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.
2023 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPSes: Finest gunplay
Best MMOs: Massive worlds
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Night Reverie
Steam page
Release: October 9
Developer: Somber Pixel
Launch price: $9 | £6.47 | AU$13.05
The child protagonist of Night Reverie has a problem: their house has gone completely bonkers, resulting in a surreal and disorientating place very unlike home. It's the child's job to try to solve the mystery of why this has happened, which involves navigating the weird dreamscape, solving increasingly obtuse puzzles, and interacting with a "unique cast of characters" which appears to involve a human rabbit and an oversize cat. The pixel art is lovely, and the whole thing gives off strong Alice in Wonderland vibes.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand
Steam page
Release: October 8
Developer: PlaySide
Launch price: $19.79 | £15.74 | AU$28.75
Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a real-time strategy about fending off Nightmares. But cop this: these Nightmares, which resemble zombies, come swarming in numbers upwards of 70,000. So you've got your work cut out for you, more so than in the other popular game with lots of baddies, They Are Billions. Of course, it's not just about defending against these monstrosities, as you'll also need to build and bolster your settlement in a dark fantasy hellscape. Sounds calming. The game's in Early Access and will stay there for "at least one year" as it gets a full campaign mode, polish, and more.
Shelter Manager
Steam page
Release: October 9
Developer: Hamsters Gaming
Launch price: $13.49 | £10.25 | AU$19.35
Shelter Manager looks like Fallout Shelter, but sim-depth is the goal here and it's definitely not an idle game. In the wake of an unspecified global catastrophe you'll build, improve and populate a liveable underground bunker, which naturally involves occasionally braving the outside world and, most importantly, waging resource wars against other bunkers. In addition to all that you'll need to micro-manage the everyday rhythms of your subterranean community, from managing morale to policing how much they sleep. It all looks incredibly depressing, but also fun.
Pnevmo-Capsula: Domiki
Steam page
Release: October 5
Developer: Pomeshkin Valentin Igorevich
Launch price: $25 | £19.49 | AU$35.95
This steampunk-themed puzzle game is about propelling little capsules—are they for mail?—along similarly small railways that connect all the houses in a neighbourhood. In order to do this you'll need to solve a series of physics-oriented problems, but you'll also need to "find and activate hidden mechanisms such as springs, telephones and various incandescent lamps." It's an interesting looking game, blending a speculative steampunk aesthetic with 1970s Russian stylings, all in a lovingly detailed 3D environment. It's definitely the only Russian steampunk puzzler to hit Steam this week.
Stonedeep
Steam page
Release: October 10
Developer: Direfang
Launch price: $10.79 | £8.39 | AU$15.57
This year has been a generous one for citybuilder fans, and Stonedeep is the latest to scratch that itch. You'll be building underground dwarf settlements in a style that looks fairly similar to Terraria. Resource gathering is important, but as is choosing the specialisation of your colony (Culture? Military? Trading?) and defending against monsters. The game has been in Early Access for a while, but hit 1.0 last week so if you've been waiting to jump in, now's the time.
These games were released between October 4 and 11 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.
