Steam Winter Sale suggestions

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D_W

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#1  Edited By D_W

There are a lot of nifty and terrible indies games on Steam that many us have not heard of or forgot about so I figured with this years winter sale underway a thread to recommend good games and warn about bad games was in order.

I took it upon myself to do quick look styled videos for all my suggestions, but I'm not expecting everyone to do that.

Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten: [video link] This is a tower defense game with some interesting RPG mechanics. Instead of towers you get characters that each have independent levels, skill builds, and equipment. The story is also pretty decent once it gets going. This was one my top 10 games of this year.

Cargo Commander: [video link] This is an arcade-y style randomly generated exploration-based platform of sorts. You have to collect various cargo from space junk before a worm hole opens up and suck it all away. It has a really well balanced progression system where skilled players get rewarded earlier but lesser skilled players will eventually be at the same level once they play enough. Also you play as space trucker.

A Valley Without Wind: [GB quick look][Video link] This game is essentially a randomly generated metroid-vania with crafting elements. It's art style seems to put a lot of people off, but I think it's pretty nifty. It feels a bit aimless but is quite fun if you like to explore.

Colour Bind: [video link] Colour Bind is a precision platformer with some light puzzle elements. The controls have some real finesse to them which I like, but I find the game really challenging.

BEEP: [video link] If you're not already sick of physics-based puzzle platformers then BEEP has some charm to it.

Droplitz: [video link] This is a really awesome arcade-y puzzler. A great podcast listening game. It sort of like Pipe Dream but everything flows downward and splits when it hits an intersection. I've put a lot of time into this game over the years (about 10~12 hours which is a lot for this style of game.) It's frequently on sale for under a dollar, so I highly recommend it!

Critter Crunch: [Video Link] Ryan has mentioned his love for this game before and I believe it was released on PSN in 2009. Well it's on the PC now. It's another match-3-like game but is pretty cool and had a wonderful art style.

EDGE: [Video Link] This is an isometric puzzle-like game. Each level you have to get to the exit while figuring out how to collect all the little glowing cubes. It's pretty cool.

English Country Tune: [video link] Another puzzle game. This one involves block pushing but has a really abstract sense to it. It's interesting and can be really tricky and hard to describe.

Gateways: [Quick Look: Gateways][video link] What if Portal was a 2D metroid-vania and had a bunch of different types of portals? Well that's what Gateways is, and it's pretty cool. Some of the level design isn't so great, but it's nice little game that I really should have played more of.

Chantelise: [video link] This is from the same guys who brought you Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale and is a 3rd person action RPG. If you don't like cutesy anime girls then it's not for you, but from what I've played I enjoyed the basic combat.

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits: [video link] Another physic-based puzzle platformer but this one has a cool 2.5D cell-shaded art style and is based in Greek myths. It's alright. It requires you to do some things with the mouse and the jumping feels a bit wonky at times, but it's far from a bad game.

Turba: [video link] This is a match 3 game with a musical twist. Honestly I can't recommend this game at all. The basic game play isn't all that enjoyable and the way it ties in the song that's playing isn't all that interesting. Maybe pick it up if it's part of a greater indie game package but avoid it on it's own.

Fairy Bloom Freesia: [video link] Holy hot damn this game is pretty freaking awesome! It's a 2.5D spectacle fighter that's similar to say Devil May Cry or Bayonetta but with an obviously smaller scale and tighter focus. It does have a cutsy anime protagenist that may scare some people off it, but the game play (which is 90% combat) feels so great and so fluid I can't help but recommend to anyone who likes games with tight controls. Especially if you like fighting games as it has a lot of ideas taken straight out of that genre. There's also some light RPG mechanics and character building. Seriously I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed this game. It's only 8 bucks regularly but I'm pretty sure it's on sale now for %50 off. Check it out!

Ok! So those are my suggestions. Feel free to add more and help us all liberate our hard earned money from the prisons of our bank accounts. hah.

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commonoutlier

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#2  Edited By commonoutlier
Colour Bind was one I saw a bit ago that looked intriguing enough that I'll eventually get during the sale...part of me is wondering that if it starts at 75%, if there'll be a chance it'll go down even further...but probably not. I'll be sure to get it before the sale ends. I'm hoping for Don't Starve to go down more in price, as well, since that was another game that looked intriguing.
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D_W

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#3  Edited By D_W

@commonoutlier: Generally 75% is the highest you'll see. At $2.50 it's worth it I'd say.

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Zuldim

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#4  Edited By Zuldim

Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is 75% off ($5) during the entire sale. I haven't played the game yet, but the quick look was glorious, so it may interest some people.

Side note: Don't buy Turba. Just... Don't.

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Psycosis

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#5  Edited By Psycosis
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D_W

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#6  Edited By D_W

@Psycosis: I, too, would recommend that game. I completely forgot about doing a video for it!

