Steam Summer Sale 2018 | The Hidden Gems Thread

Claude Augario said:

Always going to signal boost DYA games. They've got fun retro-style pixel games with great soundtracks and a twist on gameplay, but are always overlooked. All their games are .99 for the sale, which is a steal.

Bot Vice


Gallery shooter with weapon power ups and cover. Gives off Mega Man X vibes. Free extra mission mode added 25 more remixed levels on top of the 25 that were already there. Pretty challenging.

Strikey Sisters


Brick breaker with local co-op, a world map, lots of levels and bosses, and ball power ups/spells to fight off aggressive enemies and take out tricky bricks. Never played Firestriker for the SNES but I've seen it compared to that. Recently got a (free) update that added another 60 levels.

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Fantastic. At only a dollar a pop, it's hard to turn these down.

If anyone is looking for a great JRPG with the best combat system I've ever seen in a turn-based game, I really recommend Cosmic Star Heroine. It harkens back to the Chrono Trigger days with tons of characters, thoughtful combat, and pixel-y graphics. A real joy to play through and it breaks my heart how little it is talked about.

Tower Unite just got a super fun minigame.

I don't have it on PC but played this on Switch. It's a tactical twin-stick shooter with tons of customizations and unlocks. It can get a bit grindy/frustrating but you always feel like a badass when you finish a level like Judge Dredd.

Are there any good games with First Person Parkour other than Dying Light and Mirror's Edge?

Ellen Pudge said:

Fantastic. At only a dollar a pop, it's hard to turn these down.

If anyone is looking for a great JRPG with the best combat system I've ever seen in a turn-based game, I really recommend Cosmic Star Heroine. It harkens back to the Chrono Trigger days with tons of characters, thoughtful combat, and pixel-y graphics. A real joy to play through and it breaks my heart how little it is talked about.

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How is the story in this game?

Fantastapotamus said:

Are there any good games with First Person Parkour other than Dying Light and Mirror's Edge?

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I found Downward, Valley and A Story about my uncle to be quite decent.

SparkleMotion said:

How is the story in this game?

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Modest and a little bit corny. It's definitely the weakest part of the game, but it is serviceable. If you play JRPGs strictly for a compelling story, I recommend you skip. The engrossing combat and gameplay is what I hype this game up for.

Man, I can't find anything I wa-

super-famicom said:

It's Mount & Blade with guns.

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Sold.

Xagarath said:

Kathy Rain is one of the best point-and-click adventures of recent years, an old-school Twin-Peaks style murder mystery with an excellent lead character.
It's also stupid cheap.

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Everyone buy this, Kathy Rain is great.

I'll second Cosmic Star Heroine. Big fan of that Dev. He also did Breath of Death and Cthulhu Saves The World. They're smaller games you can surely grab them in this sale for damn cheap.

Rockin' Ranger said:

Everyone buy this, Kathy Rain is great.

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If you like Kathy Rain, pick up the Blackwell Bundle as well. Some of th best adventure games I've ever played.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/6377/The_Blackwell_Bundle/

Five amazing adventure games for 8 bucks.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/80310/Gemini_Rue/

Also can't forget about Gemini Rue. Amazing sci-fi point and click adventure for dirt cheap.

SparkleMotion said:

If you like Kathy Rain, pick up the Blackwell Bundle as well. Some of th best adventure games I've ever played.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/6377/The_Blackwell_Bundle/

Five amazing adventure games for 8 bucks.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/80310/Gemini_Rue/

Also can't forget about Gemini Rue. Amazing sci-fi point and click adventure for dirt cheap.

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I'm pretty sure I have all the Wadjet Eye games but I need to actually get around to playing them.

How do you embed Steam links like you guys are doing?

spineduke said:

Use the Media button when posting and copy the steam store url for the game you want to share.

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Thanks muchly.

Amazing Sci-Fi point and click adventure. Gripping story.



I'm posting the first game, but buy the bundle of all 5 games for $8. Amazing games with compelling stories and interesting, likeable characters that grow on you throughout the course of the five games. You're a young girl and a wayward ghost that solve mysteries behind mysterious deaths in order to lay spirits to rest. Super well written and interesting. It's worth playing all five if you have an interest in point and click adventure games.

Extremely fun adventure CCG game. If you liked the Game Boy Pokemon TCG games or similar this is a big recommendation.



This one I randomly came across a while back and it caught me by surprise, really simple RPG but with a unique visual design and cute humor. For a dollar game it had a bit more in it than I expected.

texhnolyze said:

Any impression on this ARPG?

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get Victor Vran. Much much better

Devenir Ácrata said:

A great turn based strategy game with rpg elements and card based combat.

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Gonna second this. One of those games I bought on a whim and ended up loving.

If anyone who're interested in j-rpg or visual novel, this game had a stealth release years ago and didn't get the marketting for it which is a pity because it's a pretty big and robust game with different routes-endings.



You don't need to play the first game to play the second.

