Five new Steam games you probably missed (December 7, 2020)

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 2020 games that are launching this year. 

Tanuki Sunset

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌December 4 ‌
Developer:‌ Rewind Games
Price:‌ $14.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌£11.39‌ ‌|‌ ‌‌AU$21.50

The two important things to know about Tanuki Sunset is that a) you play as a tanuki, which Wikipedia tells me is a Japanese raccoon dog, and b) the tanuki rides a longboard through blissful retro-futuristic landscapes. It's a pitch that's hard to refuse: it's kind of a hybrid of kart racing and skateboarding, with high speeds and complex tricks being the order of the day. There's a single-player story mode (I'd very much like to know what the story is with a longboarding raccoon dog), as well as an endless mode and time trials. Definitely a nice antidote to the very serious Cyberpunk videogame that's releasing this week.

Haven

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌December 4
Developer:‌ ‌The Game Bakers
Price:‌ ‌$24.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌£19.49‌ ‌|‌ ‌AU$35.95

Here's a third-person action RPG with a twist: you play as two lovers, and managing their relationship is just as important as slaying alien scum. Protagonists Yu and Kay have arrived on a mysterious planet, and the goal is ostensibly to gather materials in order to repair their ship and go home. But being alone on a strange hostile planet can test the strength of a relationship (I'm guessing), and it's important that Yu and Kay can navigate this fraught situation with tact, because neither can survive alone. In single-player you'll be controlling both Yu and Kay at once, though Haven can also be played in local coop. This is developed by the team responsible for Furi, so expect the combat to be finely honed.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌December 4
Developer:‌ Still Running
Price:‌ ‌$24.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌£19.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌AU$35.95

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a gory pixel-art action RPG with more than a passing resemblance to From Software's modern games—especially Bloodborne. The premise is pretty simple: you'll explore the gothic grandeur of Mornia, seeking out and killing each of the nominal seven acolytes. There's a bunch of different weaponry to achieve this with, as well as a levelling system and perks. Overall, this looks like comfort food for masochists, so expect tough boss battles, cryptic lore, and many, many deaths.

Tinkertown

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌December 4
Developer:‌ Headup ‌
Price:‌ ‌$16.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌£13.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌AU$23.95

Launched into Early Access last week, Tinkertown is a "multiplayer sandbox experience" with an emphasis on building your own town and pillaging dungeons. The art style immediately stands out, with a 2.5D pixel style reminiscent of Octopath Traveller or even the ye olde PS3 exclusive 3D Dot Heroes (please give us a port of that). The game features online cooperative and PvP play, and the Early Access period will likely only last "a couple of months," with feedback-oriented finetuning the main focus.

Phogs!

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ ‌December 3 ‌
Developer:‌ Bit Loom Games
Price:‌ ‌$24.99‌ ‌|‌ ‌£22.49‌ ‌|‌ ‌AU$32.99

This game really sells itself: you (or you and a friend) control two dogs literally connected at the... waist? Torso? Whatever the case, they're very much connected, and it's far from convenient. But problems like this are the stuff of videogames, especially physics-based puzzle games, so helping two connected dogs achieve the seemingly unachievable is what Phogs! is all about. It has a lovely pastel-hued art style, 24 levels, and cooperative play both online and locally.

These games were released between November 30 and December 7 2020. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info. ‌