Hey all. Always enjoyed reading everyone’s suggestions on more unknown games available during big steam sales.

I’ll start off with one that I have been a fan of for a long time: Death Road to Canada

This game is like a zombie action Oregon Trail like game, where you manage supplies and fight through hordes of zombies on your way to the safe haven of Canada. Only US$3.74 right now and well worth it imo!

  • Pixelologist ( Pixelologist@beehaw.org ) 
    68·
    3 years ago

    I feel obligated to recommend a Steam Deck if you have interest in one and can afford it.

    We have 2 and I would get a 3rd if I could lol (with a bulky protective case etc. so I can be less careful)

    The most cost efficient way to go is buy the cheapest version and then put something like this in it https://www.westerndigital.com/en-il/products/internal-drives/pc-sn740-ssd#SDDPTQD-256G

    IMPORTANT NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU GET A 2230 SIZED NVME DRIVE. 2280 drives will NOT fit.

    If you don’t want to do that you can alternatively just get a big micro SD card and save the SSD swap for later For best speeds you want it to say A2 and have a 3 inside a U.

    Even besides playing video games it’s an awesome little mini pc. Not perfect but awesome, and an amazing value at $359.

  • TXinTXe ( TXinTXe@lemmy.ml ) 
    39·
    3 years ago

    Ok, not so much as hidden, but also not super known:
    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. A tactical stealth game (think commandos saga back in the day) is 90%
    Technobabylon. A pixelated point & click adventure with some cyberpunk themes at 70%
    Return of the Obra Dinn. Probably the best detective/deduction game that I’ve played, at 40%
    Prey. One of the best immersive sims, at 75%
    The Case of the Golden Idol. Is not as good as Obra Dinn in my opinion, but it’s super good none the less, at 30%
    Antichamber. Super good puzzle game, at 75%
    The Age of Decadence. Ultra hardcore RPG set in ancient Rome, 60%
    Tametsi. Is like minesweeper but good, 67% (and only 0.77€)

      • phosphorik ( phosphorik@kbin.social ) 
        4·
        3 years ago

        Man, Octopath Traveler was such a letdown. The total lack of character interactions with other character’s stories made protagonist selection feel pointless and the story felt even more shallow than it was. Just… so meh. I couldn’t talk myself into picking up the second one.

        • Glide ( Glide@lemmy.ca ) 
          2·
          3 years ago

          Tbh, the worst part was that the advertising for 2 really seemed to suggest they’d heard that complaint about 1 and fixed it. The put so much emphasis on the Cross Paths feature. And then you get the game and discover that it is actually just 4 quests for 4 sets of 2 travelers.

          I really expected genuine interaction. Character to be present in cutscenes and have minor comments on what’s occuring. You know, stuff the story can technically progress without, but really flesh out the world and the characters. Bosses acting like they’ve caught out a single character only to initiate a fight against my party of 4 just feels weird as hell.

      • corytheboyd ( corytheboyd@kbin.social ) 
        1·
        3 years ago

        They’re pretty different vibes tbh. I liked both. I finished Chained Echoes, and gave up on Octopath after putting it down for a few weeks and just never getting back into it.

        Chained Echoes is great, but not perfect. Some of the mechanics felt a little broken or not well polished. The difficulty was a little too insane, I had to drop it down to actually enjoy them game. But the story is there, the characters are there, and it’s cohesive and interesting and new and familiar all at the same time.

        • Gert ( Gert@beehaw.org ) 
          1·
          3 years ago

          To me, Chained Echoes is a bunch of good parts that come together to make a great game. Nothing is perfect, but I never felt like any one part let me down (although I could probably be convinced that the gem system, or whatever it was, is very weak).

          I’m actually the opposite of you where I had to bump the difficulty up, then the combat felt engaging to me and I really enjoyed it.

    • sodiumbromley ( sodiumbromley@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 
      6·
      3 years ago

      I feel like over time No Man’s Sky feels increasingly like I have too many mods installed. Every update felt like it had its own hub and NPCs and progress track that didn’t interact with any of the others. The game is still huge and it has turned into the game everyone was disappointed it wasn’t at launch, but I felt overwhelmed on which things were part of the core story I needed to complete and which parts were rabbit holes that wouldn’t connect to that.

