(Image credit: Larian Studios)
2024 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 2024 games that are launching this year.
Windowkill
Steam page
Release: February 24
Developer: torcado
This twin-stick shooter has a fascinating twist: It takes place in a desktop window that needs to be constantly shot at to keep the action onscreen. Sure, there are the usual array of skittish baddies, but you’ll also need to keep the ever-reducing window large enough to a) the those baddies and b) prevent the dwindling of the borders from crushing you. Judging by the trailer above, this concept becomes increasingly bizarre and complex, with multiple desktop windows circulating at a time. Also, it overlays onto your desktop, so your Bathtub Geralt background image will be visible at all times.
Feed the Cups
Steam page
Release: February 21
Developer: Vambear Games
This Early Access online roguelike about running a drink shop has amassed more than 500 “overwhelmingly positive” reviews this week, so it must be doing something right (perilous logic: Nickelback has sold over 50 million albums). With two local players or four online you’ll carry out the usual array of drink shop tasks: dealing with customers, mixing drinks, taking the trash out, optimising supplies and, ideally, never running the business into the ground. Given the popularity of Overcooked! and cosy games, Feed the Cups looks like a nice combo of zeitgeists, and it probably helps that everyone plays as an animal. This Early Access build has 60 percent of the final game, and development will continue for between 8-12 months.
Rail Route
Steam page
Release: February 22
Developers: Bitrich.info
Here’s another prickly sim for those of us who can’t get enough of public transport logistics. Rail Route is about building an increasingly complex train network, which means plotting out the routes, also carefully placing signals and junctures, and managing contracts. It’s essentially an automation puzzler in the vein of Factorio, but with a rail focus, and its minimalist presentation means the finer and more taxing details of rail network maintenance can be explored in a lot of detail. Not only that, but you can download fan made maps where players have already created detailed adaptations of real world stations and networks.
School Labyrinth
Steam page
Release: February 22
Developer: RainyDollGames
This Phasmophobia-like follows the travails of up to four kids who decide to break into their school at night for a laugh. Bad idea, because not only does the school’s entire layout shift at night, but it’s full of creepy things that want to kill you. Playable both alone or with up to three friends, the objective is to escape the school, which won’t be easy because of the previously mentioned labyrinthine randomness. It’s a cooperative horror overlaid on the White Day series.
Supermarket Simulator
Steam page
Release: February 21
Developer: Nokta Games
So many “[Insert job] Simulator” games release on Steam every month, and so many are just weird novelty projects, that I tend not to pay much attention to anything using that naming convention. Supermarket Simulator doesn’t leave a great first impression but its “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating tells another story. You start with an empty shop, install shelves, fridges and displays, order goods, start stocking the furniture with goods, and then sell those goods. All this plays out from a first-person perspective. In addition to the fun of deciding what groceries to put on shelves, you’ll also need to make wise wholesale purchasing decisions, while keeping a close eye on the budget. This is an Early Access affair: it’ll release into 1.0 within a year.
