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It's good timing for me, since I am the recent owner of an Oculus Quest 2 after finding out that apparently I can expense it to work as WFH equipment under "fitness equipment", and there is...
It's good timing for me, since I am the recent owner of an Oculus Quest 2 after finding out that apparently I can expense it to work as WFH equipment under "fitness equipment", and there is conveniently a "VR" tab in the sale page.
This will be absolutely the first time I've used VR, though, so probably start simple in case I get violent motion sickness or something. Unfortunately Beat Saber isn't on sale, although it's not that expensive anyway, but looks like Alyx is half off, my 5th purchase of Skyrim (the VR edition), No Mans Sky gets a decent discount, Superhot is on sale, and I'll probably try and find a racing game.
Mediumish in terms of headcount, quite large by valuation. We had a variety of WFH expense budgets due to COVID-19 for things like wellness, wfh setup like desks, monitors, and so forth. They’re...
Mediumish in terms of headcount, quite large by valuation. We had a variety of WFH expense budgets due to COVID-19 for things like wellness, wfh setup like desks, monitors, and so forth. They’re expiring end of this year so I had a bit of a scramble trying to spend what I could of it.
I had about $375 left for wellness (really intended more for things like gym memberships, meditation classes, sports equipment) and heard others getting a quest approved so gave it a shot.
I don't think it's particularly uncommon, all 3 of the companies I've worked for over the last 10 years had something similar as a benefit. It was usually called something like "Health and...
I don't think it's particularly uncommon, all 3 of the companies I've worked for over the last 10 years had something similar as a benefit. It was usually called something like "Health and Wellness". Being able to claim VR equipment under it is definitely new though (but I think it's reasonable, some VR games are really active).
Allow me to throw a racing game into the mix: Dirt Rally 2.0 (Game of the Year Edition). It supports VR, and is, in my opinion, one of the best racing games out there. You'll get the ability to...
Allow me to throw a racing game into the mix: Dirt Rally 2.0 (Game of the Year Edition). It supports VR, and is, in my opinion, one of the best racing games out there. You'll get the ability to Rally (you against the fastest time on the stage), as well as RallyCross (you against others on the same track). Not only will you get to race on asphalt, you'll get to race on gravel, and snow (as well as in the wet, and at night on all of them). I got bit by the rally bug earlier this year and have joined two custom weekly tournaments (supported in game) so even after I've gone through the "Campaign" and several recurring Daily/Weekly/Monthly challenges, there's still a lot to do with others throughout the world. Just my two cents!
I actually bought this a while back (probably on your recommendation), but have almost never played it, because it's buried under many other games on my to-play list...
I actually bought this a while back (probably on your recommendation), but have almost never played it, because it's buried under many other games on my to-play list...
That's perfectly fine, there's no need to play it on my behalf! Just figured that I would throw the suggestion out there since I'm having quite the ball with it :)
That's perfectly fine, there's no need to play it on my behalf! Just figured that I would throw the suggestion out there since I'm having quite the ball with it :)
It's weird, I have everything I want at the lowest price point. The one thing I bought was the Graveyard Keeper Better Save Soul DLC, which I justified buying at full price because I technically...
It's weird, I have everything I want at the lowest price point. The one thing I bought was the Graveyard Keeper Better Save Soul DLC, which I justified buying at full price because I technically didn't buy the base game (my brother had a spare key)
Not to rag on their sales, but they're all the same across a given year and for once there is nothing for me.
EDIT: I thought the Fallout 4 I bought was the GOTY, so I did find something worth buying. All the DLC for like $13.
It's been that way for about 3 years now. Between all the systems I own, and the 1000+ games I own on PC alone, along with everything I get from subscription based services, there is no reason for...
It's been that way for about 3 years now. Between all the systems I own, and the 1000+ games I own on PC alone, along with everything I get from subscription based services, there is no reason for me to spend any money on games. Ironically, the last few games I wishlisted on Steam are old games like Monster Rancher 1+2 and Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance, neither of which are on sale right now.
I have probably completed less than 5% of those games, if that. I probably have never installed or opened >50% of them. This is years of bundle buying and deal-getting. In addition to a little...
I have probably completed less than 5% of those games, if that. I probably have never installed or opened >50% of them. This is years of bundle buying and deal-getting. In addition to a little retail therapy over the years. I often get hooked into multiplayer games (Rocket League, CS: GO, Overwatch, Halo Infinite) and they dominate my time over the single player story-driven stuff. Other times, I try to juggle playing 3-4 games until I go back to my multiplayer games. Years of playing these multiplayer games has got to have wired my brain to seek out the <10 minute hit of dopamine I get from a quick multiplayer match, making it difficult to seek out these single player games.
I was actually just thinking about this earlier where I should probably keep a log of expected happiness vs. actualized happiness from playing all these games. Too often, I think a single player game would give me 5/10 happiness but in reality when I am playing it, I experience 8/10. Likewise, my expected happiness out of multiplayer games is 9/10 but there are times where it really comes out to 3/10. Right now the game that I am trying to focus on playing is Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It has sat in my library for two years now and the un-ending praise that I have seen it receive finally pushed me to try it. Every time I am about to play it, a little FOMO urge hits me and I scan through my list of games just to make sure that is this game I want to play. And I haven't had a session yet where I have not enjoyed myself!
Went through my library and came up with a scattershot of games I love and would recommend enthusiastically in general. My genre range is pretty limited (mostly platformers, puzzles, racing, and...
