Today is International Women’s Day! This weekend marks the end of a wonderful Women’s Day Steam sale curated and organized by Wings Interactive which “funds indie games by women and gender diverse teams.”
The Women’s Day Steam Sale started on March 1, and runs through March 10. The collection includes games that are made wholly or in part by women, trans women, non-binary, and gender nonconforming individuals. Some of the games have a discount, others don’t; but all the money spent goes to cool people making cool games!
I’m grateful to Wings Interactive for using their leadership to organize this sale, even of games they didn’t fund, especially in light of Nicole Carpenter’s Polygon report on the video game funding gap. It’s great to see Steam support initiatives like this. Last month, there was a featured sale on Black Voices in Gaming.
I rallied the Punished Backlog team to highlight our favorite titles, as well as share enthusiasm for ones we haven’t yet tried. All of the games we shared are available to play right now, though the Steam Sale also highlights exciting upcoming titles. Happy gaming!
– Amanda Tien, Editor
20 Great Games Made by Women and Women-Led Teams
As I gathered our favorite titles, I realized they fell into a couple of categories, and so I’ve organized them as such: (1) (Murder) Mysteries, (2) Platformers and Explorations, (3) Clever Mechanics, and (4) Visual Novels.
While Steam is only an option for PC and/or Mac games, we’ve also listed every platform that the games are available on. You can jump to a specific title, listed below alphabetically, or read on.
- Boyfriend Dungeon – Nominated by Amanda
- Call of the Sea – Nominated by Sam
- Card Shark – Nominated by Ben
- Celeste – Nominated by Sam
- Cult of the Lamb – Nominated by Zack
- Coffee Talk – Nominated by Amanda
- Death and Taxes – Nominated by Allison
- Frog Detective – Nominated by Zack
- Haven – Nominated by Amanda
- Lord Winklebottom Investigates – Nominated by Amanda
- Ooblets – Nominated by Amanda
- Pekoe – Nominated by Alexia
- Reigns – Nominated by Amanda
- Rusted Moss – Nominated by Ben
- Saltsea Chronicles – Nominated by Allison
- Signalis – Nominated by Clint
- Slay the Princess – Nominated by Clint
- The Ranch of Rivershine – Nominated by Amanda
- Unpacking – Nominated by Sarah
- Yes, Your Grace – Nominated by Amanda
(Murder) Mysteries
Mysteries invite audiences to think critically, and as a medium, video games serve as a natural fit for the genre. Given the love that women have for mystery and true crime, it makes sense that games made by them are filled with intrigue and investigations!
Frog Detective
In Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, you play as Frog Detective, which I guess is both his name and profession. Just that one simple fact should give you an idea of the tone of the game, which is, in a word, superdupersilly. I’m a sucker for a good mystery game and definitely a fan of any game where I can hang out with a variety of cute and colorful animals. So how could I say no to having the whole Frog Detective collection tied up in a nice neat bow and on sale?
The Frog Detective games build upon each other, both in terms of plot from case-to-case and in terms of game mechanics. For example, later cases include more complicated plots, and gameplay changes include automatically recorded conversations and better movement. While Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is far from perfect, I found that, after spending an afternoon with it, I could hardly wipe the smile off my face.
– Written by Zack Gulinello
Steam Listing for Frog Detective
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $4.99 for individual case, or $13.47 for the bundle
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Call of the Sea
2020 adventure title Call of the Sea from developer Out of the Blue is simultaneously formulaic and fairly bizarre. Played from a first-person perspective, the game lets the player control Norah, an American woman in the 1930s who travels to an island set in the South Pacific to locate her husband, who has gone missing after embarking on an expedition. However, Norah slowly but gradually learns that this endeavor is just as much about finding her true self – particularly a weird side of her she didn’t expect – as it is finding her lost loved one.
Much like classic PC adventure games, Call of the Sea tasks the player with solving environmental puzzles, reading optional diary entries, and listening to Norah’s inner thoughts as she progresses through strange lands. With a bevy of twists and turns and some genuine brain-busters, Call of the Sea is a must-play for anyone seeking that kind of mysterious puzzle challenge.
