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Chloyster [she/her] @beehaw.org

Steam Summer Sale: Hidden Gem/ Recommendations thread

Hey all. Always enjoyed reading everyone's suggestions on more unknown games available during big steam sales.

I'll start off with one that I have been a fan of for a long time: Death Road to Canada

This game is like a zombie action Oregon Trail like game, where you manage supplies and fight through hordes of zombies on your way to the safe haven of Canada. Only US$3.74 right now and well worth it imo!

139 comments

  • I fell in love with Submerged when I played it. It's an exploration game set in a flooded city, where you play a young girl looking for supplies for her injured brother. Lots of navigating between buildings in a little boat, climbing around, and taking in the scenery. Incredibly relaxing to play.

    • How can it be relaxing if your brother is injured and needs the supplies? I'm just wondering if I wouldn't feel urged to get him back to health as soon as possible.

      • I'm a heartless monster who forgot about my brother so I could sit in my boat and gawk at my surroundings at sunset. Mileage may vary.

        It does have moments that stressed me out, but since I spent so much time exploring and taking screenshots, they're not what left the strongest memory.

    • Those games has been on my radar for a while! Have you played both of them?

  • for me, I'm really fixated on Cassette Beasts, because Pokemon has been disappointing for me for a long while now. I keep debating on whether I buy it now, or wait until they implement the online multiplayer they just announced.

  • Risk of Rain 2 - 50% 12.49€ 96% positive
    Action rogue lite hero 3rd person shooter thingy - My absolute favourite game in recent memory.
    Not sure if this counts as hidden but many fans of the genre don't know it ¯(ツ)_/¯
    Insanely good soundtrack, cool artstyle, creative characters with very diverse abilities and gameplay, plenty of enemies and bosses, hidden features, locations, items, bosses, c̴͕͎͚̗̥̀̃̓h̴̘̯̎͗ȧ̶͕̤̪̦̺̂̕r̷͚͑̔͒̃͝a̵̖̩̣̍̂̈́̎̿c̷̱͓̪͖̈́ṫ̵̯̈͂̚e̷̺͓̙̥͆̓ŗ̷̢̻̺̞͠s̸̩̍̍̀?̴̼̘̱̗̯̈̋̄
    You know how some rogue lites make sure items stop stacking so they don't break the run?
    Yeah that's not one of these. Go nuts, break the game, fly through the map, just to get too cocky and lose it all in the blink of an eye.
    The original Risk of Rain is also a banger, currently 80% off at 1.99€. Same concept but 2D sidescroller with pixel graphics. Incredibly sweet game.

    Art of Rally - 45% 13.74€ 92% positive
    Challenging game with arcadey look and sim-ish feel.
    Beautiful visuals and a chill soundtrack. Great for white knuckled time attack or hours of zen drifting in freeroam.

    Devil Daggers - 50% 3.99€ 96% positive
    Highscore based retro arena shooter bullet hell kinda deal. PSX era 3D look, one weapon with two modes, surprisingly interesting movement (think b-hops, rocket jumps).
    Every run is mostly identical. Enemies always spawn at specific times, but in random locations of the claustrophobic empty map. The longer you survive, the higher the score.
    Also fantastic sound design!

    Hyper Demon - 33% 8.36€ 95% positive
    Sequel to Devil Daggers. Turns everything to 11. Complete fever dream. Adds an absolutely psychotic rear view mechanic, where close enemies outside your FOV appear mirrored in red colour on your screen.
    Adds several movement and combat mechanics, while still keeping the weapon very simple.
    Different score system while keeping the timed spawns. Killing in rapid succession increases your score, just scraping by drops it over time.

    Lethal League Blaze - 35% 12.99€ 97% positive
    Projectile Fighting Game with saturday morning cartoon style 3D visuals. There's a ball in the middle, whoever touched it last "owns" it. If you get hit by the ball, you take damage. If you hit it back, you own it and it speeds up. And you build special meter for absurd special moves.
    Turns into a mind melting firework of on screen effects the faster the ball gets.
    Has a decent campaign to learn the game and fight bots. Bangin soundtrack
    Up to 4 players, local and online play.
    The original, Lethal League is also on sale for like 5.99€. Fully 2D visuals, also very charming. iirc slightly lower health and no campaign.

