2025 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best MMOs: Massive worlds
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
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 2025 games that are launching this year.
Mark of the Deep
Steam page
Release: January 25
Developer: Mad Mimic
Mark of the Deep is an isometric metroidvania about pirates—with Souls-like trappings, of course. Shipwrecked on a weird island, protagonist Rookie needs to navigate the surreal landscape to find his scattered crew, which will involve a lot of tight platforming challenges, some light puzzling, and plenty of violent encounters that look as precision-oriented as Hades. All the usual stuff is here: there are skills to learn, weapons to find and interlocking areas. If you liked Death's Door or Tunic but wished they were more... pirate-y (or indeed, just have a hunger for any pirate game) this looks well worth a play. There's a demo.
Cat Detective Albert Wilde
Steam page
Release: January 25
Developer: beyondthosehills
As the name implies, Cat Detective Albert Wilde is about a cat detective—by the name of Albert Wilde—tasked with solving a "quantum mystery" that will see him utilise his "years of experience of interrogating and drinking at bars". Draped in the grainy black and white of 1930s noir, Cat Detective is a comedic, narrative driven game that dares wonder aloud what might happen if cats could be detectives and grapple with quantum theory. I for one am keen to see the results.
Summer Islands
Steam page
Release: January 26
Developers: Marttalin Games
Summer Islands is about running a picturesque island resort. First you shape your island—in a way that is pleasantly reminiscent of Sim City 2000—and then you start building your resort on it, which can be as big or small as you like. This being an island resort, you'll want it to be well-serviced with all the usual things tourists like, such as discos and golf courses, and once you've put everything into place you'll need to make sure everything functions and that tourists are happy. The goal is to get extremely rich, after all. Sounds like a lot of hard work, but if it's a new management obsession you're after, I reckon this is worth a shot: I love the art style in particular.
Streamer Life Simulator 2
Steam page
Release: January 24
Developer: Cheesecake Dev
Cheesecake Dev pumps out simulators at an alarming rate (see also: Internet Cafe Simulator, Dating Simulator and Hookah Cafe Simulator) but they tend to find their audience. This sequel to Streamer Life Simulator is a case in point: despite being launched into a hilariously crowded simulator market, it already has over 600 "very positive" reviews. The trailer above has it all: dangerous driving in the wilderness, for some reason, house cleaning, cat robbery, and photography (featuring an inflatable pool, of course). It's an early access affair but apparently there's plenty of stuff to do already. If you've played these games a bunch, can you email me?
Space Engineers 2
Steam page
Release: January 28
Developer: Keen Software House
Launched into early access last week, this sequel to the popular space exploration and survival sim seeks to do what all good game sequels do: be a bigger and better version of the original. As such, this alpha build is a tad barebones at the moment, because it's basically just a creative mode. So unless you've already sunk countless hours into the original, maybe try the predecessor first. For anyone who sank their teeth deep into the first Space Engineers, this definitely looks like an impressive step up.
