Steam Hype Weekly - Issue #1

Whew, what a week! With the Steam sale over, things are returning to normal, and 'normal' on Steam means a firehose of cool and interesting games that no one person could hope to keep up with. With Steam Hype Weekly, we're going to wrap things up every Friday with a lightning round breakdown of all the stuff we wish we'd had more time and space for. New game releases, DLC drops, free updates, and indie events, all in no particular order, because we don't play favorites here.

So, let's begin and get the weekend started with a bang:

Out Now: Fixer Undercover - A VR-optional spy adventure with low-tech tools

I'd have probably picked this one up this week if the weather didn't make active VR a nightmare prospect. Designed by escape room experts, this one's a comedy spy adventure about an agent specializing in using regular maintenance tools instead of high-tech spy gadgets.

Out Now: Funnel Runners - 8-Player cooperative storm chasing chaos

Perhaps a little too timely given recent anxiety-inducing environmental news, this one looks to be an interesting take on the 'co-op chaos job simulator' genre, as you scramble to get your scientific jobs done while repairing and refueling your van to stay ahead of a colossal tornado.

Updated: Fumes - Apocalyptic car-combat roguelike adds 250 PLAYER co-op

Already great in early access, Fumes got its biggest update yet this week. Co-op supporting as many players as Steam's multiplayer API can support, although they do say you'll need a NASA supercomputer to run 250 players without lagging.

Out Now: Dead Weight - Sky-pirates versus Cthulhu in this tactical roguelite RPG

Turn-based tactical combat with itty-bitty sprites in a world of colossal (and beautifully drawn) cosmic gods, both benevolent and menacing. I've always been a sucker for high-science-fantasy sky-pirate settings, and this one looks and sounds the part.

Demo: Being and Becoming - First bite at this gorgeously illustrated gothic underwater metroidvania

Can't go ten minutes without a beautiful new metroidvania dropping out of seemingly nowhere. Being and Becoming isn't QUITE out yet to devour your free time, but there's a demo you can dig into right now. We dig the funky cosmic ocean aesthetic it has going on, too.

Out Now: Pathogenic - Twin-stick microscopic roguelike shooter

A squishy, biological twin-stick shooter roguelike. You're a virus, mutating your body and hunting other micro-organisms inside a body. Some shades of the first minigame of Spore, only with a whole lot more action and bullets to dodge.

Out Now: Orpheus: To Hell And Back - A GBA-style Zelda-y puzzle adventure in Greek myth

An authentically crunchy Game Boy Color-styled puzzle adventure, like a less combative Zelda. Based on the classic Greek myth, Orpheus isn't much of a fighter, so expect to divert, distract, or otherwise manipulate the monsters with your soulful lyre skills.

Updated: Abiotic Factor - The Half-Like survival sandbox celebrates its anniversary

Abiotic Factor is, in my humble opinion, one of the best survival sandbox games ever, and it's only getting better. With a big summer-themed expansion due later this year, this anniversary update brings some big quality-of-life features (like ammo crafting) to the game after a successful first year.

Demo: Super Yooka-Laylee Kart - The off-brand mascot kart racer begins a time trial playtest

From much-maligned also-ran platformer to cult fave, of course Yooka-Laylee would spawn a silly spinoff kart racer. And you can sign up now for a weekend first playtest focused around solo time-trials and racing to beat your very best ghost replays.

Out Now: Flux Empyrean - Oceanic exploration sandbox mystery adventure

Like The Outer Wilds, but without the sense of cheerful optimism. Flux Empyrean has flown under most radars, but initial user reviews indicate that this one's worth checking out. Explore a vast ocean by ship, slowly pulling at gently teased story threads.

Out Now: Metamancer - Old-school roguelike where even the art is procedurally generated

One for the true old-school roguelike sickos. Metamancer left early access this week. Very few user reviews, but all positive. It's a turn-based combat sandbox where EVERYTHING is procedurally generated, from factions to character sprites, and you can put together some absurd character builds.

Out Now: Vampire Hunter: Nightrise - "Castlevania meets Tunic" in a first-person adventure

'Castlevania Meets Tunic' is such a good concept. A gothic castle full of interconnected mysteries and monsters - While the concept's great, the developer has unfortunately gone all-in on AI generation, and is blaming the game's struggles on their honesty in disclosing it. I'll probably skip on this one myself.

Out Now: Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit - Befriend cute ghost bears in this Cozy Grove sequel

Another one for the cozy goth crowd. Or at least the outdoorsy Witch contingent. Sequel to the much-loved Cozy Grove, you get to go out camping and hanging around with ghostly bears in the woods. Big Animal Crossing vibes with a supernatural spin.

Out Now: Desktop Explorer - Creepy-cute psycho-thriller investigation through a '90s retro desktop

This one's high on my to-play list this weekend. An investigation mystery set in and around a retro Windows 95-era desktop. Chunky UI, early cursed internet, and layers of secrets weaving in and around several interconnected minigame experiences.

Out Now: Teeto - Exploration-heavy 3D platformer about highly absorbent slime

A cute, silly, very Australian-sounding 3D platformer. The twist here is that the titular Teeto can suck up properties from the world around them, changing shape, properties and abilities to help navigate your usual raft of elemental and gimmick-themed platformer worlds.

Out Now: Angel's Dreams - Gothic horror roguelike stealthy puzzler

Reminiscent of the excellent Withering Rooms but with less of a combat focus, Angel's Dreams just left early access. A dark gothic horror roguelike with a focus on evasion and observation, with some anomaly-spotting challenges to provide bonuses.

Out Now: Requiem of Reuinis - A 'Magic Tower' style order-of-operations RPG puzzler

The latest entry in a very niche (but highly compelling) puzzle subgenre. Magic Tower-style games have you crunching numbers and rationing resources to work your way through an RPG maze, levelling up when you can and avoiding fights that would leave you weakened. This one's a maximalist spin on the idea.

