Initial scrolling of the Steam Summer Sale seems pretty lackluster, but digging through the comments sections in other threads, a few gems have stood out, and it doesn’t appear we have a thread dedicated to this yet, so post what you think are the best deals here!
Not mandatory ofc, but it’d be helpful if…
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One game per top level post, so comments stemming from it are focused on on just it.
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Hyperlink the game title to its Store Page
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Include both the normal and sale price / %off
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Include a short blurb about the game - if it’s one you’ve played before, what did you like about it? If you’re diving in blind, what grabbed your attention?
Good hunt’n!
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Minishoot’ Adventures $11.99 (20% off)
Isometric Zelda / Metroidvania / bullet hell with a lot of accessibility features and neat art where you’re a lil spaceship guy. Has a demo to see if it’s your jam. Already beat it twice, would really love for them to make DLC or a sequel.
Celeste $1.99 (90% off, new all-time low)
Hard but fair precision platformer by an expert of platformer design. Excellent controls, deep platforming mechanics, and a cathartic story about internal and external struggles.
I’ve been wanting to play this for a while and that price made it an instant buy. Really glad I did. Some of the strawberries are hard and unfair tho, haha.
Also 🏳️⚧️
So true
Is the character trans? I have flinished the whole game and I can’t recall that.
https://maddymakesgames.com/articles/is_maddy_trans/index.html
Is Madeline Canonically Trans?
Well, yeah, of course she is.
This feels painfully obvious to a lot of (mostly trans) people, and likewise it feels painfully obvious to me too, in retrospect. It has also become painfully obvious to me that I, myself, am trans. But these are things that I was not aware of during the development of Celeste, where I was writing Madeline and speaking from her perspective. Creating Celeste with my friends helped me reach the point where I could realize this truth about myself. During Celeste’s development, I did not know that Madeline or myself were trans. During the Farewell DLC’s development, I began to form a hunch. Post-development, I now know that we both are.
So she is essentially retroactively trams.
Not that I mind, but it is what it is.
Read further, while the author didn’t realize what she was doing it is a trans narrative through and through, and the free dlc ending did contain the flag because by then she did know.
When Madeline looks in the mirror and sees her other self; when she attempts to abandon her reflection, who then drags her down the mountain; when the two reconcile and merge to become stronger and more complete… that was all unknowingly written from a trans perspective.
Yes, Maddy is trans. This is both from word of god and a hint in the background of a piece of art in-game.
Tunic $14.99 (50% off, new all-time low)
A little guy in a green tunic picks up a sword and goes on an adventure, but the game is in an unknown language and you only have a few pages of the manual. It’s like a metroidvania but your progress is based on knowledge.
Such a great game
It’s a great little game, but don’t be afraid to drop the difficulty down later on. It really does detract from what makes the game special.
Inscryption $7.99 (60% off, new all-time low)
You find an old, abandoned video game and load it up. It’s an atmospheric, spooky card game, hiding layers of secrets for you to discover. The less you know before starting the game, the better your experience will be.
+1
Inscription is fucking awesome. And you don’t really need a mouse, so it can be nice for flights, or if you want to play one-handed for some reason.
The post-game is SO GOOD.
It’s one of those rare videogames that makes non-gamers ask “What is that?” And then “where can I buy it?”
Indeed, if you like creepy games and card games just buy it without looking closer - it is an incredible experience that shouldn’t be spoiled.
I’ve heard many glowing reviews with this same sentiment. In order to avoid most spoilers, may I ask you here - if I didn’t enjoy Undertale, would I still like this? I didn’t enjoy the metagaming that undertale did, making fun of the player for reloading a save. It felt dishonest. Does Inscryption also do this?
I’ll back up June. I was “that’s pretty nice” on Undertale but wasn’t nearly as positive on it as its fandom was. I loved Inscryption. It’s not meta like Undertale, but it does have occasional fourth wall breaks, which is part of its game-within-a-game fiction.
It’s a completely different game vs undertale. It’s like comparing Dota 2 to DiRT rally, haha. It’s worth going in blind, and the post-game is extremely good and very replayable (and adds new content).