    Nidhogg - 60% 3.99€ 90% positive
    If you don't know Nidhogg go play Nidhogg. Bring a friend.
    Low-Fi 2D fighting game.
    You can run, you can jump, you can duck, you can stab. 4 Maps to utterly cover in pixel blodd.
    That's about it.
    It opens up more the better you get, but just go play it, folks.
    Win against your buddies by getting through 3 screens in a tug-o-war kind of system and prove your worth by sacrificing yourself to the Nidhogg.
    Tournament mode available.
    Nidhogg 2 is also on sale for 5.99€ 81% positive at like 800 reviews.
    They got budget for graphics that time which.. they used.
    Different weapons add a rock paper scissors dynamic to the game, everything else is mostly the same! Good stuff.

    Post Void - 20% 2.39€ 97% positive
    A wild ride of a psychedelci action rogue like? No meta progression from what I could tell, which is why I'd be hesitant to call it a rogue lite.
    Basically run based randomly generated doom while your ego melts away after a heroic dose of psychoactives.
    Health literally runs out (of the head you carry) over time. Kill to heal, don't get hit.
    DO NOT TOUCH IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY BEFORE.

    Redout - 75% 4.99€ 87% positive
    The quintessential zero-G racer for PC.
    Very similar to the classics like Wipeout, but innovating on the formula. You'll need a controller!
    Left stick steers as you'd expect, right stick points the nose of your racer to compensate for tight turns and to prevent blackout / redout during high-G maneuvers.
    A classic campaign mode lets you unlock several classes of racers, two handsfull of upgrades let you adjust how you play.
    Sweet thumpin soundtrack Online play supports up to 12 players though I'd be a bit surprised if you find that many on the servers :D
    Split Screen mode available!
    The Sequel Redout 2 is also on sale at 14.99€ but it has even fewer reviews, fans of the games seem to favour it for longer tracks, deeper customization and improved gameplay. I haven't tried it yet though.

    Heat Signature - 50% 6.49€ 94% positive
    If Hotline Miami was set in space. And a rogue lite.
    Pull off crazy heists aboard enemy ships to liberate the galaxy from authoritarian empires, each faction generally having some specializations when it comes to gadgets and tech which you get to unlock for your runs.
    Can be frustrating at times but on the flipside a close save get so much more intense. Also you usually get several chances to save your skin - if you're captured you get thrown out an airlock and take control of your escape pod to fish your body out of hard vacuum.
    Generally there are so many cool mechanics, I'm having a hard time to pick highlights.

  • Huh. Didn't realize it started today. Will have to check my wishlist.

    Anyway, recs in no particular order:

    • Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a lovely little game. Some great East Asian influences, and a really great art style. Combat is sometimes surprisingly difficult. Some fun puzzles and platforming make up a lot of the game.
    • Death and Taxes is a short and darkly humorous game where you take on the role of the Grim Reaper and decide who lives and who dies in a workplace-like fashion. If you're a fan of the web series, Purgatony, this might remind you of that. It's got a touch of satire to it as well, but not super pronounced. You'll find that mostly in the details and consequences of who you let live and who you let die (and there are consequences, some very significant).
    • Heaven's Vault is a narrative game that takes place in space. Linguistics (or rather translating text) plays a role in the game and it's got a hand drawn, cel-shaded kind of art style.
    • A Story About My Uncle is a first person, narrative driven, and entirely nonviolent game, with a bunch of cool swingy mechanics (so lots of gameplay, just not shooty bang stuff) and a fairly sweet story. You meet all sorts of fantastic, alien creatures on your adventure, platforming through a strange and beautiful world. Art direction is lovely, honestly.
    • ABZÛ is just straight up awesome relaxation (with a few less relaxing points every so often) from some of the devs who brought you Journey and Flower. This time, it's all about diving and swimming through fascinating locations that vary from colorful reefs to areas reminiscent of long forgotten temple ruins (the name comes from the Sumerian and Akkadian word referring to underground aquifers that played an important part in some Babylonian mythology).
    • Quantum Conundrum - Do you like Portal but wish it had a little John DeLancie commenting on your actions? Then this is for you! A fun puzzle game heavily inspired by Portal (the lead dev worked on the original Portal, if I recall). It's aimed at a slightly younger audience, but I think it works for everyone. Good vibes all around.
    • Okay, not a hidden gem exactly, but if you like space, No Man's Sky isn't the disappointing game it was on release. I'd urge anyone who likes space and exploration to at least give it a shot. You can turn on creative mode and not worry about any survival elements as well. It's got a bit of a plot to get you used to the galaxy (and also explain some of the lore), but you can just do whatever you want and ignore that. Three alien races and you can learn words from their language by interacting with them or interacting with pillars on various planets that will teach you a word. I like this part of the game a lot for some reason. There's some other lore hidden around as well, but it's really up to you if you want to discover it or not.

