Very useful link! I didn't realize Tormented Souls was so cheap during this sale. I highly recommend this one for anyone who likes the classic Resident Evil games.
Celeste $4.99 -75% - A platformer with 8-way airdashes. I'm sure you've already heard enough about how amazing the base game is, so I just want to take a moment to shoutout the incredible modding scene for more content. My favorites are Spring 2020 Collab, Strawberry Jam, Glyph, Conqueror's Peak, and Into the Jungle.
CrossCode $9.33 -65% (for base game and DLC) - Phenomenal action RPG. Combat is fast and explosive, dungeons are very obviously Zelda inspired but with way more puzzles. Packed with tons and tons and tons of sidequests, many of which put unique twists on the combat system to keep you on your toes. Make sure to grab the epilogue DLC.
Crypt of the Necrodancer $11.21 (bundle with DLC) - Rhythm game/roguelike sounds like the strangest mashup ever. But what's even stranger is just how well it works. It's just a matter of keeping 4/4 time, but forcing a steady pace forces you to think fast and not make any mistakes. Every death is clearly your fault as every enemy is designed to be beatable using only a base dagger without getting hit (and indeed there's a challenge character that forces exactly this), but dealing with swarms is where it gets complicated. I especially recommend trying to speedrun, playing for speed really makes this game adrenaline-fueled as you have to pace yourself judging how much time you can afford to gather items if you want to make sub-15 or sub-10. Danny Baranowsky's soundtrack absolutely delivers. Get both the Amplified and Synchrony DLCs.
Mega Knockdown $7.99 -20% - A turn-based fighting game that's fun for complete beginners to pick up and play, while still offering a lot of depth. Use this to entice your non-fighting game friends in.
Skullgirls $2.49 -90% base game, $14.83 bundle with DLC - Still the best damn fighting game of all time. Almost never not on sale, hell you probably already own this by now and may not even realize it.
Slay the Spire $6.24 -75% - Roguelike deckbuilder, basic idea is that after each combat you get to add a card to your deck, plus collect relics from elites/events/shops/bosses which provide passive effects. There's a ton of depth in trying to assemble the perfect deck one card at a time, resource management gets very complicated balancing what you need in the short-term versus what you want to take to the endgame. Tons and tons of possibilities, you can pretty much expect to never build the same deck twice. Oh, and did I mention there's 20 levels of hard modes once you think you've gotten A0 down? Also has a very powerful mod API with Steam Workshop support, check out Packmaster and Adventurer for my favorite must-plays.
Them's Fightin' Herds $3.99 -80% - Another great fighting game, been waiting a long time for this port to bring us up to a grand total of two good fighting games on Linux. Has a lot of really cool features like a big story mode with overworld exploration, a cute lobby system with cosmetics to collect and treasure chests to fight for, a dynamic music system that reacts to the fight, and even a semi-cooperative dungeon crawler mode. Has crossplay with consoles as well. Full review.Word of warning: Baihe DLC is very busted and banned from tournament play. Long story about how the publisher fired the entire dev team and released her in an unfinished state. If you buy the DLC, just get the other three characters and skip her.
Anything by Zachtronics - A bunch of different engineering puzzle games where you have to write code or build a machine to solve problems. Once you've solved the puzzle, you can see a histogram comparing your solution to everyone else's on a few different metrics, encouraging you to go back and try to optimize it further. I recommend Opus Magnum as the best entry point.
But you'll get around to them at some point, and it's a good deal so if you buy it later it might cost more. No it's fine you definitely won't get distracted by another game and will start it after the one you are playing just now.
I don't know what you mean "I've had that unplayed game for 17 years," I'm going to play it next, (after this one I'm about to buy.)
I don't know what you mean "I've had that unplayed game for 17 years," I'm going to play it next, (after this one I'm about to buy replaying this old one for the fifth time.)
Hope no one minds me asking here, but does anyone have any suggestion for games on sale that a 13 year old boy might like? Need a cool uncle gift for the nephew
Honestly? Not really. I haven't seen them in about 4 years, and the last I really checked in one was super into reading fantasy novels and the other one like Lego. Lol. They're family friends, not children of siblings.