– Written by Sam Martinelli
Steam Listing for Call of the Sea
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 60% off at $7.99
All Available Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Lord Winklebottom Investigates
This title is a great example of the importance of visibility. I LOVE mystery games, and I also really love animals in fancy Victorian outfits. I don’t know why, I just think it’s really funny. (I don’t like IRL dressed up pets.) So, Lord Winklebottom Investigates would be right up my alley, but I had never heard of it before — until the Women’s Day Sale! I could not add to cart fast enough.
I haven’t played Lord Winklebottom Investigates yet, but it looks delightful. A giraffe with a monocle is the world’s foremost detective in the 1920s, and he’s about to embark “on his most challenging case yet [in response to] a mysterious invitation to a remote island.” He’s joined by a hippo named Dr. Frumple. I’m in love, and so are players — it’s ranked Very Positive on Steam. I can’t wait to experience this twist on the “classic British murder mystery!”
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Lord Winklebottom Investigates
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 40% off at $11.39
All Available Platforms: Mac, PC
Saltsea Chronicles
Saltsea Chronicles is a point-and-click narrative adventure, exploring the colorful islands of the Saltsea Archipelago. It was released last year by indie Danish studio Die Gute Fabrik (which sadly has just halted its productions), which previously released Mutazione. The game tells a tale of treachery, love, and soul searching, and its unpredictable, heartwarming story put me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t want it to end.
The player controls the pacing of the story. It’s up to you to decide how deep you investigate and which of your crew members you want to lead the way. Throughout the story, you’ll learn more about your crew and the missing Captain Maja. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Saltsea Chronicles and will happily play through it again. It also made fellow writer Amanda’s Top 10 Games of 2023 list!
– Written by Allison McDaniel
Steam Listing for Saltsea Chronicles
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 25% off at $18.74
All Available Platforms: Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5
Platformers and Explorations
Video games provide an opportunity to experience new places and situations. The following games utilize player movement as a way to engage not just with the unique worlds around them, but as a way to actively participate in the story.
Ooblets
In Ooblets, you create your own farmer who grows sentient vegetables who can have dance battles, while also befriending local townspeople. It’s both familiar and novel. But most of all, it’s comforting and delightful.
The gameplay loop of building kinship through activity reminds me of Pokémon; I sang Ooblets’ praises on our recent podcast episode! I also enjoy the balance of farming and townie friendship, a staple of cozy games.
With its bubblegum color array and sweet plunking tunes, Ooblets feels like a big hug. Just like a weird little mushroom Ooblet wearing a top hat who can bachata like nobody’s business, it’s been a joy to watch this game grow since its early access in 2020.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Ooblets
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 40% off at $17.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Signalis
Signalis is a top-down horror adventure game with combat and exploration. Its aesthetics bring together the potential of body horror and the sleek design of futuristic tech. The game builds on late ’90s and early ’00s games while reimagining them for modern audiences.
Signalis layers fear through a series of carefully designed spaces, eerie music, detailed world-building, and tricky combat. I’d recommend it to anyone who grew up or enjoyed playing the first two Metal Gear Solid games and thought they needed more of the same horror elements from Konami’s Silent Hill or Capcom’s Resident Evil series. Signalis is a kaleidoscopic game, and one worthy of your time.
– Written by Clint Morrison, Jr.
Steam Listing for Signalis
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 30% off at $13.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Celeste
2018’s Celeste isn’t just one of the greatest 2D platformers of all time; it’s one of the more emotionally resonant explorations of anxiety, making peace with one’s identity, and creating your own sense of achievement. In the game, protagonist Madeline must climb her way up Celeste Mountain, fending off her own self-doubts (personified as Badeline, or “the other side of me”) and pushing through harsh hazards on the way to the top. The platforming mechanics are super sharp, the soundtrack is effervescent and encouraging, and the game contains loads of bonus levels and optional challenges to keep players invested well past the credits roll.
There’s only so much more I can explain about Celeste’s incredibly smooth and challenging gameplay, but what players have learned about the title since its release six years ago is that Maddy Thorson, the game’s director, has come out as transgender (she/they), and that the character Madeline is a transgender woman herself. What I initially thought was a story centered on mental health and self-care became so much more; rather, Celeste also reflected how Thorson began to come to terms with her own identity. Much like Madeline, we’re all climbing our own mountains at our own pace.