I just hit 100+ hours in Dominions 5 and have done about 5 PBEM games with the very active and fairly big (discord has like 500+ people, at least 60 active games at any time) community. I also have the top rated funny review on steam, which I'm pretty proud of.

It's a very deep turn based 4X with about 70 different nations spread across 3 ages which all play very differently. The nations all have tons of unique units and summons, totaling something like 5000+. There's tons of spells to script on your mages, at least 1000, and so there's tons of strategies and counter strategies, and the community is constantly coming up with new ways to do things. The game is also super moddable, and there's recently been a port of a Dom4 mod that adds another 2000 spells to the game, as well as a bunch of mods adding more nations.

If you are looking for something to sync a ton of time into to, Dominions 5 is a good choice for your money.

I have to recommend Handsome Mr. Frog again, it's kinda a tradition by now:







80s TAITO arcade fun and for a quarter you can play this forever.

Hey, do you look horror games? Do you like adventure games? I got one for you then!



The Cat Lady is a really creepy, depressing ride. I enjoyed my time with it a lot and haven't really experienced anything else like it. Also it has an incredibly disgusting look to it.





Also, weird side note, it is probably one of very few games I can think of where a 40-something female is the protagonist.
There is also a pack for $5.62 to get his other game, Downfall, which shares some similarities with The Cat Lady.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit down and start playing this game on a Sunday morning. You'll feel like a cop trying to solve a case just by watching interrogation tapes. Definitely worth checking out.

More_Badass said:

What kind of horror? Are there jump scares, or is it mainly dread and disturbing imagery and story?

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Dread and disturbing imagery and story mostly. I can remember music increases with sudden character appearances that could be considered jumpscares, but I don't remember a lot (Haven't played it in about 2 years, thinking about doing another playthrough actually.)

So I would say yes there are some jumpscares but they aren't egregious and the focus is more on the tone/setting as it is more of a psychological horror game.

Glad to see 20XX and Slay the Spire mentioned.

Don't be swayed by the word "roguelike" in 20XX's description. I was skeptical. How can a Megaman be randomly designed? No clue, man. But it does. I have yet to run into an run-ending total design flaw across any of the runs. And you will die a lot. Think of it like endurance testing vs grinding, because that's more of what it feels like.

And Slay the Spire is my current running GOTY, and it's still in early access. It's just so good. I want it on my phone, now.

Here are a few hidden gems that deserve more love!





Also more good, weird suggestions at the Weird Games for Your Pleasure Steam Curator

Buy it, it's great.
That's all.

More_Badass said:

What kind of horror? Are there jump scares, or is it mainly dread and disturbing imagery and story?

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Badass, if you haven't played The Cat Lady yet, I'll second a recommendation. I think you'll like it. It's a cult classic focused on a twisted story and mood.

It's about a woman who commits suicide, but finds out she will not be allowed to die until she finds and kills five "parasites". Parasites wear the skin of man and may seem like anyone else, but beneath their facade they have nothing but malicious intent and will bring great suffering to the people around them if left alive.

It's a very good game.

ChryZ said:

I have to recommend Handsome Mr. Frog again, it's kinda a tradition by now:

80s TAITO arcade fun and for a quarter you can play this forever.

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Very fun, I second this recommendation!

ITT: oh hey this looks neat. Oh I already own this.

Sexy Fish said:

Hey, do you look horror games? Do you like adventure games? I got one for you then!



The Cat Lady is a really creepy, depressing ride. I enjoyed my time with it a lot and haven't really experienced anything else like it. Also it has an incredibly disgusting look to it.

Also, weird side note, it is probably one of very few games I can think of where a 40-something female is the protagonist.
There is also a pack for $5.62 to get his other game, Downfall, which shares some similarities with The Cat Lady.

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This game is really good.

I came here to remind people to look up The Cat Lady (an incredibly great game about depression) but I noticed someone beat me to it by a hair. :D Well then, I also love Miasmata, an interesting game about picking flowers. Yes, I'm being vague for a reason. :)

It could be described as a mix between Picross and Minesweeper, but having spent hours playing Hexcells and its two (better) sequels, Plus and Infinite, it feels really unfair and reductive. It's deceptively simple, and the final levels of Infinite are mind-bending treasures of ingenuity.
The link above goes to Hexcells, but you're probably better off buying the full pack with all three games.



Another gentle puzzle game that's actually much more devious and complex than it first appears to be. Lyne takes a simple rule (you have to draw a line between two points) and progressively bends it into more and more inticate iterations.

More_Badass said:

Any other lesser known first person RPG/"blobber" recommendations? (Besides Legend of Grimrock, Vaporum, and Starcrawlers)

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Yeah I can think of a couple.

"With its great battle-system, unique approach to difficulty, and a sizable amount of content, The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians is an easy recommendation. "
Full review - https://steamcommunity.com/id/pepsimanvsjoe/recommended/409450


This is a really neat take on the genre. Read the description and reviews to get a good idea of what this game is all about.

