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.
Dap
Steam page
Release: September 30
Developer: Melting Parrot
Launch price: $11.19 | £8.79 | AU$15.96
Dap is a horror game about guiding helpless creatures to safety: think Lemmings, or Pikmin. It looks incredible in action, with a remarkable hybrid art style combining pixel art with more photorealistic elements. This horror environment ain't the usual scary forest or ruined mansion either, with studio Melting Parrot describing it as a "permeable realm on the border between dreaming and waking." Sounds relaxing, but probably isn't. Game footage suggests you'll solve puzzles and engage in some light shooter combat, but I feel like the main attraction here is looking at it.
Bonfire Peaks
Steam page
Release: September 30
Developer: Corey Martin, Draknek
Launch price: $18 | £13.94 | AU$26.05
Bonfire Peaks is a puzzle game about burning all your crap. In an isometrically viewed voxel art world, the protagonist must ascend a mysterious ruin, but in order to do so he'll need to destroy crates of his own stuff. The game is presented as a series of puzzles involving the moving of boxes and crates in order to create safe passage for the protagonist and his belongings. but he isn't he most agile fellow, so expect some brainteasing and a complete absence of "filler content." It's been getting great reviews so far, and it looks very nice.
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch
Steam page
Release: October 3
Developer: TiGames
Launch price: $27 | £22.49 | AU$38.69
This year has been incredible for Metroidvania enthusiasts: Axiom Verge 2, Astalon: Tears of the Earth, Ender Lilies. FIST is another for the pile, and its presentation goes above and beyond, with a fully 3D world presented from a sidelong perspective and with ray tracing support to boot. Apparently it combines "dieselpunk aesthetics" with "oriental-style architecture" but to me it just looks gritty. Combat looks tense—you've got a fist, a drill and a whip, which you'll use according to the enemy-type you're facing—and, uh, did I mention the playable character is a cute rabbit in a big robot? It is.
Turing Complete
Steam page
Release: October 3
Developer: LevelHead
Launch price: $14 | £10.84 | AU$20.26
Launched into Early Access last week, Turing Complete is an educational puzzle game about building a computer. According to the studio you'll leave to "build a functional computer purely out of logic gates," while learning stuff like programming, assembly, CPU architecture and more. It's not a game for the faint hearted, but no previous knowledge of how computers work is necessary. The game will stay in Early Access for "roughly" six months, while new tools and features are added.
In Sound Mind
Steam page
Release: September 28
Developer: We Create Stuff
Launch price: $29.74 | £23.62 | AU$42.45
Another horror game, this time more conventional: it's a first-person affair set "in the corridors of an inexplicable building" strewn with puzzles and scary baddies you'll need to shoot at. The nature of this building is no straightforward affair, so don't expect a series of grim corridors—In Sound Mind definitely leans into the surreal—but do expect boss fights, cats, and some pretty unpleasant encounters.
These games were released between September 27 and October 4 2021. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
