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Steam 2023 Summer Sale: Hidden gems
For every big Steam sale r/gamedealsmeta does a Hidden Gems topic which is always one of my favorites to browse through. Given that the July 1 reddit fallout is upcoming though, I figure it's worth trying to roll our own version here too.
The purpose of this thread is for game discovery: surfacing games that are hard to find about elsewhere. As such, try to recommend things that are less well-known.
For general game recommendations of all popularities, use this thread. For general Steam Sale discussion, use this thread.
For the games below, I'm using the game's number of Steam reviews as a proxy for popularity. I've chosen all games that have less than 1000 reviews and that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Action Henk - 92% positive; 277 ratings; 75% discount
Black Ice - 95% positive, 438 reviews; 25% discount
Breakpoint - 98% positive; 159 reviews; 76% discount
Cally's Caves 3 - 82% positive; 320 reviews; 80% discount
Crash Drive 3 - 91% positive; 136 reviews; 75% discount
Drag Star! - 95% positive; 22 reviews; 40% discount
Escape Goat - 95% positive; 404 reviews; 75% discount
Fallback - 86% positive; 276 reviews; 90% discount
Fragments of Him - 85% positive; 96 reviews; 75% discount
Fumiko! - 83% positive; 74 reviews; 75% discount
Geo - 87% positive; 96 reviews; 75% discount
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands - 94% positive; 128 reviews, 60% discount
Gunlocked - 91% positive; 316 reviews; 35% discount
Inertial Drift - 90% positive; 600 reviews; 65% discount
JYDGE - 88% positive; 385 reviews; 70% discount
Lifeslide - 94% positive; 277 reviews; 50% discount
Paint It Back! - 97% positive; 442 reviews; 50% discount
Pawnbarian - 92% positive; 340 reviews; 50% discount
Poi - 93% positive; 382 reviews; 50% discount
Quarantine Circular - 88% positive; 390 reviews; 20% discount
Quell - 96% positive; 266 reviews; 90% discount
Salamander County Public Television - 94% positive; 56 reviews; 60% discount
Spirits of Xanadu - 77% positive; 318 reviews; 80% discount
Splasher - 95% positive; 442 reviews; 80% discount
Time Rifters - 88% positive; 361 reviews; 50% discount
Verlet Swing - 91% positive; 270 reviews; 77% discount
Volume - 79% positive; 356 reviews; 20% discount
Thanks for the list! I ended up wishlisting more than half of these and I'm sure I'll pick up at least 4 or 5 (Salamander County has been on my list ever since that GDQ Speedrun, it's definitely time).
I second Quarantine Circular. It's a short but gripping game with an interesting dialogue system and much better moral choices than your average game. Highly recommended.
Uh, yes please. I loved Shadow Complex on x360!
Threw Quarantine Circular, Fragments of Him, Crash Drive 3, and Paint It Back onto my wish list. Thanks!
Great list! I appreciate the time you took to compile it! I just got 6 of these (plus two from my wishlist).
Thanks! Which ones did you pick up (if you’re willing to share)?
I got GEO, Paint It Back, Quarantine Circular, Quell (Collection), Salamander County Television, and Spirits of Xanadu. Of these, I've only played Paint It Back so far (love this type of puzzle), but got a couple others too that I've been playing (Dorfromantic and Kind Words). I'm looking forward to playing the others soon.
Thanks for posting these threads! I picked up Paint it Back and Pawnbarian last time and thoroughly enjoyed both.
+1 for Splasher. To sum it up in an elevator pitch I'd describe it as Rayman Origins/Legends if they added Portal 2's gel mechanics.
thank you for this list! lots of things got my attention that I never knew about! time to expand that wishlist
Crosscode is such a good game that I've been recommending people for the last year. It's only $5.99 and that's a steal.
Basically, it's a puzzle/action RPG with SNES graphics and a very meta story (being stuck in an MMO). The puzzles remind me of Zelda games, but more difficult as you progress. There's even a party feature where you can invite your (npc) friends to join you on your adventures. I highly recommend!