I don’t think this is anything like undertale, and I didn’t like it either. It doesn’t make fun of you for reloading iirc
Thank you!
Thanks for that. Added to my wishlist.
Just picked up Bloons 6, (~$1, 90% off) for those who like tower defense games. Lots of unlockable content and metaprogression, if that’s your jam.
It is genuinely ridiculous how much content there is in this game for the price. Like, a lot of it looks like an excuse to play the same levels a dozen times with minor variations, but then there are tons of levels, lots of events, ongoing updates with new content of all types, so many different towers and upgrades to play with, community maps to add even more variety… It looks like I’ve played over 200 games and I have so much of the game that I haven’t even touched yet.
it is ridiculous how much content that game offers for the low price tag. one of my most played right now. the only td I have found that well maintained and very replayable
Ultimate Chicken Horse $5.24 (65% off, matching the all-time low)
Design platformer levels with your friends, then race them to the end, locally or online. Points are only awarded if someone died, so make the level extra dangerous!
Really great party game, kids love it. There’s a constant push-pull to make the level just hard enough. It kind of breaks down though if somebody has made it effectively unwinnable for everybody and you can’t find a way to unblock it. Otherwise though, it’s a fantastic game.
I’ve played somewhere around 1500 hours across multiple systems. There’s really nothing else quite like it.
My kids played this till their eyes bled. Great local screen party game.
Gato Roboto $1.99 (75% off, matching the all-time low)
Polished metroidvania with great monochrome pixel art. You are a cat piloting a robot suit. It only lasts a few hours, but they’re hours well spent.
Hypnospace Outlaw $4.79 (a bizarre 76% off, new all-time low)
Explore a remarkably authentic simulation of the 1999 World Wide Web as a moderator of a Geocities-like website hub. Rather than just being a joke about the corny retro graphics, it’s a heartfelt funeral for that era of the internet.
I’m still waiting until I forget more about the game so I can play it again.
Ghostrunner 2 is 80% off for $17CAD and runs great on the deck. It looks like some of the best speed swordplay vibes from Cyberpunk and I’m stoked to play it.
Also picked up Rage for 5 bucks.
hackmud
$19.99$14.99 (25% off)If you’re into scripting or hacking you should check this game out. It’s an interesting twist on the Multi-User Dungeon genre. The game presents mostly as a command-line interface where your goal is to seek out targets to pwn for money/points. NPC targets will have vulnerabilities you need to find and exploit in order to expose a hackable part. Once found you engage hackermode where you’ll have a timelimit to break the target’s security (mostly through bruteforce cracking). The game allows you to write short scripts in JavaScript to automate searching for vulnerabilities and cracking security.
Being Multi-User, there are other users online doing what you’re doing and you’re free to chat with them and exchange scripts. You’re also free to write malicious scripts that will steal money/points from others who don’t check scripts before running them!
The part I found cool was that the game mirrors IRL hacking much closer than other hacking games. You’ll often need to submit incorrect data to NPC targets to get an error message that will contain hints about where to go next. Ex. A webpage has “News” and “About Us” sections. You can request a section that doesn’t exist to get an error message that shows all acceptable sections: “News”, “About Us”, or “Employees”. You’ve found a hidden section! Using scripts to send a bunch of mal-formed data at a target and then analyzing which ones generate an exploitable error is part of real-life security testing.
Assault Android Cactus $4.99 (75% off, matching the all-time low)
Slick arcade-style twin-stick shooter with a pumpin’ soundtrack. Clear out arenas full of robots, build up combos, and go for a high score. A large roster of characters offer a wide variety of playstyles. There’s also 4-player local co-op.
Cactus is probably the single best mastery/arcade style twin-stick shooter out there. Don’t let the cute looks fool you, while this game is solid to just enjoy, the chaining and level design offer great challenge if you want it, and the way each character changes both the basic play and the way you chain a level show a just fantastic design level.
It usually goes $5 in sales, but it’s still crazy we can get games that good for so little.