I've also been meaning to get Operation Abyss and Operation Babel, as they're basically futuristic anime takes on Wizardry, but I simply haven't had the time.

As for the other gridders I've played...

I'd love to recommend Stranger of Sword City, but anyone interested in it should get the Vita-exclusive 'Revisited' edition. It's much better.
Skip Ray Gigant entirely. It has some cool visuals, but it's really shallow and dull.
Conception 2 is many flavors of awful.

Can we get a Dusk Golem hidden horror gems list? Those are always great during sales.

dosh said:

It could be described as a mix between Picross and Minesweeper, but having spent hours playing Hexcells and its two (better) sequels, Plus and Infinite, it feels really unfair and reductive. It's deceptively simple, and the final levels of Infinite are mind-bending treasures of ingenuity.
The link above goes to Hexcells, but you're probably better off buying the full pack with all three games.

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Gonna second this. Great game that can be played in short bursts.

Lots of great reccs in this thread. It's crazy how many good games are coming out, and barely get any attention.
My recommendation got a fair deal of attention in the pre-release cycle, but dropped off the map due to unfavourable reviews. Don't listen to them: This is the best survival/metroidvania/sim game I've ever played. It's brutal, but recent patches have made it more forgiving. Its hook is that the game is rendering a constant ecosystem, with animals looking for prey and shelter, regardless of where you are in the level.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/312520/Rain_World/
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Fingerthing said:

Lots of great reccs in this thread. It's crazy how many good games are coming out, and barely get any attention.
My recommendation got a fair deal of attention in the pre-release cycle, but dropped off the map due to unfavourable reviews. Don't listen to them: This is the best survival/metroidvania/sim game I've ever played. It's brutal, but recent patches have made it more forgiving. Its hook is that the game is rendering a constant ecosystem, with animals looking for prey and shelter, regardless of where you are in the level.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/312520/Rain_World/
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More_Badass said:

I know what game you're talking about :)

Would it be cliche to say it's the Dark Souls of metroidvanias, at least game design and intent-wise? Much like Souls games ask the player to acclimate to the pace and mindset of the game - cautious, careful, precise, don't be reckless, commit to a strike and make every strike count - to succeed, Rain World asks the player to think and play like prey. You're weak, at the bottom of the food chain, be careful, hide and flee, forage and try not to stray to far from your den until you're ready. The devs described it as a disempowerment fantasy

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Yes, yes, yes. Rain World is an amazing game; its highs are nearly unmatched for me in all of gaming. If anyone's on the fence about this game, I'd recommend them to absolutely give it a try; you'll likely know within two hours if it's your kinda game.

This is a first person game where your task is to avoid obstacles, and use powers like reversing gravity, teleporting and creating platforms to solve some simple puzzles to reach the end of each level. Not only do you have to figure out how to solve a level, but then you have to do it as fast as possible as you are on a time limit. The timer to proceed through the game is quite forgiving once you know the solution, but there's a separate Uber Time that you have to beat for achievements. And then there's the online leaderboards if you want to get real competitive.

The game references speedrunning streams, featuring a "speedrun mode" where you complete a full chapter's worth of levels (or the entire game) with built-in splits.

I played this on console already, but that version is quite obviously an afterthought while the PC version is the real stuff, with a custom level editor and all the competitive focus.

A hardcore farming sim that harkens back to the old SNES Harvest Moon days, with a Twin Peaks-type town and a dark undercurrent of "this town doesn't feel quite right".



A 700k+ word horror VN that has an insanely impressive amount of story branches in its flow chart. I spent a good 40 hours playing it and honestly wasn't expecting much from the game originally, but I friend and I marathoned it over a few days and absolutely adored it. Has a demo!

I don't know if these have been posted but-

What remains of Edith Finch- A short narrative game that got heavily praised last year and went on to win multiple awards.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/501300/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch/

Dungreed- A 2d rogue lite dungeon crawler with some city building aspects.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/753420/Dungreed/

dosh said:

It could be described as a mix between Picross and Minesweeper, but having spent hours playing Hexcells and its two (better) sequels, Plus and Infinite, it feels really unfair and reductive. It's deceptively simple, and the final levels of Infinite are mind-bending treasures of ingenuity.
The link above goes to Hexcells, but you're probably better off buying the full pack with all three games.



Another gentle puzzle game that's actually much more devious and complex than it first appears to be. Lyne takes a simple rule (you have to draw a line between two points) and progressively bends it into more and more inticate iterations.

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All these are amazing. There is also a SquareCells game from the HexCells developer that is really good. Same kind of game, but quite different.

Two incredibly fun "action defense" games. Fantastic co-op experiences.

I'm drawing a blank on a game. It came out recently on steam and consoles. It looked like a minimalist Syndicate remake. Any idea what this game is? I think it came out to average reviews or worst and I dropped it from my wish list. Want to take a second look.