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.
The Longing
Steam page
Release: March 6
Developer: Studio Seufz
Price: $14.99 | £12.99 | AU$21.50
How to describe The Longing? In this fascinating game you play as a Shade, instructed by a fallen, subterranean king to wake him after a long 400 day sleep. Keeping yourself occupied is the core of what you'll do in The Longing, whether that be via exploring, solving puzzles or, if you want, reading literature (the game draws from free eBook site Project Gutenberg, and offers the full text of Moby Dick, among many others). An in-game timer counts down 400 days in real time, and that counter continues even when the game is closed, so it's very possible to "play" The Longing and to wake the king without doing anything at all - but you'll have a long wait. Passing the time quicker is possible: "after all, time goes by faster if you learn to keep your mind occupied" reads the Steam description (I take this to mean: by actually playing the game). Honestly, this sounds like a true original.
Murder by Numbers
Steam page
Release: March 7
Developer: Mediatonic
Price: $14.99 | £11.99 | AU$21.50
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, Murder by Numbers is a visual novel with puzzle elements. It stars Honor Mizrahi and SCOUT - one is an actress, the other is an abandoned "reconnaissance robot". Together they must get to the bottom of a murder that Mizrahi has been implicated in - basically, her boss fired her and then... died. Very bad timing! You'll "Investigate a range of murders across TV studios, glitzy award shows, drag clubs" and more. Sounds brilliant, especially if you like the Phoenix Wright games but wish they were a little weirder.
Yes, Your Grace
Steam page
Release: March 7
Developer: Brave at Night
Price: $19.99 | £15.49 | AU$28.95
In Yes, Your Grace you're a king, and it's your job to make everyone happy. At least, it's your job to make the right people happy, and in this kingdom management sim you'll need to make some fairly morally perverse decisions in order to "keep the peace". Then there's the easy stuff: hiring generals, witches and hunters to "aid your efforts", going to war... things like that. Looks fun, especially if you're keen on stuff inspired by Slavic folklore. Lauren wrote about a Discord roleplay conducted in the game last week.
Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail
Steam page
Release: March 4
Developer: Game-Labs
Price: $39.99 | £33.99 | AU$56.95
Launched into Early Access last week, Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail is the latest from a studio who has carved quite a niche in the Serious Boat Game market (see Naval Action), and also tactical games more generally (see Ultimate General: Civil War). You could almost call this latest game a combination of their earlier ones: it's got ship combat, yes, but it almost features "land and combined arms landing operations". The current Early Access version has English and US campaigns and a nice spread of battles across both, but expect a tonne more when it launches into 1.0, which will happen in about nine months.
Curse of the Dead Gods
Steam page
Release: March 4
Developer: Passtech Games
Price: $14.99 | £12.99 | AU$21.95
Another Early Access game, this one's a roguelike dungeon crawler full of traps, treasure, and gratuitous amounts of blood. You'll find the usual array of contact and long range weapons (swords, bows, guns etc) with which to mow down "dozens of enemies". Honestly, this is the kind of game that doesn't sound that special on paper but if you see it in action (there's a trailer above) you'll probably be sold. The game is scheduled to launch into 1.0 by the end of the year.
These games were released between March 2 and 9 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.