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#7  Edited By FrankieSpankie

Blocks That Matter is a lot of fun for $1.24. It took me about 7 hours to beat everything. Think Minecraft becomes a 2D puzzle/platformer and you have Blocks That Matter.

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audioBusting

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#8  Edited By audioBusting

@Zuldim said:

Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is 75% off ($5) during the entire sale. I haven't played the game yet, but the quick look was glorious, so it may interest some people.

Side note: Don't buy Turba. Just... Don't.

Thanks for pointing that out! I just bought it!

And yeah, I wouldn't recomment Turba either. Chime is probably the better choice for a musical puzzle game (currently $1.24).

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Phatmac

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#9  Edited By Phatmac

Dear Esther and Mutant Space Blobs Attack are super cheap right now!

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BeachThunder

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#10  Edited By BeachThunder

Just putting a recommendation out there for Quantum Conundrum.

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jsnyder82

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#11  Edited By jsnyder82

I have Critter Crunch on PSN, and I will not hesitate to recommend it. Fantastic game.

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Zuldim

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#12  Edited By Zuldim

@audioBusting said:

@Zuldim said:

Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is 75% off ($5) during the entire sale. I haven't played the game yet, but the quick look was glorious, so it may interest some people.

Side note: Don't buy Turba. Just... Don't.

Thanks for pointing that out! I just bought it!

And yeah, I wouldn't recomment Turba either. Chime is probably the better choice for a musical puzzle game (currently $1.24).

I didn't especially like Chime either. In fact, now I'm not completely sure which is which.

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Justin258

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#13  Edited By Justin258

I played a bit of a game called "Intrusion 2" and it was pretty fun. It was an old-school action-platformer with a physics engine. And includes a level where you can shoot people while riding a giant wolf, which sounded pretty cool to me.

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audioBusting

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#14  Edited By audioBusting

@Zuldim said:

@audioBusting said:

@Zuldim said:

Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is 75% off ($5) during the entire sale. I haven't played the game yet, but the quick look was glorious, so it may interest some people.

Side note: Don't buy Turba. Just... Don't.

Thanks for pointing that out! I just bought it!

And yeah, I wouldn't recomment Turba either. Chime is probably the better choice for a musical puzzle game (currently $1.24).

I didn't especially like Chime either. In fact, now I'm not completely sure which is which.

Chime is the one that's kinda like Lumines. I think it's pretty fun and at the very least it looks and sounds good. There's not that many songs on the PC version (the PSN deluxe version has more, I think) but it's pretty good deal for a dollar and 24 cents. (Also I just realized that there is a Quick Look of it already).

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Mrsignerman44

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#15  Edited By Mrsignerman44

Can't recommend the Blackwell gamesenough, they're all 50% off right now but I expect them to drop to 75% as per usual soon.

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D_W

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#16  Edited By D_W

I played more of Gateways and it add a rather awful time travel mechanic similar to Braid which I absolutely cannot stand. It takes a long time to set something up and if you mess up one thing you have spend that time setting it all up again. No fun at all. It's a shame because that game has cool puzzles otherwise. Sooo maybe pass on that game.

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csl316

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#17  Edited By csl316

Hmm... the fairy game intrigues me.

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#18  Edited By Andorski

@jsnyder82 said:

I have Critter Crunch on PSN, and I will not hesitate to recommend it. Fantastic game.

Same here. Probably my favorite PSN game still. The artwork is incredibly well done and the puzzles get really challenging later on.

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#19  Edited By Pepsiman

Ys: Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin are both worthwhile for those who are fans of 16-bit-era-esque action RPG combat and/or are otherwise curious about what non-indie Japanese PC game development looks like. Both feature controller support and while the difficulty even on normal will likely hurt your self-esteem at times, they're great games that are predominantly action with very little filler. It also doesn't hurt that they sport pretty fantastic soundtracks, too, as one would expect of Nihon Falcom in general.

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FrankieSpankie

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#20  Edited By FrankieSpankie

@believer258 said:

I played a bit of a game called "Intrusion 2" and it was pretty fun. It was an old-school action-platformer with a physics engine. And includes a level where you can shoot people while riding a giant wolf, which sounded pretty cool to me.

Eh, I played it and the end is completely broken. The controls on the last boss battle are really bugged for some reason and it was the first time I ever just rage quit a singleplayer game and immediately uninstalled it to never play it again. Just randomly, the controls will completely lag on you and it'll force you to get stuck in range of an attack or run you off the platforms. The last boss is pretty tough too and takes a while before you reach the next checkpoint of that boss battle. I was on him for an hour until I finally gave up about more of than not, I died because of the bugged controls and not because the boss actually killed me.

@Pepsiman:

Yes! The Ys games are a ton of fun if you like those kind of hack and slash games. Think Zelda without puzzles really. I personally liked Origins more for the better boss battles. Oath in Felghana feels more like a traditional RPG though.