Oh man, it's worth way more than $6. Anyone who pines for 2d Zelda, pick this up.
Agh, my policy is to only buy games when I know I'll have a specific time to play them (the first few years of Steam sales taught me this lesson!). But you have me tempted to throw $6 at a game I'll forget about the next time I have nothing specific to play. It looks great.
You won't regret it! I'm just trying to shill it out enough so I can get a sequel made. Definitely my hidden gem of last year.
Perhaps I ought to follow this lesson, my backlog is tremendous. But... I'll start next time.
PS: Crosscode was fantastic! I'm looking forward to project terra, their next game.
Is the DLC worth it for another $3? I assume yes if the base game gets such high praise from you.
Personally, I think so. It's something you don't need for a complete story, but I was happy to have more to play.
Ex-Zodiac - 97% Positive; 398 reviews; 25% Discount (=$7.49)
Horizon's Gate
A mix of Uncharted Waters and Ultima. Large, totally open world with ship-to-ship/ship-to-monster combat, RPG mechanics, classes and sub-classes, multi-classing, boarding mechanics, water and land exploration, dungeons, trading, etc.
Many of the mechanics are somewhat simple but still fun. For example, ships have cannon slots instead of cannon batteries. But you can put different kinds of cannon types: swivel gun, broadsides, front facing, rear facing, etc., and use different shot: grape, chain, etc.
You can sail around and sell your discoveries to libraries, map parts of the world and sell to cartographers, trade between ports, poach monsters and sell their oil, or engage in good ol' fashion pirating.
Dungeons are a mixed bag. Some are essentially just two room: an encounter room and a loot room. These seem to be randomly generated. Others are more in-depth and hand crafted, requiring the use of tools (such as pitons and rope) in order to navigate.
Combat is Ultima/Tactics. Some interesting classes and skills, from traditional knight/mage/ranger to punchmasters/kick-punchers and minstrels. All kinds. Different weapons types will also transform your tactics. Some weapons can't attack diagonally, bows are unusable on adjacent enemies, some weapons strike through multiple opponents. Lots of weapon choices that will alter how you approach combat. So far, every class seems able to wield any weapon.
Fun game though. If you're nostalgic for Uncharted Waters, it will scratch the itch.
Edit: you can get really granular with the difficulty settings as well. For instance, you can turn the enemy health way down but turn their tactics way up so they'll be very clever, but also die quickly. This makes for dangerous but decisive combat. They'll be very deadly, but combat won't drag on for ages. Either them or you will be dead in a few turns. Or you can turn everything way down and just have a chill session.
I also recommend getting the Prominence Mod Pack on the Steam workshop. It adds more classes, ports, NPCs, and quests. It really adds a lot and fits in well with the existing game.
I got so wrapped up in the game I totally forgot that it had workshop support. Thanks for the reminder - game just got even better.
Not exactly a "hidden" gem, but certainly a less visible excellent deal for some fantastic games.
If you're new to Valve, and their games (Half Life series, Half Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead, etc...) the Valve Complete Pack is a steal at $6.54 (or your regional equivalent), scaling based on which games you already own in the package. (Note: The Complete Pack does not include Half Life: Alyx).
If you're not the shooty shooty type... I still recommend Portal and Portal 2 for $1.48. The tongue-in-cheek humor is top-notch, and the puzzles make you think. Portal 2 also has a campaign you can play with a friend, and it's equally terrific. Watch the trailers. They'll give you an idea of the kind of games they are.
If you think you'll enjoy visual novel style games, I really recommend both VA-11 Hall-A and Coffee Talk (both episodes). Both absolutely nail both characters and immersion into the vibe. Not exactly unknown games, but in a niche (to the west) genre, so perhaps it still fits in the thread.
Intergalactic Fishing
A relaxing procedurally generated space fishing simulator, steam deck verified, and great for podcasts.
Cantata
An early access game that isn't on too huge a sale but I love it and think it's worth a shout-out. The game is basically Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri mixed with XCOM all wrapped in an absolutely gorgeous art style.
