Valve”s sales platform once again has some interesting offers. We present you eight titles that are particularly worthwhile
Sometimes it”s simply a horror to open the shop on Steam. You”re actually in the mood for a new game, but you”re overwhelmed with offers that you can hardly see your keyboard in front of your eyes. And which games are actually any good is another story altogether.
Table of Contents
The Ascent
(Genre: Top-down shooter/RPG – Development studio: Neon Giant – Release year: 2021 – Price: 10 Euro, reduced by 67 percent)
If you love cyberpunk themes like I do and love Neuromancer, Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell, then you should definitely give The Ascent a chance. Especially for the price! Such a fantastically staged cyberpunk world has rarely been seen in the history of video games: Gigantic urban canyons as far as the eye can see are illuminated by neon signs and holograms, while merchants sell dubious cyber upgrades in gloomy side streets and corporate police enforce the law of corporations with merciless violence. In The Ascent, the mood just fits like a replicant”s eye!
In addition, the action role-playing game mixes the fantastic combat feeling of modern top-down shooters with a huge arsenal of futuristic weapons, upgrades and special abilities that invite you to combine and experiment. And as a cyberpunk fan, I”m happy to overlook a few missing comfort features (like the tedious locomotion without fast travel or sprinting) or occasional bugs. Oh yes, the addon Cyber Heist is also reduced to five euros and has melee weapons like a cyber katana.
Raft
(Genre: Survival – Development studio: Redbeet Interactive – Release year: 2022 – Price: 13 Euro, 33 percent off)
Personally, I”m not a fan of cruise ships. They are far too big, horribly polluting and clearly too luxurious. But I can”t resist the almost magnetic attraction of the big, wide sea. Raft is the perfect game for this. On the small raft I don”t get lost quite as quickly, with all the rubbish fishing I even help the fictitious environment, and what”s more, not everything is carried after me – I still have to see to it myself that I have something useful in my stomach at the end of the day.
With the end of the Early Access phase in June 2022, the survival game has received a lot of additional content: New islands, underwater locations, several items, more playable characters and much more. In the meantime, you can easily invest over 100 hours in Raft without getting bored – especially in co-op, the game is incredibly motivating. 93 percent positive reviews on Steam don”t just come from anywhere.
Human: Fall Flat
(Genre: Puzzle Co-op – Development Studio: No Breakers Games – Release Year: 2016 – Price: 7 Euros, reduced by 70 percent)
Human: Fall Flat doesn”t look like much at first glance. We play alone or with up to seven other players in co-op (local or online) to make our way through the simple-looking game world by hopping, grabbing, pulling and hanging around.
At second glance, however, there is a real firework of co-op action behind the easy-to-understand game. I have only ever laughed, shouted or cheered on my fellow players this much in Mario Party (with the difference that in Human: Fall Flat we are still all friends). The combination of creative puzzles and insane friends entertains for whole evenings – and if the 22 levels aren”t enough, you”ll find plenty more in the workshop. If you are currently looking for fun entertainment for rainy days, then I recommend this gem to you.
Fury Unleashed
(Genre: Action – Development studio: Awesome Game Studio – Release year: 2020 – Price: 5 Euro, reduced by 75 percent)
It doesn”t always have to be complicated. In Fury Unleashed you can shoot and fight your way through hordes of monsters either solo or in a co-op duo. If you get hit, you have to start all over again and shoot your way through the next procedurally generated world. With improved skills and weapons you naturally increase your chances and …, you know the rhythm of such games by now.
What makes Fury Unleashed special, besides the really fun gameplay flow, is the nature of its game world. You are playing through a comic that is being drawn. Each new area is a page, so to speak, and sometimes you end up in unfinished black-and-white drafts. Can”t you imagine it in concrete terms? For 5 euros, it”s well worth trying it out yourself!
Yaga
(Genre: Action role-playing game – Developer: Breadcrumbs Interactive – Release year: 2021 – Price: 10 Euro, reduced by 50 percent)
Yaga deserves so much more attention! If you are interested in Slavic mythology and fancy a snappy and original action role-playing game, you should grab it now in the Steam sale. The ARPG tells the story of the one-armed blacksmith and unlucky Ivan, who wants to fulfil a seemingly impossible task of his king.