Went through my library and came up with a scattershot of games I love and would recommend enthusiastically in general. My genre range is pretty limited (mostly platformers, puzzles, racing, and metroidvanias), but if there’s a specific type of game you’re looking for let me know and I can focus in on that type specifically.
Hexcells Complete Pack (-70%): like Minesweeper, but with a few more rules and absolutely no guessing
GemCraft: Chasing Shadows (-50%): polished tower defense with depth; VERY grindy; the perfect game for listening to audiobooks/podcasts (note: it has a sequel but I haven't played it, so I can only technically recommend the first)
Supraland (-60%): first-person puzzler/metroidvania; very self-aware in a great way; very clever game design; feels like a love-letter to gaming in general
Distance (-75%): sci-fi arcade racer with high skill ceiling, amazing music, and tons of custom tracks
Ori: The Collection (-62%): beautiful 2D metroidvanias with incredibly satisfying player movement; play the first one on easy so the weaker combat doesn't ruin the fun
The Witness (-75%): not for everyone, but the people it’s for speak so highly of it we sound cultish; first-person mystery puzzle island
Quern: Undying Thoughts (-75%): another first-person mystery puzzle island game; puzzles are more Myst-like and are very thoughtfully done
The Talos Principle (-80%): first-person puzzler; gets compared to Portal a lot; I think this one reaches higher heights than Portal does
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (-75%): pitch perfect modernization of Donkey Kong Country-style platforming; the real sell of the game for me was its overworld, which is a sort of Zelda-like game entirely to itself
Celeste (-75%): incredible platformer with incredibly satisfying movement and a fantastic soundtrack; hard but fair
I know I'm late to the thread, but since you mentioned HexCells I wanted to mention Tametsi as well. It's the same no-guessing minesweeper gameplay, but varying shapes allows for different types...
I know I'm late to the thread, but since you mentioned HexCells I wanted to mention Tametsi as well. It's the same no-guessing minesweeper gameplay, but varying shapes allows for different types of puzzles, and the inclusion of a drawing mode to take notes right on the screen is something I'd like every puzzle game to start doing. It's less than $1 currently and totally worth it.
How good are the side quests? To what degree are you forced to play the main quest? If I don't care about history or historical accuracy is that a major hindrance to my enjoyment?
How good are the side quests? To what degree are you forced to play the main quest?
If I don't care about history or historical accuracy is that a major hindrance to my enjoyment?
Hm... I think you could enjoy about half of what's available in the game if you deliberately try to avoid the main story line. There are major events that change the progress, presence or...
Hm... I think you could enjoy about half of what's available in the game if you deliberately try to avoid the main story line. There are major events that change the progress, presence or destruction of whole map areas. Though, if you were really forcing things, I guess you could go maybe 30 or 40% of the way through the main quest line, and then ignore it while you levelled up your character doing all the side quests. But, really, the main story is pretty good (in my opinion), and it's worth progressing through.
If you don't care about historical stuff, then the game may not have as much lustre for you. Like, there is literally zero magic in the game, and no monsters -- it's just not that kind of RPG. However, at 70% off, it's still worth the price for the other aspects of the game, like the combat, the archery, and the horsemanship.
I would be pretty into a magic free game if there is real craftsmanship put into the quests. A solid variety of exploration, mystery, the occasional puzzle, and engaging combat would make me very...
I would be pretty into a magic free game if there is real craftsmanship put into the quests. A solid variety of exploration, mystery, the occasional puzzle, and engaging combat would make me very happy. The best game I’ve played in this regard is Skyrim. I never played past the very beginning of the main quest. In my experience the lacking depth of character development, mediocre quality of voice acting and my general disinterest in lore (or history) means that main quests are more of a chore than anything else. But I really really love exploring beautiful terrain uninterrupted. Coming upon a random quest that gives me a cute little story for a random village makes my day. Any invisible-wall type barriers would ruin that. The story I can build for myself out of my gameplay and piecemeal quests is far better than what an author would give me. Like making up stories as a kid with your friends in the woods. Fake branch guns, hollowed out logs and such.
The best game I've played in the last 6-12 months is CrossCode . The gameplay is tight, the story is good, the music is the first video game sound track I've decided to put on my phone since...
The best game I've played in the last 6-12 months is CrossCode. The gameplay is tight, the story is good, the music is the first video game sound track I've decided to put on my phone since Zelda: Twilight Princess, and the basic running animation consistently (even after 40+ hours) makes me smile. I strongly recommend it.
Project Zomboid is on sale for 33% off, after their long-awaited multiplayer update (with heaps of new systems as well) released a few days ago. Apparently they're going to raise the base price...
Project Zomboid is on sale for 33% off, after their long-awaited multiplayer update (with heaps of new systems as well) released a few days ago. Apparently they're going to raise the base price next year so now would be a good time to get into the game.
Hidden gem recommendation: Forgetful Dictator This isn't a full-fat game so much as it is a gamified scheme for learning countries, capitals, and flags. I picked it up wanting to be less of an...
This isn't a full-fat game so much as it is a gamified scheme for learning countries, capitals, and flags. I picked it up wanting to be less of an ignorant American, and it's already helping. If you've ever wanted to learn the world map in a way that's a bit more fun and involved than just brute force memorization, this is worth the cost.
It wasn't on a huge discount, but I picked up Forza Horizon 5 on the recommendation of several users here. I'm loving it so far and can see that I have many, MANY hours ahead of me in the game....
It wasn't on a huge discount, but I picked up Forza Horizon 5 on the recommendation of several users here. I'm loving it so far and can see that I have many, MANY hours ahead of me in the game.