Caves of Qud
A old-school roguelike set in a world thats basically a mix of fallout and dune. Tons to do, a huge variety of character builds and unapologetically hard. A game that can keep you entertained for a long time and is constantly updated. If you're new to roguelike I recommend downloading the tutorial from the workshop.
Forsaken Remastered
A fun 6dof (Six degrees of freedom) game from the late 90's wonderfully remastered by Nightdive Studios. A pumping DnB soundtrack, nostalgic graphics, and hectic multiplayer if you can get some friends together.
Cats and Other Lives
For fans of point-and-click adventure games and cats, this game is a surprising touching story about a cat observing the family of it's owner after his passing. If you didn't get enough of being a cat in Stray definitely check this one out.
G String
A hl2 mod turned full game with an upcoming "Ultimate" edition with new content, changes, and fixes on the way. This game has the grimiest cyberpunk world I've seen, I felt like showering after playing. If you enjoy half life gameplay and dark cyberpunk worlds it might be worth checking out.
Dread Delusion
Morrowind on acid. Early access but plenty of content available right now.
Gararge: Bad Dream Adventure
For fans of weird Japanese games, part fishing sim, part point-and-click adventure. A game thats very hard to describe but should be obvious if it's for you or not based on the screenshots.
Hands of Necromancy
GZDoom game for fans of Heretic/Hexen not much to say other than that it's a well made retro shooter.
I'll gladly second Caves of Qud, especially if you've ever gotten into the crawl style rogulikes (dungeon crawl stone soup was a big one for me).
It does so many things worlds better than others in the genre that it's hard to even know where to start. The amount of crazy stuff that can happen, and having actually interesting combat, makes it one of a kind.
I have put like 100 hours into Yoku's Island Express with its randomizer mode. Certainly a steal at $4.
Ooh, did not know it had a randomizer mode. I might have to play again. It's a very chill game and scratches that pinball itch.
I didn't know this either! The game is one of my favorites. I recently went back and replayed it to 100% it, and a randomizer mode sounds like a lot of fun. Also I assumed it was a third-party randomizer mod, but the devs actually put it natively into the game. Nice work, devs!
Thanks for the heads up on the randomizer, @alden. Also I'll co-sign on your recommendation. This game is excellent, charming, and genuinely novel.
I don't know if it's considered to be hidden enough, but this Mortal Kombat 11 + Injustice 2 bundle is 90% off.
https://store.steampowered.com/sub/557569/
I'm going to post below some of my favourite games I've played in the past couple of years, Three Survival Horror, A Sim Tycoon and a Point & Click game with some quick reviews below below:
Alisa 40% Off - £8.40 - 629 Reviews - Old School Survival Horror inspired by Resident evil & Silent Hill
Alisa has you exploring a large doll house (see: mansion) full of monsters and puzzles where you have to find the right key or item to progress. Ammo is somewhat scarce, however enemies drop currency upon defeat which you can use to buy upgrades and ammo. The upgrades include various dresses which give you different stat boosts such as taking less damage, or faster movement. You have to decide how much ammo you want to use to clear a room and whether it's worth the exchange as enemies don't respawn. After you finish exploring an area you will fight a boss which upon defeat will give you access to the next area of the game. The combat can be quite difficult however the game has has some options to make the game easier with things like an auto-aim toggle, The level design is quite good and the different areas of the game all feel unique with different enemy types, visual styles and music, and as you progress you'll find shortcuts linking the areas together for faster travel. 7-10 Hours to beat but has plenty of replay value with 3 endings and NG+ modes.
Tavern Master 50% Off - £5.99 - 5607 Reviews - Medieval Tavern Tycoon Game
Tycoon game where you build your own Tavern, very fun but basic and not very difficult. You start with one floor to work with and as you progress the game you can decorate your tavern, unlock ore floors, and and unlock new wines/beers and upgrades for your tavern like being able to make rooms to rent out. There's not much to do in the endgame an once you've unlocked everything there's not much to do but I got a solid 20 hours out of it.
