Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 20, 2024)
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.
Mullet Madjack
Steam page
Release: May 16
Developer: Hammer95
Mullet Madjack is a roguelite first-person shooter with a dazzling ’90s anime art style. Imagine this: You have ten seconds of life remaining, but your ten seconds is replenished every time you down an enemy. This is because future-man has merged with the internet, and needs dopamine to survive. I can think of better ways to get a dopamine hit every ten seconds, but I’m not the developer of a ’90s anime inspired videogame! Superhot and Hotline Miami are neat comparisons: all demand precision and smart improvisation, playing out like ultraviolent puzzles, but Mullet Madjack isn’t something that can be “learned” like those games thanks to randomly-generated levels. It’s a gorgeous game in motion, and it’s riddled with fully animated cutscenes. If you don’t like the idea of the ten second pressure, there’s also a classic mode that does away with it.
Morbid: The Lords of Ire
Steam page
Release: May 17
Developer: Still Running
This is the sequel to the 2020 isometric soulslike Morbid: The Seven Acolytes, which attracted a lot of attention at the time for its pixel art take on Bloodborne’s cosmic horror style. The Lords of Ire abandons the retro approach for a modern third-person perspective, meaning it looks even more like a soulslike now, though it’s not aping Bloodborne as much as before. Across five main areas you’ll engage in the usual gruelling up-close combat, but it’s complicated by the return of a sanity system: if you allow your character to go insane they gain some powerful perks, but the world also becomes more forbidding.
Athenian Rhapsody
Steam page
Release: May 15
Developers: Nico Papalia
This retro style comedy RPG is ostensibly set in Athens, though I’m guessing that’s a joke, before based on the trailer above this is a very unconventional take on the Greek capital. It’s described as a “souls-like platonic dating simulator with cooking-mama and WarioWare style battle mechanics”, so there’s that too. Interestingly, the narrative choices are so labyrinthine that apparently no two players will experience the same story, which is an impressive claim indeed. Honestly? I’m not 100% sure what Athenian Rhapsody is, which makes me all the keener to try it.
Seablip
Steam page
Release: May 17
Developer: Jardar Solli
Released into Early Access last week, Seablip is an open world pirate RPG, but Skull & Bones it ain’t: it looks more like Terraria or Stardew Valley. There are some similarities though, with ship crafting being a big concern, though Seablip arguably has more customization thanks to a cast of unique sailors who can each be levelled up and specialized individually. Seablip will stay in Early Access until next year, during which time a lot of new content will be added, including the finale for the main story, which isn’t in this early build.
Master Key
Steam page
Release: May 18
Developer: Achromi
This 1-bit Zelda-style adventure was developed by a single person. It’s a completely freeform adventure, meaning not much (or any) guidance is given, so thinking caps will need to be donned. It focuses on the mystery of a single key: where does it fit? What could it open? It’ll take you somewhere between five and 20 hours to find out, during which time, expect the usual puzzle dungeons and light combat.
