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.
Granny Escape Together
Steam page
Release: December 6
Developer: CreepyToad
Steam received more new indie horror games than usual last week—and it usually gets a lot—but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to highlight this co-op game about escaping a crazed grandma. The set up is simple: after encountering a weird dancing elderly woman in the forest, you receive a surprise blow to the head and awaken later in the decrepit abode of granny. What follows is the usual interleaving of hide and seek with tense puzzle solving, as you and up to three friends work hard towards one of three escape routes. I’ve never met a granny I didn’t like, but the granny in Granny Escape Together looks utterly terrifying. If you dare, it can also be played solo.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World
Steam page
Release: December 6
Developer: Knights Peak
This lush 2.5D platformer is strongly reminiscent of Retro Studios’ Donkey Kong offerings. It also evokes the cruisy atmosphere of ’90s media, with its nostalgic anthromorphs and David Wise composed soundtrack (in case he needs introduction, think Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing). The Donkey Kong comparisons are definitely invited: there are minecart rides here, the platforming is deliberately tricky, and couch co-op is supported, so a friend can shout at you every time you fall into a bottomless pit. If you’ve already played Kaze and the Wild Masks (a brilliant and underrated action platformer), this looks like a good follow up.
Rings of Zilfin
Steam page
Release: December 6
Developers: Strategic Simulations
At first I thought this was a new retro-styled adventure in the vein of something like Skald, but Rings of Zilfin actually released for the Commodore 64 in 1986, so it’s the real deal. This re-release—which hit GOG back in April—doesn’t modernize the game at all, so you should go in expecting a typically cryptic 1980s RPG with no hand-holding. That said, this enlightening post on crpgaddict insists that it’s relatively easy by CRPG standards, so if you’re going it just to enjoy the gorgeous ’80s pixel art and the vibe—which is what appeals to me—then you should be OK.
The Hole
Steam page
Release: December 6
Developer: Bober Bros
Bober Bros follows up its disturbing It’s Just A Prank with yet another grimy, dubious-looking horror game that makes something like Murder House look cosy. Played from a first-person perspective, you’re a habitual drinker watching TV in your apartment, minding your own business, until some distracting drilling starts next door. Soon, holes begin to appear in your wall. I’m not sure what happens from there, but expect 40 minutes of superlative discomfort.
Esca
Steam page
Release: December 7
Developer: LuN
Esca is a murky, atmospheric survival RPG played from a top down perspective. As a maintenance robot, you’ll navigate a mysterious underwater research station, though by the looks of it this station is basically destroyed beyond repair. As the trailer above makes clear, this is borderline a horror game, but it’s a quiet and ruminative one, with branching narrative paths and a molasses-thick mood of dread.