    Edit: I forgot about Blacktail. I haven't finished it yet, but it's a new take on the Baba Yaga myth and stars the voice actress who played Meg in Hades. That lovely, husky voice.

    Edit 2: If you're looking for something a little old school, Jade Empire is a fantastic game by BioWare. KOTOR, but with real time combat that's heavily inspired by kung fu films and carries that general vibe with a bunch of East Asian visual aesthetics thrown in. If you like Crouching Tiger and similar movies, this is a great game to play, especially if you're also a fan of BioWare's RPGs (or just RPGs in general, honestly).

    These next three are very hit or miss and some may find them either unpolished or just not that enjoyable. I'm listing them because they've got either an interesting story, or interesting mechanics. You'll notice the last two have a "mixed" rating, so this is more about "if you like the idea, maybe try it".

    • The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is a narrative game that puts you in the shoes of a blind princess. It was made to be a game that blind people can enjoy, and the controls and mechanics are fairly basic (and it's keyboard only as far as I remember, but there might be controller support, I don't know), but the audio design is fantastic (for obvious reasons). There's some combat, and it's all about timing and listening for cues. I honestly think it's a fantastic game, but it's not for everyone. Good news is that it has a demo! Try it out first. Also, WEAR HEADPHONES. It's actually a necessity here. Binaural recording and object placement is entirely dependent on your ability to hear things (since you can't see anything, though it's got some pleasant screensaver-type visuals which do fit the theme of the area you're in).
    • eXperience112 is a bit of a weird game. It's kind of a point and click adventure, but you don't control the main character. It takes place on an ocean vessel where something's gone wrong. You essentially play a camera operator and what seems to be the only survivor speaks to you directly so you can point her in the right direction. Also, she remembers when you last saved. If you don't play for a while, she'll comment on the fact that you left her alone for a while. It's buggy, but interesting.
    • The Occupation is kind of the middle ground between a walking sim and immersive sim, which sounds like a weird description. It has narrative and some gameplay elements that you'd find in immersive sims (open-ish levels, multiple characters to speak to and ways to complete a level, some stealth, etc.), and every level takes place in real time, which is important because you'll have scheduled appointments for interviews and you'll be gathering evidence before that time is up, so you'll be looking at your in-game watch often. That watch is the reason I find it gets into walking sim territory, because you're kind of restricted by it and it sometimes makes things feel a little "on-rails". The whole thing takes place after some terrorist event killed someone close to the main character, set in a kind of dystopian London, but with a very '70s/'80s vibe in aesthetics. It has a demo, so try that first. If you don't like it at all, you won't like the game. If you find it intriguing, later levels get more intense, so you might be interested in buying the full game. If you like the demo, then yeah, maybe buy it. It's not too long to complete.

    Most of the games I listed aren't too long or time-consuming. The only significant exceptions are Kena and No Man's Sky. The rest can be generally completed in a few hours or a couple of days. Kena isn't super long either, but it does require a bit more of a commitment than the others.

    Edit 3: Add Jade Empire to the "not short/quick" games list. Definitely requires some time investment.

    • Shakedown: Hawaii - 80% off at 3,99€ - Think GTA for the 16-bit era.
    • 2Dark - 90% off at 2,49€ - Think Alone in the Dark but top-down and in retro/voxel style, from the original creator of Alone in the Dark.
    • UnderRail - 60% off at 5,67€ - Hidden or not, this one can't be recommended enough to fans of the original Fallout (1 & 2, isometric) games.
    • Space Haven - 60% off at 8,79€ - In-depth colony/spaceship building & management sim with cozy graphics.
    • Crystal Caves HD - 60% off at 2,63€ - A true testament to how to faithfully bring an old platformer into HD, while also innovating on the original. Also contains a lot of hidden gems.
    • Supraland Complete Edition - 54% off at 15,71€ - First-Person-Metroidvania in a literal sandbox, lots of freedom, lots of puzzles and exploring. Contains the DLC. Get this to gear up for the eventual release of the sequel Supraworld. The standalone Supraland Six Inches Under is also worth getting, but is "only" at 45% off, which is still great.