The prices aren't impressing me, then again, they really hadn't impressed me for 5 years in a row now. They're exactly the same as I've seen them in other sales, except the other sales mark them down slightly lower.
Granted, I've acquired nearly every game I've personally been scouting for so the thrill is mostly gone. I'd only be spending just to spend on things I don't quite need and not want.
They really were. Like, in 2015, I paid a total of $153 for like 34 games. It doesn't sound like a lot, but for the games I wanted that were there? Totally worth it. Like Wolfenstein the Old Blood, Transformers War For/Fall Of Cybertron, Oblivion and Morrowind to mention a few.
I've been though the Steam Sales for well over 10 years now, and I remember when they switched up how they did it.
Yeah you no longer have a 90% discount for a single day on a game so there isn't anywhere near as much chatter, which I miss, but there are plently of big names with 90% off. I think that is either what you miss, or you are now 5 years older and just don't get as excited, or there hasn't been much released that interest you.
My argument is that, the purpose of the Autumn and Winter Sales is we're expected to see staggeringly great deals. That is why so many people have looked forward towards every year with Steam. When you see a game that's been consistently 20% all year, it's been released 6 years ago for example and it's active on the Winter Sale with the same exact price as it had been? It defeats the purpose of being involved in the sale in the first place.
It's a matter of to each their own as to what game they think is currently having a great deal and that's factored in whether or not that they have it. I'm seeing deals of games where I admit, are at extremely better price points than when I originally got them for. But I also can say that there are games that are on sale right now, where I remembered getting them at better deals way back when.
I've already pointed out that it's also likely that I've been acquiring a majority of the games that I want and that if I partake into this sale, I'd only be spending for the sake of spending which may likely not be worth my expenses.
I've noticed this too with Steam. Sales aren't nearly as good (also, didn't we just have one?!?) and "release dates" on decade-old games can be listed as say, two years if there was an update or a slight change
Dunno if it's Steam themselves or others 'gaming' the system, apologies for the pun
In a way, I accept that. I think too many super discounts were starting to poison the industry such that indie devs with a limited audience couldn’t even make their costs back, and couldn’t raise their price because they’d compete with so much $4 slop.
(By the way, my other post highlights some great $4 slop)
Was in a thread recently where people talk about heavy story games being popular because of Watcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Disco Esylium and Baldurs Gate 3.
I'm going to recommend some fantastic story-rich/story-heavy games that people might have missed during the 2010-2020 era.
Shadowrun Returns and Shadowrun Hong Kong: RPG tactics. if you're not familiar with Shadowrun, it's Cyberpunk but with Elves/Trolls, and Dragons as president. Story is dark and fantastic.
West of Loathing and Shadows of Loathing: RPG tactics. Really great and funny writing. One reviewer said they smiled ear to ear during their whole play. I did too.
Danganronpa series and Steins Gate series visual novel territory. Starts really slow but sucks you in. Paradise Killer was my introduction to this world.
Rusty Lake games Puzzly. Rusty Lake Roots storytelling is so good. Don't sleep on Rusty Lake Paradise and Rusty lake Hotel. Those stories are a bit more abstract, as are all the Rusty Lake games.
Firewatch this is the game that made me sit up and pay attention to Walk Simulators. There's a lot of good ones to name, but Firewatch is top tier.
All on sale for a few bucks. All of them will make you think about them while showering and reflecting on life.
What an absolutely disgusting crowd she fell in with at a young age, that poor woman. I despise these cliques of narcissistic abusers and their sycophants. Thanks for raising awareness.
I was absolutely part of the KoL community in the 2000s-2010s, and left when I aged out of their KoL Radio/podcast stuff.
I remember hearing about it during West of Loathing launch and definitely one of the reasons I avoided the game during release. But I came around during the pandemic and I wonder if there was an aftermath.
I'm digging through the internet right now. This was one of their apologies, also from that 2019 time.
Rotwood is a good one. Co-op Roguelite beat-em-up from the Don't Starve guys.
Lethal Company is just lots of fun, we've gotten too much time out of that dumb game. Maybe check out Content Warning if you like LC but want a change.
Outward is a fantastic old-school RPG for two people, has all the traits of a game from 2002
Palworld - haven't hopped back into this one since its launch but have been meaning to. But this type of game is definitely not underrepresented on the market.
