Rogue-like with satisfying combat and a cool world. Doesn’t have as much content as the big names in the genre, and may not be as challenging, but still fun.

Ashen is a refreshing take on the soulslike, capturing all the right things; challenge, exploration and intrigue. Bosses are a bit easy, but still fun. The VA is its only drastic weak point.

Melancholic and visually stunning, GRIS is a relaxed, watercoloured puzzle platformer perfect for the couch on a lazy sunday afternoon.

Celeste is challenging, smart and exceedingly well designed. Its movement is some of the most satisfying ever in a platformer. The great soundtrack supports a surprisingly fresh exploration of mental health, which has traditionally proved difficult in videogames.

From the maker (one person) of Papers, Please comes this brilliant shortish deduction whodunnit with terrific music, great voice acting and uniquely cool art direction. An awesome understated gem of 2018.

Classic couch co-op beat-‘em-up in the vein of Castle Crashers, with added RPG elements. Funny, cute and at times quite challenging. Would love if there were more games like Full Metal Furies.

As far as Steam releases go, Dead Cells is GOTY 2018. Absolutely the most buttery smooth controls amongst its ilk, amazing music, challenging mechanics and immense innate replayability.

A somewhat underwhelming remaster of one of the best videogames ever made. Not bad by any means, but probably deserved a full remake - if anything at all. If it’s the only copy you can get your hands on, it’s still incredible.

Incredibly well designed and delivers on everything it sets out to do: emotional story, a focus on exploration and discovery, and basic combat.

A fitting and challenging musically violent rhythm game with gorgeous visual styling from one half of band Lightning Bolt & friends.