Darkside Detective 70% Off - £3.83 - 2725 Reviews - Humorous Point & Click Adventure with EasyPuzzles
The Darkside Detective is a love letter to classic point and click adventure games with a focus on the humour rather than obtuse and obscure puzzles. It follows the story of Detective McQueen and his sidekick, Officer Patrick Dooley as they investigate various hauntings taking place around the city as they try to uncover the truth and crack the case. The game is broken down into 9 cases, 6 main cases and three bonus cases which were added post launch. Each case takes around 30 - 45 minutes on average to beat so it's a great game to pick up and play in short sessions.
The game has a larger focus on on the humour and exploration over obscure puzzles with moon logic which I felt was a great decision. Usually the puzzles will be standard adventure game fare such as combining items and using them on part of the map but I found for the most part these solutions were all very logical and made sense in context. There's also some puzzle segments which are mini games like connecting tubes together to make a tunnel which allowed for a nice change of pace and a brief break for exploring. 5-6 Hours to Beat
Tormented Souls 45% Off - £9.34 - 3110 Reviews - Old School Survival Horror inspired by Resident evil & Silent Hill
Tormented Souls is a love letter to old school survival horror. If you're a fan of old fashioned Resident Evil or Silent Hill this is the perfect game for you. Limited saves, fixed camera angles and scarce ammo, this game is exactly what survival horror is about. The basic core gameplay loop has you exploring an abandoned hospital searching for clues about the disappearance of two missing girls. It takes inspiration from RE1 in that as you explore you'll be unlocking shortcuts and be circling back round the way you came to the same areas. By the time you've finished the game you should be able to map the entire area without too much trouble. The puzzles are quite difficult in this game, and some of them are a bit too obtuse, I know this is a love letter to classic survival horror games but I feel the puzzles may have been too hard overall, however this didn't really dampen my experience as everything else about the game is fantastic. There's a few different enemy types and they're all fun to fight however visually a lot of them are quite similar. I'd love to have seen some more enemy variety but overall the enemies did their job and were fun to fight through the whole length of the game. 8 - 12 Hours To Beat
Bonus Suggestion, Not on sale but Cheap Lake Haven - Chrysalis - £2.49 - 278 Reviews - Fixed Camera Angle Horror Adventure inspired by Silent Hill
A classic style PS1 style horror game that looks and plays like Silent Hill 1 or Resident Evil 1-3. You play as a detective and visit a mysterious house where you must solve the mystery of what has happened to the residents. Lots of puzzles, and a great atmosphere, There aren't any "survival horror" elements it's just atmospheric horror so if you're looking for things like limited saves or low ammo rationing this isn't the game for you..
The game is relativity short and will take you about 60 to 90 minutes to beat, but for the price i would highly recommend to any fans of Silent Hill 1 or Classic Resident Evil, it's an experience worth playing for retro horror lovers.
Any online co-op recommendations?
Old favorites to give you some idea: Grim Dawn, GuildWars2, the dwarf-mining-game-I-forgot-the-name, bunch of escape games (The "First Class Escape" series are amazing).
Valheim and 7DaysToDie I've been enjoying co-op.
Destiny 2:Free-to-playish. You can do the intro story, explore the planets and (i think)do strikes, which are short co-op missions, without paying anything. For me, the shooting and movement system feels like one of the best.
If you want something more casual, Stardew Valley is chill and very enjoyable in co-op.
I got into Destiny recently after briefly playing 2 at luanch. I'd only recommend the F2P as a demo, do the introduction and if you like it pick up the Lecacy Collection when it's on sale. You absolutely need the structure the expansions provide if you want any hope of really getting into the game in my opinion.
As is the collection is on sale now for £20 which is well worth it if you enjoy the combat/world. Gets a bit grindy once you're out of expansions, even if you pay for the seasonal content, but I've ended up having a great time overall.
My spouse and I have been playing SV with our kid and he’s having a blast! He’s 7 and a bit young for the actual storyline, but he’s absolutely nailed fishing and will gladly help harvest produce when it’s ready. :D
Deep Rock Galactic?
