Video Games

10 Hidden Gems Of The Steam Thanksgiving Sale

Stephen Randle

http://thestanleyparable.wikia.com/wiki/Stanley's_Office Source: thestanleyparable.wikia.com

Yes, gamers, it’s that time of year again, as Steam takes advantage of the American Thanksgiving weekend to provide us a myriad of opportunities to drop large amounts of money on hugely discounted video games. And while you don’t need someone to tell you that this is your perfect opportunity to pick up a formerly big-budge title like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or Fallout 3 for around five dollars (both of which you can and should), there are a bunch of smaller games that flew under the radar when they were released, and can now be picked up for incredibly reasonable prices. If you’re looking for something new to try, and you don’t want to spend a lot of money (even during a Steam sale), here’s some quality titles that just might interest you.

NOTE: All prices listed are in US Dollars.

10. Nidhogg

Regular Price: $16.99
Steam Sale Price: $2.54

Don’t let the Atari-era graphics fool you, Nidhogg is a shocking complex and ridiculously fun two-player fighting game. The objective is simple: both players start in the center of the arena, and attempt to reach the opposite end, several screens away. The only way to do so is to get through your opponent. Don’t worry, though, you’ve got a trusty sword and jumping ability that you can use to outfight, outfox, or just try to outrun the other player. But you’d better be quick, because your opponent always re-spawns in front of you, so you’ll have to win several confrontations in a row to make it to victory. It’s easy to pick up and play, and with the right crowd of friends, can mean hours of fun as you find new ways to fight your way to the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwBVvojRr3U Source: YouTube.com

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9. Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons

Regular Price: $16.99
Steam Sale Price: $2.54

A fairly quiet and contemplative adventure game, you follow two brothers who set out on a fantastical adventure to save your father, meeting all sorts of obstacles and allies along the way. Both brothers have their own set of specific abilities, and the twist is, each uses a different half of your controller (unfortunately for keyboard-and-mouse players, a controller is required for this game). You’ll have to use your brains and your co-ordination to make it through some brain-teasingly difficult puzzles, all in service of a story that is deep, immersive, and incredibly emotional.

http://oceanofgames.com/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons-free-download/ Source: oceanofgames.com

8. The Talos Principle

Regular Price: $43.99
Steam Sale Price: $14.95

An incredibly deep and complex puzzle game, The Talos Principle was released in late 2014, so late that it missed out on many Game of the Year lists. While it likely wouldn’t have won any overall awards, it’s possible that it would have placed on some Top Ten lists, if only more people had gotten to play it. Unfortunately, it went largely unnoticed due to its holiday release date, and that’s a shame, because the game contained within The Talos Principle is fun, engaging, and contains puzzles that will really make you think. Plus, it’s all contained in an game world that is lush and detailed, bringing up memories of the one of the most popular puzzle games of all time, Myst. When your game draws that sort of comparisons, you’re doing something right.

http://steamcommunity.com/games/257510/ Source: steamcommunity.com

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7. Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed

Regular Price: $21.99
Steam Sale Price: $5.49

Everyone loves Mario Kart. That’s a proven fact (not actually, but it should be). So, what if we told you that you could play Mario Kart on your PC for just over five dollars? Sure, Sonic and All-Stars isn’t a Nintendo property, but it captures the gleeful chaos of the Mario Kart series and wraps it in some of the most colorful characters you could ever want to play. Not only are there a wide array of characters from Sonic The Hedgehog games available as drivers, the game includes such wacky additions as Wreck-It Ralph, Alex Kidd, and even Shenmue’s Ryu Hazuki. It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s the closest you’ll get to playing a Mario Kart game at a fraction of the price.

http://segabits.com/blog/2013/03/27/sonic-sega-all-stars-racing-transformed-whats-in-the-latest-patch/ Source: segabits.com

