Five new Steam games you probably missed (August 26, 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.

Lucah: Born of a Dream

Steam page
Release: August 21
Developer: melessthanthree
Price: $20

An action-RPG with the focus on stamina, dodging, and respawning to try again familiar from Dark Souls, but a combat system based on shifting stances a little like Absolver, and visuals that are unique. It's sketchy, like colored chalk scratched out from under charcoal, and nothing seems to stand still for very long. Which is apt, because that's exactly how you have to play to survive the punishing combat. Fortunately there are difficulty options.

7 Billion Humans

Steam page
Released: August 23
Developer: Tomorrow Corporation
Price: $15

7 Billion Humans is a new game from the creators of World of Goo, Little Inferno, and Human Resource Machine. It seems to be building on the later of those three in particular, scaling Human Resource Machine up—way up. It's the future and machines have made humans redundant, so the only thing left is to use all of humanity to power machines. I think? You've got an office building full of tiny Jhonen Vasquez-looking people to automate, programming them as if they're a computer program made of meat. It's a bit odd, yes.

The King's Bird

Steam page
Released: August 23
Developer: Serenity Forge
Price: $20

It's been a good couple of years for fans of stylish indie platformers. The King's Bird is another, with a striking color palette and an unusual movement mechanic. It's all about soaring, gathering speed and then leaping into flight, changing direction in mid-air while your white scarf flicks around you. There's a wordless story being told, but mostly it's about manipulating your momentum for graceful aerial maneuvers.

Age of Gladiators II: Rome

Steam page
Released: August 20
Developer: Creative Storm Entertainment
Price: $20

"Like Football Manager but with Roman gladiators" would be the reductive comparison to make about Age of Gladiators II: Rome. You put together a team of warriors, then send them off to the arena to fight other gladiators as well as tigers and bears in turn-based battles. Between bouts there's training, management, and opportunities to raid caravans for extra cash and assassinate those you're in debt to.

Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier

Steam page
Released: August 24
Developer: Imaginati Studios
Price: $20

An interactive movie set between Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, Last Frontier is part big-decision Telltale series and part David Cage game (the developers have cited Heavy Rain as an inspiration), only with more apes. You play as both apes and humans on both sides of a struggle that could end in fragile peace or open war.

These games were released in the week prior to August 16, 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.

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.