Also, factorio is very fun as a co-op game
My buddy and I have been working our way through many coop games together; our tastes might not match what you're looking for, but maybe there's something that will catch your eye. I'm focusing on the more moment to moment action-y games we've played rather than narrative driven games since these sound bit closer to what you've enjoyed in the past!
Helldivers (75% off, $4.99) is a top-down tongue-in-cheek scifi military shooter that plays like a cross between Starship Troopers and the studio's prior game, friendly fire filled coop-madness spell slinger Magicka (also on sale, 75% off $2.49 for the base game).
Children of Morta (75% off, $5.49) is a recent playthrough for us that we enjoyed, a top-down action RPG roguelite where you play as various members of a family trying to stop a corrupting evil from consuming their world. There are some networking issues but we were able to play through the whole thing and had a great time with it.
Risk of Rain 2 (50% off, $12.49) is a third person area-ish shooter action roguelike where you and a friend are trying to survive and escape an alien planet by haphazardly stapling random ability granting doodads all over yourself. I'm not normally a fan of Rogue-esk games (despite this and prior recommendations being roguelike/lite) but the moment to moment gameplay of RoR was a blast and the "ramp up" phase at the start of a run where you feel underpowered is extremely short.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite (60% off, $11.99) is a third person campaign mission-based shooter with classes and abilities. It's not the best game in this "genre", but we've been playing it recently thanks to it being featured in a recent Humble Monthly and if you take it for what it is, it's surprisingly enjoyable. The feedback from weapons is solid, the shooting and kill feedback is satisfying, and the game is mostly straightforward - do you want to make shooty noises and big booms with a friend as a background to just hanging out and chatting about life? Fireteam Elite does that and gets out of your way.
Monster Hunter Rise (60% off, $15.99) is definitely not a hidden gem, but it IS on sale and is a gem, so I'm bringing it up! If you're unfamiliar with the series it focuses on you, a monster hunter, going out into various environments to take down large and imposing creatures that are threatening your village. You have an incredibly varied set of weapon styles to choose from each with very many variants that, along with your armor, are crafted from parts gained by slaying and carving (or capturing) monsters. It's a mission-based game (load into an environment, do the hunt, return to base to gear up for the next one) but it plays super well with a friend and Rise is the most accessible entry point for new players by far. We put easily a hundred hours in when it first released on the Switch and enjoyed every moment of it.
Last but not least, and merely a month before the sequel arrives, Remnant: From the Ashes (65% off, $13.99) is a vaguely soulslike but with lots of guns mission-based campaign shooter where the specific encounter path you'll follow is generated on start based on a random seed (dictating the worlds you'll visit and the bosses you'll encounter). The moment to moment gameplay is quite satisfying, the worlds are fun to explore, the story is passable, and the builds are easy to understand but fun to execute. And there are enough modes that allow for random generation that if you enjoy the gameplay, plenty more can be found.
Thanks for the list! We also played Remnant and Children of Morta. Esp the latter I really enjoyed: really varied classes and you switch them up often.
Spark the Electric Jester 3
Full disclosure, I haven't played this yet, I just bought it and I haven't had time to sit down with it, but I found out about it from a YouTube video talking about where Sonic went wrong and how this game does it right. Had it wishlisted and my eye on it ever since. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive and basically say it's the Sonic Adventure 3 we never got and as someone who has played Sonic Adventure 2 about a zillion times, I'm more than ready to give this a chance.
Monster Sanctuary
This one I have played. To completion. (Before the DLC, anyway) And I was bummed out when it was over. This is a delightful monster taming Metroidvania with tons of exploration assisted by the array of monsters, very satisfying team building and combocraft, gorgeous graphics... this is just GOOD. If you like monster tamers this is a no-brainer to pick up and if you don't like them, try it anyway.
To contribute-
SNKRX 40% off. Currently $1.79
Autochess + snake. You drive the snake around the level, which is made up of your auto chess battlers, who then attack the enemies as they get in range. Touching them harms whoever got hit, and there's a bunch of classes/items/crazy combos and plenty of difficulty to keep it interesting.
It's dirt cheap, runs on anything, and I love throwing it in window mode while i listen to/watch something low effort.