Escape Simulator is a nice stress-free co-op escape room game, lots of official content and also has Steam Workshop so there's tons of great content.
PlateUp! if you're not worried about getting into a fight over how awful your buddy is at making food
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is a Zelda-like RPG that's a surprising amount of fun for how simple the game first looks.
Other bigname recs: Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Baldur's Gate 3, Sea of Thieves, Deep Rock Galactic, Stardew Valley
Outward is definitely not for everyone, but it felt to me like playing Morrowind for the first time. Not in the dialogue or character writing but in terms of looking at a weird thing on the horizon and asking myself 'WTF IS THAT'.
My wife and I loved Escape Academy. The narrative structure made it more interesting. And the puzzles were more sillier in nature, like solving things while escaping a flood. Or trying to land a airplane.
Bone's Cafe is a slower non roguelite cafe game were you get to kill and cook your customers. It has been lots of fun.
Kingdom 2 Crowns is a great little game of frustration but it's only 2 people but it's pretty and the soundtrack slaps and it's a fun settlement building and protection game.
Everyone is already recommending Hazelight Studio games but I will jump on that too cause they are amazing.
And just to shake things up:
The Lego games. They are classic and usually a good time. Campy humor. Murder your friends. And they are pretty cheap as the whole collections these days.
Edit: Oh and Ship of Fools was fun. Simple crowded bullet hell slapstick roguelite on a tiny ship with guns.
It's a game from 2014, but I love Double Dragon Neon which is 50% off. I have songs from the game in my regular music playlist they're so good. I enjoy it more than the recent Double Dragon Gaiden. Great coop.
Full Metal Furies is a very fun “beatemup-style” game very much focused on unique character abilities and cooperation. The writing is very funny, and each character operates very different. Currently $5.
Oh, and on the topic of coop games with primarily female casts: Assault Android Cactus is a lot of fun even for people who haven’t played games much. Rather than use a teammate reviving mechanic, players can pick themselves up - but everyone is fighting their timer to complete the mission before their batteries run out. Levels are quick and chaotic. $5.
Firewatch is a must buy at $2. Great story.
The Forest at $2 is great to grab for you and a few friends who like to play survival games and don't mind some gore.
The Sexy Brutale is a fun Groundhog Day puzzle game set in a casino where you must sneak around to prevent the staff from murdering the guests. The story seems insignificant but becomes astounding towards the end. It’s currently $5.
Unmetal is a very fun Metal Gear parody that isn’t totally lax with its writing - maintaining just enough serious tone to keep you invested and break your expectations when it uses the storytelling format to throw you for a loop. Currently $4.
Homebody is another Groundhog Day puzzle game, also about preventing your friends from being murdered - but with a very different tone. Creepy at times, and requires a slow unraveling of every one of the mansion’s puzzles. $5
Tyrion Cuthbert is an astoundingly-done indie take on the Ace Attorney format, set in a fantasy universe with its own magical rules. 5 full cases, with some big character moments in the later ones. Currently $10.
Near Death is a short horror game based on surviving arctic chill at an abandoned base at night. It feels much like an indie game version of The Martian, especially when you contact personnel that can give you tips but can’t send a rescue party. Currently $2.
Grabbed Children of the Sun (Reg 14.99, 40% off to 8.99) and A Little to the Left (Reg 14.99, 50% off to 7.49) personally. Both are puzzlers but the former is far darker then the latter.
Already got a couple games/DLC because they were a good deal. Got 2 games and 2 DLC for $22.22 before tax. Pure luck, baby.
Been thoroughly enjoying Sonic Origins but have yet to play Sonic Mania, though.
I think Sonic Mania is currently less than $10 and Sonic Origins was something like $16.99 with the Plus DLC. No idea if those are good deals, but definitely better than the $30+ for Origins on its own in my opinion.
It's call the Christmas Spirit. Now get prepared for the boxing day, the yelow sunday, the New Year sales, the cyber deals week and the Super Specials Promotion month.
Crazy how they can spend nearly the whole year offering "discounts". Its almost like they mark them up way more than they need to on purpose so they can pretend they're giving us a deal the rest of the time.