Steam Hype Weekly - Issue #11

This. Week. Was. BANANAS. Not only did we get a deluge of big AAA releases, but indie stuff that I'd been looking to for years, like Nighthawks. And beyond that, a mountain of exciting indie releases. Even with our full crew firing on all cylinders, we only managed to cover a fraction of the things hitting Steam this week. As ever, we're ending the week on a blowout roundup - everything interesting that we didn't have time for a full article on.

As usual, we've got demos and updates at the top, and then all the week's other releases in alphabetical order. Let's dig in:

Demo: Really Illegal Golf - Tactical Espionage Putting

The latest in a string of wacky golf releases. This one's just a demo right now, but if you've ever wanted to play Metal Gear Solid and mini-golf at the same time, this is the game for you. Sneaking around security cameras, knocking out guards and then playing your way to the finish line. Blurs the line between co-op and competitive in PvP.

Demo: Undefeated: Genesis - What if Superman WAS Goku?

The original Undefeated was a fun little student project superhero game. The tiny indie outfit behind it then decided to aim ABSURDLY high with this sequel, inspired equally by Superman and Dragon Ball Z. I've been meaning to try this demo all week, but I guess you can beat me to it now!

Out Now: Cavalry Girls: Calendula DLC - Anime Helldivers Expansion

Mech tactics shooter and strategic tax-evasion simulator (no ,really) Cavalry Girls might not have been a breakout hit, but it has done well enough for its small development studio to crowdfund a huge raft of DLC. This third expansion adds a whole Helldivers-inspired side campaign.

Out Now: Chomp Garden - Flytrap-dodging brainteasers

A smart little puzzle game where you play as a little floating lamp-robot. Unfortunately, that makes all the big carnivorous plants here want to grow towards you, one square per turn every time they can see your sunbeams. Making them grow out of your way so you can squeak past is the heart of the puzzles.

Out Now: Delverium - Overhead survival crafting sandbox

Doing well user-reviews wise so far, this is another very Terraria-inspired, overhead-view survival crafting sandbox with a big focus on monster hunting, dungeons and bosses. And boy, is it ever Terraria-inspired, right down to similar sprites and animations.

Out Now: Drapline - How to train your dragon-girl

I've been waiting for this one to leave early access. A Chaotic, comedic 'raising' game, only instead of trying to create a perfect, refined young lady, you're trying to make your building-eating, fire-breathing dragon girl strong enough to challenge all rivals. And ideally not eat anything too important.

Out Now: Ebitapes - Sound-remixing narrative adventure

A cute pencil-scribbled exploration adventure where you solve problems by sampling sounds from the world around you and remixing them into catchy little musical loops. This one appears to have launched to little fanfare, but everyone who's tried it so far seems to have liked it.

Out Now: Echoes of Mora - VR-optional narrative adventure

Released in both flatscreen and VR forms, this one's a narrative adventure about diving into the sunken ruins of a lost town, discovering echoes of what the people were doing before everything fell apart, and figuring out exactly what you can do with that knowledge.

Out Now: Escape Simulator 2 - Apocalypse DLC - Puzzles after the fall

The first of likely many DLC packs for Escape Simulator 2, adding a new post-apocalyptic set of props for modders to work with, plus four similarly themed escape room adventures. This also comes a week after the game finally added VR support - one of the coolest elements of the original Escape Sim. The base game is also discounted right now, too.

Out Now: Fallosophy - What if Jump King was a pinball game

Potentially very frustrating or very satisfying, Fallosophy's demo did very well for itself in the last Next Fest, and is still available to try now. Like Jump King and other frustrating platformers, your goal is to climb a massive tower with zones themed after eras of philosophical debate. But instead of jumping, you're flipping a ball up screen by screen.

Out Now: Fruitbearer - Grimdark juicy Suika roguelike

Don't let the black and red aesthetics fool you. This game's more 'halloween kids party' than dark and violent. Although you're not going to be continuing without staining your hands red with fruit-juice. It's another hybrid of Suika style physics puzzling and roguelite, building up a deck of fruits and tools to help you clear them efficiently.

Out Now: Furyball: Rogue Revenge - Future Baseball roguelike

I've always had a soft spot for gratuitously violent future sports games, and mashing together Lethal League's high-stakes baseball with roguelike dungeon crawling is a very compelling combination. This one just rolled out into early access this week and while it's not selling great so far, it shows a lot of promise.

Out Now: Goofy Dungeon (VR) - VR escape room puzzler

If Escape Simulator 2 adding VR support wasn't enough for you, here's one more escape room, albeit self-contained, and with a cute, comedic dungeon crawler theme. I've always liked this kind of low-fi, chunky-pixelled art style in VR games, too.

Out Now: IGTAP - It's an incremental game! It's a platformer!

The name says it all, albeit as an acronym. An optimization puzzle-platformer where each stage has you trying to build enough energy through clones following your path clearing the room. Then you spend the money to upgrade your movement tech, optimize your path further and generate more. Simple, but satisfying.

Out Now: It's Fine - Ever-expanding incremental shenanigans

A more pure incremental game now about idling your way to game development success, even if it means mining cryptocurrency until your entire house is on fire, including the fish-tank. Visually it just keeps expanding too, with more and more interactable things to exploit for more money being added to the UI.

