So how was it? How was it???
How many of you are still trembling from all the excitement and adrenalin rush the past one week? OMG, what an awesome Steam Sale that was! Looking at all the unbelievable discounts across so many awesome games, it was one of the best moments of this year for me.
For a long time, I never understood women, the way their demeanour would change the moment there's a sale at their favourite brand outlet. Suddenly, the very nice and calm girl-next-door who smiles at you sweetly and blushes when you open the door for her turns into this ferocious blood thirsty venom-spitting fire-breathing Valkyrie who grabs every piece of outfit she can lay her witchy fingers on, amidst a sea of other such women during an ongoing sale.
I used to be like... "whaaa... there's always a sale somewhere".
But then, I didn't understand the value of brand recognition. I was happy buying one of those "Buy 1 get 5 free" shirts of an unheard of label, because a shirt was just a shirt to me. But to most women, that is not how they think. The fact that it was their favourite brand on sale meant a lot to them.
I finally understood that when I signed up on Steam.
Steam is considered to be the world's largest distribution platform for PC gaming, with well over 125 million registered accounts. And every now and then, there would be a sale on some of the popular games. But what most steam users look forward to, are the official Summer and Winter sales, which lasts for about a week, and during that sale, most of the popular games are on incredible discounts.
Check out this video to know what I'm talking about :)
At the beginning of the Steam Summer Sale, this was my profile stat -
After the sale ended, this was me -
Yup, even though I tried my best to control, I ended up buying 75 new games! Jeez I'm so gonna feel the consequences later this month. Dal roti for the next few weeks it is. But at least most of them were really cheap, like just 10 bucks or so, while others were a bit expensive but they were at more than 80% discount from the original price.
I even levelled up my "Summer Sale Badge" to a level 10 during this short period.
So, for all you gamers out there and those of you who might want to try out new games, here is a list of some of the prominent games I bought this Summer Sale. Hope you find it useful.
This War of Mine [link] - Original cost ₹ 565. Bought it for ₹ 141
A long time ago, I downloaded the pirated version of this game, just to know what the game is about. I played it the entire day, and by night, I was sooooo depressed that I couldn't sleep properly. The game is sad and realistic. It is about survival during a war time, from a civilian's perspective, and you have to struggle every day for food, water, medicine, etc. Small things matter a lot. If you scavenge for food and stuff, you get tired and hungry, if you don't have a bed to sleep on, you end up with body aches the next day, if nobody's guarding your house, you get robbed, if you kill other people in order to steal their food, you become guilty and depressed which can even lead to suicide if untreated! As the game description aptly says, "The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle". I bought the game this time to show my support to the developers and as a form of payback for having downloaded a pirated version before.
Amanita design
The moment I came across games by Amanita design, I fell in love with them immediately. The art style and ambient features are exactly the type I would want to spend a long weekend with. I bought three of their games at once - Machinarium, Samorost 2 and Botanicula at 70% discount each.
Machinarium - Original cost ₹ 249. Bought it for ₹74
Samorost 2 - Original cost ₹ 129. Bought it for ₹38
Botanicula - Original cost ₹ 249. Bought it for ₹74
Just take a look at their game screenshot -
According to the game description, "Machinarium is an award-winning independent adventure game about a little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city. He must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend". Oh that is so sweet :)
Meanwhile, Samorost 2 is "An adventure quest in which you must help out a little space gnome as he searches for his dog, which has been taken away by aliens". A space gnome? Searching for his dog? That has been dognapped? Lolz, who would have thunk all that? I'm sure I'm gonna have a lot of fun playing these games.
That Dragon, Cancer [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 287
This had been on the top of my wishlist for a very long time. When the Steam Summer Sale started, I was really disappointed that this game wasn't on sale :( But then a few days' later, it was! :)
Here's the game description - "An immersive, narrative videogame that retells Joel Green’s 4-year fight against cancer through about two hours of poetic, imaginative gameplay that explores themes of faith, hope and love."
