The annual PC Gaming Show by PC Gamer returned this year on June 13 with its biggest lineup of more than fifty games in its six-year history. It was hosted by the usual suspects – the quirky Sean ‘Day9’ Plott and the jolly Frankie Ward and a new co-host, the self-aware DevBot.
Here is our selection of the top 5 games from the PC Gaming Show that left us wanting for more! For the purpose of highlighting unique indie games we are moving away from the AAAs that made a splash – like the Odyssey expansion for Elite Dangerous, the recent Steam chart-topper Persona 4 Golden, Godfall, Total War Saga: Troy, awaited remakes like Mafia: Definitive Edition and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, hardcore gun-fetish crowd-puller Escape From Tarkov and the next game in the famous horror series – The Outlast Trials. So, without further ado, and in no favored order, here goes:
Weird West
This isometric action RPG comes from Wolf Eye Digital – headed by the founder of Arkane Studios and co-creator of Prey and the Dishonored series. You play as five different characters through this campaign where lawmen and gunslingers share the frontier with dark fantastical creatures. The game’s varied choices pose a unique take to stop people from worrying about save-scumming – if anyone in your posse dies, you can either revive them with appropriate tools, or they might return to you in the form of undead – further changing the story.
- Available on: Microsoft Windows
- Release date: 2021
Among Trees
During these troubled times, all we might want to do is move into a little wood cabin, deep within the heart of a dense and lush forest. Well, since we can’t do that in real life, this chill survival sandbox is the next best thing. Explore this colorful world, expand your home, hunt, cook, grow plants, and craft tools while avoiding the deadly roaming beasts and the biting ice-cold blizzards.
- Available on: Currently on Early Access (Epic)
- Release date: TBA on Steam
Mortal Shell
In this Souls-like RPG, you inhabit the bodies of dead and forgotten warriors with distinct special abilities and fight against grotesque zealots who follow mysterious gods. This game will test your combat awareness, precision, instincts, and sanity and spare no mercy.
- Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Release date: 2021
Icarus
An upcoming game from DayZ creator Dean Hall and you expect it not to be featured? A free-to-play sci-fi multiplayer co-op survival game with an interesting premise – you play in time-bound sessions to complete contracts. You can join your friends on your home base space station and do planetary drops – but there is a catch. If you are late to evacuate from the hostile planet, the dropship will leave without you. Your character will die and all your progress will be lost. Rocketwerkz wears its inspirations on its sleeve – Skyrim‘s archery, Mudrunner and Snowrunner‘s vehicle systems, Kerbal Space Program‘s rocket modification, Deep Rock Galactic‘s mining and the direction and structure of Battle Royale games like Fortnite and PUBG have heavily influenced the systems and mechanics of the game.
- Available on: Microsoft Windows
- Release date: 2021
The Last Campfire
The next from Hello Games, the studio that redeemed themselves from a disappointing debut launch and won back all the critics with its overwhelming support of No Man’s Sky, comes a cute adventure game with impressive visuals and heartwarming music. The Last Campfire is the story of a lost ember trying to search for meaning while trapped in a puzzling place, desperately trying to return back home. On your way you meet other lost folks, strange creatures, and mysterious ruins, finding hope and overcoming adversities.
- Available on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Release date: Summer 2020
Finally, our report can’t be over without a special mention: New Blood Interactive. The game dev collective behind some of the most exciting retro-modern games to come out in the last few years.
Dusk is getting mod support and a release on the Nintendo Switch platform, Amid Evil with RTX and DLSS 2.0 support, Maximum Action will be getting new levels and guns, and Unfortunate Spacemen, the 16 player co-op game is going free-to-play. Faith, Ultrakill, and Gloomwood, their upcoming games, are all getting playable demos on the Steam platform. All the power to uncle Dave Oshry!
That’s our list guys. What are your favorite discoveries from the PC Gaming Show? Tell us in the comments below.