The only issue was that it started up really stuttery. It was nearly unplayable and I wasn't sure if I was going to have to refund it. This got better quickly though and now it's much less stuttery and much more buttery -- nice and smooth.
Regardless of specs, the game micro-stuttering is actually a pretty widely reported issue, especially when first loading up. I never personally had issues with that, but @kfwyre, if you experience...
Regardless of specs, the game micro-stuttering is actually a pretty widely reported issue, especially when first loading up. I never personally had issues with that, but @kfwyre, if you experience any prolonged stuttering again, switching from Horizon Life (online play) to Horizon Solo mode has supposedly fixed it for a lot of people. And lowering environment texture quality apparently helps as well.
Keep in mind that FH5 is over 100GB, and that monstrous size is due to the absolutely massive map, over 500 highly detailed car models, dozens of custom car mods available for each, incredibly...
Keep in mind that FH5 is over 100GB, and that monstrous size is due to the absolutely massive map, over 500 highly detailed car models, dozens of custom car mods available for each, incredibly high-res (up to 4K) textures, and custom paint+decals customization available for every car (the individual configuration of which needs to be loaded into your game whenever another player's drivatar joins you when playing online)... all of which can be incredibly demanding. FH5 on max settings is basically what Crysis used to be, in terms of a stress test for even the current highest-end systems. :P
So part of the reason I haven't experienced any stuttering may also be because, having played all the previous Horizon games and knowing how demanding they can be, I intentionally set the graphics settings a bit lower than the benchmark tool told me to, and also loaded the game onto my Gen2 M.2 NVMe drive, which can actually handle the data transfer rates required for a smooth experience on the higher texture settings. And I also have fiber internet over LAN to my PC (not Wifi) as well, which undoubtedly helps when playing online mode too. So if you have the game installed on your system's platter drive, have the graphics quality cranked up a bit too high, and have a slower internet connection, that may also explain some of the stuttering you're experiencing while things load into your game, especially when playing online where new drivatars and their fully customized cars are popping into your game pretty frequently.
And the game is still pretty new too, so not exactly perfectly optimized or bug free yet, and the benchmark tool is probably not totally dialed in yet either, which likely also doesn't help. :P So I definitely recommend manually fiddling with the quality settings if the game is still stuttering for you, and maybe even moving the game over to your Trident's M.2 drive if it has enough space for it.
Yeah, I had to do a lot of clearing to fit it on the SSD! This is, without a doubt, the biggest game I've ever installed. It used up 10% of my monthly internet cap in one fell swoop. I also...
Yeah, I had to do a lot of clearing to fit it on the SSD! This is, without a doubt, the biggest game I've ever installed. It used up 10% of my monthly internet cap in one fell swoop.
I also actually ran it on low settings for the first couple of hours and the stuttering was present there too. I only bumped it up to medium after the benchmark tool recommended it and after it had smoothed out a lot. The stuttering is actually quite common for me across devices for some games (Ori and the Will of the Wisps was the most recent offender), and everything I've read about the issue points to something regarding graphics shaders? I don't really understand it, but I just know it tends to go away over time, so whenever I run into it I usually just power through. FH5 was worse than most when it started (the opening was a slideshow) but it got better fast.
I didn't realize the game was hitting my internet so much though -- that could be the ongoing problem with the minor audio stutters. My home internet is pretty poor.
Hah, know that feel. Back when I had a data cap too, my gaming habit would soak up significant chunks of my monthly limit. I remember when The Force Unleashed first came out its 25+GB (an unheard...
It used up 10% of my monthly internet cap in one fell swoop.
Hah, know that feel. Back when I had a data cap too, my gaming habit would soak up significant chunks of my monthly limit. I remember when The Force Unleashed first came out its 25+GB (an unheard of size at the time) ate up over half of my monthly cap. :(
something regarding graphics shaders?
Yeah, depending on your GPU and the shaders being used in the game, they can often take a lot of graphical processing power. So on my aging 980 Ti I typically always set Shadow quality to low. And anti-aliasing is another graphical setting that takes a lot of power too, so I would often lower it more than recommended as well. All that should be a problem of the past for me though, since I am currently in the process of building a new comp with a 3070 Ti in it. :)
That is a niiiice build. I'm excited for you! Also I knew that GPUs were costly right now, but I didn't realize prices were THAT high. I'm not even sure if I'm seeing CAD or USD with that link,...
That is a niiiice build. I'm excited for you!
Also I knew that GPUs were costly right now, but I didn't realize prices were THAT high. I'm not even sure if I'm seeing CAD or USD with that link, but either way, I'm getting secondhand sticker shock.
That said, FH5 is going to look INCREDIBLE on it. :)
If you're on ca.pcpartpicker that should be showing you CAD, but yeah, it's crazy regardless, since GPUs are typically selling for more than double their MSRP at the moment. So TBH, I got pretty...
p.s. As always, make sure your graphics drivers are up totally to date, since they often include specific driver optimization for major game releases like FH5. And NVIDIA GeForce Experience is...
p.s. As always, make sure your graphics drivers are up totally to date, since they often include specific driver optimization for major game releases like FH5. And NVIDIA GeForce Experience is probably also worth installing, updating, and running (if you haven't already) too, since it can apply "optimal" game settings for FH5 that are specific to your GPU, which are usually far better than most games' internal benchmark recommendations.
A friend and I had a good time with ibb and obb -- a simple but surprisingly challenging 2-player co-op puzzle platformer. Battleblock Theater is similar and also great. Also, while it's designed...
