Dozens of strategy, management, and job sims are going cheap in Steam’s Sim Fest

The Steam Sim Fest is the latest genre-specific event, discounting dozens of games about emerging cities, dad hobbies, tactical warfare, and other stimulating simulations. Heavy hitters such as Disney Dreamlight Valley and the newest Bus Simulator are enjoying nice discounts, but as always, some hidden gems require a little bit of scrolling. The sales last until July 24th, so here are some good old recommendations from the event.

Surprise! Lakeburg Legacies is a hybrid between village management and mediaeval matchmaking , and it’s out now with a 15% sale bringing the price down to £16.50/$19.50. Love is almost as hard-to-manage as the economy, but worry not, a soothing storybook aesthetic should make this one slightly less stressful than couple’s therapy and/or mayoral duties.

Wobbly person sim Human: Fall Flat has a hefty 70% discount and is currently £4.80/$6.50. To celebrate the puzzle-platformer’s seventh anniversary, the team are also sharing some mysterious news tomorrow. That’s in addition to a new level coming in August, so look forward to more clumsy flailing.

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Vote now for this year’s RPS 100: Reader Edition

The RPS 100 is our annual countdown of our favourite PC games of all time, and this year, we’re finally doing it at a sensible time – in that semi-quiet lull between notE3 and Gamescom, and definitely not during October when it’s actual silly season for end of year releases. And like last year, we’re bringing back our Readers Edition so you can join in with the endless debate about what’s the correct number one PC game of all time as well. So vote now for your favourite PC games of all time, to be published as a separate list that will be yours and yours alone. Here’s how to get involved.

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The Wandering Village’s loveable rock-turtle giant heads to the ocean with today’s big update

The Wandering Village already had a great pitch: it’s a citybuilder where you rustle up your village on the back of a massive, lumbering rock-turtle-dragon creature. That pitch is getting even stronger with today’s update, as our giant friend (Onbu) is taking the village on his back (the human headlice) into the ocean. According to developers Stray Fawn Studio, the Ocean Update is the game’s biggest to date and adds new buildings, decorations, random events, and of course, the titular ocean biome.

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The GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin is no longer coming to Steam

The GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin will no longer come to Steam. Back in March, it was announced that the long-running emulator would get a surprise release on the storefront, but that was soon “indefinitely postponed” due to legal troubles with Nintendo and Valve. Now the team have cleared up the situation and are “abandoning” their efforts completely.

“First things first – Nintendo did not send Valve or Dolphin a [DMCA Takedown] notice against our Steam page,” the team clarified in a recent blog post, before adding that “Nintendo has not taken any legal action against Dolphin Emulator or Valve.”

What actually happened was a legal back and forth. Valve’s legal department had contacted Nintendo regarding the emulator’s Steam release. A lawyer representing Nintendo asked Valve to prevent it. And then Valve forwarded that statement to the Dolphin team, “and told us that we had to come to an agreement with Nintendo in order to release it on Steam.”

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Xenonauts 2 and its rude scientist have instantly won me over

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when aliens threaten to exterminate your home, only the world’s most insufferable, unhinged scientists can help you save the day. XCOM knows it, and now Xenonauts 2 is following suit. Case in point, yer man up the top there. Look at that smug mullet and his unimpressed raised eyebrow. He doesn’t give two hoots you’re here to save the world from extinction, leading (probably several) teams of nine (unwitting) brave souls into the unknown (i.e.: repeated death by alien overwatch). He’s got research to do. Organs to pickle. Dead alien carcasses to splice. Yeah, the same ones you literally strapped into your troops’ tactical belts in the last mission so you could bring them home. We had stinking brain monsters wrapped round our torsos, guy! The least you can do is deign to make us a nice cuppa when we get back. Honestly. You can’t get the staff these days…

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Race The Sun devs reveal stunning neon Star Fox-like, hits early access next month

The developers behind Race The Sun‘s minimalist gliding are now taking those high speeds to space in Whisker Squadron: Survivor, a neon-drenched homage to Star Fox. There are feline pilots, low-poly levels, and barrel-rolling in bullet hell heaven. Check, check, and check. Hopefully, the gorgeous animation from the trailer (below) shows up in Whisker Squadron: Survivor’s early access launch on August 21st.

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The Walking Dead: Betrayal is a social deception survival sim from the Project Winter devs

Project Winter was a snowbound social deduction multiplayer game that had you questioning and/or betraying your friends to hilarious effect. Developers Other Ocean Interactive are now taking that hidden roles formula and chucking some zombies into the mix with the newly announced The Walking Dead: Betrayal. Its reveal trailer sums up the survival and betrayal tug-of-war quite nicely. Though the heartbroken screams of “NOO NOO” arguably steal the show. Take a first look at the backstabbing below.

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