Yesterday, I shared how—this month—I bought 226 PC games for $135. Generally speaking, there were three responses to that post:
- “Wow, that’s a ton of games for so little!”
- “Will you ever actually play all of those?”
- “That’s gotta be pure slop.”
Fair questions. So here’s some context.
Back in 2015, I had a dumb-but-sincere goal: to collect every budget game on Steam. At the time, it felt doable. But then came the deluge—more games releasing every day, plus the rise of asset flips and lazy shovelware. I gave up on the idea and started being… selective-ish.
Still, that reckless phase taught me something valuable: not all budget games are garbage. In fact, some of the best games I’ve ever played came from that experiment. They just never had marketing muscle behind them.
Here are a few that stuck with me:
- Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages. A top-down action RPG, set in space, with some similarities to Escape Velocity but with a more involved story. It also has a killer soundtrack, and a spin-off novel available on Amazon.
- Enemy Mind. A horizontal shooter, with pixel art graphics, where you play a consciousness that can seize and take hold of enemy ships.
- Shadowgrounds. A top-down shooter that takes place in a space colony. Somewhat similar to Alien Breed for Amiga but with even better weapons. Made by Frozenbyte, the same team behind Trine.
- Caster. A low-poly 3rd person shooter where you battle bug-like creatures, featuring lots of terrain deformation.
- AquaNox. An underwater submarine cockpit shooter that merges arcade thrills with a fun post-apocalyptic sci-fi story.
- Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi. A vampire-themed survival horror and FPS hybrid with the best opening scene I’ve experienced in any video game.
Of course, it wasn’t all hidden gems. 2015 was also the year I was introduced to Hotline Miami, Psychonauts, VVVVVV, Disciples: Sacred Lands, and Savant Ascent. All those games I acquired 10 years ago for less than $1. Good luck convincing me that wasn’t a better use of a dollar than a gas station coffee.
Now, sure—I played some absolute trash. Camera Obscura, Intergalactic Bubbles, Warriors & Castles—all of them unplayable disasters. I ignored the red flags. I thought “it’s only 50 cents.” Rookie mistake.
I have since become pickier.
And I know what you’re thinking: “You bought 226 games this month. That’s you being pickier?”
Yes, I bought 226 games this month. But I’ve become discerning. I avoid anything with reviews below 60% on Steam unless it’s hilariously bad (Daikatana, I’m looking at you). No meme games. No anime titty mahjong. No asset flips with “Simulator” in the title.
Lately, I’ve been diving into Warhammer, Star Wars, Battlefield, Sherlock Holmes, and Men of War titles—all dirt cheap. Finally played Enter the Gungeon, Doom (2016), Skyrim, and Undertale.
And some new-to-me standouts? Try these:
- Another Crusade
- Sundered
- The Ascent
- Andro Dunos 2
- Soulstice
So no, price doesn’t equal quality. If you’re willing to dig through the bargain bin, you’ll find gold. Just wear gloves.
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The Ascent
Oooh, let me second this recommendation! I play this fairly regularly in online co-op with my remote gaming group. It’s an isometric perspective cyberpunk-themed action game with gorgeous, detailed environments.
What exactly do you mean by bargain bin though? I just checked and The Ascent seems to be going for almost $30 at the moment. I think I bought it on sale for quite a bit less, but I still wondered what you meant.
If I could throw out my own recommendation that’s even cheaper than that, I’m always trying to get more people to know about Project Zomboid. Another isometric perspective game, this time it’s an open-world survival game with incredible gameplay depth and also online co-op (or PvP). The graphics look somewhat antiquated, but it more than makes up for it in almost every other area. Some people have played this for hundreds or even thousands of hours, so the return on investment tends to be through the roof.
Me and my friends tried to play the ascend but it was unplayable because of desync everywhere. Ever had that problem? Since then I think it may have been the player hosting the server because we always have problems depending on who is being the host.
