What are must-have games in the current Steam Sale?

Outer Wilds

Absolutely

Brotato - > 3.99€

Vampire Survivors - > 3.74€

Stardew Valley - > 9.23€

Three games i have poured several hours (+-100) in. I think they are one, if not the best in their genres.

Stardew Valley, Graveyard Keeper, portal 1 and 2, Undertale, Katana Zero, Fallout 4, Skyrim, RimWorld, and if you want nsfw ones I can recommend in private.

I'll second katana zero! It's a brilliant little action platformer that reminds me of braid in a few ways, but turned up to 11

Hades is a great action rpg with rouge-lite elements. The power up combinations and synergies are near limitless and the writing is fucking fantastic. It's like 13 bucks right now.

7 days to die is my favorite survival game, it combines minecraft-like building with a looter shooter and a horde-survival element. Very addictive, if a bit old. It's 5 bucks which..like you can't even get a Sammy for 5 bucks anymore.

I grabbed a bunch of smaller games for my steamdeck that I’ve been wanting to try:

Noita - you’re a wizard in a rougelike physics sandbox environment

Super Meatboy - precision platformer ($1.25)

Cave Story+ - old Metroidvania platformer I never got around to finishing on console years ago

Fez - 2D/3D puzzle platformer

DIG - “Spelunky meets Enter the gungeon & Broforce” action rougelike platformer

Super Blood Hockey - old school arcade style hockey, pixel graphics (and has multiplayer split screen)

Binding of Isaac - never played it, gonna see what all the hype is about. Action rougelike

Tunic - old school LoZ style RPG

Pizza Tower - sonic the hedgehog on crack

Dave the Diver - dive, catch fish, sell fish in restaurant, buy better gear, dive, catch bigger fish, repeat…

Cursed to Golf - deck building rougelike with golf mechanics

Monster Sanctuary - 2D Pokémon platformer

Resident Evil 3 - cause it was $10 and I just finished 2

Is Noita a game that you can keep going back to? I've been considering to buy it for some time now, but I feel like the learning curve is way to steep for playing it casually once or twice a week. Also, I generally only play games with a controller. Does Noita have good controller support?
- It’s a rougelike so you’ll die a lot… I think it’s really fun but it can be punishing. There is a ton to do and lots to explore though so if you can push through the difficulty curve it’s pretty rewarding.
  
  Controls could be better but it’s not unplayable with a controller. Definitely made for KB+M though…
Absolutely loved tunic. It's a blast going in blind.
- I just picked it up this sale and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Other than it being talked about on The Besties podcast and how much they liked it, and how you're picking up instruction booklet as you go I didnt know much about it. Getting lost occasionally but loving looking for hints in the booklet and not looking it up online instead.
- I finished the game and immediately bought a Tunic T-shirt just so I'd remember how much I liked the game. My only piece of videogame apparel
This is sort of off topic, but do you like your Steam Deck? I'm trying to decide whether to build a PC or get a Steam Deck, but the thing is I literally just want something to run Steam Big Picture mode. It seems like a waste to build a PC just for that, but I'm worried the Steam Deck won't run fantastically if I just want to leave it hooked up to my TV 90% of the time.
- I'm not quite the person you originally asked, but I've also got a Steam Deck, maybe I can help? Full disclosure, I primary use my steam deck as hand held (switch killer), so I can only kind of speak the big picture performance, but I really like my steam deck. It's probably my new favorite way to kill time while traveling (assuming I can keep it charged or find somewhere to plug it in). Under the hood it's a remarkably capable computer, but it does have limitations, so I hesitate recommend it for everyone. It really depends on what you plan to play on it and your expectations. Its handled pretty much every game I've thrown at it (Hallow Knight, Lego Harry Potter, Slay the Spire, Ara Fell, Baba is You, Vampire Survivors, Spiritfarer, Shattered Pixel Dungeon, and West of Loathing) very well, but I've mostly stuck to verified titles from my library of mostly indy games. That said, it can be quirky sometimes. It's hard to explain beyond just general Linux weirdness, but it's stuff like the mod manager for Slay the Spire being fully functional, except for the part where you can't see it (if I recall correctly it only draws when java redraws the window, like when a touch is registered), but after the modded game is launched, it runs perfectly fine. I have also heard that the steam deck can struggle a bit with more demanding games, especially on higher settings.
  
  If you're looking to get 4K 60+ fps max settings on the latest AAA title, I'd probably steer you towards a custom build, but if you aren't looking to push those kind of frames and are okay with some occasional software tinkering, then it's hard to go wrong with the steam deck.

