With thousands of games being released on Steam every year, and the number only increasing, it can be hard to find good, unique games. Furthermore, publishing a game to Steam requires a lot of work (and financial investment) on the developer’s part—something that many developers aren’t always in the position to undertake.
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Because of this, and due to Steam being the primary way that most PC users buy and play games, players may be missing out on a plethora of fun and interesting games that aren’t on Steam. This list aims to provide players with a broad range of games that can be played in a browser, or downloaded through websites such as Itch.io.
8Friday Night Funkin'
Fans of old-school, hardcore disco rhythm games looking for an experience that isn’t on Steam, can be played in a browser, and is completely free, should look no further thanFriday Night Funkin'.
This game oozes with cartoony style and features well-produced music, along with a unique duet system; the left of the screen displays what the player’s opponent is doing (which is often the same inputs the player is given), while the right shows the inputs the player must do.
This can lead to some really tricky situations where the player is expected to begin their inputs while the opponent is still in the middle of their own. Overall,Friday Night Funkin’is great for fans of classic rhythm games that don’t mind a challenge, and it provides just enough uniqueness to make it worth giving a go.
7BloodbornePSX
With the recent surge and popularity of indie games emulatingPSX-era graphics, fans of this new style may be yearning for a Souls-like that uses it.BloodbornePSXfaithfully rebuilds the first few hours of the PlayStation exclusive with old-school graphics and allows PC users to at least play a version ofBloodborneon their machines, and it’s 100% free.
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Fans of the originalBloodborneare sure to get a kick out of the faithful reconstruction of the game, butBloodbornePSXstands strong enough on its own that it’s certain to impress souls-like and PSX fans who have never played the original.
6Serpentes
Thishyper-polished arcade gameinspired by the classicSnakehas a stylized arcade cabinet aesthetic and fluid, fast-paced gameplay; the game itself only lasts for 60 seconds, in which players are tasked with getting the highest score they can.
During a game ofSerpentes, players must collect fruit with random properties that can only be discovered by eating them, which can even lead to gaining a time bonus. Similar to the originalSnake, players must collect fruit while simultaneously avoiding bumping into themselves, the walls, and inSerpentes, enemies as well.
5GeoGuessr
This geography browser game puts players into random locations visualized by Google Street View images and tasks them with figuring out where they are in the world. Players are given no tools except for their own knowledge and must utilize language, registration plates, landmarks, and even local fauna and flora to give them a better idea of their surroundings.
What makesGeoGuessrgreat is that it acts as bothan educational tooland a test of geography, allowing players to learn while playing a genuinely engaging game.GeoGuessreven features several game modes, including a duel mode in which players battle it out until one guesses wrong.
4Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
This game takes inspiration from classic old-school roguelikes, using a hardcore permanent death system, procedurally generated dungeons, andturn-based gameplaywith tile-based graphics to create a faithful but unique roguelike.
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It’s no shock thatDungeon Crawl Stone Soupplays so similarly to an old-school roguelike from the 90s, given that it’s heavily based onLinley’s Dungeon Crawlfrom 1997. The game is open-source, community-driven, and features a unique mechanic in which players must gather three of fifteen runes to access the “Realm of Zot”, where the player’s goal - the Orb of Zot - is located.
3Space Station 13
Although a game heavily based onSpace Station 13is “Coming Soon” to Steam at the time of writing (titledUnitystation),Space Station 13has been available since 2003.Space Station 13isa top-down multiplayer RPGthat uses tile-based graphics and a top-down perspective. The game takes place primarily on the titular space station, and tasks players with helping (or hindering) other players in completing various tasks. Each task varies in complexity, and the game is packed with various mechanics and RPG elements that make it inaccessible but highly rewarding for players that stick with it.
To give each game a unique experience, and to give each player in the often highly populated servers a more streamlined purpose, the game features several specific roles, such as an engineer, chef, or doctor; it’s these roles that give the game its distinctive and deep gameplay.
2Tetr.io
ThisTetrisclone allows fans of versusTetris(likeTetris 99) to play multiplayerTetrisagainst friends, or randoms through online matchmaking. The game also features a ranking system and an online leaderboard.
Tetr.iois a browser game that can be played via the titular website and is a guaranteed good time for enjoyers ofTetris. The game is completely free at the time of writing and has a solid and stable player base. What makesTetr.iodifferent from otherTetrisgamesis the way it changes the combo system to reward Quads and T-Spins over the classic, heavily used four-wide; this is a system that emphasizes mastery and dynamic play.
1Slice & Dice
Slice & Diceis a unique dice-based roguelike that is great for fans of tabletop dice games that are looking for a run-based experience that can be played on both PC and mobile.Slice & Dicefeatures a free demo that allows players to get a feel for the game before making a purchase, but the full game itself sits at a very low price for the amount of content available.
Slice & Dicehas players rolling and choosing dice to defeat various unique monsters and bosses. The game has a ridiculous amount of replayability, mostly thanks to its variety, with 100 hero classes, 61 monsters, 354 items, and even 18 different game modes. Furthermore, the game features difficulty modifiers (300 of them), achievements, and a leaderboard.
