Anyone here in the mood for a new Steam game this weekend?
Note: this will be a noisy thread! If you would not like to see it in your feed, please use the ignore feature!
IMPORTANT UPDATE
This offer is no longer available. Thanks to those who participated!
Anyone here in the mood for a new Steam game this weekend?
Presumably you are, because you clicked this thread to read it! Welcome!
What is this?
It's a Steam game giveaway! I figured some of you might want a new game to play this weekend, and what's better than getting an awesome new game for free?!
What's the catch?
There isn't one! No gimmicks, and no strings attached!
How do I get my game?
Comment below with your choice, and I'll PM you the key. To keep the thread from being pure noise, I would also like you to, with your request, tell me about a favorite “hidden gem” game you’ve played. I love hearing about diamonds in the rough, so let me know about an underappreciated game you’ve loved (the more obscure/unknown the better).
Also, if you end up playing the game you get this weekend (you don’t have to — it’s a gift, not an obligation!), return to the thread to tell everyone about it!
Are there any restrictions?
Only one game per commenter please, but note that multiple people CAN request the same game! I will give out as many of each copy as is requested!
Why are you doing this?
My pageant answer is about doing something nice for an awesome community during some difficult times, but the real truth is that I've been drinking a bit, there’s a seriously good bundle on right now, and as I looked at the titles in it, it made me feel deep down in my bones the unshakeable sense that more people need to play Yoku's Island Express.
What's on offer?
Your choices are below. I haven't played all of these, but, based on the reviews, there's not a bad game in the bunch! There's also a wide amount of variety, so hopefully you can find something that speaks to your individual interests!
| Game | Genre | Review Score | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blazing Beaks | twin-stick roguelite shooter | 86% positive with 999 reviews | Platinum |
| Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood | FPS western | 84% positive with 2,049 reviews | Gold |
| Dungeons 3 | RTS dungeon sim | 94% positive with 10,686 reviews | Native |
| Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition | CRPG adventure | 89% positive with 1,598 reviews | Native |
| The Walking Dead: The Final Season | story rich zombie adventure | 93% positive with 9,479 reviews | Gold |
| Yoku's Island Express | pinball metroidvania | 97% positive with 1,521 reviews | Platinum |
| Yooka-Laylee | collectathon 3D platformer | 79% positive with 2,115 reviews | Native |
What do you recommend?
First of all, thank you for asking! That’s so thoughtful.
- Yoku's Island Express
MORE PEOPLE NEED TO PLAY THIS (thus sayeth the truth in my bones). The game is a delight. It's charming, novel, and very well-made. "Pinball metroidvania" isn't exactly a common genre or even one that makes sense on paper, but it's pulled off splendidly. It’s also thoroughly enjoyable even if you're a complete pinball novice like me. If in doubt about which game to pick, choose this one! If, after you play it, it turns out I’ve steered you wrong, you’re allowed to return to this thread and yell at me.
- Yooka-Laylee
I honestly think this is one of the most unfairly criticized games out there. I genuinely don't understand why so many people had very negative reactions to it. I don't normally finish games, but I full-on 100%ed this one! It has a couple of rough spots and edges, but on the whole I thought it was wonderful and deserved far better than the lukewarm-to-hostile response it got.
Can just ANYONE ask for a game?
Yes. PLEASE DO. Don’t wait around thinking someone else deserves it more or you don’t want to be a bother or you don’t want to put me out or you might not play it this weekend or you might look like a freeloader. I literally WANT to give this stuff away. Nothing would make me happier than to see this thread deluged with requests! If you're someone who might get enjoyment out of any of these games, then DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR ONE!
IMPORTANT EDIT: I am handing out games even if I'm not responding in the thread to each individual request! I didn't want to keep bumping the thread myself with confirmations.
Any game is fine with me! For a pretty unconventional game, do check out The Hex. I won't spoil it, but the game uses the Steam API in pretty interesting ways and had me do a double take on more than one occasion! It seems to be an indie dev which probably explains the creativity :)
Edit: I'm loving Yoku's Island Express. This is the perfect game to relax on a weekend! I love the music, the art style, and the pinball style gameplay brings back a healthy dose of nostalgia :D Thanks @kfwyre!