Now are you ready for the sad true story?
This game was developed by husband and wife duo Ryan and Amy Green. It is an autobiographical game based on the couple's experience of raising their son Joel, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at twelve months old! Though Joel was only given a short time to live, he continued to survive for four more years before eventually succumbing to the cancer in March 2014. Can't get any deeper than that. This is one experience I'm definitely not going to miss out on.
Invisible + Contingency Plan Bundle [link]
Cost of both game and DLC ₹ 565 and ₹ 259. Bought it together for ₹ 261
This game is about stealth, precision and infiltration. It is from the same people who made "Mark of the Ninja", which is currently one of my favorite games on Steam. Hence I know it's not going to disappoint me. I also like the art style of this game (have any of you played "CounterSpy" by Dynamighty? Unfortunately, CounterSpy isn't on Steam, but I see a lot of similarities in the visual and art style). Will install this game once I complete my "Mark of the Ninja" campaign :)
A Bird Story [link] - Original cost ₹ 229. Bought it for ₹ 68
The only reason why I bought this game is because it's made by the same people who gave us "To The Moon" which I blogged about here. "To The Moon" is the most emotionally touching game I have ever played till now, and even though some of the reviews of this game said it wasn't as deep as "To The Moon", I still bought it, just to support the developers :)
As the game description says, "A simple & surreal 1-hour interactive animation about a boy and an injured bird, told without dialogues", let's see how this game is in the coming days.
GTA Collection Bundle [link]
GTA III - Original cost ₹ 652
GTA Vice City - Original cost ₹ 652
GTA San Andreas - Original cost ₹ 783
GTA IV - Original cost ₹ 978
GTA Liberty City - Original cost ₹ 978
Total price of all games ₹ 4043. Bought it for ₹ 522.
I'm not a fan of Grand Theft Auto, but it is a very popular franchise and definitely one of the games a collector must have. And what better opportunity than this to buy five of their popular titles at an 86% discount? I may not install those games right now, but I'm sure there will come a time when I say, "Ok, time to check out those GTA series" one day :)
Banished [link] - Original cost ₹ 565. Bought it for ₹ 192
Every time I come across a new game that involves city-building and micro-management, there's always one or two reviewers who recommend "Banished". And so here is me looking forward to playing this game about controlling a group of exiled travellers and coping with the scarce resources that has been provided. This looks interesting.
Swapper [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 95
"What if someone knew your mind better than you did? The Swapper is an award-winning, narrative driven puzzle game set in the furthest reaches of space." - The mere description of the game itself convinced me to buy this game (and of course the fact that it was on an 80% discount :P )
Punch Club [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 92
Ok this is the only game so far that I bought during this Summer Sale that totally disappointed me. It had been in my wish-list for a long time because I was really interested in the game-play (we are planning to develop a similar game like this too). The game is about managing your fighter and earning your place in the Punch Club ranks, while micro-managing your daily routine, like earning money, training etc. When the sale started, it was on a 75% discount! And so I bought it immediately.
I then installed it immediately. Two hours into the game and I was already regretting it.
The game is a complete grind-fest. That is a gamer's term for making you play the same ol' missions again and again in order to generate resources. But in this case, there is no proper game balancing at all. I need to train to become a better fighter. For that I need money to train. For that I need to work to get money. For that I need energy to work. For that I need to rest to have energy. For that I need to eat in order to rest. For that I need money to buy food to eat. And then suddenly, you're stuck you're out of one of those criterion. WTF.
And even though I grinded and grinded, I ended up being robbed by a stronger fighter because I was carrying too much money (transportation cost time or money too so most of us would carry as much as possible). Even after figuring out that I will get robbed when I carry a certain amount of money, I trained my fighter hard enough to take on the robber, but the next time I was at a higher level, the robber was at a higher level than me again! That totally suck.
