Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 20, 2025)

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 2025 games that are launching this year.

Love, Internet, and Murder Magic

Steam ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ January 14
Developer:‌ Renka

Love, Internet and Murder Magic is a visual novel roguelike about managing an AI streamer. Though an AI, this streamer is based on a real person who was murdered by a serial killer, which adds a kinda disturbing dimension to the whole enterprise. As the AI streamer's agent, it's your responsibility to manage her online presence, make hard decisions about what kind of material you want to publish, and all the while try to figure out who the serial killer responsible for the real person behind the streamer is. It's a fascinating concept—I've never seen a roguelike VN before—and it looks like it wanders some psychologically discomforting territory.

Cyclopean: The Great Abyss

Steam‌ ‌page‌
Release:‌ January 18
Developer:‌ Schmidt Workshops

If Skald: Against the Black Priory looked too modern for you, perhaps Cyclopean: The Great Abyss will appeal? It's a "blobber" dungeon crawler with a charming monochromatic art style, and like Skald, it sips heavily from the Lovecraft chalice. Indeed, Cyclopean is set in the underworld of Lovecraft's Dreamlands, a setting that recurs across a handful of the author's stories. This is an Early Access affair: during its estimated six months in development it'll get more quests, more complex interactions, and an expanded sanity system.

Tales of Graces f Remastered

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ January 17
Developers:‌ Tose Co., Ltd.

Tales of Graces f has finally been rescued from its PS3 exclusivity. I played this back in 2010 and don't remember a single thing about it, but I think that's par for the course when it comes to the Tales of... games: they're staunchly traditional JRPGs with a cosy vibe and tropes galore. Compared to some of the Tales games that have come since, Tales of Graces f is a lot more cartoony and, well, unavoidably childish, but I know there are some people who have been waiting for this to be saved, and so here it is.

Tyrant's Realm

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ January 17
Developer:‌ Team Tyrant

Tyrant's Realm is a roguelite soulslike with a jagged 'n' blocky PS1 aesthetic. That basically means: tense third-person melee combat in ever-changing dungeons with unremittingly bleak vibes. Being a roguelite, there's some macro-progression, mostly in the form of unlockable weapons and armor (think Hades, I guess). I'm always wary of any game that relies heavily on soulslike combat: very few studios can get it right. But Tyrant's Realm is, at least, receiving some very positive reviews on Steam, so it's probably worth a spin. There's a free demo too.

Dragon Ruins 2

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ January 17
Developer:‌ Graverobber Foundation

This sequel to last year's ultra-minimalist blobber RPG is ever-so-slightly more graphically advanced than its predecessor: the walls are a high-tech cream colour. Though I partially joke, it does look a lot more appealing than the first Dragon Ruins, which was positioned as a "dungeon crawler for tired people". The new one is described the same way, meaning this would be a fun coffee break style blobber for people who don't want to spend a fortnight reading a manual before embarking on an inscrutable stats-crunching adventure. It's casual, in other words, but dripping with atmosphere.