– Written by Sam Martinelli
Steam Listing for Celeste
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $19.99
All Available Platforms: Mac, PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Rusted Moss
Rusted Moss looks like someone mashed Celeste and Returnal together into some sort of platformer/bullet hell meat patty, then fed it through a Metroidvania sausage maker. The result? A delectable tube of pixelated precision platform puzzling mixed with brutal bullet-loving bosses, encased in a fantastical alternate history of man and fae, witch and changeling, which I am just totally about. This weird metaphor has run its course, but I’ll also add the gameplay innovation Rusted Moss brings to the genre, perhaps its most identifiable hook (pun intended): a physics-based grapple gun that lets you sling and swing across the map like Spider-Man, but also you have a semi-automatic and are maybe a faerie.
I’ve been waiting eagerly for Rusted Moss to drop for consoles, but it’s hard to pass up a deal like this for a game I’m pretty confident I’ll love. And based on the reviews, it seems I’m not alone in that expectation. If you’re jonesing for your next Metroidvania fix post-Prince of Persia like I am, Rusted Moss seems like a must-play.
– Written by Ben Rashkovich
Steam Listing for Rusted Moss
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 40% off at $11.99
All Available Platforms: PC (Consoles TBD)
Haven
Haven is a colorful, sweet game about a young couple who have escaped from their controlling society, Romeo & Juliet-style, as they try to survive on an isolated planet. This game is possible to play co-op, but it’s great solo as well.
As Kay and Yu, players will explore the planet, gather resources, try cooking, fight weird aliens, and have thoughtful philosophical discussions. There are dreamy set designs, well-written dialogue, and accessible combat. The game is also very inclusive of both racial and gender identities (players can choose male or female representations of Kay and Yu, allowing players to dream of a new life for queer star-crossed lovers).
But, perhaps best of all, the characters have honest-to-goodness hover boots. It is an absolute joy to float and race along planets and asteroids, and you’ll want to space surf for hours.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Haven
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $24.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Pekoe
Pekoe is the perfect combination of two cozy favorites: cats and tea. You play as the new resident and tea shop owner. You discover the history and mysteries of the town by brewing tea and getting to know your neighbors.
The simple gameplay really encourages the player to take their time and enjoy the process of settling into a new life. In an era of fast-paced, min-max style games, Pekoe feels like a warm invitation to slow down and enjoy the journey.
– Written by Alexia Dahlin
Steam Listing for Pekoe
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 10% off at $16.19
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac
Clever Mechanics
These titles stand out by inviting players truly to play. In these games, developers pushed the boundaries of genre and medium expectations, and had some fun with it — just as you’re bound to.
Reigns
Think Tinder, but make it a multi-generational kingdom ruling simulator game. It’s addicting, quick, and exciting. By swiping, you’ll make alliances, avoid peasant revolts, and grow your legacy. There’s a big picture plot for each Reigns, but the joy of the game is in the moment-to-moment decision making. Impressively funny and surprising, Reigns delights in both short game sessions or big binges.
The team behind Reigns has had many versions, including a partnered one with Game of Thrones and one set in a space kingdom. Go with any version that piques your interest. I personally like the feminist witchy swiping of Reigns, Her Majesty, which helps translate that feeling of taking back power from dating apps.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Reigns: Her Majesty
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 50% off at $1.49
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Switch
Cult of the Lamb
Cult of the Lamb is unlike anything I’ve ever played before. Taking control of a charming and cute lamb who is sacrificed in a satanic ritual and subsequently spared by an all-powerful demon to do its bidding and recruit woodland creatures to be part of their cult was admittedly a new one for me. But the more I played, the more I realized Cult of the Lamb is the absolute perfect mashup of Hades and Animal Crossing. Two of my favorites, to be sure, but not games I would have thought to combine. Silly me.