The fact that in spite of all this grinding in order to train your fighter's stats, the bloody stats reducing every day was the last nail on the coffin for me. I will not play this game again until the developers fix this issue. And looking at all the other reviews, I certainly am not the only one. The concept is really great, and the dialogues are witty and funny, but the game balancing needs to be fixed asap, otherwise there is absolutely no point in playing this game.
The Stanley Parable [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 95
This is apparently one of those Mind-f**king games. Schrödinger would approve. And so I bought it :D Just read the game description and you'll know what I'm talking about - "The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end." Whaaaa? :)
Bleed [link] - Original cost ₹ 259. Bought it for ₹ 51
This is another interesting game that caught my eye. Game description - "Wryn is a girl with a big arsenal and big dreams - she wants to be the ultimate videogame hero! Help her take down the Greatest Heroes of All Time in an action-packed bid to claim the title for herself and show the world what a true hero looks like!" Oh yeah, that rocks! :)
room13 [link] - Original cost ₹ 349. Bought it for ₹ 69
Again here, it was the art style that mainly attracted me to this game. Will install this game once I'm done with the other games mentioned here. This one really looks promising.
Schein [link] - Original cost ₹ 359. Bought it for ₹ 71
I'm a sucker for platformer games. And any platformer games that involves using "the magic of light to explore hidden worlds, solve challenging puzzles and defeat deadly beasts" is definitely my cup of tea.
Crypt of the NecroDancer [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 119
Crypt of the NecroDanceris a very popular "award winning hardcore rogue-like rhythm game". The only reason I bought this game is because I keep seeing a "special offer" on this game almost every other week. So yeah, in order to stop getting those discount notifications, I decided, what the heck, lemme just buy it (after all, it is a very popular game anyway). Now for those of you who think you may have missed out on the sale of this game, don't worry, they will definitely be back with the same discount in a couple of days or weeks :)
Door Kickers [link] - Original cost ₹ 565. Bought it for ₹ 84
Among all the games I have bought this Summer Sale, this is the one game I have enjoyed playing the most (though to be fair, I haven't played most of the other games yet). This game is about strategy where you control a SWAT team to take out the bad guys while preventing the least amount of casualties on your side. The best part that I love about this game is the fact that the locations of the bad guys are randomized, making each mission (and retries) really challenging.
Full Bore [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 95
Another block puzzle game that is apparently about a "Boar's darkest hour". Lolz. This game "throws the player into an open world of crumbling mines, arcane ruins, and technological wonders with only curiosity to lead the way". Would be a good game to check out.
Dungeon Defenders Collection [link ] - Original cost ₹ 989. Bought it for ₹ 197
I bought the part 2 of this game during a previous Sale. But seeing that this was available at an 80% discount, I grabbed it as well. Also because there were some Portal and TF2 game elements in this one, hehehe.
Rocket League (4 pack) [link] - Original cost ₹ 1179. Bought it for ₹ 707
This popular game needs no introduction. This is where football meets driving, where you drive a bunch of cars and try to score in your opponent's goal. I read the reviews and people said it is extremely fun playing with your friends via LAN too, and so I bought the 4-pack bundle. Gifted them to three lucky colleagues of mine - Amit, Ashish and Das.
That was such a SCREW-UP! Never make the mistake I made.
So I gifted these three friends of mine the game. They excitedly accepted the gift, but it was then that we discovered this game does not work on freaking Mac. Ashish and Das had a Mac system. So in the end, my plan of play a 2 vs 2 match in office was blown to smithereens as only Amit and I could play this game. Such a waste of money :(
Super Meat Boy [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 47
Played for around 10 minutes and I am still stuck in the third level, lolz. Good stuff.
RPG Maker VX Ace [link] - Original cost ₹ 1369. Bought it for ₹ 191
For a very long time now, I have always wanted to own one of these bad boys. But since there are so many different versions of it, I couldn't make up my mind which one to buy. And then this one came with an 86% discount so I bought it immediately. One of these days, I will explore this software thoroughly, experiment with it and soon come out with my own RPG games that will overtake the likes of "To The Moon" :D
Primordia [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 110
This game goes along the lines of Amanita design games mentioned earlier above. Cool art and description too - "Life has ceased. Man is but a myth. And now, even the machines have begun to fail. Lead Horatio Nullbuilt and his sarcastic sidekick Crispin on a journey through the crumbling world of Primordia, facing malfunctioning robots, ancient secrets, and an implacable, power-hungry foe".