  • Definitely In Other Waters, an earlier work from the same people who recently brought you Citizen Sleeper. It's a narrative heavy game were you play an AI helping a xenobiologist. You perceive the alien maritime world through a quite minimalistic interface, and nevertheless that game had me on the edge of my seat from the start. Highly recommended, and IMO far too little known.

    Currently 70% off and less than 5€. Also available as part of a bundle with Citizen Sleeper.

  • "Path of Achra" for a pretty traditional roguelike that focuses on short runs and setting up "broken builds". Highly rated and pretty cheap.

    "Halls of Torment" It's vampire survivors x diablo. My favorite of the genre beside the "original". Not sure how hidden it is though.

    "Stone Story RPG" Not really sure how to describe this one. ASCII art sorta-idle game?

    "Siralim Ultimate" mystery dungeon type monster rearing rpg with some wild synergies and buildcrafting. Tonnes of ways to "break the game"

  • Inscryption is REALLY GOOD. If you enjoyed MTG / strategy / board games. DO NOT READ ABOUT IT. Spoilers will ruin it. tl;dr it's a horror-based card game.

    Bayonetta I am also really really enjoying. I actually feel betrayed that no one recommended this to me before. It's perfect so far. Super fun fast paced skill based combat with a badass chick. It's just 11/10 over the top all the time.

    1. Roadwarden($7.36) - A text based RPG wherein you play as a roadwarden and influence the future of the land with a 3 day time limit. Good story
    2. Fear and Hunger 1 & 2($5.59 & $9.59) -The dark souls of rpgmaker games. Loot is randomized for each playthrough. There's a dismemberment system that also applies to you. You lose your legs, it's gone for good the entire playthrough.
    3. Frostpunk($5.99) - You manage the last city on earth in the middle of the eternal frost.
    4. FTL: Faster than light($2.49) - 2d Spaceship simulation rougelike with randomized map. Your goal is to reach the last star sector and defeat the mother ship.
    5. Fran Bow ($3.74) - 2d Point and click psychological horror where you play a young girl with an unfair destiny

  • Norco! It’s this post-apocalyptic Southern gothic point and click game. I downloaded the demo and got hooked.

  • Timespinner: A really solid Metroidvania - very similar to older Castlevania games. It's on sale for just under $6 USD. Great deal. I got a solid 28 hours out of the game and loved it (tho, if you race to the end it isn't super long but still good for the price). Don't sleep on it for that price if you like the genre, and are itching for that old school Castlevania feel. An actual hidden gem IMO.

    Broforce: Not a hidden gem, but a hilariously fun side scrolling shooter like Contra that you could play with a few friends (and levels going up and down, not just running to the right, plus destructible environments that you can use to kill your friends for laughs). $3 USD, hard to pass up even if you only play it for one drunken night with your friends. We all had a lot of fun with this. Maybe too much fun.

    Toukiden 2: This game has been sitting at full price for years. I could never understand why. It's a Monster Hunter style game with a full open world for single player, but multiplayer gameplay for boss battles similar to MH. I had fun with it for a bit but I have been waiting for it to go on sale so I can play it with some friends. Significant sale at $23.99 USD compared to the usual $60 USD and it doesn't happen often. It's worth looking at. I enjoyed the few hours I played a lot, but I couldn't tell you how good it is overall. Reviews seem good.

    Grim Dawn: Others have already mentioned this one. It's the successor to Titans Quest, and perhaps the spiritual successor to Diablo 2. Supports mods, which is great! Stash enhancements, character editors, etc. It's an ARPG game similar to Path of Exile and Diablo. Story is decent, there's some cool mechanics and choices matter type stuff, but even with those you can still play with your friends. You can get the game with expansions (totally worth getting) for around $21-$25 USD. Great deal and you'll be supporting a great company, Crate Entertainment takes care of their fans and keep supporting the game.

  • I suppose it depends on what a person considers a hidden gem because everyone's tastes are different. I'll list a few categories and at least 1-2 of my favorites in those categories that I've found on Steam and are currently on sale:

    Exploration/Base-Building:

    • Grounded
    • Raft
    • Rimworld
    • Subnautica/Subnautica: Below Zero

    Story based/Farming/Romance:

    • My Time at Portia
    • My Time at Sandrock

    Visual Novels:

    • Basically anything made by PixelFade (Ace Academy, Ethereal Enigma, Crystalline). One of the few English-based VNs that are fully voiced in English and have a pretty decent plot/story. Interactive with different choices affecting different outcomes and even some minigames at least in EE.
    • Nekoper Hush Hush. Ok, listen. I'll admit there IS an 18+ DLC for this but it's not necessary to enjoy the game. It honestly has a pretty interesting story/premise and I did get pretty heavily emotionally invested in the characters.

