Just in time for the weekend, we’ve rounded up eight personal recommendations from the editorial team that you can currently get for less on Steam.
The weekend is approaching (yay!) and that usually means we bring you the most exciting free games and promotions. Unfortunately, there are no good games for free this weekend, except for the (Epic-Gratis-Aktion), so we want to give you at least a few game recommendations that you can get in the current Steam Sale for little money.
Tricky Towers
(Developer: WeirdBeard – Publisher: WeirdBeard – Release: 2 August 2016 – Price: 7,49 Euro (50 percent off))
As a little kid, I used to lie under the covers with the torch accessory for the Gameboy and play several games of Tetris until late at night. When I heard about this little indie title in 2016, my old passion was rekindled, which is why I called on my entire circle of friends to buy Tricky Towers. And yes, I even forced it on one friend with a key I bought. – My apologies to you officially go out with this, Nicklas.
But back to the game: Tricky Towers is not only about positioning the many stones perfectly. No, some stones are also placed in the wind. Be it the wind that wants to blow your tower over from the left or several traps that your opponent sends over to you. In addition, the different modes loosen up the gameplay and provide constant variety. That’s why Tricky Towers is definitely one of my top mini-games, which you can throw on every now and then between a round of Rainbow Six: Siege when you’ve been completely run into the ground again.
Nidhogg
(Developer: Messhof – Publisher: Messhof – Release: 13 January 2014 – Price: 3,99 Euro (60 percent reduced))
This awesome pixel mash is one of my favourite couch co-op games. In Nidhogg, the object is to turn your opponent, who is ideally sitting right next to you, into a big fountain of pixel blood in order to get the running right. Once you have the running right, it’s a matter of reaching the opposite end of the current level section. But beware, the enemy respawns after a short time or after changing the level section and will try to kill you to gain the running right themselves. So the battle goes back and forth between the varied level sections until at some point a player reaches the end, where he is finally eaten by the titular monster, a snake-like dragon. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
The multiplayer battles are extremely action-packed, as the very limited number of attacks can be wildly combined to surprise the opponent. Stabbing with the rapier, throwing rapiers, kicking and ripping out the enemy’s heart are the most important moves.
By the way, the game is great to play with two players on one keyboard if you don’t have two controllers lying around. So that’s no excuse to miss out on this multiplayer highlight.
Soma
(Developer: Frictional Games – Publisher: – Release: 22 September 2015 – Price: 4,19€ (85 percent reduced))
It’s not easy to describe what makes Soma so great – you just have to experience it for yourself. The horror-sci-fi mix is one of the most immersive and atmospheric titles I’ve ever played. The massive soundscape, the brilliant setting and the eerie creatures send a shiver down my spine every time.
I slip into the role of Simon, who takes part in a medical experiment after a tragic accident and suddenly finds himself in a supposedly abandoned underwater facility (Rapture says hello!). While I sneak through the corridors and hide from the robot hybrids, I inquisitively soak up every piece of information about the station in order to piece together what the hell is going on here.
The deeper I dive into the game, the more the horror side of Soma reveals itself. Because the real horror is not the monster that haunts me, but the thoughts I have while playing. Thoughts about human existence, about being human and about loneliness. Soma is a fantastic and profound game that leaves you pensive and melancholic. In the sale, you can get it for just four euros. Believe me, it’s worth it!
Synthetik: Legion Rising
(Developer: Flow Fire – Publisher: Flow Fire – Release: 16 March 2018 – Price: 9,99 Euro (50 percent off))
(Synthetik: Legion Rising On Steam)
It’s one of the best roguelike shooters on Steam and yet many gamers still don’t know Synthetik. Maybe it’s the top-down perspective or the somewhat blocky Lego look that puts people off – but at its core is an incredibly polished hardcore experience with a loot-and-seek factor.
In every run against the evil robot legions, there are new items and upgrades to discover, while we keep expanding our arsenal of countless weapons and defeat big boss opponents like tanks or mechs. A highlight is the gunplay, which doesn’t even have to hide from the very best first-person shooters out there: Each gun feels extremely powerful and has individual values that we have to manage carefully, including manual reloading, overheating or movement-based recoil.
Even headshots are possible here! This makes the fights a real skill test with many tactical possibilities. Especially in co-op with a friend, Synthetik develops a real pull: with “Just one more run, I want to test how this new loadout plays with the Sniper class”, half the night is quickly over.
