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 2020.
Paper Beast
Steam page
Release: July 24
Developer: Pixel Reef
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
This former PSVR exclusive is the latest from Eric Chahi, the creator of Another World and From Dust. It's a VR game about exploring and shaping a surreal world hidden "in the abyssal depths of the internet". As the first person to chart this strange territory, you'll need to make contact with the world's inhabitants. There's an adventure mode with puzzles and a story, but the sandbox mode sounds especially cool: it lets you mess around with the game's terrain-molding tools with virtually no limitations.
Panzer Paladin
Steam page
Release: July 22
Developer: Tribute Games Inc.
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
From the creators of Flinthook and Mercenary Kings comes Panzer Paladin, a stylish no-frills take on the 8-bit action platformer. If there are indeed "frills" here, it's the player-character: you're a "strong-willed android" with a massive sword-wielding mech. Doing a lot of damage to enemies is what the mech is all about, but occasionally you'll need to jump out and play as the squishy-but-nimble pilot. There are tonnes of enemies in this game, more than you'd normally expect from an 8-bit throwback, and it feels really good to play. I'd recommend.
Röki
Steam page
Release: July 23
Developer: Polygon Treehouse
Price: $19.99 | £19.49 | AU$29.95
Here's a gorgeous adventure game with an art style and world "inspired by Scandinavian folklore." You play as Tove, whose family is in some unspecified peril and must be saved. There will be obstacles of course, puzzles and monsters chief among them, though it seems like most of these monsters aren't the kill-on-sight variety. No, Roki is a much more gentle, reflective offering.
Kinoko
Steam page
Release: July 25
Developer: ThunderLime
Price: Free
Kinoko is a short, gentle and free adventure game about a forest spirit dragging spring into being. It's not the deepest affair: in about 15 minutes you'll do a series of fairly undemanding tasks before the credits roll. But it's all about the atmosphere, and the trailer above shows that it's a nice world to spend a little bit of time in.
Jets'n'Guns 2
Steam page
Release: July 25
Developer: Rake in Grass
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50
Like jets? And guns? Intrigued by the combination of the two? Jets'n'Guns 2 is a sidescrolling schmup that has been in Early Access since 2018, launching last week into 1.0. It offers a huge amount of weapons and items, but chief among its features is the gratuitous destruction: watching things explode from a sidelong perspective is one of the simple joys this game has to offer. Also, it has two-player local cooperative play, so you can shoot guns from jets with friends if you want.
These games were released between June 20 and July 27 2020. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