    Note that MTAP has been fraught with issues. Although these issues don't necessarily make the game unplayable, and it's still enjoyable, be aware that it is was Pathea's (the studio) first such attempt and as such they were still learning. Their second game Sandrock has solved a lot of the issues and it's not necessary to play the first one

  • I suppose it depends on what a person considers a hidden gem because everyone's tastes are different. I'll list a few categories and at least 1-2 of my favorites in those categories that I've found on Steam and are currently on sale:

    Exploration/Base-Building:

    • Grounded
    • Raft
    • Rimworld
    • Subnautica/Subnautica: Below Zero

    Story based/Farming/Romance:

    • My Time at Portia
    • My Time at Sandrock

    Visual Novels:

    • Basically anything made by PixelFade (Ace Academy, Ethereal Enigma, Crystalline). One of the few English-based VNs that are fully voiced in English and have a pretty decent plot/story. Interactive with different choices affecting different outcomes and even some minigames at least in EE.
    • Nekop-er Hush Hush. Ok, listen. I'll admit there IS an 18+ DLC for this but it's not necessary to enjoy the game. It honestly has a pretty interesting story/premise and I did get pretty heavily emotionally invested in the characters.

    Note that MTAP has been fraught with issues. Although these issues don't necessarily make the game unplayable, and it's still enjoyable, be aware that it is was Pathea's (the studio) first such attempt and as such they were still learning. Their second game Sandrock has solved a lot of the issues and it's not necessary to play the first one

  • I've already got a Steam Deck and I really enjoy it, but I've been eyeing the Dock for a while too. It's on sale now for even less than the alternative I was considering so I'm probably going to grab one very soon

  • i'm sure you all have heard of Outer Wilds (which i highly recommend and is 40% off right now) but a lesser-known game is Rain World. it's an absolutely brutal survival platformer where you play as a little slugcat trying to find their way home in a dying world. it's not for everyone, but if you like exploration, ancient mysteries, action, a bleak atmosphere, and you don't mind dying a hundred times, absolutely give it a go

  • thought of another: Eastward.

    this is a flawed game, make no mistake. the pacing is, at times, abysmal. but man if it didn't punch me in the gut by the end of it.

    also I dunno if everhood is on sale but that game is also strange and fun but flawed. perfect games to get on sale imo

  • I'll just go through my library and pick out the ones that I don't think are very well-known or might have been missed by anyone who got into gaming more recently.

    Demon Truck is a devilishly arcadey game, and at 90% off it is fifty cents so you are legally required to buy it right now. Once you play it for a few minutes, you'll want the BANGER soundtrack too, which was done by Zircon, costs $3, and is worth every penny. Here's a sample on YouTube if Bandcamp doesn't work for you. Game is a 40 megabyte download. What are you waiting for?

    Approaching Infinity - What if No Man's Sky was a turn-based roguelike with retro tile-based sprite graphics? If that appeals to you, give it a look. The developer also has a more fantasy-oriented game called The Curse of Yendor.

    Devil Daggers is worth trying if you enjoy fiendishly hard FPS games with pixel graphics.

    Bots Are Stupid - it's a tight platformer where you control the character by writing a script to control its actions down to the individual frame if necessary. It has a level creator as well. If you've ever seen tool-assisted speedruns (TAS), this game is basically creating a TAS for something like Super Meat Boy.

    If you have PCVR, give Ancient Dungeon a look. It's early access, but it already has that particular spark that tends to (and did) hook me, and it does a number of things phenomenally well, such as knife-throwing. In lists of top VR games, however, I rarely see it get a mention.

    Distance is a racing game with where your car can jump, do flips, fly, stick to walls or the ceiling, and potentially get cut in half by the road hazards. It's by the same developers and is the successor to the equally fun and completely free Nitronic Rush.

    It's not on sale, but at $5, Noitu Love 2: Devolution doesn't need a sale to be well-worth the price.

    Lastly, Timespinner is a pixel-art metroidvania with time travel. I thought it was pretty fun.

  • Slipways. Very well made space puzzle game. This game really surprised me.

    Also, hidden gems thread... feels just like home :)

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