Out Now: Kalanoro - 3D platformer based on Madagascar's folklore

A very cute 3D platformer that doesn't seem to have been met with much fanfare, based on Madagascar's local folklore. Music is a big theme, with drum platforms to jump on, as you roam the country and assemble a band to play for a crowd of cheering lemurs.

Out Now: Lucid Cats - Co-op dream diving treasure hunting

Another co-op horror money-making expedition, this time about a bunch of cats raiding a shared lucid nightmare made out of weird surreal spaces and liminal tropes for dreamy riches. Reminds me a lot of the recent Mama's Sleeping Angels, but with a lot less violence and smooching.

Out Now: Lunar Drifter - Arcade FPS action, Dreamcast style

Hands up if you ever played the Dreamcast's slate of first-person shooters? They were a weird bunch, mostly designed for rapid-fire arcade arena experiences about scoring high, moving fast and highly unrealistic violence. That's the vibe I get from this one. Score chains, bright environments, unrealistic action.

Out Now: Nomori - Time & Space-warping 3D puzzle adventure

This one looks as cute as it is brain-busting, with puzzles involving you twisting the world around through portals, moving blocks around to record their movements, then looping back to ride on them from different positions. One that I hope I can carve some time out to try properly as well.

Out Now: Obscurity: Unknown Threat - The Hidden Vs Predator

Clearly inspired by old Half-Life PvP mod The Hidden. One player is a high-powered, almost-invisible sword-wielding monster, hunting a squad of guards trying to spot and hunt them down. This take on it adds a single-player campaign and full bot support, meaning that even if you can't rustle up a crew to play, it'll remain playable.

Out Now: Oh!Ware - A roguelike take on an ancient board game

One I've had an eye on for a while, with a good demo, and with the full game out now. Oh!Ware is a roguelike spin on Mancala, an ancient African board game, played on a board of cups into which you place beads or marbles. In this case, each marble has its own perks and quirks, and with Slay The Spire-like progression and deckbuilding.

Out Now: Qliphah in Providence's Shadow - Experimental JRPG

An experimental JRPG coming from famous fighting game studio Arc System Works. I really want to try this for myself - initial user reviews were overwhelmingly negative, but they're quickly being voted down, with people trying the game now genuinely confused at why that first wave of players was upset, and initial reviews from professional critics have been very positive. The game does look to have unusual tag-team combat mechanics - maybe some people bounced off them?

Out Now: Recurrence - PS2-style classic survival horror

Another that launched while I was writing this roundup - games just don't stop, huh? Very PS2-styled survival horror with a high view angle, but with over-the-shoulder aiming, and seemingly more than a little bit of inspiration from modern horror classic Signalis. Very curious to see if this one plays as good as it looks.

Out Now: Rivage - First-person narrative puzzle adventure in space

Another first-person point & click adventure, this time with a sci-fi setting. The puzzles look surprisingly intricate, with a lot of funky bespoke UI work, and the environments are clearly a treat to look at. Reviews have been middling so far, praising the puzzles but criticizing the character writing, which is an interesting point to take umbrage over.

Out Now: Scirocco Thugs - First-person face-mashing

One I really wanted to try this week but couldn't quite find the time for. Developed by the brilliantly named BRIAN DAMAGE, this one's a meatheaded first-person arcade brawler with an almost Tony Hawk-like combo bonus chain system. Rude, crude and punchy, with a focus on aggression over defenses.

Out Now: Scorched Sun - Overhead alchemic horror with turn-based battles

Another demo that got solid praise during the Next Fest, with the full version launching as I was writing this very roundup. A mixture of dark, moody overhead adventuring through a heavily-shadowed world ala Darkwood, but with some very Fear & Hunger-inspired turn-based combat where you need to juggle both your health and sanity.

Out Now: Sockpuppet Noir - Solve the mystery of the missing socks

The title says it all! A cute deductive mystery adventure with Phoenix Wright-esque trial sequences, set in a world populated entirely by googly-eyed sock puppets. Silly at it is, this one looks surprisingly intricate, with three increasingly complex cases to noodle your way through.

Out Now: Soggy Beans - Casual fish photography and scrapbooking

A charming little toy, rather than a game, per se. A game about exploring a cute undersea world, photographing fish (and beans), then assembling all the pics you've taken into works of art. Some light idling and creature collecting elements in this one, but mostly it's about enjoying the vibes.

Out Now: Thanks for the Soup - Surreal soup-delivering horror comedy

The town demands soup. The people thirst for soup. The economy RUNS on soup, and you've got a bicycle and a hot thermos with the town's name on it. A hybrid of immersive sim (with a lot of interlocking mechanics) and low-fi horror weirdness making a strong early access debut. The game is reportedly complete already, but it'll expand based on feedback and sales.

Out Now: The Piper of Dawn - Lovecraftian shop management sim

The latest in Bone Nail's series of Lovecraft-inspired management games where the elder gods take the forms of cute anime girls. Lovecraft is probably spinning in his grave - we should hook a turbine up to him for free power. Here, you run a weird alchemy store, setting up automated farmlands to generate resources to craft into goods to sell to your exclusive clientelle.

Out Now: The Rabit Haul - fast-paced defensive farming action

After a well-liked demo debut (which is still available), the full version of this roguelike defensive action game is out. Grow crops by day, beat up the raccoons trying to steal them by night, upgrading your plans to defend themselves between waves. Very cute style in general, too.

And that is a wrap! Now to roll into the weekend and maybe take a small bite out of my backlog before Ace Combat 8 lands next week. Preparing for takeoff!