      • Natori ( natori@beehaw.org ) 
        3·
        3 years ago

        Yeah. I think the issue in NMS is that they keep adding new systems (good) that do the same things as other systems (hmm) and can’t interface with those systems (bad). Like, why is town building not at all like base building? Why does base building have its own rudimentary town building part, but it kinda just stops? Why do they have beautifully realized frigates in space, and crashed frigates ont he ground, but no relationship between the two?

        I really want to love it, it contains essentially everything I like in a game, but it just constantly falls short on depth each time. I’m due to go back and sink another few hours into it but I also feel pretty confident that I’ll finish off again feeling the ache of missed opportunity.

        All that, and also I just think the writing in the game is phenomenally bland. It’s not bad at all, it just never captures my interest in the slightest. I’d love to get my hands on the basic framework of the story and totally rewrite it.

    • rjh ( rjh@beehaw.org ) 
      5·
      3 years ago

      I loved Heaven’s Vault, it hit all the things I love: detective/mystery novel, rich dialogue trees, languages. The only problem is when it’s over there aren’t any other games like it.

    • Natori ( natori@beehaw.org ) 
      3·
      3 years ago

      Strong agree on your summaries of both Abzu (which I loved but did not finish) and Kena (which I loved but did. Both are great “hidden gem” games. I’ll have to look at the rest of your list since you clearly have good taste.

  • somefool ( somefool@beehaw.org ) 
    29·
    3 years ago

    I fell in love with Submerged when I played it. It’s an exploration game set in a flooded city, where you play a young girl looking for supplies for her injured brother. Lots of navigating between buildings in a little boat, climbing around, and taking in the scenery. Incredibly relaxing to play.

  • Rin ( DreamyRin@beehaw.org ) 
    26·
    3 years ago

    for me, I’m really fixated on Cassette Beasts, because Pokemon has been disappointing for me for a long while now. I keep debating on whether I buy it now, or wait until they implement the online multiplayer they just announced.

    EDIT: y’all convinced me and I bought it, having a fucking blast with it. love the music, love the writing so far, and the monster designs are chef’s kiss.

    • mint ( mint@beehaw.org ) 
      2·
      3 years ago

      I need to get back to this. I loved my time with it but my save got corrupted and I lost like 2 hours of progress, including getting lucky recording a powerful glass beast, so it took the wind out of my sales.

    • Ethereal ( Ethereal87@beehaw.org ) 
      1·
      3 years ago

      I put near 60h into that game and loved every minute of it 100%ing everything. The only thing that stops me from diving in with v1.2 is I just want to play other things right now. Absolutely worth it and probably the only game I’ve considered going out of my way to purchase the soundtrack!

  • Zebrazilla ( Zebrazilla@kbin.social ) 
    25·
    3 years ago
    • Shakedown: Hawaii - 80% off at 3,99€ - Think GTA for the 16-bit era.
    • 2Dark - 90% off at 2,49€ - Think Alone in the Dark but top-down and in retro/voxel style, from the original creator of Alone in the Dark.
    • UnderRail - 60% off at 5,67€ - Hidden or not, this one can’t be recommended enough to fans of the original Fallout (1 & 2, isometric) games.
    • Space Haven - 60% off at 8,79€ - In-depth colony/spaceship building & management sim with cozy graphics.
    • Crystal Caves HD - 60% off at 2,63€ - A true testament to how to faithfully bring an old platformer into HD, while also innovating on the original. Also contains a lot of hidden gems.
    • Supraland Complete Edition - 54% off at 15,71€ - First-Person-Metroidvania in a literal sandbox, lots of freedom, lots of puzzles and exploring. Contains the DLC. Get this to gear up for the eventual release of the sequel Supraworld. The standalone Supraland Six Inches Under is also worth getting, but is “only” at 45% off, which is still great.
  • ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶ ( luthis@lemmy.nz ) Banned
    23·
    3 years ago

    Inscryption is REALLY GOOD. If you enjoyed MTG / strategy / board games. DO NOT READ ABOUT IT. Spoilers will ruin it. tl;dr it’s a horror-based card game.

    Bayonetta I am also really really enjoying. I actually feel betrayed that no one recommended this to me before. It’s perfect so far. Super fun fast paced skill based combat with a badass chick. It’s just 11/10 over the top all the time.

