5 Must-Play New Steam Games to Try This Weekend

Polygon RSS Feed✍ Giovanni Colantonio📅 August 22, 2026⏱ 4 min read(about 5 hours ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

Steam added a lot of fascinating new games this week, including Mortal Shell 2. These are five to dig into this weekend.

If it seemed like this week would be a good time to catch up on your Steam backlog, you were woefully mistaken. Following a week of retro indies, we got a major new game this week in the form of Mortal Shell 2, one of the year’s best Soulslikes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though, as PC players have plenty of options to dig into this week.

Whether you’re looking for a good horror game, something cozy, or an ambitious MMO, there are plenty of new games to try on Steam this weekend. These are just five highlights you can check out on Steam right now.

Mortal Shell 2

The original Mortal Shell wasn’t exactly a genre-defining Soulslike. The grim action RPG was par for the course, launching to perfectly middling reviews. The developers at Cold Symmetry appear to have taken that to heart, because Mortal Shell 2 is a major improvement. Critics have praised the sequel for its refined combat, which gives players a lot more ways to customize their playstyle thanks to reworked Shells. That goes hand-in-hand with an enticing map, filled with standout dungeons, that begs to be explored. It’s been a slow year for action RPGs aside from Nioh 3, so Mortal Shell 2 is a welcome jolt of action.

The Sinking City 2

Speaking of hugely improved sequels, The Sinking City 2 sits in the same boat as Mortal Shell 2. The Lovecraftian horror sequel launched to significantly more positive reviews than its predecessor thanks to a full-on survival horror pivot that’s resonating with fans. Drawing clear inspiration from Capcom’s Resident Evil series, The Sinking City 2 is an ominous, gruesome third-person shooter that has you exploring the city of Arkham in the 1920s. Gory monstrosities await in dark alleyways, of course. If you don’t have time to get to it this weekend, at least get it on your Halloween playlist this year.

Stars Reach

The promise of Stars Reach is so massive that you can’t help but be curious about it. The indie MMO, which launched into early access this week, aims to give players a shared galactic sandbox to build in. It’s aiming to be a reactive outer space simulator where each decision a player makes can have a tangible impact on a planet’s ecosystem. It’s going to take a while for that vision to fully pay off; the early access version is indeed very early. So long as you don’t mind sifting through bugs to test a neat idea out, Stars Reach is interesting enough to toy around with right now.

Starsand Island

Image: Seed Sparkle Lab

If you’re looking for a new cozy game, Starsand Island is your best bet this weekend. The farming sim has just about everything you’d expect from the genre: fishing, relationship building, animal ranching, and even a bit of combat. It even puts a greater emphasis on exploration than some of its genre peers, letting you skateboard around a scenic island. With its charming visuals, it's a great game for anyone who wants the hook of Fields of Mistria in a proper 3D game. (Though I won’t be leaving Mistria anytime soon — at least not until I wed Reina.)

Steins;Gate Re:Boot

For the visual novel crowd, this week is a big deal thanks to Steins;Gate Re:Boot. The remaster celebrates the 10-year anniversary of 2016’s Steins;Gate by rescuing it from PlayStation Vita jail and giving it a modern makeover. New visuals, improved UI, and more make a genre classic feel new again. The main reason to play it, though, is just to experience the original game’s out-there time-travel story. The remaster even throws in some new story content that expands a rich world even further. It’s a hefty game, but one visual novel enthusiasts shouldn’t miss.

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Mortal Shell 2’s Latest Update Alleviates One Of The Game’s Biggest Headaches