Prison Architech Introversioner bundle [link] - Original cost ₹ 849. Bought it for ₹ 212
This is another game that has an overwhelmingly positive feedback. It's about building and managing a Maximum Security Prison :) I've never micro-managed prisoners before, so this is going to be fun. Also, this "Introversioner bundle" pack came with four other games - Uplink, Dawrinia, DEFCON and Multiwinia. Woot!
Battleblock Theatre [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 95
I really didn't understand much of the game play from the images, but since this game has an overwhelmingly Positive review (both recent and overall), I bought it.
Anomaly Über Bundle [link]
Anomaly: Warzone Earth - Original cost ₹ 369
Anomaly 2 - Original cost ₹ 479
Anomaly Korea- Original cost ₹ 259
Anomaly Warzone Earth Mobile Campaign - Original cost ₹ 259
Anomaly Defenders - Original cost ₹ 369
Total price of individual games ₹ 1735. Bought the entire bundle for just₹ 145
I've always wanted to play one of these Anomaly games for a long time, but they were too expensive for me. The very concept that it is a reverse tower defense action-strategy game interested the hell out of it. So yeah, when five of their games were at a 91% discount, swipe goes my credit card! Hoping to play one of these games this coming weekend.
Lisa [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 184
"The miserable journey of a broken man". There, I'm sold immediately on the one liner game description itself.
Fran Bow [link] - Original cost ₹ 479. Bought it for ₹ 239
I just realized, many of the games I have purchased this summer sale are about mental pain or torture or disorder or something like that, lolz. Am I alright? Here is another such game - "Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny". Awww yissss. :D
The Sims 3 [link] - Original cost ₹665. Bought it for ₹166
The Sims. This game too needs no introduction. I realized I didn't have a single Sims game in my Steam collection, so I bought it, especially since it was a good discount. Will play it one of these days.
Goat Simulator [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 92
Goat Simulator. Heheh need I say more? :)
Shellshock Live 4 Pack [link] - Original cost ₹ 565. Bought it for ₹ 367
Love this! Currently it is still in "Early Access Game" mode, but most of the bugs people are reporting are about server disconnect etc. I on the other hand bought the "4 Pack" bundle and gifted 3 of them to my colleagues and we are having so much fun playing over LAN. Now others are also planning to buy another 4-Pack bundle so we can have an awesome 4 vs 4 match in office. Really brings back so many memories of "Pocket Tank" days. The single-player campaign seems to be great too, though I haven't had much time to play that version yet.
PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX + All You Can Eat Edition Bundle [link] - Original cost ₹ 984. Bought it for ₹ 246
The screenshots say it all. This is Pac Man lethal overdose :)
METAL SLUG Bundle [link]
METAL SLUG - Original cost ₹349
METAL SLUG 3 - Original cost ₹349
METAL SLUG X - Original cost ₹349
Total price of all three games ₹ 1047. Bought it for ₹ 259
I decided to buy this legendary 2D run & gun action shooting game series just to feel retro again. Hopefully I'll install them in the coming days.
Mirror's Edge [link] - Original cost ₹ 665. Bought it for ₹ 166
This is another game I'm planning to install once I get myself a Steam controller. Watch the gameplay video in the link above and be amazed. I really like the plot too - "In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called Runners transport sensitive data away from prying eyes. In this seemingly utopian paradise, a crime has been committed, your sister has been framed and now you are being hunted." Cool! Plus, some say the main female lead in the game looks like my girlfriend :)
Paper's, Please [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 184
Glory to Arstotzka! :D This is very much an interesting game, and the soundtrack is… communisty, if you know what I mean. The game file size is just around 40 MB, and there are many interesting things happening in the game. You play the role of an immigration inspector, checking passports and other documents. Watch out for those expired dates and discrepancy in their personal info. I only reached till day 6 as of now, but will definitely take more time to play it properly later. Glory to Arstotzka!