A friend and I had a good time with ibb and obb -- a simple but surprisingly challenging 2-player co-op puzzle platformer. Battleblock Theater is similar and also great.
Also, while it's designed for more players (6 specifically), Killing Floor scales based on the number of players so it's still playable with 2. It's a forever-favorite of mine: a co-op FPS where you kill waves of increasing numbers of zombies. The shooting mechanics are very satisfying. It has a sequel out too which is also quite good, but I tend to recommend the first as an entry point. That just might be my nostalgia talking though, as the sequel adds a lot of modernization that most people will probably like.
There's also the We Were Here series which is an escape room type of game for two players. The first is free, so you can try it out without a purchase and see if it scratches the itch you want.
Full disclosure I haven't played it yet but I'm buying it this sale since it looks like my kind of coop game. Unrailed looks like a different take on Overcooked where the team needs to keep a...
Full disclosure I haven't played it yet but I'm buying it this sale since it looks like my kind of coop game.
Unrailed looks like a different take on Overcooked where the team needs to keep a train going as long as possible.
It's $15, but the few hours I've played of Gunfire Reborn in co-op were a lot of fun. It has the potential to be played for hundreds of hours if it's the style of game you're into.
It's $15, but the few hours I've played of Gunfire Reborn in co-op were a lot of fun. It has the potential to be played for hundreds of hours if it's the style of game you're into.
You mentioned no couch co-op but if you and your friend both have decent internet I recommend testing out Steam's streaming feature where you or your friend can stream their screen and the other...
You mentioned no couch co-op but if you and your friend both have decent internet I recommend testing out Steam's streaming feature where you or your friend can stream their screen and the other person can give inputs, allowing you to play games with local co-op only through the internet.
I played The Binding of Isaac multiple times like that and it works surprisingly well.
I picked up Griftlands, Inscryption, and Curious Expedition 2. I really screwed up not buying the first two when I still had my $10 off coupon from the Epic sale, but ah well, I have wanted to...
I picked up Griftlands, Inscryption, and Curious Expedition 2. I really screwed up not buying the first two when I still had my $10 off coupon from the Epic sale, but ah well, I have wanted to play all these games for quite some time, so I don't mind too much.
p.s. For anyone who enjoys roguelite exploration games, I would highly recommend picking up the original Curious Expedition for $4, especially since the new multiplayer mode is included with it now, which is also quite fun. I signed up for the multiplayer beta last year, back when it was still in development, and have played it for almost 100 hours.
The $10 coupon is unlimited. It should give you a new one automatically every time you use it. From the coupon page:
I really screwed up not buying the first two when I still had my $10 off coupon from the Epic sale
The $10 coupon is unlimited. It should give you a new one automatically every time you use it.
From the coupon page:
The $10 Epic Coupon for Holiday Sale 2021 has been automatically added to all active Epic Games accounts, just sign in and you’re ready to go! One coupon will apply to all eligible products within the shopping cart AND you’ll get another coupon each time you complete an eligible transaction. Epic Coupons apply to eligible games $14.99 or above (or local currency equivalent), see the FAQ below for more details.
Wait, WTF? For me it only appeared the first time I made a purchase, and when I add stuff to my cart now I don't get the $10 off anymore. Edit: Oh, NM. For Griftlands and Inscryption it says they...
Wait, WTF? For me it only appeared the first time I made a purchase, and when I add stuff to my cart now I don't get the $10 off anymore.
Edit: Oh, NM. For Griftlands and Inscryption it says they are "not eligible for coupons because it does not meet the minimum purchase requirement." Apparently the coupon is only valid for games over $14.99 USD, which is $19.25 CAD, and both those games are only $18.23 CAD. :(
Oof indeed. Yeah, that kinda sucks for us Canadians... but at the same time, I trust Klei and Devolver Digital as devs/publishers, so I don't mind paying a bit more for the games since I know I...
Oof indeed. Yeah, that kinda sucks for us Canadians... but at the same time, I trust Klei and Devolver Digital as devs/publishers, so I don't mind paying a bit more for the games since I know I will very likely enjoy them.
In CAD, the coupon is $14 off on any game $20.99 or higher, so we end up missing out on a few of the best deals on indie games that converted to a price a bit lower than that. There are still...
I bought a considerable number of games during the Autumn Sale, so I'm mostly sitting this sale out. The remaining games that I'm really interested in - Disco Elysium, Hades, Skyrim, The Witcher,...
I bought a considerable number of games during the Autumn Sale, so I'm mostly sitting this sale out. The remaining games that I'm really interested in - Disco Elysium, Hades, Skyrim, The Witcher, and Persona 4 - seem to be pretty consistently on sale for between $10 and $20. I might pick these up one-by-one since they're all (well, not Hades) fairly long RPGs.
I'm tempted to pick up The Witness and/or a Zachtronics game, though.
I’m looking for sale recommendations in two areas: Local multiplayer games of any type, but in particular 4-player party-style games (e.g. Speedrunners, Boomerang Fu) Hidden gems — lesser-known...
I’m looking for sale recommendations in two areas:
Local multiplayer games of any type, but in particular 4-player party-style games (e.g. Speedrunners, Boomerang Fu)
Hidden gems — lesser-known games that deserve more attention than they’ve gotten
For #2 I was going to recommend Merchant of the Skies, DemonCrawl, and Life Goes On. But now that I'm looking closer, I guess only Merchant of the Skies is on sale between those. Oh well, I...