The indie title has fought its way into my heart with its unique visuals, lively characters, fluid gameplay and bombastic soundtrack. While I”m not the biggest fan of Roguelites myself, I just couldn”t put Yaga aside. With a 50% discount, you can now be drawn into the world of Slavic witches, monsters and magic for just under 10 euros.
Wytchwood
(Genre: Role-playing game – Developer: Alientrap – Release year: 2021 – Price: 7 Euro, reduced by 60 percent)
As the heroine of the crafting-adventure role-playing hybrid Wytchwood, you play a witch with several problems. First, you”ve been asleep for several centuries, and when you wake up, you must first find your way around the world, which has changed quite a bit. Secondly, you have bird arms and wear a soup pot as a helmet. Thirdly, your spell book has been eaten by a talking goat! And then there are the creeps roaming around your fairytale world… you have to take them down for a pact made a long time ago, the exact terms of which you no longer remember.Unfortunately, every spell needs reagents, which you have to collect in the hand-painted 2D game world, new spells have to be learned and there are plenty of people who need magical help. So there”s plenty to do, but the pace of the game always remains leisurely and relaxing. For just seven euros, you can experience a wonderful adventure with great music, interesting people and lots of little fetch-and-bring tasks, which is a great way to slow down after a stressful day at work – even children are welcome to look at the screen.
XCOM 2 Collection
(Genre: Turn Tactics – Developer: Firaxis – Release Year: 2018 (War of the Chosen) – Price: 10 Euro, 92 percent off)
To describe my time with XCOM 2 as accurately as possible, I have to get foul-mouthed for a moment: “Fucking hell, what is this shit?! This guy is NATURALLY punching the shit out of me right now, such a shitty game, how unfair is that please?!!!” I kid you not: XCOM 2 is not for the faint hearted.
When recruits (and veterans :/) are dying left and right because luck isn”t with you, you”ll be swearing like a fucking rat. But if you get involved with the nasty time limits and the crunchy difficulty level, you”ll soon be sitting welded to your computer, muttering “Oh man, how cool” over and over again, interrupted only by euphoric cries of victory when you really get back at the aliens.
The XCOM 2 Collection is an outrageously priced offer with all DLCs, of which the War of the Chosen add-on undoubtedly has the most influence on the gameplay. Oh, you know what, I now feel like ploughing through the ranks of the aliens again with my Katana Ranger. Even if it is a dirty game.
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
(Genre: Puzzle Plattformer – Developer: Frozenbyte – Release year: 2019 – Price: 7 Euro, reduced by 75 percent)
The Trine games have always been such a happy place for me. Just relaxing, bouncing through a beautiful 2.5D fairyland, solving some clever physics puzzles along the way, and occasionally whacking droll animated mythical creatures. “
All this with three characters who are as clichéd as they are different, whose abilities I have to cleverly combine in order to overcome the various obstacles. With mage Amadeus I summon crates or levitate objects, thief Zoya stretches ropes or freezes seesaws with an ice arrow, knight Pontius” shield not only deflects enemy attacks but also redirects beams of light and water.
Deflects the enemy”s attacks with an ice arrow.
This game concept has remained almost unchanged now since 2009. And no, there was never a third installment in the series! If we”re honest, it was even invented back in 1992 by Silicon & Synapse (now Blizzard) with The Lost Vikings .
But what do I care if it”s just as much fun today as it was in 2009 to conjure up the wackiest physics chain reactions on the screen with the three disparate characters. Especially since Trine 4 after the disastrously failed third part (which never existed!) deliberately returns to the roots of the series. Three years after its release, Trine 4 still looks good enough to eat and guarantees a good mood – whether alone or in co-op mode.
Were we able to make one of the titles palatable to you? Or are you still saving up for the big titles of the year – there are quite a few waiting for us! Feel free to write us in the comments!