This thread is terrible for my wallet and backlog.

To contribute to the discussion, I bought an old PopCap game called Insaniquarium recently for around 60c, but there a demo version if you want to try it.

It isn't just nostalgia; The game is actually still fun after all these years.

Someone from the review section burned 1800+hrs on it, which I think is actually insane.

Yo I remember that game! I owned it at one point too
I never heard of it until my girlfriend bought it on steam about a week ago

Can't recommend Disco Elysium enough, it's a truly brilliant game.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the righteous is right up there too.

Pillars of eternity games are a close second to that.

I don’t feel comfortable buying it after when the publisher (IIRC) did to the devs.

Well, I didn't even notice that the various DLCs (or in this case, games) for Halo: The Master Chief Collection are all on sale - you can get them all for $10. I'd been meaning to pick up the ones I didn't have (I had them all on Xbox One, so its been on the backburner) which is awesome.

Cassette Beasts, if you like (or used to like) Pokémon. Fantastic, in-depth twists on the genre. Plus it has an amazing art style and is full of charm.

Killer7. The craziest game ever released, the weirdest gaming experience I've ever had. It's glorious.

Haven't seen this yet, but with Payday 3 coming out soon, it's worth noting that Payday: The Heist is only $1.50. I've enjoyed my solo time so far, but that's as a big payday 2 fan. It's still definitely worth a shot with friends though!

I was mostly a playstation user, so I never play any Halo game. So as soon as Halo: The Master Chief Collection (includes 6 remastered games) get 75% discount I immediately grabed it.

Also, I've been looking forward to try Sleeping Dogs as I played True Crime a lot back then. It's now 85% off so I immediately grabbed it.

The binding of isaac complete pack is at 38€ at the moment, pretty expensive but worth it, i've spent around 2000 hours with the game

Also Brotato is a nice little game and its like 4 bucks at the moment

If you like action games

Everyone should try Sekiro! Especially the folks who slept on the Souls-Borne genre before Elden Ring.

The combat system is punishing. And it ain't Dark Souls. But when it clicks you get the power fantasy of Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Kill Bill, and Star Wars.

Disco Elysium at 75% off is a steal!

Also, Kingdom Come Deliverance, 75% off and rven cheaper than Disco Elysium. This one is hands down one of the best modern rpg games I have played, especially because you can play without the minimap relying on directions given by NPCs, it is so inmersive and it has a plethora of interesting mechanics and an amazingly beautiful world.

Disco Elysium has sleazy publisher issues though, doesn't it?
- Yeah, the original creators ask you to pirate it instead.
- Yes, pirate it

Against the Storm

I thought I was sick of top down building games like this until I tried AtS and it has been a blast

Disco Elysium is 75% off.

Prey (and Mooncrash) are 75% off. Most other Arkane games are too, and they're all top notch (except Redfall :/)

Killer7 is 75% off.

Ace Combat 7 is 85% off.

Dying Light (and The Following expansion) are 80% off.

CONTROL is 75% off.

All the Deus Ex games are >80% off, really can't go wrong here.

Pillars of Eternity I and II are 75% off.

Lots of great deals on high-profile games this sale, and I highly recommend everything on this list.

Isn't there something with disco elysium and whoever is profiting off of it now is not the original creators?
- It's a clusterfuck really, but yeah the lead writer, designer and artist were all fired and lost the rights to the IP. Litigation is still ongoing I think, and hopefully Kurvitz, Hindpere and Rostov can regain the right to at least produce more work in the IP in the future. Heartbreaking for Kurvitz especially since he's built the IP with and for his friends from the age of 15.
- Yeah, iirc the developers, who'd spent bloody ages developing the world for the game, we're effectively kicked out during a hostile publisher takeover. They're seeing none of the money from sales, nor do they hold the rights to their own property.
  
  I might be misremembering some parts here, but the main point is that the devs were fucked over, aren't profiting off their property, can't do anything new with the property.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Beautiful side scroller. Amazing graphics and soundtrack.

Recommend checking sales over at GOG, only DRM free games 👍

Cassette Beasts! Amazing monster trainer/Pokemon like with quality of life improvements everywhere, a crazy amount of "shinys" as each monster can spawn as any element, good story and tunes, and awesome art. Definitely worth picking up.

Also Eastward doesn't get enough love. Touching story, brilliant art and music, solid mechanics and a whole, deep turn based retro rpg within the game.

It is also made in Godot, which is a free and open source engine!

Fallout new vegas for 2$