Developer Cold Symmetry has released its latest souls-like action-RPG, Mortal Shell 2(https://www.gamespot.com/games/mortal-shell-ii/), on August 20 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. And not even a day after launch, the studio already dropped a patch that makes some welcome tweaks, including addressing one of the game's most annoying issues: gold farming. On August 20, Cold Symmetry shared a breakdown on the game's subreddit(https://www.reddit.com/r/MortalShell/comments/1vttz2d/balancepatch1/) and Steam page(https://steamcommunity.com/app/2584270/discussions/0/582805931178489108/) of what Balance Patch 1 does. A welcome adjustment is a refund of the Glimpses--a rare currency used to bond with and unlock memories of your shell--you might've spent to discover a shell's location(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mortal-shell-2-all-shell-locations/). You get whatever you spent back, and now, instead of costing that rare currency, buying a shell map costs Gloom, this game's version of Runes or Souls. A big change is a nerf to a handful of bosses and enemies. As Cold Symmetry put it, "all enemies featured in the beta were restored to their beta HP values." This means that the starting area of Mortal Shell 2(https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mortal-shell-2-is-a-fresh-and-exciting-shake-up-of-the-souls-like-formula/) has been tuned down to match what was in the beta, which I found quite easy when compared to the full release. Maybe the most major tweak, however, is an increase to the amount of gold you find now. As a result of this patch, gold drops from enemies have been "significantly increased," especially in the second zone. This lets you upgrade your weapons more often, as gold discovery should be in line with the materials you find everywhere. There are a handful of other changes that came with Balance Patch 1. This includes Tarstones--items that grant passive bonuses or modify melee attacks--and weapons(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mortal-shell-2-tarforge-weapons-tarstones-upgrades/) getting buffed, addressing crashes and fixing bugs, and reducing the cost to unlevel your weapons via smelting. Balance Patch 1 is available now for PC. There's no release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions yet, but Cold Symmetry said it'll arrive on those platforms "shortly." For now, check out the update notes for Balance Patch 1 below. Mortal Shell 2 Balance Patch 1 Economy - Shell map locations now cost Gloom, and we’re refunding any Glimpses spent on shell maps. Refunded Glimpses are found in the Shell Keeper’s alcove in Blackmarrow. “Finding your favorite shell shouldn’t cost you the ability to bond with them.” - Gold drops from enemies have been significantly increased. Notably, enemies in Mammon now drop double the gold. “This brings the gold economy more in line with the weapon crafting item discovery.” - Smelting a weapon at the Tarforge costs 75% less gloom. “Our goal with the smelt capability was to enable switching weapons without the need to spend hours grinding through NG+ runs, but the Gloom costs were set exorbitantly high.” Enemies & Bosses All enemies featured in the beta were restored to their beta HP values, except the Caerinid (Spider) in Magdalena’s area, which we wanted to retain its role as a threatening enemy which doesn’t respawn once defeated. - Bosses - The Lost Child - Base Damage: (-10%) - Max Health: (-15%) - Monolith - Base Damage: (-19%) - Max Health: (-10%) - Some Monolith Attacks were retimed to be more fair, as well. - Enemies - Cultist (mace) - Max Health: (-21.1%) - Caerinid Spider - Max Health: (-33.3%) - Infested Stalker - Max Health: (-52.4%) - Rusted Knave (Halberd) - Max Health: (-20.8%) - Fixed hit detection for overhead strike. Weapons - Great Martyr’s Blade Attack Damage +20% - Troubadour's Lute Attack Damage +100% - Caged Hystrix and Triarch Repeater no longer have minimum resolve requirements to fire. - Improved tracking for Axatana, Black Needle, and Clockwork Scythe light attacks. Seals - Guard can now be used while walking. Tarstones - Parasitic Stone Buffed - Grudge Stone Buffed - Bulwark Stone Damage Reduction Increased Significantly - Clerik's Stone Buffed - Squall Stone Buffed Miscellaneous - Misc. Crash Fixes, Bug Fixes & Performance Updates

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Compulsion Games Is Now Officially An Ex-Xbox Studio

Compulsion Games, the Canadian game developer behind South of Midnight and We Happy Few, has officially parted ways with Microsoft. After Microsoft confirmed that Compulsion was one of five Xbox studios it was divesting of, Compulsion boss Guillaume Provost has now confirmed it's a done deal. This was hinted at recently when the Steam page for South of Midnight listed Compulsion as the developer and publisher(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ignore-your-growing-backlog-its-time-to-play-south-of-midnight-on-steam/). Now, it's official, with Provost confirming to Games Beat(https://gamesbeat.com/compulsion-games-pulls-off-management-buyout-and-separates-from-xbox-exclusive/) that its management team acquired the studio and staff, while Microsoft transferred the developer's IP back to the studio. What this means in practice is that if you buy a Steam copy of South of Midnight--one of 2025's best games--the money goes to Compulsion, not Xbox. Provost said it will take some time before the change gets implemented on other storefronts. Provost did not disclose the specific terms of the deal, but he said staffers at Compulsion really wanted to stick together. “I did this deal for the team first and foremost. I asked the team, ‘Do you want to stay together?’ The team told me we would rather eat rocks and drink gasoline rather than be split up,” Provost said. Some Compulsion developers opted to leave the studio after Provost warned staff that the company was at risk of closure. However, Provost said the majority of senior staff stayed on. Provost went on to say that part of Compulsion's team is now working on an unannounced game that was already in the works before it split off from Xbox. Microsoft was the financial backer of Compulsion and its projects, so Provost is now taking meetings with various, unnamed parties to secure its financial future. “I just want to make sure that we’re setting the team up for success,” Provost said. “We’re going to take things slow. We’re going to meet with everyone. Everything is relative. Compared to all of us losing our jobs on July 6, this is a pretty good deal. I would say the exit was gracious on Microsoft’s part." The other four studios that Microsoft divested from included Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, and Arkane. Double Fine, led by Tim Schafer, regained its independence like Compulsion did, and Schafer will discuss the company's future outlook during a livestream today, April 21. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, meanwhile, were sold to unnamed buyers. Arkane is entering a period of consultation with respect to its home country of France's local laws. This all happened as part of a "reset" of the Xbox business under new CEO Asha Sharma. She also laid off 1,600 people in July, with another 1,600 set to lose their jobs this fiscal year.

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Steam Makes Two Games Completely Free To Play Until Aug. 4

Steam is offering a 200-player World War I shooter and a tactical mech RPG as free-to-play titles for a limited time.

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