For #2 I was going to recommend Merchant of the Skies, DemonCrawl, and Life Goes On. But now that I'm looking closer, I guess only Merchant of the Skies is on sale between those. Oh well, I already wrote this comment so I guess I'll discuss them all anyway.
Life Goes On is a puzzle platformer where you send wave after wave of your own men to capture a golden goblet. It has a punchy cinematic ending that I thought kicked ass, and what comes after that is the most fun I've had during a video game's end credits.
In DemonCrawl, you use roguelike RNG to defeat Minesweeper RNG. It solves the problem in minesweeper of long games coming down to a guessing game by feeding you a steady stream of randomly chosen items that you can use to tip the odds in your favor.
Merchant of the Skies is a fantasy sailing game where you trade and explore. Its UI is a bit cumbersome and its system for setting up automated trade routes was a bit unpolished when I played. But after trying every sailing game I could find with native Linux support on Steam, it became my favorite despite its flaws. There's a good smattering of whimsical encounters in the map and lots of different money-making strategies to explore.
You might like TowerFall Ascension (currently $3, local multiplayer only) and Stick Fight (currently $2.25, local and online multiplayer). Lenna's Inception (currently $5) is a little love-letter...
You might like TowerFall Ascension (currently $3, local multiplayer only) and Stick Fight (currently $2.25, local and online multiplayer).
Lenna's Inception (currently $5) is a little love-letter to classic Zelda. It has a procedurally generated world, cute storyline, and is generally just a pleasant game to sink some hours into.
You probably already know them, but Overcooked and Overcooked 2 are always super fun to play. Project Wingman is a three man indie title that try to make an Ace Combat clone, and mostly succeed in...
You probably already know them, but Overcooked and Overcooked 2 are always super fun to play.
Project Wingman is a three man indie title that try to make an Ace Combat clone, and mostly succeed in doing it. It does everything its model does and some more. As a reminder, Ace Combat is a military arcade flight sim with real world jets (obviously PW doesn't have the license to use them but you can easily spot the original plane), unrealistic weapon load out, and some sort of weird alternate reality plot. The overall feel (gameplay, plot, even music) is a spot on lookalike of Ace Combat, and there's even some nice feature I'd like to see in futures AC.
I bought the new MYST and the original Riven. Finished MYST last night and started on Riven today. It’s been fun so far, especially with the help of my brother who helps to unstick me.
I bought the new MYST and the original Riven. Finished MYST last night and started on Riven today. It’s been fun so far, especially with the help of my brother who helps to unstick me.
I haven't looked through the deals too much yet, but Mirror's Edge: Catalyst being 90% off is definitely a great one.
Thanks a lot. That's a buy for me, for sure. I've been eyeing it for a few years now.
I absolutely love that game. Amazing deal for the amount of content and variety of gameplay.
Events
It's good timing for me, since I am the recent owner of an Oculus Quest 2 after finding out that apparently I can expense it to work as WFH equipment under "fitness equipment", and there is conveniently a "VR" tab in the sale page.
This will be absolutely the first time I've used VR, though, so probably start simple in case I get violent motion sickness or something. Unfortunately Beat Saber isn't on sale, although it's not that expensive anyway, but looks like Alyx is half off, my 5th purchase of Skyrim (the VR edition), No Mans Sky gets a decent discount, Superhot is on sale, and I'll probably try and find a racing game.
Wow. Do you work for a large company? I can’t imagine having a fitness equipment budget on the company card.
Mediumish in terms of headcount, quite large by valuation. We had a variety of WFH expense budgets due to COVID-19 for things like wellness, wfh setup like desks, monitors, and so forth. They’re expiring end of this year so I had a bit of a scramble trying to spend what I could of it.
I had about $375 left for wellness (really intended more for things like gym memberships, meditation classes, sports equipment) and heard others getting a quest approved so gave it a shot.
I don't think it's particularly uncommon, all 3 of the companies I've worked for over the last 10 years had something similar as a benefit. It was usually called something like "Health and Wellness". Being able to claim VR equipment under it is definitely new though (but I think it's reasonable, some VR games are really active).
Allow me to throw a racing game into the mix: Dirt Rally 2.0 (Game of the Year Edition). It supports VR, and is, in my opinion, one of the best racing games out there. You'll get the ability to Rally (you against the fastest time on the stage), as well as RallyCross (you against others on the same track). Not only will you get to race on asphalt, you'll get to race on gravel, and snow (as well as in the wet, and at night on all of them). I got bit by the rally bug earlier this year and have joined two custom weekly tournaments (supported in game) so even after I've gone through the "Campaign" and several recurring Daily/Weekly/Monthly challenges, there's still a lot to do with others throughout the world. Just my two cents!
I actually bought this a while back (probably on your recommendation), but have almost never played it, because it's buried under many other games on my to-play list...
That's perfectly fine, there's no need to play it on my behalf! Just figured that I would throw the suggestion out there since I'm having quite the ball with it :)
For $10 that sounds worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
It's weird, I have everything I want at the lowest price point. The one thing I bought was the Graveyard Keeper Better Save Soul DLC, which I justified buying at full price because I technically didn't buy the base game (my brother had a spare key)
Not to rag on their sales, but they're all the same across a given year and for once there is nothing for me.
EDIT: I thought the Fallout 4 I bought was the GOTY, so I did find something worth buying. All the DLC for like $13.
It's been that way for about 3 years now. Between all the systems I own, and the 1000+ games I own on PC alone, along with everything I get from subscription based services, there is no reason for me to spend any money on games. Ironically, the last few games I wishlisted on Steam are old games like Monster Rancher 1+2 and Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance, neither of which are on sale right now.