    • thumbtack ( thumbtack@beehaw.org ) 
      4·
      3 years ago

      though i’m not sure if i’d consider it a hidden gem, i 100% will second inscyption as a total masterpiece. i also don’t know if i’d exactly say horror based, it’s a bit creepy or unsettling but not scary imo, and i’m a total crybaby when it comes to horror ;) i played it because a youtuber i like did a top games of 2021 video, and it was the ONLY game he didn’t give any information on other than “just play it” haha. totally worth it to avoid knowing anything at all about!

  • shapesandstuff ( shapesandstuff@feddit.de ) 
    22·
    3 years ago

    Risk of Rain 2 - 50% 12.49€ 96% positive
    Action rogue lite hero 3rd person shooter thingy - My absolute favourite game in recent memory.
    Not sure if this counts as hidden but many fans of the genre don’t know it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Insanely good soundtrack, cool artstyle, creative characters with very diverse abilities and gameplay, plenty of enemies and bosses, hidden features, locations, items, bosses, c̴͕͎͚̗̥̀̃̓h̴̘̯̎͗ȧ̶͕̤̪̦̺̂̕r̷͚͑̔͒̃͝a̵̖̩̣̍̂̈́̎̿c̷̱͓̪͖̈́ṫ̵̯̈͂̚e̷̺͓̙̥͆̓ŗ̷̢̻̺̞͠s̸̩̍̍̀?̴̼̘̱̗̯̈̋̄
    You know how some rogue lites make sure items stop stacking so they don’t break the run?
    Yeah that’s not one of these. Go nuts, break the game, fly through the map, just to get too cocky and lose it all in the blink of an eye.
    The original Risk of Rain is also a banger, currently 80% off at 1.99€. Same concept but 2D sidescroller with pixel graphics. Incredibly sweet game.

    Art of Rally - 45% 13.74€ 92% positive
    Challenging game with arcadey look and sim-ish feel.
    Beautiful visuals and a chill soundtrack. Great for white knuckled time attack or hours of zen drifting in freeroam.

    Devil Daggers - 50% 3.99€ 96% positive
    Highscore based retro arena shooter bullet hell kinda deal. PSX era 3D look, one weapon with two modes, surprisingly interesting movement (think b-hops, rocket jumps).
    Every run is mostly identical. Enemies always spawn at specific times, but in random locations of the claustrophobic empty map. The longer you survive, the higher the score.
    Also fantastic sound design!

    Hyper Demon - 33% 8.36€ 95% positive
    Sequel to Devil Daggers. Turns everything to 11. Complete fever dream. Adds an absolutely psychotic rear view mechanic, where close enemies outside your FOV appear mirrored in red colour on your screen.
    Adds several movement and combat mechanics, while still keeping the weapon very simple.
    Different score system while keeping the timed spawns. Killing in rapid succession increases your score, just scraping by drops it over time.

    Lethal League Blaze - 35% 12.99€ 97% positive
    Projectile Fighting Game with saturday morning cartoon style 3D visuals. There’s a ball in the middle, whoever touched it last “owns” it. If you get hit by the ball, you take damage. If you hit it back, you own it and it speeds up. And you build special meter for absurd special moves.
    Turns into a mind melting firework of on screen effects the faster the ball gets.
    Has a decent campaign to learn the game and fight bots. Bangin soundtrack
    Up to 4 players, local and online play.
    The original, Lethal League is also on sale for like 5.99€. Fully 2D visuals, also very charming. iirc slightly lower health and no campaign.

    Nidhogg - 60% 3.99€ 90% positive
    If you don’t know Nidhogg go play Nidhogg. Bring a friend.
    Low-Fi 2D fighting game.
    You can run, you can jump, you can duck, you can stab. 4 Maps to utterly cover in pixel blodd.
    That’s about it.
    It opens up more the better you get, but just go play it, folks.
    Win against your buddies by getting through 3 screens in a tug-o-war kind of system and prove your worth by sacrificing yourself to the Nidhogg.
    Tournament mode available.
    Nidhogg 2 is also on sale for 5.99€ 81% positive at like 800 reviews.
    They got budget for graphics that time which… they used.
    Different weapons add a rock paper scissors dynamic to the game, everything else is mostly the same! Good stuff.

    Post Void - 20% 2.39€ 97% positive
    A wild ride of a psychedelci action rogue like? No meta progression from what I could tell, which is why I’d be hesitant to call it a rogue lite.
    Basically run based randomly generated doom while your ego melts away after a heroic dose of psychoactives.
    Health literally runs out (of the head you carry) over time. Kill to heal, don’t get hit.
    DO NOT TOUCH IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY BEFORE.

