Five new Steam games you probably missed (July 8, 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. 

异常 | Exception

Steam page
Release: July 5
Developer: Kunpo Games
Price: $3.99 | £2.89 | AU$5.95

Exception is all about programming robot AI in order to efficiently defeat aggressive robot foes. The game boasts its own GUI-supported programming language, which by all reports is a lot more flexible (and complex) than it appears on the surface. Once you've programmed your AI, it's time to sit back and watch them duke it out with the CPU. Exception originally launched for smartphones but don't let that discourage you: it already boasts over 600 "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on Steam.

Kubifaktorium

Steam page
Release: July 3
Developer: Mirko Seithe
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95

Launched into Early Access last week, Kubifacktorium is a sandbox colony management game with blocky voxel-based graphics. You'll instruct colonists to mine, farm and craft, you'll set up transport infrastructure, and most importantly, you'll rob your colonists of their livelihoods with the power of automation. The game is in Early Access and will likely stay there for two years, and while the game is "about 60% complete" it's perfectly playable at the moment. More biomes, technology tiers, and more are in the works.

NOYO-!

Steam page
Release: July 2
Developer: Myaosoft
Price: $9.99 | £7.19 | AU$14.50

Here's a 16-bit styled JRPG with a colourful, zany aesthetic, and a tone reminiscent of Earthbound and Undertale. The Steam description is purposefully vague, but as far as I can tell: the game stars a girl called Noyo and her cat Michel, who are immune to a ruinous new smartphone app called DokuDenpa because Noyo, wisely, doesn't own a smartphone.  Thus, an adventure begins. It looks fun.

Total Party Kill

Steam page
Release: July 3
Developer: Adventure Islands
Price: $4.99 | £3.99 | AU$7.50

This is a neat little puzzle game starring three dungeon crawler archetypes who are all very expendable. In other words, to navigate the game's puzzles you'll need to exploit their powers before sacrificing them–so long as at least one of the members survives, all is fine and dandy. "Throw heroes as the Knight, freeze them into ice blocks with the Mage, or pin them on walls and use them as platforms as the Ranger. As long as one hero survives to the goal, you win the level!" A harrowing commentary on the modern neoliberal workplace. 

Stranger Things 3: The Game

Steam page
Release: July 5
Developer: BonusXP
Price: $19.99 | £15.85 | AU$28.92

This is a videogame designed to promote the third season of popular Netflix nostalgia binge Stranger Things. It's an adventure game with pixel-art, offering "nostalgic fun with a fresh new twist". You can play as any of the major characters in the TV series (twelve in total), and the game supports local cooperative play. There's fighting, there's puzzle solving, there's no doubt a liberal sprinkling of nods to bygone pop culture icons. You know what to expect.

These games were released between July 2 and July 8 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.