Cleo – a pirate’s tale
(Developer: Christoph Schultz – Publisher: Greycap Audiovisual Mediadesign UG – Release: 12 December 2021 – Price: 8,11 Euro (35 percent reduced)
(Cleo – a pirate’s tale on Steam)
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just really feel like a good old point&click adventure game where I can just puzzle away at my leisure. Cleo offers just that and throws a big load of nostalgia and humour into the mix.
As little fourteen-year-old Cleo, you discover a mysterious pirate logbook and plunge from your boring teenage life in a run-down bar straight into a great pirate adventure. So if you like to feel some Monkey Island vibes, solve absurd and humorous puzzles and simply want to fade out the real world a bit, you won’t go wrong with Cleo. With about seven hours of gameplay, you can easily get through it in a weekend.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
(Developer:Capcom – Publisher: Capcom – Release: February 25, 2015 – Price: 11.99 Euro (60 percent off))
(Resident Evil: Revelations 2 on Steam)
With the two Revelations games, Capcom returned to old virtues for Resident Evil – before the horror reboot of the series went into full swing with part 7. Accordingly, you don’t have to expect action cinema à la Resident Evil 5 or 6 in Revelations 2; instead, it’s slower and, above all, scarier again. The story is okay, but it definitely won’t win any innovation prizes, especially in the context of Resi. Instead, fans can look forward to a long overdue comeback of Claire Redfield and Barry Burton.
But I have to admit: the real star of Revelations 2 is not the main story, but the really entertaining raid mode. With various veterans of the Resi series – such as Albert Wesker – we complete one entertaining level after the other, grind different abilities and weapons to higher levels and get to deal with increasingly merciless challenges. Before you know it, the raid mode won’t let you go. After all, you’re desperate to crack the next high score or collect enough money for an even more powerful weapon.
So I invested a lot more time in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 than I would have liked. Don’t say later that I didn’t warn you if you buy it now and can’t get away from it all weekend (despite the Elden Ring)!
Loop Hero
(Developer: Four Quarters – Publisher: Devolver – Release: March 4, 2021 – Price: 4.94 Euro (67 percent off)
Hah, I wish life was more like Loop Hero. Because of course we all know those endless loops and repetitions. Brushing teeth in the morning, showering, taking care of your hair, blow-drying, then partly the same bang in the evening, only to start again the next morning. But with Loop Hero – the loops do much more than just slow down/conceal your own physical fall!
In Loop Hero I manage the fantasy adventure of my main character. The little fellow trudges along the same trails again and again in the top view – and I decide what things he gets to see along the way. Maybe I place a small village or an old castle or an enchanted forest. Well, actually the main character should hate me, because these landscapes primarily harbour danger: Vampires, zombies, demons.
But as Nietzsche said: What doesn’t kill you gives you level-ups. The harder the challenges my character masters, the greater the chances that he or she can beat up the boss of the loop at the end. Sounds simple, but this roguelite spiral results in an incredible gameplay maelstrom that sucked me into its maw for many weeks. For 5 euros, it’s well worth it. It’s definitely cheaper than the next hair treatment.
Overcooked
(Developer: Ghost Town Games – Publisher: Team 17 Digital – Release: 28 August 2016 – Price: 3,19 Euro (80 percent off)
It’s one of my favourite co-op memories ever: sitting huddled on a bed with three of my favourite people, we laugh our heads off at a talking giant onion. Our giggling quickly turns to focused silence as we tackle the first challenges of Overcooked. “Okay, people, discipline! You slice tomatoes, you wash plates, you serve and I’ll knock burger patties”. This cunning master plan worked for exactly 21 seconds until complete chaos erupted in the kitchen. And every moment of it was glorious!
Overcooked is a fantastic co-op game that fits into any group of friends. You can also inspire inexperienced or younger players with it. The great thing is that it’s still really fun even when everything goes really wrong. So don’t worry that you’ll be in a bad mood afterwards – you’ll get hungry pretty quickly though!
Overcooked 2 is also reduced right now, by the way, in case you want even more scope. But the principle remains the same: as a team, you face various wacky challenges that put your cooking skills to the test. And you save the world along the way. Just the way it’s done.
