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 2021 games that are launching this year.
Grotto
Steam page
Release: October 27
Developer: Brainwash Gang
Launch price: $11.69 | £9.26 | AU$16.65
Grotto is a narrative-driven adventure game starring the Soothsayer, a powerful deity-like figure with the power of divination. As the Soothsayer, you'll be appealed to by a society "in a time of turmoil," and basically, it's your job not to give them crappy information. Their futures and pasts will be shaped by whatever predictions or pronouncements you make, so you're probably going to want to be careful when reading the stars. Grotto looks like a genuinely unique effort, a blend of visual novel and adventure game with bizarre and slightly unsettling art and sound direction.
Laptop Tycoon
Steam page
Release: October 30
Developer: Roastery Games
Launch price: $8 | £5.79 | AU$11.50
Originally released for smartphones last year, Laptop Tycoon is pretty much what the name implies: it's a game about operating a competitive laptop company. That obviously involves building the baddest-ass laptop you could ever dream of, but you'll also need to deal with the usual tycoon stuff like hiring staff, keeping them happy, upgrading your office, and keeping the books balanced. That said, mucking around with the specs of your dream laptop appears to be the main draw here, but you'll probably need to make some compromises to keep costs down—at least for a while.
Bad End Theater
Steam page
Release: October 27
Developer: NomnomNami
Launch price: $9 | £6.47 | AU$13.05
This puzzle-oriented visual novel has more than 40 endings but every one of them is bad. It works like this: there are four protagonists to choose from, and each has their own distinct story, though all interact with each other in unexpected (and bad) ways. Each of these protagonists have character traits that will affect how they play, but all are united by their terrible, terrible luck. I'm not sure if there is a way to get a "good" ending, but the Steam page seems to imply there is. Cathartic glare into the void, or schadenfreude simulator? Why not both?
Hypnagogia 無限の夢 Boundless Dreams
Steam page
Release: October 30
Developer: sodaraptor
Launch price: $8 | £5.75 | AU$11.60
It's nice to see a retro 3D game not set in a creepy Resident Evil-style mansion, and Hypnagogia has a color palette cheerfully at odds with horror. It's a PS1-inspired exploration game set in a surreal dreamscape, apparently "created from the essence of joyful dreams, twisted nightmares, and the places in between." It's not just a walking sim: there's a kidnapped companion and parts of a shattered Dream Crystal to collect, so there are reasons to explore this sprawling, shapeshifting world (in case you needed one). Probably goes well with James Ferraro's Clear.
The Radio Station
Steam page
Release: October 31
Developer: Chilla's Art
Launch price: $4.49 | £3.59 | AU$6.75
It's still Halloween as I write this, and Steam got a lot of new horror games this week. The Radio Station stood out to me: It's a Japanese psychological horror game that comes with the warning that "the game will drive you insane." Sounds bad! Just quietly, I doubt it will, but if you're after a combat-free exploration-focused horror game with three endings, gorgeously detailed graphics and "a VHS aesthetic" then you may have time to fit this in before the scary season wraps up.
These games were released between October 25 and November 1 2021. Some online stores givers. us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