6. The Wolf Among Us

Regular Price: $27.99
Steam Sale Price: $6.99

Sure, you could be like everyone else and pick up Telltale’s acclaimed Walking Dead adventure games (both seasons are also on sale for $6.99), but allow us to give some love to the under-appreciated Wolf Among Us, which was Telltale’s second attempt at an episodic adventure game after the rousing success of the first season of The Walking Dead. Based on the popular Fables series of graphic novels, you play Bigby Wolf, Sheriff of Fabletown (which exists as a small part of New York City), tasked with rooting out whomever is murdering other fairy tale characters. It’s a grim mystery story done in the style of film noir, and it takes many of the techniques pioneered in The Walking Dead and expands upon them to make an even more interactive experience. While the game took some heat for not having enough story to support its episodic structure, now that it’s available as a single, complete game, the experience is more than worth it.

http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/02/10/review-the-wolf-among-us-episode-2-of-monsters-and-men/ Source: dualshockers.com

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5. Broken Age

Regular Price: $27.99
Steam Sale Price: $6.99

One of the most successful games to ever find its beginnings as a Kickstarter campaign, Double Fine’s Broken Age is a tribute to the adventure games of old, and was the brainchild of noted developer Tim Schafer, known for popular adventure games such as Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango. Originally released in two parts, the game is a lovingly crafted story full of humor and mystery, and includes some excellent voice acting performances (including an appearance from some guy named Jack Black), and fiendishly difficult puzzles that stay true to the spirit of the genre. If you’re a fan of adventure games, you have no excuse not to pick this up and not put it down until you finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f41P6fDl9js Source: YouTube.com

4. Goat Simulator

Regular Price: $10.99
Steam Sale Price: $2.74

All right, as a game, Goat Simulator isn’t actually that deep. It’s a ridiculous parody of the glut of “simulation” games that have cropped up over the last few years, playing to increasingly specific interests. But this game is just pure fun, as you live the life of what is clearly one of the most interesting goats in the world. A physics engine that could graciously be called “loosely based on reality” and a world full of objects that have a tendency towards explosions makes sure that any action taken by your goat is sure to lead to wacky consequences. For the enjoyment you’ll get at such a low price, it’s definitely an excellent value.

https://store.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox-One/Games/Goat-Simulator/e802e200-54ef-4fc6-a141-67e6dffadd8b Source: store.xbox.com

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3. FTL: Faster Than Light

Regular Price: $10.99
Steam Sale Price: $4.39

A surprisingly difficult game about constructing a working spacecraft and exploring the cosmos, FTL is an under-appreciated classic that teaches you something new every time you play. And you will play it many times, because when you’re trying to plumb the farthest reaches of the galaxy, failure is always an option. Each time you play this game, you’ll find yourself driven by the need to do just a little better than your last time, and that will lead you to whiling away hours of time attempting to build the most efficient spaceship ever. Eventually, you will fail, the ship will explode, and everyone will die, but it’s really the journey that stays with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF3Y4vtoMpw Source: YouTube.com

2. The Stanley Parable

Regular Price: $16.99
Steam Sale Price: $3.39

The Stanley Parable is the sort of game you can only get when somebody lets their imagination run wild. The premise is simple: your name is Stanley (probably), and you work in an office. The game starts you there, and where you go afterwards is any number of wild and crazy directions. To make matters even more interesting, you’re always accompanied by the voice of the Narrator, a polite gentleman who gently gives you directions, but who gets confused if you decide to go a different way, and seems to have way too close an interest in what you’re doing. Fully explaining The Stanley Parable and its numerous unique paths is nearly impossible, it is literally a game that you just have to, and should, experience for yourself.

http://thestanleyparable.wikia.com/wiki/Stanley’s_Office Source: thestanleyparable.wikia.com

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1. Wolfenstein: The New Order

Regular Price: $66.49
Steam Sale Price: $9.97

Just the discount alone makes this a must-buy, but it helps that The New Order was one of the surprising hits of 2014. Taking the paper-thin premise of the original Wolfenstein 3-D game, the developers crafted an incredible game that revels in its roots as a mindless shooter, while incorporating a deep and riveting story and giving personality to the one-dimensional star of the series, the aptly-named B.J. Blazkowicz. Set in an alternate universe where Germany won World War II, a cryogenically frozen B.J. awakes to a new world he never expected, and immediately decides to overthrow the Nazi regime, by any means necessary. If you missed this game when it first came out, you can’t miss this opportunity to pick it up at a fraction of the price.

http://psnprofiles.com/forums/topic/18749-wolfenstein-the-new-order-a-masterpiece/ Source: psnprofiles.com