I- I don't think I own even 5% of that amount. Is your backlog still massive or have you completed most of them?
I have probably completed less than 5% of those games, if that. I probably have never installed or opened >50% of them. This is years of bundle buying and deal-getting. In addition to a little retail therapy over the years. I often get hooked into multiplayer games (Rocket League, CS: GO, Overwatch, Halo Infinite) and they dominate my time over the single player story-driven stuff. Other times, I try to juggle playing 3-4 games until I go back to my multiplayer games. Years of playing these multiplayer games has got to have wired my brain to seek out the <10 minute hit of dopamine I get from a quick multiplayer match, making it difficult to seek out these single player games.
I was actually just thinking about this earlier where I should probably keep a log of expected happiness vs. actualized happiness from playing all these games. Too often, I think a single player game would give me 5/10 happiness but in reality when I am playing it, I experience 8/10. Likewise, my expected happiness out of multiplayer games is 9/10 but there are times where it really comes out to 3/10. Right now the game that I am trying to focus on playing is Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It has sat in my library for two years now and the un-ending praise that I have seen it receive finally pushed me to try it. Every time I am about to play it, a little FOMO urge hits me and I scan through my list of games just to make sure that is this game I want to play. And I haven't had a session yet where I have not enjoyed myself!
Could anyone who thinks their 'must have' game which is on sale post it?
Went through my library and came up with a scattershot of games I love and would recommend enthusiastically in general. My genre range is pretty limited (mostly platformers, puzzles, racing, and metroidvanias), but if there’s a specific type of game you’re looking for let me know and I can focus in on that type specifically.
Hexcells Complete Pack (-70%): like Minesweeper, but with a few more rules and absolutely no guessing
GemCraft: Chasing Shadows (-50%): polished tower defense with depth; VERY grindy; the perfect game for listening to audiobooks/podcasts (note: it has a sequel but I haven't played it, so I can only technically recommend the first)
Supraland (-60%): first-person puzzler/metroidvania; very self-aware in a great way; very clever game design; feels like a love-letter to gaming in general
Distance (-75%): sci-fi arcade racer with high skill ceiling, amazing music, and tons of custom tracks
Ori: The Collection (-62%): beautiful 2D metroidvanias with incredibly satisfying player movement; play the first one on easy so the weaker combat doesn't ruin the fun
The Witness (-75%): not for everyone, but the people it’s for speak so highly of it we sound cultish; first-person mystery puzzle island
Quern: Undying Thoughts (-75%): another first-person mystery puzzle island game; puzzles are more Myst-like and are very thoughtfully done
The Talos Principle (-80%): first-person puzzler; gets compared to Portal a lot; I think this one reaches higher heights than Portal does
Yoku’s Island Express (-80%): a pinball metroidvania; charming and delightful
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (-75%): pitch perfect modernization of Donkey Kong Country-style platforming; the real sell of the game for me was its overworld, which is a sort of Zelda-like game entirely to itself
Celeste (-75%): incredible platformer with incredibly satisfying movement and a fantastic soundtrack; hard but fair
I know I'm late to the thread, but since you mentioned HexCells I wanted to mention Tametsi as well. It's the same no-guessing minesweeper gameplay, but varying shapes allows for different types of puzzles, and the inclusion of a drawing mode to take notes right on the screen is something I'd like every puzzle game to start doing. It's less than $1 currently and totally worth it.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance/
70% off -- no brainer. See my recent praise here: https://tildes.net/~games/zmo/what_were_the_best_games_you_played_this_year#comment-6z4i
Czech Game of the Decade (recently awarded)
How good are the side quests? To what degree are you forced to play the main quest?
If I don't care about history or historical accuracy is that a major hindrance to my enjoyment?
Hm... I think you could enjoy about half of what's available in the game if you deliberately try to avoid the main story line. There are major events that change the progress, presence or destruction of whole map areas. Though, if you were really forcing things, I guess you could go maybe 30 or 40% of the way through the main quest line, and then ignore it while you levelled up your character doing all the side quests. But, really, the main story is pretty good (in my opinion), and it's worth progressing through.
If you don't care about historical stuff, then the game may not have as much lustre for you. Like, there is literally zero magic in the game, and no monsters -- it's just not that kind of RPG. However, at 70% off, it's still worth the price for the other aspects of the game, like the combat, the archery, and the horsemanship.
I would be pretty into a magic free game if there is real craftsmanship put into the quests. A solid variety of exploration, mystery, the occasional puzzle, and engaging combat would make me very happy. The best game I’ve played in this regard is Skyrim. I never played past the very beginning of the main quest. In my experience the lacking depth of character development, mediocre quality of voice acting and my general disinterest in lore (or history) means that main quests are more of a chore than anything else. But I really really love exploring beautiful terrain uninterrupted. Coming upon a random quest that gives me a cute little story for a random village makes my day. Any invisible-wall type barriers would ruin that. The story I can build for myself out of my gameplay and piecemeal quests is far better than what an author would give me. Like making up stories as a kid with your friends in the woods. Fake branch guns, hollowed out logs and such.
Do you know if there are any spec requirements? I play off of a 2018 MacBook Air.
Steam says the minimums are:
However, I don't know that it will run on Mac. I only see XB1, PS4 and PC listed as supported platforms.
You could try playing on a game streaming service if you’ve got a good internet connection.