Event: The Convergence Games Showcase - A massive roundup of promising upcoming indie titles

Both a big Steam showcase and a two-hour event on YouTube. A broad look at the coming year or so of indie gaming, with some really exciting games in there. Even with the industry in dire straits, there's still plenty to look forward to for those who appreciate the medium as a whole.

Disclosure: I've been helping Convergence with their weekly newsletters for a while, which is mostly an excuse for me to ramble on about the coolest indie games I've been playing.

Out Now: 4D Intuition - Understand hyper-spatial structures in a brain-bending puzzler

I can get completely lost in a 2D space. 3D worlds are a huge liability. The concept of hyper-geometry makes my head hurt. I'm still probably going to try this fascinating puzzler, although I don't expect to get very far.

Out Now: Farlands - Cozy pixel-art farming adventure out in deep space

Yet another game escaping the pull of Early Access' gravity. Farlands is a cute and cozy farmsteading game, but set off in deep space, with plenty of weird alien friends to make, critters to wrangle, and plants that are hopefully suitable for human consumption. Cute spritework, too.

Out Now: Holonoptic - A fascinating-looking cyberpunk corporate management RPG

Sometimes a game comes along that looks like nothing else I've played. Holonoptic is one of those. Still not sure what to make of it, and very few have tried it already, but its complex web of maps, graphs, and character stats to drive cyberpunk business interests over traditional RPG combat is fascinating.

Out Now: Blue Wyrm - Surreal, short King's Field-inspired dungeon crawl

Originally released for free on Itch, now tuned up and given a commercial place on Steam. Blue Wyrm is a short (maybe an hour long but secret-laden) action dungeon crawl inspired by FromSoftware's classic King's Field series, but with a psychedelic edge. The world is falling apart, and all you've got is a big sword.

Out Now: Pimbolas - Foosball arcade party game for up to four players

Foosball with arcade powerups. The most casual of indoor games gets expanded into digital form. Surprisingly, this one seems to be replicating a miniature-scale table, rather than the full, classic nine-a-side layout, but that should at least make for snappy arcade-paced rounds.

Out Now: Ground Branch - Gritty tactical FPS from an ex-Ghost Recon developer gone indie

Initial reviews suggest this one launched before it was properly ready to graduate from early access, and is missing key features like AI squadmates, but still a promising game if you can bring your own tactical friend-squad. Gritty, realistic shooter inspired by the early days of Ghost Recon & Rainbow Six.

Out Now: Heave Ho 2 - Silly co-op fumblecore platformer sequel published by Devolver

You'd think that a Devolver-published raucous party game would be higher on people's radars, but somehow Heave Ho 2 has launched to little fanfare. A pity, as it looks like a creative mix of weird challenges for players to daisy-chain their noodly-armed characters through.

Out Now: Wreck Runners - Lethal Company in an extremely haunted Bermuda Triangle

Another day, another game riffing off Lethal Company, but this is a particularly interesting-looking take on the Haunted Job Sim, as players explore derelicts and ruins through a big open-world Bermuda Triangle in a mobile scavenging base.

Out Now: Meta Ghost: Breaking Show - Stylish cyberpunk co-op arcade roguelike

A MOBA-inspired hack n' slash buildcrafting roguelite set against a dystopian cyberpunk game show. Lots of gear, loot and stats, lots of big numbers to smack out of enemies. Plus, it features three-player co-op. User reviews suggest it stuck the landing on leaving early access this week.

Out Now: Ghost Keeper - Spiritual (heh) successor to spooky management game Ghost Master

And yet another game escaping early access, and with a steep launch discount too. Ghost Keeper is riffing off the underrated (and recently remastered) Ghost Master. A game where you're trying to progressively ramp up your haunting until every pesky mortal is convinced to leave the buildings you're guarding.

Out Now: Diggin - Incremental mining adventure with a giant upgrade tree

Sometimes, you just want a game where numbers go up, and moles go down. There's a lot of cozy little time-sponge games about mining through a vast abyss looking for resources, but this one pairs that with an absurd incremental-style upgrade tree letting you tear through earth like butter.

Out Now: Go-Go Town! - Automation-heavy cute town manager hits V1.0

So many games leaving early access this week! Go-Go Town is a town management game where you start out doing everything by yourself, but eventually switch the focus to automation and self-sustaining. So, Animal Crossing but you can make it do the busywork while you go treasure hunting.

Out Now: FixForce - Co-op construction chaos leaves early access

And one more multiplayer game leaving early access, this time a 6-player construction game from the team behind underrated metroidvania Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU. Your team is hunting for parts to complete weird machines, but will need to improvise to build navigable paths to the areas you want to access.

Out Now: What Awaits, Aleksey - Investigative mystery at the peak of Cold War paranoia

This week was just packed with interesting mysteries as well. Set in a fictional communist state in the '70s, paranoia runs high, and loyalties are thin. There are ciphers to be tracked, spies to be hunted, and mysteries solved, but the game promises to let you decide what you do with the knowledge that you've revealed.

Out Now: Runix: Pinball Roguelike - Become a rogue-like pinball wizard

Runix has a bit of a 'my first game' look about it. Slightly stiff graphics, too-intense lighting, simple graphics. But initial reviews from both pinball and roguelike fans give it two thumbs up, as it blends Slay The Spire-style progression with skill-shots and multi-stage tables. One to keep an eye on!

And there you have it - all the games that were fit to print this week, but we just couldn't find the time for. Let us know if you've played any of the above, found anything great in the Convergence showcase, or think we missed something absolutely crucial in the comments below. But most importantly, have fun, be kind to people (even if you don't understand them) and see you next week!