    Redout - 75% 4.99€ 87% positive
    The quintessential zero-G racer for PC.
    Very similar to the classics like Wipeout, but innovating on the formula. You’ll need a controller!
    Left stick steers as you’d expect, right stick points the nose of your racer to compensate for tight turns and to prevent blackout / redout during high-G maneuvers.
    A classic campaign mode lets you unlock several classes of racers, two handsfull of upgrades let you adjust how you play.
    Sweet thumpin soundtrack Online play supports up to 12 players though I’d be a bit surprised if you find that many on the servers :D
    Split Screen mode available!
    The Sequel Redout 2 is also on sale at 14.99€ but it has even fewer reviews, fans of the games seem to favour it for longer tracks, deeper customization and improved gameplay. I haven’t tried it yet though.

    Heat Signature - 50% 6.49€ 94% positive
    If Hotline Miami was set in space. And a rogue lite.
    Pull off crazy heists aboard enemy ships to liberate the galaxy from authoritarian empires, each faction generally having some specializations when it comes to gadgets and tech which you get to unlock for your runs.
    Can be frustrating at times but on the flipside a close save get so much more intense. Also you usually get several chances to save your skin - if you’re captured you get thrown out an airlock and take control of your escape pod to fish your body out of hard vacuum.
    Generally there are so many cool mechanics, I’m having a hard time to pick highlights.

      • MuffinMangler ( MuffinMangler@beehaw.org ) 
        3·
        3 years ago

        I was initially put off by the art style of Risk of Rain 2, but once I started playing I found that it gelled really well with the game. I’m really happy my friend convinced me to play it.

        Andto parrot everyone else, the soundtrack is killer.

    • evilgiraffe666 ( evilgiraffe666@ttrpg.network ) 
      1·
      3 years ago

      Heat signature is fantastic, contender for my GOTY in whichever year I discovered it.

      The ability to pause and look around sometimes turns it into a puzzle game, either to save your skin or just reach the objective. Throw everything.

  • salarua ( salarua@sopuli.xyz ) 
    21·
    3 years ago

    i’m sure you all have heard of Outer Wilds (which i highly recommend and is 40% off right now) but a lesser-known game is Rain World. it’s an absolutely brutal survival platformer where you play as a little slugcat trying to find their way home in a dying world. it’s not for everyone, but if you like exploration, ancient mysteries, action, a bleak atmosphere, and you don’t mind dying a hundred times, absolutely give it a go

  • sokath ( sokath@lemmy.fmhy.ml ) 
    18·
    3 years ago

    I don’t hear much about Kenshi except for within folks who already play and let’s players on YouTube, but it’s one of my all time favorites. Can be hard to get into but watching a beginner video or reading some wiki will let you get into this massive, strange world. Currently only 13.50, which I think works out to like 2 cents an hour for me.

    • Nilz ( Nilz@sopuli.xyz ) 
      1·
      3 years ago

      I really want to try and get back into this game. I’ve tried a few times but it might be a bit too open world for me. I watched a few LPs of it, including one that started as a guy without any limbs stranded in the desert who then found a friend to carry him around in search of prosthetics. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that sequence lol.

  • eldrichhydralisk ( eldrichhydralisk@lemmy.sdf.org ) 
    17·
    3 years ago

    Donut County is only $3.89. It’s a short, funny, cute puzzle game where you make everything fall in a hole. Really good.

    Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth is $12.49 and a much better 80hr RPG then it has any right to be. And I never even touched the second game in the collection!

  • altz3r0 ( altz3r0@beehaw.org ) 
    17·
    3 years ago

    EXAPUNK - 50% - 96% Positive

    If you like old time puzzle games, and have a pinch for programming, then you will love this. In this game you control bots by creating algorithms to extract data and other challenges. The cool part is you must study the game language and learn the lore from manuals and magazines that the game provides.

    SHENZHEN I/O - 50% - 93% Positive

    From the same creator of EXAPUNK, only the thematic here is electronics.

    Road 96 - 50% 91% Positive

    Summer 1996, Today is the day! You hit the road. Adventure. Freedom. Escape. Run. Flee the Regime. Try to survive.

    On this risky road trip to the border, you’ll meet incredible characters, and discover their intertwined stories and secrets in an ever-evolving adventure. But every mile opens up a choice to make. Your decisions will change your adventure, change the people you meet, maybe even change the world.