The best game I've played in the last 6-12 months is CrossCode . The gameplay is tight, the story is good, the music is the first video game sound track I've decided to put on my phone since Zelda: Twilight Princess, and the basic running animation consistently (even after 40+ hours) makes me smile. I strongly recommend it.
Project Zomboid is on sale for 33% off, after their long-awaited multiplayer update (with heaps of new systems as well) released a few days ago. Apparently they're going to raise the base price next year so now would be a good time to get into the game.
Another awesome deal: Unravel Two 90% off. Only 1.99 €
Hidden gem recommendation: Forgetful Dictator
This isn't a full-fat game so much as it is a gamified scheme for learning countries, capitals, and flags. I picked it up wanting to be less of an ignorant American, and it's already helping. If you've ever wanted to learn the world map in a way that's a bit more fun and involved than just brute force memorization, this is worth the cost.
It wasn't on a huge discount, but I picked up Forza Horizon 5 on the recommendation of several users here. I'm loving it so far and can see that I have many, MANY hours ahead of me in the game.
The only issue was that it started up really stuttery. It was nearly unplayable and I wasn't sure if I was going to have to refund it. This got better quickly though and now it's much less stuttery and much more buttery -- nice and smooth.
What specs are you running it on?
The MSI Trident 3. I ran the benchmark tool and have it at medium settings.
Regardless of specs, the game micro-stuttering is actually a pretty widely reported issue, especially when first loading up. I never personally had issues with that, but @kfwyre, if you experience any prolonged stuttering again, switching from Horizon Life (online play) to Horizon Solo mode has supposedly fixed it for a lot of people. And lowering environment texture quality apparently helps as well.
Interesting. I'll give that a try. Initially it was the full game stuttering, but now it just seems to be the audio which occasionally skips.
Keep in mind that FH5 is over 100GB, and that monstrous size is due to the absolutely massive map, over 500 highly detailed car models, dozens of custom car mods available for each, incredibly high-res (up to 4K) textures, and custom paint+decals customization available for every car (the individual configuration of which needs to be loaded into your game whenever another player's drivatar joins you when playing online)... all of which can be incredibly demanding. FH5 on max settings is basically what Crysis used to be, in terms of a stress test for even the current highest-end systems. :P
So part of the reason I haven't experienced any stuttering may also be because, having played all the previous Horizon games and knowing how demanding they can be, I intentionally set the graphics settings a bit lower than the benchmark tool told me to, and also loaded the game onto my Gen2 M.2 NVMe drive, which can actually handle the data transfer rates required for a smooth experience on the higher texture settings. And I also have fiber internet over LAN to my PC (not Wifi) as well, which undoubtedly helps when playing online mode too. So if you have the game installed on your system's platter drive, have the graphics quality cranked up a bit too high, and have a slower internet connection, that may also explain some of the stuttering you're experiencing while things load into your game, especially when playing online where new drivatars and their fully customized cars are popping into your game pretty frequently.
And the game is still pretty new too, so not exactly perfectly optimized or bug free yet, and the benchmark tool is probably not totally dialed in yet either, which likely also doesn't help. :P So I definitely recommend manually fiddling with the quality settings if the game is still stuttering for you, and maybe even moving the game over to your Trident's M.2 drive if it has enough space for it.
Yeah, I had to do a lot of clearing to fit it on the SSD! This is, without a doubt, the biggest game I've ever installed. It used up 10% of my monthly internet cap in one fell swoop.
I also actually ran it on low settings for the first couple of hours and the stuttering was present there too. I only bumped it up to medium after the benchmark tool recommended it and after it had smoothed out a lot. The stuttering is actually quite common for me across devices for some games (Ori and the Will of the Wisps was the most recent offender), and everything I've read about the issue points to something regarding graphics shaders? I don't really understand it, but I just know it tends to go away over time, so whenever I run into it I usually just power through. FH5 was worse than most when it started (the opening was a slideshow) but it got better fast.
I didn't realize the game was hitting my internet so much though -- that could be the ongoing problem with the minor audio stutters. My home internet is pretty poor.
Hah, know that feel. Back when I had a data cap too, my gaming habit would soak up significant chunks of my monthly limit. I remember when The Force Unleashed first came out its 25+GB (an unheard of size at the time) ate up over half of my monthly cap. :(
Yeah, depending on your GPU and the shaders being used in the game, they can often take a lot of graphical processing power. So on my aging 980 Ti I typically always set Shadow quality to low. And anti-aliasing is another graphical setting that takes a lot of power too, so I would often lower it more than recommended as well. All that should be a problem of the past for me though, since I am currently in the process of building a new comp with a 3070 Ti in it. :)
That is a niiiice build. I'm excited for you!
Also I knew that GPUs were costly right now, but I didn't realize prices were THAT high. I'm not even sure if I'm seeing CAD or USD with that link, but either way, I'm getting secondhand sticker shock.
That said, FH5 is going to look INCREDIBLE on it. :)
If you're on ca.pcpartpicker that should be showing you CAD, but yeah, it's crazy regardless, since GPUs are typically selling for more than double their MSRP at the moment. So TBH, I got pretty lucky getting mine for only $1,450, since the cheapest 3070 Ti available right now in Canada through an online retailer is $1900. And 3080 Tis are going for over $2600! O_o
p.s. As always, make sure your graphics drivers are up totally to date, since they often include specific driver optimization for major game releases like FH5. And NVIDIA GeForce Experience is probably also worth installing, updating, and running (if you haven't already) too, since it can apply "optimal" game settings for FH5 that are specific to your GPU, which are usually far better than most games' internal benchmark recommendations.
