a murder mystery concerning a young girl. You can either help solve this crime, or you can... "succumb to your dark desires", which I can only assume means: indiscriminately kill other townsfolk. Obviously a dark game, and you'll be prepared for it if you've ever played Tamminen's 2013 browser predecessor Lakeview Cabin.

Injection π23 'No Name, No Number'

Steam page
Release: October 23
Developer: Abramelin Games
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50

Injection π23 is a fascinating looking survival horror throwback, specifically targeting the PlayStation 2 era. Set in a "real" Spanish town, the Steam description doesn't help to set the scene (you're a character "who lives in seclusion with his dog" is the most cogent line), but it's the flagrantly unsubtle 1990s horror aesthetic that stands out here. Apparently it's a bit rough around the edges, but pretty much every survival horror game worth playing is.

These games were released between October 22 and 28 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 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.