I'd like Yooka-Laylee if it's not spoken for before I hit send. It's been on my wish list for a while!
I really appreciate you doing this, and while I don't want a game, I'll happily take a chance to mention a hidden gem: West of Loathing. It's a humorous stick figure western CRPG with some truly excellent writing and a stellar soundtrack.
I'd like Dungeons, if it's available- build up the ol' linux-native steam library.
As for the hidden gem, one of my all-time favorite wierd finds is Viva Pinata . In college, I was talking to my next door neighbor and it came up that my apartment had an Xbox. He recommended it and I was very thrown off by the kid-sy color scheme, but it's actually a really interesting and fun resource management game. I was really surprised by the depth of the strategy! Or maybe I was just high, it was college after all lol.
So to give a little review for anyone who was interested - I had time to install it and give Dungeons 3 a little spin today. It's the latest on the Dungeon series, which is something I grew up on and played endlessly as a kid. The dungeon building is mostly the same formula, which I enjoy - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The added overworld RTS fighting kind of feels like a Warcraft 3 mod, not particularly great but not game ruining. However, the main draw for me was the classic narrator and their overly-tongue-in-cheek writing. Not the most enthralling RTS in the world, but if you're a fan of the series it's the same formula with an added overworld map, which is really scratching a nostalgia itch for me. I'd give it a slight recommendation for others, but for myself it made my day :) Thanks for the gift @kfwyre, this is a sentimental game for me and I'm looking forward to finishing it.
edit: I thought this was related to Dungeon Keeper, but it's not! Totally different franchise apparently - but so similar I couldn't tell :P still like it though!
I'm just here to post a couple recommendations:
Ratropolis, which is a kind of deck-building real-time roguelite/tower defense hybrid. It's surprisingly interesting, deep and has replayability.
Scrap Mechanic, which is an engineering-esque kinda mindcraft-ish building game where you harvest resources and build bases and vehicles while fighting robots who wish to stop your progress. It's surprisingly deep and the building of things as a lot of options while being fun. Multiplayer with friends is more fun than playing alone.
Raft didn't get the attention it deserved. You build a more and more complex raft out of rubbish floating around in the ocean while trying to survive. Again, it's more fun if you've got folks to play multiplayer with. The replayability isn't super, but the game is very different.
Raft struck me as potentially super fun, but then petered out Content-wise. I think that's when it was in EA though, so I'm guessing it's better now?
I'd love to try Blazing Beaks. Might be cute enough to get my wife interested.
Cheers for sharing. :)
Edit: It worked - even got to watch her play a couple of rounds solo. A rare treat. Thank you again and, so far, it looks like it delivers on the cuteness/mayhem combo as teased. It's got a fairly intuitive and engaging system of collecting burdens during gameplay and then exchanging them at checkpoints for boons. Just one of many wise design choices I can see that will help co-op work for players with varying experience.
Edit: I forgot to pay the game-mentioning toll so Paradigm. It's a charming and wickedly funny adventure game in the style of Monkey Island. Here, Doug the pot-plant drops some phat beatsies. Kinda linear and frustrating at times (what do I click next!?) but I've rarely laughed so often during a game.
I'd accept Yoku's Island Express. Thanks for offering! I don't know if I can get to it immediately but I'll play it for sure. I play almost exclusively indie games and have played hundreds so far.
I'm not sure what is and isn't obscure though. Have you played Helheim Hassle? It's a silly but charming puzzle platformer in which you get through obstacles by detaching parts of your body and combining/carrying/throwing them. There's some backtracking but the progression is fairly linear, a bit like Headlander. Only 64 reviews on Steam, which makes me sad.
Never even heard of Helheim Hassle, but it definitely looks interesting. Thanks for putting it on my radar!
Also I PMed you the key for Yoku. No obligation to play it whatsoever! It's a gift, so play it whenever works for you. :)
I'd love Blazing Beaks, thanks!
My hidden gem rec is SNKRX, a recently released game that mixes between auto chess, Snake and roguelites into a single package. It's cheap, addicting and I spend a lot of my free time this weekend playing it.
Last chance for A FREE GAME OF YOUR CHOICE. I'll be closing out this offer in just a couple of hours!