Overcooked! 2 $6.24 (75% off, matching the all-time low)
Chaotic co-op cooking, local or online. Complete restaurant orders quickly in increasingly absurd scenarios. Cook in a haunted kitchen, above a mineshaft, in the middle of the highway, or on a burning hot air balloon that crashes into another restaurant! This is the kind of game that people joke will ruin friendships.
I got overcooked 1. It was over difficult and felt too much like work and not fun like a game should be. Maybe 2 is better but I’ve no incentive to try it out.
Maybe you’re just not the type of person for that type of game. I’ve spent lots of hours playing it with m girlfriend. Sometimes it’s fun, often it’s frustrating and I just can’t be motivated to try and improve my efficiency to get that third or fourth star in many of the levels. It’s fine that way.
Well now there is a dedicated post. Yours. 😄
This War of Mine: Complete Edition
£26.93£3.91 (85% off)In my opinion one of the greatest games but also one of the saddest. If you already own the game then I highly recommend all the DLC as they all bring some interesting scenarios to the game.
Your link is to example.com
Played it pirated years ago. Not really looking to play again tbh because it’s so sad, but I’ll buy it discounted for supporting, I back then liked the very original angle of playing with trapped victims instead of army.
The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt
$39.99$3.99 (90% off)If you’ve somehow managed to avoid Witcher until now, it’s a dark medieval fantasy, 3rd person, open world RPG based on
NorseSlavic mythology. Lots of political intrigue, choices that actually impact outcomes in game. Fantastic voice acting, story, soundtrack, and combat/gameplay mechanics. This is one of the best games on the market - if you don’t already have it, now’s the time! There are also two DLCs that are each the size and scope of an entire standalone game - don’t miss those!Also available DRM free on GOG for the same price.
(shoutout to @Klystron@sh.itjust.works for GOG intel)
open world RPG based on Norse mythology.
Slavic mythology, not Norse.
Oh, good catch. Fixed.
Good fish! I will download it right away.
Just one question, I have never played any of The Witcher series game. Would I be okay in jumping directly into the 3rd part?
Yes, tbh. Most missing backstory tends to be from the books rather than the games, and anyone with half a brain can infer what’s going on.
Witcher 2’s controls are a bit janky, but it’s a solid game in and of itself for the story alone; if you can stomach some pretty bad mechanics to enjoy an otherwise decent product, I’d say start at #2.
Witcher 1 is… so bad it’s kinda comical. I’d just pull up a story summary of Witcher 1 on youtube and call it a day. If you’re a masochist, go ahead and give the actual game a whirl; but I’d recommend modding the snot out of it to at least make your character OP as fuck, allowing you to mostly skip the god-awful combat. But even then, the only selling point is the story, which again you can just pull up on YouTube.
That said, you can dive into 3 with zero knowledge of the previous two and be just fine. There are things that will go over your head, but nothing significant.
It helps if you know the lore, because at the beginning there is a scene where someone asks you about decisions you made in the first two parts. But I didn’t know anything and just guessed. But after that you don’t really need to know what happens before
This is optional and only happens if you check “Simulate Witcher 2 Save” when creating a new game I believe. Just choose no.
Can you suggest a video which briefly explaines the lore of 1 and 2?
Sadly no, it’s been a long time. My guess would be as good as yours. But like Singfeld said, you can skip that option
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It was never a strong combat game imo. It’s a fantastic game despite the combat, not because of the combat.
Once you get a hold on dodging/parrying/etc, you’ll feel like a damn ninja, especially on harder difficulties; but leading up to that, yeah combat is… OK. Also don’t miss out of experimenting with different builds - one of my favorites optimized using bombs, which later into it makes you a walking B-52 - fun build if you enjoy clearing trash via a wave of pure chaos, then mopping up the stronger guys by way of the sword.
And yeah, the whole package is what counts here: Witcher 3 is a fantastic all around game. It isn’t without it’s imperfections, but they are barely noticeable amidst the tsunami of ridiculously high quality you’ll be hit with from all the other features.
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