Hero image: Wilderdark. Image: Team Junkfish
Five Steam Launches From Tuesday, 10 November
Five smaller games reached Steam’s new releases list on Tuesday, each with a release-day post from the people who made it. Four of them come from independent or one-person studios, by their own description.
Each is listed with its Australian Steam price as it stood early on Wednesday 11 November. Most carry a launch discount, so check the store page before buying.
Wilderdark
Wilderdark is a first-person survival horror game from Team Junkfish, which describes itself as an independent studio based in the UK and Singapore. It is set on an island overrun by an ectoparasite that corrupts the plants and animals it touches.
An organisation seeking immortality sends the player to document the ecosystem, collect samples and find out what happened to earlier expeditions, including one led by the player’s parents. It is A$16.76 on Windows, 20% off A$20.95 until 17 November.
Rally Shift
Rally Shift is the debut game from Abstract Pixel Studios, an independent studio based in the UAE. It is an arcade first-person rally time attack, played with “a live bomb on your dashboard” and an alien anomaly in pursuit.
Every level has its own soundtrack, and times can be compared globally or with friends. The studio recommends a DualSense controller, with light bar and adaptive trigger support. It is A$12.02 on Windows, down from A$14.15.
Hillthorn
Hillthorn is a detective mystery told entirely through cards, from Fool Moon and Finnegan Motors, published by Raw Fury. The player is hired to find a young woman who vanished from a remote mountain community.
The launch post says it is out now on Steam, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch, and it won Best Game at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival. On Steam it is A$18.85, down from A$20.95.
Motive Power
Motive Power puts the player in charge of the British Railways locomotive fleet, from the Modernisation Plan to the eve of privatisation in 1994. Its developer, Richard, calls it a one-man game.
Overhauls, depots and withdrawals have to fit the budget, and each run is graded against what really happened. It is A$47.55, 15% off A$55.95 until 17 November.
The Fixer
The Fixer casts the player as a young footballer who fixes his own matches for a syndicate. If suspicion reaches 100, the career is over. Its solo developer, Anthony of Pixel Stratégie, says the full game adds transfer windows, a 48-team Nations Cup and thirteen end-of-career verdicts.
Demo saves carry over on the same computer. It is A$12.55 on Windows, down from A$13.95.
Source: Team Junkfish – Wilderdark: Out Now (Steam), Abstract Pixel Studios – Rally Shift release-day post (Steam), Hillthorn is Out Now (Steam), Motive Power is available now (Steam), Pixel Stratégie – The Fixer is out now (Steam)