Any recommendations for a good co-op game (preferably an FPS and <$10) ?
Are we talking couch coop, or multiplayer in general?
Oh no couch coop, my friend is thousands of miles away :)
A friend and I had a good time with ibb and obb -- a simple but surprisingly challenging 2-player co-op puzzle platformer. Battleblock Theater is similar and also great.
Also, while it's designed for more players (6 specifically), Killing Floor scales based on the number of players so it's still playable with 2. It's a forever-favorite of mine: a co-op FPS where you kill waves of increasing numbers of zombies. The shooting mechanics are very satisfying. It has a sequel out too which is also quite good, but I tend to recommend the first as an entry point. That just might be my nostalgia talking though, as the sequel adds a lot of modernization that most people will probably like.
There's also the We Were Here series which is an escape room type of game for two players. The first is free, so you can try it out without a purchase and see if it scratches the itch you want.
Full disclosure I haven't played it yet but I'm buying it this sale since it looks like my kind of coop game.
Unrailed looks like a different take on Overcooked where the team needs to keep a train going as long as possible.
It's $15, but the few hours I've played of Gunfire Reborn in co-op were a lot of fun. It has the potential to be played for hundreds of hours if it's the style of game you're into.
You mentioned no couch co-op but if you and your friend both have decent internet I recommend testing out Steam's streaming feature where you or your friend can stream their screen and the other person can give inputs, allowing you to play games with local co-op only through the internet.
I played The Binding of Isaac multiple times like that and it works surprisingly well.
I picked up Griftlands, Inscryption, and Curious Expedition 2. I really screwed up not buying the first two when I still had my $10 off coupon from the Epic sale, but ah well, I have wanted to play all these games for quite some time, so I don't mind too much.
p.s. For anyone who enjoys roguelite exploration games, I would highly recommend picking up the original Curious Expedition for $4, especially since the new multiplayer mode is included with it now, which is also quite fun. I signed up for the multiplayer beta last year, back when it was still in development, and have played it for almost 100 hours.
Thanks for the suggestion, I just scooped it up!
Nice, lemme know what you think of it. :)
The $10 coupon is unlimited. It should give you a new one automatically every time you use it.
From the coupon page:
Wait, WTF? For me it only appeared the first time I made a purchase, and when I add stuff to my cart now I don't get the $10 off anymore.
Edit: Oh, NM. For Griftlands and Inscryption it says they are "not eligible for coupons because it does not meet the minimum purchase requirement." Apparently the coupon is only valid for games over $14.99 USD, which is $19.25 CAD, and both those games are only $18.23 CAD. :(
Oof, seems like Klei is using a lower conversion rate from USD to CAD than Epic.
They’re both $15.99 in USD.
Oof indeed. Yeah, that kinda sucks for us Canadians... but at the same time, I trust Klei and Devolver Digital as devs/publishers, so I don't mind paying a bit more for the games since I know I will very likely enjoy them.
In CAD, the coupon is $14 off on any game $20.99 or higher, so we end up missing out on a few of the best deals on indie games that converted to a price a bit lower than that. There are still quite a few other good deals though, there's a filter available that only shows games above the threshold: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/browse?sortBy=currentPrice&sortDir=ASC&priceTier=tier3&count=40&start=0
I bought a considerable number of games during the Autumn Sale, so I'm mostly sitting this sale out. The remaining games that I'm really interested in - Disco Elysium, Hades, Skyrim, The Witcher, and Persona 4 - seem to be pretty consistently on sale for between $10 and $20. I might pick these up one-by-one since they're all (well, not Hades) fairly long RPGs.
I'm tempted to pick up The Witness and/or a Zachtronics game, though.
I’m looking for sale recommendations in two areas:
Local multiplayer games of any type, but in particular 4-player party-style games (e.g. Speedrunners, Boomerang Fu)
Hidden gems — lesser-known games that deserve more attention than they’ve gotten
For #2 I was going to recommend Merchant of the Skies, DemonCrawl, and Life Goes On. But now that I'm looking closer, I guess only Merchant of the Skies is on sale between those. Oh well, I already wrote this comment so I guess I'll discuss them all anyway.
Life Goes On is a puzzle platformer where you send wave after wave of your own men to capture a golden goblet. It has a punchy cinematic ending that I thought kicked ass, and what comes after that is the most fun I've had during a video game's end credits.
In DemonCrawl, you use roguelike RNG to defeat Minesweeper RNG. It solves the problem in minesweeper of long games coming down to a guessing game by feeding you a steady stream of randomly chosen items that you can use to tip the odds in your favor.
Merchant of the Skies is a fantasy sailing game where you trade and explore. Its UI is a bit cumbersome and its system for setting up automated trade routes was a bit unpolished when I played. But after trying every sailing game I could find with native Linux support on Steam, it became my favorite despite its flaws. There's a good smattering of whimsical encounters in the map and lots of different money-making strategies to explore.
Have a look at Fanatical's Build your own Party Bundle. A good number of party games at a fair cost.
Perfect! Thank you.
You might like TowerFall Ascension (currently $3, local multiplayer only) and Stick Fight (currently $2.25, local and online multiplayer).
Lenna's Inception (currently $5) is a little love-letter to classic Zelda. It has a procedurally generated world, cute storyline, and is generally just a pleasant game to sink some hours into.
I bought the new MYST and the original Riven. Finished MYST last night and started on Riven today. It’s been fun so far, especially with the help of my brother who helps to unstick me.