I never usually worry about (or look forward to) the Steam sale. There is a solid reason for this: my older laptop couldn’t run games without chugging to a halt. That isn’t an exaggeration. I tried loading up Gone Home once and my poor computer struggled so badly with it, I could barely navigate without feeling sick from the sometimes no frames per second visuals.
Earlier this year, I finally replaced my aging laptop with a newer one, albeit a budget choice. The computer was under $400 and it has been good to me. I am grateful for the upgrade.
With that in mind, I thought I’d give the Steam sale a gander in case there were any point and click adventures I might be able to run on this new laptop.
Oops. I should have known better than to look at that sale.
I wound up buying seven games. Seven. That’s at least six more than I thought I might wind up with.
To be fair, I paid under $30 for all those games combined, so it isn’t as if I went entirely off the rails. Still, I’m not even sure I can run all of them on my computer.
Oh, Steam.
When I went to look at the sale, I realized I had never even downloaded Steam to this computer. So first I had to do that. Once I got things up and running, I realized the Steam sale is a rabbit hole.
I fell down.
Here are the games I bought:
35MM
Always Sometimes Monsters
Kentucky Route Zero
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. bundle
To The Moon
I had no prior knowledge of 35MM, but it looked interesting so I thought I’d give it a chance. I’d heard for some time that Always Sometimes Monsters was a game in which your choices carried weight, and I always enjoy those experiences. Kentucky Route Zero is a title I’ve wanted to play for a good long while, and when I saw it on deep discount I finally bit that bullet. To The Moon is a game I’ve heard is emotionally moving, so I picked it up as well.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. bundle was my big surprise. I’d gotten into a conversation with someone about one of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games on Facebook a while back and it piqued my interest. I couldn’t remember which title in the series it was, so when I saw the bundle for three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games on sale for under $10, it seemed like an okay way to go. I have no idea if my computer will be able to run them, but I’m hopeful. I’m a sucker for games that take place in Pripyat or have anything to do with Chernobyl. (Side note: I had such high hopes for the horror film Chernobyl Diaries, but the third act fell apart. Darn. It was still neat to see Pripyat on film.)
I try to be careful of sales since I know I’m susceptible to them (I check PSN every Tuesday for new games as well as to look at all the games on sale), but I really thought I might be able to cruise through the Steam sale without buying anything.
I should have known.
Have you bought anything from the Steam sale this time around? How about some of the other massive sales PlayStation and Microsoft are running?
Categories: games
Rebekah Lang 
Interesting pick ups. I already have Kentucky Route Zero in my wishlist and now I’m adding Always Sometimes Monsters, looks intriguing. I hope you enjoy To The Moon, it’s a really compelling game.
I tried to buy the least I could, I spent around U$9 with:
Jazzpunk
A Normal Lost Phone
Replica
1979 Revolution: Black Friday
A Bird Story
Dreaming Sarah
Only small games to not inflate my backlog too much.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The more I hear about To The Moon, the more I am bracing myself.
I’ve heard so many bizarre things about Jazzpunk, I’d love to hear what you think of it once you’ve played it.
Oh man, I meant to look up 1979 as well, thank you for the reminder!
Sometimes I love smaller games. I mean, I love games, period, but sometimes it’s nice to have more compact experiences.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t purchased very many games from Steam, but I did recently get a few more games from GOG than I was expecting to ( I prefer to buy my games DRM-free, thank you very much).
I bought Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD (the 4th version I have purchased since it’s release), Shadow Warrior (2013), Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Saints Row 4 & SR:Gat out of Hell, Psychonauts (another rebuy), Bastion, and Hard Reset Redux—with all of these coming in at around $20. I also bought OverWatch: Origins Edition at Best Buy since it was on sale for $30 last week.
I should have skipped OverWatch, since I now realize that I will be spending quite a bit of my free gaming time playing that, and putting the other games on a virtual shelf, as I try to hone my skills with Osira, Widowmaker, Mercy, and Soldier: 76.
At least I will have these other games to get around to eventually, and if they are reduced in cost even more in the future, I will still feel like the price I paid for them was a good deal.
I suppose purchasing games through a sale on Steam, GOG, GamersGate (etc) may have less to with the individual games’ current market value. Instead, buying a game at certain costs is a bit of an inner statement on how much value a game has for us personally.
LikeLike
The last game I bought during one of Sony’s sales was Zero Escape.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hope you enjoy it! Or, if you’ve already played it, I hope you enjoyed it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried it on the 3DS and the screen was too dark to play it but I did like what I played.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m with you. Due to my laptop’s age I focus my Steam games on the point and click variety. I just don’t play too much on my computer. I think I spend so much time on it for work that I prefer a change in my environment for the fun of video games. Maybe when I get a new laptop, I’ll be inspired to return to my Steam library. For now, in the world of amazing gaming news, my wife and family surprised me with an early birthday present of a Playstation 4. I’m beside myself. I’ve never owned both consoles. And now all of the PS exclusives are in my backlog. I can’t control my excitement. I just wish I hadn’t passed out asleep last night while waiting for Uncharted 4 to install. Here’s to an upswing of a summer with hard work and long gaming sessions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That makes complete sense to me, honestly. I try not to spend too much time on my computer when I’m not writing.
Oh my gosh!!! That’s such a wonderful surprise!!! Would you like to friend up on PSN? If so, please shoot me your PSN ID in a comment or at sinceretoafault@gmail.com
I’d love to be PSN friends!
LikeLike
I picked up Ori and XCOM 2, both games that I know are tremendously well regarded (and I loved the first XCOM). Now I just need to find time to play them…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those are two VERY different games! I’ve always wanted to play Ori (I should!), but XCOM mystifies me. It is just so brutal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
During the Steam sale I’ve picked up Hollow Knight and Dead Cells, two Metroidvania style games that look really good. I started Hollow Knight yesterday and it’s pretty good so far. I was looking at the Xbox sale and picked up the season passes for Dead Rising 3 & 4 for about $10. I agree these sales can be dangerous for the wallet but picking up some good games for deep discounts isn’t a bad thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That seems like quite a good value, and I’m right there with you on the sales.
Also, I still need to play Dead Rising 4! What could be more fun than zombie Christmas in July?
LikeLike