The gameplay loop of navigating the woods to destroy enemies, bringing back materials and recruits to your cult, building up your facilities, and leveling up the cult itself is beyond addicting. Factor in the outstanding combat, the ability to marry as many of your followers as you want, and the general absurdity of watching a lamb sacrifice an elephant to his god-like master, and you’ve got a true gem.
Cult of the Lamb probably isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to do the evil bidding of a demon, it doesn’t get much better than this!
– Written by Zack Gulinello
Steam Listing for Cult of the Lamb
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 40% off at $14.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Card Shark
Card Shark looks, sounds, feels, and plays like a Victorian novella. You play as a mute orphan in 18th century France, recruited by a nobleman to assist in all manner of delightful sharkery — i.e., cheating at card games. It’s a compact game with a definite story that you progress by visiting different locales, learning various means of duplicitous dealing and skulduggerous shuffling, and making the occasional narrative decision. Minute to minute, the game challenges you to complete increasingly complex chains of quick-time events, memory puzzles, and the like, which usually (but not always) feel engaging.
Will Card Shark change your life? No, probably not. But for me, at least, it offered a comfy old-book-by-the-fireplace vibe from charming beginning to surprisingly intense conclusion, transporting me to a little painted world I was happy to inhabit for the game’s crisp playtime.
– Written by Ben Rashkovich
Steam Listing for Card Shark
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 50% off at $9.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Unpacking
In Unpacking, you follow the life story of a woman by unpacking her belongings at different stages of her life. It is such a cool game. Each item and scene tells its own story in Unpacking. Whether you’re unpacking a teddy bear with sentimental value, leaving items behind to move in with a roommate or significant other, or downsizing due to financial problems, the game doesn’t shy away from the charms and harsh realities of life.
Aside from its moving story, Unpacking also works as a calming puzzle game. There’s a satisfying degree of freedom as you choose where to place your belonging, as well as a Tetris-esque quality to finding space for everything in order to progress.
– Written by Sarah Paul
Steam Listing for Unpacking
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 50% off at $9.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
The Ranch of Rivershine
The Ranch of Rivershine promises all the classic elements of what you would want from a horse game. So what makes it a “clever mechanic?” The fact that it’s doing it at all in 2024, and by all accounts, seems to be doing it well. The horse game genre has been all but abandoned by major developers since their heyday in the early 2000s. I recently wrote in our “Most Wanted Remakes” feature:
“I’d argue that the rise of cozy games and wholesome games showcases the void where many players and developers have felt their interests ignored. In the late 90s and early 2000s, youth were fed a near-constant drip feed of books and films that romanticized a vision of freedom and friendship with a horse. It’s good that we’ve moved away from overly gendered titles since the early 2000s, but the inverse problem is that, in a movement for ‘x is for everyone,’ many gamers’ interests have been forgotten. Let’s ride again, shall we?”
The Ranch of Rivershine features racing, breeding, nurturing, and exploring, all bundled with a charming art style. The Ranch of Rivershine has been in early access since summer 2023 and is just for Windows right now, but as soon as I get a gaming PC or Steam Deck, I’m galloping to the ranch.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for The Ranch of Rivershine
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $29.99
All Available Platforms: PC
Visual Novels
Visual novels are one of the more accessible entry points for new gamers because they echo a medium many are already familiar with: books. In visual novels, there’s a good amount of reading and clicking through dialogue, but some of the most exciting — including the below — incorporate thematically-aligned functions to keep players excited and enveloped in the world.
Yes, Your Grace
Yes, Your Grace is a grim but compelling Ned Stark simulator. Over the course of a year, each week, you play as King Eryk, who hears requests from peasants, plays politics with lords and ladies, and checks in with his family. The game opens foreshadowing a massive battle, and as the player, you know the fight is coming before King Eryk does. This foresight is needed, as you work to protect Eryk’s family, subjects, and kingdom.
Yes, Your Grace is a medieval management game that requires a deft hand with resources and time. Players must constantly balance out decisions to benefit and protect their kingdom, all while trying to be a present and nurturing father to three daughters during a time of political turmoil. It’s not a perfect game, but it is one that held me in a tight grip until I reached the conclusion. There’s a sequel coming soon, and I’ll be back in the throne room in a heartbeat.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Yes, Your Grace
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $19.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Death and Taxes
Death and Taxes is a point-and-click 2D narrative where you play as the Grim Reaper who works an office job. The object of the game, and your job, is to view files of living people and decide who gets to stay alive or die.
