: Upcoming releases
: All-time favorites
: Freebie fest
: Finest gunplay
: Massive worlds
: 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 [[link]] 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.
Everdeep Aurora
Release: July 10
Developer: Nautilus Games
People keep comparing this gorgeous platformer to games from the Game Boy Advance era, which isn't wrong, but it feels closer to something you might have found on an Amstrad Action cover mount back in the '80s, albeit with a higher pixel count. Set underground in the aftermath of an apocalypse, you play as Shell, who is—and this is important—a cat. Shell's mother is missing, so she needs to dig deeper and deeper into the unknown to find her. Naturally, things get more bizarre and dangerous the further she gets. This is ostensibly a [[link]] platformer, though it has a lot of mining, making Steamworld Dig an obvious reference point.
Dread Flats
Release: July 11
Developer: Ghostcase
Everdeep Aurora may be cute, but the rest of this week's column is consistently morbid. Dread Flats is probably the worst offender: it's a first-person horror about exploring a "murder building". Set in 1990s China, it's [[link]] definitely exploration-forward: you'll spend the majority of the game poking around in a big residential tower block that has seen better days (to be extremely euphemistic about it). The residents we meet are pretty effed up, as the trailer makes abundantly clear, so expect a lot of panicked running or, if you're smart, a fair bit of stealth.
Last Report
Release: July 12
Developers: Moonpixel Games
Another horror game, this time in the form of a point 'n' click adventure. You play as a night shift park ranger who notices some pretty unsettling stuff on the CCTV. Via exploration, conversations with fellow park rangers (all of whom are a bit suss themselves), and the monitoring of camera footage, the disturbing history of the park unfolds. It looks like a mix of Five Nights at Freddy's and Firewatch.
Occlude
Release: July 11
Developer: Tributary Games
It's an occult card game, basically, but with a "reality-bending" narrative and a cryptic, challenge-based approach to familiar rules. Judging by the Steam description, I think the less you know about Occlude the better, but it heavily emphasises secrets and mysteries. If Balatro is hauntological poker, I guess this is eldritch solitaire? I don't really play card games, but if you do, this seems like it's trying something new.
Azrael's Tear
Release: July 12
Developer: Intelligent Games Ltd., Ken Haywood
There are few things that excite me more than forgotten, vaguely cursed-looking '90s PC games, and Azrael's Tear is a perfect example. Originally released on CD-ROM in 1996, it's set in the distant future of 2012, and follows the protagonist's search for the Holy Grail in a mysterious underground sanctum that seems far more technologically advanced that it should be. I've never played this, but it has an approach to first-person exploration that feels akin to something like Ultima Underworld or System Shock, but with a heavier emphasis on puzzles and problem-solving.