Sorry to hear. I’m not sure what you mean by desync? Do you mean that the remote players lose track of what’s happening on the server? I don’t recall having major issues with that. I think our game is always hosted by the same person, so maybe it could be dependent on host?
Pickups stayed on the ground is the only thing I remember but there was other funky stuff. Maybe we should give it another go with me hosting. Seem to be the only person able to do so without someone having problems.
Oh, wait, now that you mention that it’s bringing back some memories. Yes, I think we have run into issues like that, but it wasn’t so much that we stopped playing because of it. It’s been a little while, but we’ll get back to it eventually. I just love the environments on that game.
I bought a Steam key for The Ascent on Fanatical for $0.62. It was part of a bundle.
Sweet! I have to look more into Fanatical. Thanks!
Hello fellow tiny indie enthusiast! Here are a few I hold dear:
Beyond All Reason - FOSS RTS game about robots destroying each other. Pick one of 3 factions and build up your army to crush the opposition. Great for multiplayer co-op or PvP, even has modes to face off against boss factions. Surprisingly robust and balanced.
PictoQuest - Picross is a pretty niche genre, but it’s a very rewarding puzzle system. This title combines the classic puzzles with real-time RPG combat, adding some frantic tension to the puzzle solving.
Smushi Come Home - Crazy cozy platformer about a mushroom dude trying to return to his family. If “Chill Vibes” was a game.
Aquaria - You’ve probably played this one; was a standout indie back in 2008, even getting a crossover in Super Meat Boy. It’s a Metroidvania with fantastic music, unique combat, and a heartfelt story. It perfected leitmotifs years before Undertale.
Miasmata - Survival horror game that focuses on plant sample gathering and cartography. Yes seriously, you literally have to triangulate your position with landmarks to fill out your map! It sounds like work, but it’s actually awesome to experience.
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor - 3D pixel sci-fi urban sim in which you play a street urchin dreaming of a better life. Its depiction of hope amidst abject poverty is heart wrenching, but the game is absolutely brimming with charm.
The Void - Otherworldly resource management sim from the studio behind Pathologic. You’re a soul in purgatory struggling to remain extant amidst a war between two factions. You have to travel between nodes to collect Color, which is the fuel of survival. Monstrous Brothers roam around stealing all of it they can, and helpless Sisters plead you to offer what you can, with the promise they can help you ascend.
Legend of Grimrock - Oldschool dungeoncrawler RPG. Pick a group of four prisoners chained together and traverse the prison dungeon of Grimrock. Classic hack and slash, sword and sorcery; comes with a map editor and has a lot of community maps.
Knytt Underground - Metroidvania minus the combat. It’s all about exploration, platforming, puzzle solving, and glorious aesthetic. You may have heard of Within A Deep Forest from the same dev.
Honorable mention: Dreamfall Chapters - Not as indie as the others, but not nearly as well known as it deserves. Adventure game set between two worlds - a dystopian fascist sci-fi and… a dystopian fascist fantasy. You swap between worlds discovering not only the secrets destroying these places, but also to learn about your own past. Actually the third title in the series, but acts as a standalone.
Beyond All Reason mentioned! I love that game, probably my favorite RTS. I love playing with friends against the AI. I have no real interest in online PvP because it stresses me out, but even without that there’s plenty of fun to be had with BAR. A must try for any fans of Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Planetary Annihilation, etc. and actually die RTS fans in general.
Sundered slaps
If you did more posts about gems you’ve found in the bin, I’d read them
I’ve done that quite a few times, actually.
nice! i’ll have to take a look.
I bought a pile of Steam sales early on, and Humble Bundles to the point I can’t bring myself to spend money anymore on games I won’t play… my backlog is too much, but damn, the Epic store’s freebie of the week? You can bet your ass I’m building up a backlog in that store too. There has been some junk in that but every now and then they have a fun little puzzle game or something - which is about my pace these days.
