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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 you can play right now and a running list of the that are launching this year.
Waterpark Simulator
Release: August 23
Developer: CayPlay
It's hard to take a "Simulator" seriously nowadays, with the recent tidal wave of low-effort retail sims. So I almost browsed straight past Waterpark Simulator, but I'm glad I didn't, because it looks genuinely fun. Not least because it aims to be "serious" while not taking itself [[link]] too seriously. In addition to the usual park plotting and staff management, you can also just go around being an arsehole to your customers. Want to push that annoying looking guy into a shallow pool? You totally should. Want to drench that unassuming woman with your water gun? Hey: you own this place. Do it. Over-the-top ragdoll physics makes everything stupider, too. This is basically a troll sim masquerading as a tycoon game. It's in early access for up to a year.
Cheese Rolling
Release: August 20
Developer: The Interviewed
One enduringly fascinating thing about gaming in the 2020s is that, while a multimillion dollar hero shooter from a major studio can die on arrival, a bizarre game about chasing big cheese wheels down dangerous slopes can be a viral success (see also: Webfishing, Mage Arena, Peak). Aside from developers losing their jobs en masse because major publishers and studios want to blindly chase lucrative trends, resulting in countless boring games that look like DeviantArt Marvel, I'd say this is a positive thing. Cheese rolling is an actual thing they do in Gloucester, England, by the way. This game is a singleplayer and PvP tribute to it, only Gloucester doesn't have lava as far as I know.
Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken
Release: August 22
Developers: scriptwelder
I love the look of this horror point 'n' clicker, which comes from a dev with veteran status in the contemporary scene. Protagonist Amy is investigating the mysterious death of her brother, whose interest in dreams and their relationship with alternative worlds made him seem like a bit of a crank. Amy's had cause to think again, though: maybe he was... on to something? Expect pointing, clicking, puzzles, ample investigation, and even some light RPG elements. Labyrinth of the Forsaken is a chunky standalone in the Deep Sleep series, whose trilogy is well worth playing, especially .
Crescent Tower
Release: August 20
Developer: Curry Croquette
Long term readers of this column will know I'm a sucker for ancient looking dungeon crawlers, but Crescent Tower's lavish 8-bit pixel art looks positively next-gen compared to, say Caves of Qud or Shadowed: The Demon Castle of Ooe. Unlike both of those, it's also not a roguelike, though with nine classes across three races, there's sure to be some replay value. Combat is a side-long turn-based affair in the style of the ye olde Final Fantasy games, while exploration is conducted from a classic bird's eye view. Developer Curry Croquette predicts you'll get between 10-20 hours on a single playthrough,
HorrorToleranceTest
Release: August 20
Developer: うさうさはっぴーげーむず
This is a Japanese horror game taking the form of a "tolerance test". Can you cope with different kinds of horror, ranging from "surprise fear", through to "hiding fear" and "escaping fear"? HorrorToleranceTest will help you find out! In practice, it's a collection of mini-games, but it's also a rare example of a truly original concept [[link]] arising among the droves of indie horror games that hit Steam every week.