2024 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best MMOs: Massive worlds
Best 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 the best PC games you can play right now and a running list of the 2023 games that are launching this year.
Void Crew
Steam page
Release: September 8
Developer: Hutlihut Games
Playable in solo or coop, Void Crew is a space game where you'll commandeer and manage a gigantic spaceship, dogfight with aliens, pillage resources from far-off systems, and conduct other high risk spacefaring-related activities. One Steam reviewer describes it as "basically Sea of Thieves in space" which, to be fair, is exactly what it looks like: in coop each player plays their own role, and coordinating these roles (or comically failing to do so) is where the fun is here. Yes, it's an Early Access affair, but the game's been in development since 2019 and the fundamentals are there; the next nine months of development will focus on adding new features.
Warstride Challenges
Steam page
Release: September 8
Developer: Dream Powered Games
Another bloody boomer shooter. It looks good though, if what you're after is a lightning quick and violent FPS with absolutely all the fat cut off. As the name implies, Warstride Challenges takes places as a series of trials, and its focus is on finetuning your murdering and movement skills. Kinda like, I guess, if Lovely Planet looked more like 80 percent of every other shooter on the market, or if Ghostrunner was more like Doom. Getting through the challenges will be difficult enough for most, but for the real heads, there are global leaderboards to compete on.
Abriss
Steam page
Release: September 5
Developers: Randwerk
Everyone knows that destroying huge things is fun, so it's a surprise there aren't more games like Abriss. The concept is simple: build huge destructive tools and use them to smash big sci-fi structures to pieces. Building these tools is obviously a huge part of the appeal here—there are lots of different components that can be bolted together in fascinating ways—but watching the structures crumble to pieces in their physics-simulating glory is incredibly satisfying too. If you've played Besieged and Teardown and still want to destroy things—you're only human after all—this is probably your next port of call.
Highrise City
Steam page
Release: September 4
Developer: Fourexo Entertainment
You might wonder why anyone would bother with a city builder that isn't Cities Skylines 2 this season. Well, don't be so hasty! Highrise City isn't quite what it looks like: it's much more concerned with production chains, and aspires to be an economy simulation more than a city builder. Ever played Citystate? That's what it reminds me of. Sure, you'll be plotting out your city and managing it in all the general ways you would in other city builders, but for those who want to get into the weeds of a highly detailed economic simulation, that's the itch Highrise City is seeking to scratch.
the white chamber
Steam page
Release: September 8
Developer: Locked Door Puzzle
This "sci-fi horror anime" point and click adventure was first released for free back in 2005. It made quite a splash, drawing reviews in the New York Times and becoming so popular that it was, for a time, only available via bittorrent. This new Steam release has remastered FMV sequences, new secrets, achievements, and is overall a more accessible and easy way to play this near-forgotten cult classic.