Tropico 5 Complete Collection [link] - Original cost ₹ 849. Bought it for ₹ 212
I played Tropico 3 a long time ago. When I saw that this one was available for 212 bucks only, I decided to buy it. The one mistake I made with Tropico 3 was that I played most of the campaigns using cheat-codes, and it kinda got boring quickly after that. Now that I'm going to play Tropico 5 through Steam, I won't use any cheat-codes because you cannot earn achievements if you use cheats. So I think this is really going to be interesting.Plus the graphics have vastly improved as well.
Looking forward to making prominent detractors or dissidents "disappear", lolz. Time to make the Capitalists pay, unite all the Communists!:D
Monkey Island Special Edition Bundle [link]
The Secret of Monkey Island - Original cost ₹ 369
Monkey Island 2 - Original cost ₹ 369
Price of both games ₹ 738. Bought it for ₹ 119
If you haven't played Monkey Island back in the early 90's, then I really pity you. This is an enhanced or remastered version of that classic game and I am really looking forward to playing this game soon too.
PC-ported mobile games
For some strange reason, I decided to purchase some of the popular mobile games that had been ported to Steam too. I already own a couple of such games, like Evil Defenders, Lyne, Hexacell, Rayman etc. I bought these games even though I had already played them on mobile,mainly to get the Steam achievements, and also because I really enjoyed playing them.
And so this time I bought Ichi, Geometry Dash, World of Goo, Badland, One Finger Death Punch. And Nihilumbra.
Ichi Double Pack [link] - Original cost ₹ 319. Bought it for ₹ 31
This game is available on the Play Store for ₹ 80. Buying a double pack (2 copies) on Steam for just ₹ 31 seemed to be much more economical for me :) :P This game is one of those casual time-pass puzzle games, some levels are quite though, while others are easy. All in all, very good level design, you can see that a lot of thought had been put into it. I have a spare copy, lemme know if this is the type of game you like :)
Geometry Dash [link] - Original cost ₹ 229. Bought it for ₹ 57
Big mistake buying this on Steam, playing this popular rhythm-based action platformer on my PC is much much tougher than on my mobile. I recommend you do not buy this game on Steam if you already have it on your mobile device. Also, the frames tend to skip a bit on my PC.
One Finger Death Punch [link] - Original cost ₹ 259. Bought it for ₹ 129
I haven't installed this yet, but I'm hoping I'll get the same experience I got while playing on my mobile :)
World of Goo [link] - Original cost ₹ 369. Bought it for ₹ 73
Now THIS is the type of PC-ported mobile games I really enjoy playing on my PC. From what I have experienced so far, those mobile games that involves just "tapping" give a much better experience on mobile, and games like this where you need to join and construct stuff, give a good experience on PC as well when you use your mouse instead of your finger.
BADLAND Game of the Year Deluxe Edition + Digital Art Book & Soundtrack [link] - Original cost ₹ 409. Bought it for ₹ 102
Badland is one of my favourite mobile games. I love their monetization feature where you must watch an ad compulsorily if you want to play the next level (or become a premium player). I think it was one of the first popular games to follow that revenue model. I bought it just to see what changes they have made in their Steam-ported version, and also to check out their Digital art book. Yeah who doesn't love Badland art style? :)
Nihilumbra [link] - Original cost ₹ 349. Bought it for ₹ 104
Urrmm… ok I don't know why I bought this game. It's available for free on the Play Store. Maybe because this was the only game the developers have made so far, maybe I felt an urge to help out a fellow indie-developer. I just bought it, and hope it gives me a good experience. :)
And so, those are some of the few games I bought this summer sale. Now I promise I will not buy another game for at least the next 6 months. I need to save moneyyyy!
Cheers everyone.