The number of replies in that last thread that were outright dismissive or hostile to the very idea of your collection was frankly absurd. I’m glad you were able to explain why you find value in managing your collection the way you do.
People seem to be so afraid of wasting time, or making a bad purchase regardless of how minimal the functional loss might be. But as you say, there are worthwhile experiences of fun and/or artistic merit waiting to be found for thise willing to take a risk.
You got my upvote, you trash-digger raccoon man
I own both Shadowgrounds and Caster.
Caster is a short, janky, lovable mess. It has real “this is my passion project and first ever video game” vibes.
Shadowgrounds was forgettable, but I vaguely remember enjoying it.
A few weeks ago, I finally beat Shadowgrounds and talked about it over here:
https://lemmy.world/post/29179804
I like this game a great deal.
I just skimmed your post and it didn’t sound familiar. I’m out of the house right now, but I checked Steam on my phone, and I’ve definitely played it.
Saved this post for later. Am also a sucker for cheap little indie games.
Nice post, thanks! Any hidden gems in there with a Diablo-loot “relax while grinding” kind of loop? After playing VR racing and shooters, I like to relax with a podcast and game, and hunt exciting loot like a slotmachine addict ;)
not a “hidden gem” either, but I really enjoyed victor vran
Same :)
Does Torchlight count as a hidden gem? It is on sale for $3 on Steam right now.
Lots—too many to mention.
One of my favourites is Divine Divinity. This was made by Larian Studios back in the day. In fact, their first title.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is also a standout.
Dungeon Siege is also tremendous.
Likewise Titan Quest is excellent.
Really, there’s so much good in this genre.
Dungeon Siege is great, I used to play a lot of 2 online back in the day, loved the secret chicken level that gave me D2 cow level vibes. However the third game is fucking hot trash and was so disappointing on release.
Yeah, played all of them, hence me looking for gems I might have missed. Anyways, thanks again :)
Delta v rings of saturn, ostranauts, quasimorph, loop hero, barony are all loot n chill, even if they can be a bit tense. Altho they might not exactly match your itch. Ill try and remember and check my library.
Grim dawn wasn’t mentioned but im sure youve played it.
You rock! Quasimorph looks great
Personally I’m just very picky and increasingly so as I age because there’s a lot of retread ground I’m unwilling to pay to retread. I have no…interest really… for average/mediocrity. People say time or energy, but I always find those two things when I’m really into a game, so I don’t think it’s that. It’s fine, I’ve found new hobbies when I have nothing to play.
I also almost never replay anything. I’m the same with books and shows/movies. One and done.
A well written story will get me to forgive A LOT of bad however. The first NIER game, Replicant, comes to mind as a perfect example. The gameplay is repetitive dogshit, but I didn’t care. The story is amazing and motivated me through.
But I’m not some weird gatekeeper. You’re not doing something you need to be defensive about. Your way is not inferior somehow. Unless it was somehow financially harmful to you or loved ones relying on you is how I view it.
Plus, I rely on guys like you who recommend the stand-outs in their otherwise mountainous pile of shit :p so thanks! haha.
A lot of the really obscure stand outs I find by digging through Steam’s new releases myself, github, aggregators like lemmy, etc, or from variety game streamers who don’t chase trends. Tomato for example occasionally picks something new with no reviews that looks interesting and I end up obbessed with some flopped indie game like Knight’s Try Just perfectly on point physics and difficulty. Don’t judge a book by it’s Unity engine aping Mario 64 cover.
thank you for your service
The Ascent is alright. Just mindless Diablo-with-guns kinda fun. Though the finale is a fucking SLOG. Played through twice, and was just done before really getting into the DLC just from how annoying the last few areas are to get through in the base game. 🤣
Hell I’ve been spending months just playing through my backlog of games I bought on sale and never played.
I feel you. Nice job.
One indie that stuck with me is Immortal Defense. Try it some time if you like hidden gems.