As you make these decisions and face your boss and his cat, you may face your own consequences as you aim for acceptance as you start your new career. It’s up to you to decide what kind of Grim Reaper you’d like to be: either follow your assigned quota, or not. There are multiple endings so changing up your decisions will offer some extra replayability in this cozy, clever indie.
– Written by Allison McDaniel
Steam Listing for Death and Taxes
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $12.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Coffee Talk
If coffee shops are one of your happy places, you absolutely must try the Coffee Talk series. The games nail the cozy coffee shop aesthetic (always rainy, clinking sounds of dishware, lofi music) weaving a thoughtful meta plot over the course of a few weeks.
In Coffee Talk and its 2023 sequel, you play as a barista of an all-night coffee shop. Each night, you will talk to a variety of customers, listening to their struggles and providing advice. What makes it different from your average visual novel is that, each night, you’ll make three beverages using a fun little drink simulator. Sometimes guests will tell you what goes into a drink, and other times, you have to guess or puzzle your way through. You’ll serve honey lattes to struggling writers, design custom drinks for werewolves, and make tea to ease fights within inter-creature relationships.
Both games welcome you in like a warm hug as a regular. Any indie game is a labor of love, much less one made through such difficult times. Coffee Talk and Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly are love letters to friendship and third places.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Coffee Talk
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 50% for Coffee Talk at $6.49, or 45% off at $15.28 for both games
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
Slay the Princess
Black Tabby Games’ Slay the Princess is a well-crafted visual novel that gave me goosebumps throughout. Players begin with a deceivingly simple set of instructions: go to the cabin’s basement and slay the princess.
Regardless of what you choose to do with that information, the game never ceases to surprise, shock, and discomfort. A complete playthrough might be brief, but the replayability reinvents the horrific elements at every turn.
– Written by Clint Morrison, Jr.
Steam Listing for Slay the Princess
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: $17.99
All Available Platforms: PC, Mac
Boyfriend Dungeon
Boyfriend Dungeon was one of my favorite games from 2021. It’s half visual novel, half dungeon-crawler (so it could have also landed in the Platformers section of this list!). The dungeons are semi-urban settings, such as an abandoned mall, where you fight off demons that take the shape of everyday objects, like cell phones, using a weapon, who is actually a transformed person (who is very sexy).
I know it sounds a bit silly, and that’s one of the things that makes it great. There’s a big degree of accessibility here for both combat and visual novels. The fighting is simple but fun, and very forgiving. There’s heartwarming, funny and thoughtful interactions with all the characters. Additionally, all the “boyfriends” — who aren’t all boys and you don’t have to be romantic — are beautiful, inside and out.
I found Boyfriend Dungeon to be an absolutely lovely, delightful game. It’s a fun length as well, coming in at around five to eight hours of playtime, though you can take longer if you like with as many dungeon runs as you want. And if you want to explore the romantic dating sim but don’t want to do combat, check out ValiDate or LaterDater, both of which are also featured in the Women’s Day Sale.
– Written by Amanda Tien
Steam Listing for Boyfriend Dungeon
Price at Time of 2024 Women’s Day Steam Sale: 50% off at $9.99
All Available Platforms: Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
More Games Made by Women, People of Color, and Nonbinary Individuals
There are so many more amazing titles, both featured in the sale and not, made by developers from marginalized backgrounds.
For example, I loved last year’s Mail Time which was made primarily by one woman, Kela van der Deijl in the Netherlands; Clint had only good things to say about El Paso, Elsewhere which was made by Black developer Xalavier Nelson Jr.; Regency Love is a fantastic visual novel with Jane Austen inspiration made by Tea for Three, a studio of three Australian Asian women; and many of us at TPB are big fans of Citizen Sleeper, which was created by one-person studio, Gareth Damian Martin (they/them).
If you know of other great games made by developers from marginalized backgrounds, please tell us in the comments! We want to play them. And, let us know what you scoop up from the sale!
