WEEKLY-RELEASES · 2026-07-20
Last Week's Releases — 2026-07-13
The promised rush arrived: 6 picks from Steam, led by two Overwhelmingly Positive mysteries
This week
Our window is last week, Monday 13 July through Sunday 19 July 2026, across Steam and itch.io. In last week's article I called this "the real rush" — and the calendar in my notebook filled in exactly as promised. D-topia and The Incident at Galley House on the 14th, The Mermaid Mask and the Moss compilation on the 16th. All three games we flagged landed, and landed well; for a scout, a satisfying week of checked boxes.
Six picks this week: three thinky (two deduction games and a logic-puzzle adventure) and three adjacent (a mystery adventure, a puzzle platformer, a board game). The headline is two Overwhelmingly Positive ratings side by side — for launch-week deduction games, one of the strongest weeks this year. Strong coffee in hand, let's go through them.
This week's picks
The Incident at Galley House
March 1936: something terrible happened at Galley House. Decades later, armed with a machine that plays back "echoes" of the past, you reconstruct that night — a full remaster and expansion of the cult text-based browser game Type Help, brought to Steam by the makers of The Roottrees Are Dead. The store page lists an illustrated visual-novel presentation, full voice acting, a 3D memory-navigation interface and new puzzles. At 1,243 reviews and 96% positive in launch week, it is the standout deduction debut of the summer. It rewards patient listeners who like assembling truth from fragments; if you want fast-paced riddles, watch the trailer first.
The Mermaid Mask
An impossible locked-room murder aboard the world's strangest submarine: the captain lies dead beside an ancient cauldron. This is the fourth Detective Grimoire adventure from SFB Games (Tangle Tower, Crow Country) — a hand-painted point-and-click where every clue is an inspectable 3D object, the suspects are fully voiced, and the Budapest Art Orchestra performs the score. Launch week: 99% positive across 593 reviews, with Game Informer calling it the best Grimoire yet (9/10) and EDGE at 8/10. Its pleasure is character-driven picture-logic rather than airtight deduction — an easy first recommendation for mystery-adventure fans. Exactly the landing we hoped for when we flagged it last week.
D-topia
As the newest Facilitator in a residential compound where AI curates human happiness, you solve logic puzzles to keep the machinery — and the residents — running, moving between the bright public face and the hidden "Block Side." Steam sits at 94% of 57 reviews; critics lean toward the story over the puzzles, with CBR at 8/10 and some reviewers noting the pacing wobbles between gentle puzzler and life sim. Come for the theme — optimized happiness, examined hands-on — rather than for puzzle bite. Japanese-developed, with 13 supported languages.
Desktop Explorer
Your uncle leaves you his old PC — and it still boots. Inside: a letter about a missing-person case and a strange puzzle program called Desktop Explorer. You dig through a fictional 90s operating system where file explorers, chat logs, corrupted apps and even pre-installed games are all clues, in the digital-archaeology lineage of Hypnospace Outlaw. Outersloth, Innersloth's indie fund, co-publishes. 94% positive across 229 reviews in launch week. One clear caveat: the developers themselves flag heavy themes (depression, suicide, trauma) and mild gore — this is a psychological-horror mystery. English only for now.
Moss: The Forgotten Relic
After eight years as a VR exclusive, the storybook adventures of Quill the mouse arrive on flat screens: Moss and Moss: Book II combined into one definitive edition with reworked cutscenes, a smart follow camera, the Twilight Garden DLC, and an optional skip-combat setting. The play is diorama-like environmental puzzling plus light combat. Steam sits at 95% of 89 reviews and OpenCritic at 80 with 94% of critics recommending. Puzzle density is lighter than a dedicated thinky game — this one carries you on atmosphere, Jason Graves's orchestral score, and story.
Cat Chess
Chess, except every piece is a cat. The rules are classical; each piece gets a breed, a personality and expressive animations, stray cats versus house cats, and you can play with your cats while waiting for your opponent's move. Online PvP and split-screen local play, $6.99. Launch week: 86% of 248 reviews positive, though several reviews note the single-player AI is weak and repetitive — treat it as party chess for humans, not a solo training tool. Chess is the oldest thinky game there is; a cat is as good an excuse as any to set up the board again.
My pick of the week
If I pick one, it's The Incident at Galley House. A quietly beloved browser mystery, rebuilt and republished by the makers of The Roottrees Are Dead — that pedigree alone earned a double circle in my notebook, and 96% across 1,243 reviews reads like the confirmation.
On my radar
I'm waiting on Would You Love Me If I Was a Snake? (Andrea Boroni Grazioli): 150 handcrafted snake puzzles — push blocks, block lasers, bite off your own tail — with the store promising "each puzzle has a unique idea; there is no filler." Still listed as "July 2026" and not yet out; there's a demo if you want a head start. I'll cover it once the release is confirmed.
Closing
After last week's lull, the good problem of choosing is back. Slow, careful deduction: Galley House. Character-driven picture-solving: Mermaid Mask. An evening inside a storybook: Moss. A light match with someone: Cat Chess. Any of them should make for a good weekend. See you next Monday.
Sources
Store pages and articles referenced:
・Steam: The Incident at Galley House
・Thinky Games: The Incident at Galley House
・GoNintendo: The Mermaid Mask launch report
・COGconnected: Desktop Explorer is out now
・Steam: Moss: The Forgotten Relic
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