The BarGabe Bucket - A maniac rambles to justify your new PC with £20 worth of videogames

[Siri]

Hello There!

Since the announcement of the Steam Deck happened, I’ve been unseasonably excited about getting it. There’s some popular reasons to relate to – The latest PC games in an accessible and portable format, and unparalleled levels of emulation performance for the price.

Having played… a lot on PC since our group of friends migrated from the halcyon days of the Xbox 360, the unspoken secret about the platform is that a lot of the best games on the platform don’t require a lot of graphics power, or money to actually fork out – Ironic, considering the hardware often touted in forum posts.

But with a new wave of people onboarding with Valve’s new handheld, how can we expose such people to some of the best the PC has to offer, with Steam Deck verification chugging along on more prominent titles? Well, that’s what I’d like to explore today.

Introducing the ‘BarGabe Bucket Challenge’ – Where, for the average price of a nondescript popular chicken restaurant’s family selection meal (£20 in my neck of the woods), I aim to provide you 10 pieces of Original Recipe… PC indie titles that you simply must try (I threw up in my mouth a little writing that).

Either way, I enjoyed fellow forumite Treble's delve into making a PC capable of retro gaming for not a lot of money, so I wanted to do something similar with actual PC games.

So, what’s the rules?

- All games on this list must not be on any console format (up to now, the start of August 2022). Phones are okay, because nobody plays games on those.
- The game has reports, or has been confirmed by yours truly, that it runs well on the Steam Deck. Note: be lazy, and run everything though ProtonGE7-14 or whatever the latest is.
- Likewise, the game has reports, or has been confirmed by yours truly, that it’s not a big bag of shit.
- When mentioning Free games, they must be free enough to play without interruption or need to spend money – No F2P models, otherwise Apex/Warframe/PoE is a thing and this list is too easy to write.

- Games in their price brackets are exactly that – No Discounts, No Bundles, No Giveaways.- SOFT RULE: Try not to include existing videogame hacks and spin-offs, otherwise Streets of Rage Remake happens and this list is too easy to write.

The aim, as mentioned, is to provide ten games. These will be split up in brackets of price later on with the alternatives, but for your reference, the default breakdown will be: Five games that are absolutely free, Two games that are under £3, One game for £4, and Two games for £5.

With that out of the way, let’s get started with my initial foray into what could be had for some greasy shite:
 

Spoiler

Holocure (2022), Free on itch.io: https://kay-yu.itch.io/holocure

What am I looking at?
It’s a free Vampire Survivors clone, created by a fan of Hololive – a group of internet streamers who use anime motion capturing avatars to hide the fact they’re incredibly salty at videogames - including Vampire Survivors, which was a big hit amongst the globe spanning 71-odd members that stream on Youtube.

Is it good?
Absolutely. In addition to Kay Yu’s vibrant artwork giving a brighter uplift to hordes of enemies, There’s some thoughtful changes brought in that really benefits the formula – including a button to lock your character facing a cardinal direction while moving, character core specific movesets and attacks, and even a kill-driven special meter that unlocks unique screen-clears and healing powers.

The catch is that it’s a very new game – There’s eleven overall characters including unlockables, a single story stage and a survival mode that goes beyond the story mode’s twenty-minute onslaught. The creator’s aim is to feature all the members of Hololive as playable characters within the game though, with the next wave happening sometime this month, amongst more levels and powers.

What’s it like on Deck?
Very good – despite the lack of Linux support, the game can be downloaded, dropped into Steam as a non-steam game, and forced to run with Proton with little issue. While the game does not have pad support, the game is easily mapped via Steam Input – and if you rename the game’s shortcut to ‘HoloCure’ within Steam, you’ll likely find that there’s already preconfigured setups available.
Like Vampire Survivors, you would typically notice that once you hit the later time gates, the game will chug a little, however you’ll find that it’s still playable, as the game speed slows down as opposed to straight-up frame drops.

Space Funeral (2010), Free on itch.io: https://thecatamites.itch.io/space-funeral



What am I looking at? (seriously, what the fuck is this)
This game, as ugly as it is, is an absolute cult classic amongst the connoisseurs of RPG Maker, a PC tool that created most self-published JRPG efforts you’ve seen on Steam. You, as pyjama-wearing Phillip, go on a quest with your friend to find the City of Forms.

Is it good?
It wouldn’t be a cult classic if it wasn’t – matching the unique visuals, the plot and characters you meet along the way are suitably absurd, has a perfectly acceptable turn-based battle system, procures the finest audio cuts from BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop and other contemporaries of early electronic music, and even has a plot that makes sense of it all. Right at the end. It’s basically a negative image of Final Fantasy IX’s Necron bullshit.

What’s it like on Deck?
As with HoloCure, downloading and starting the game is absolutely fine. Even better, the game recognises Pad Input so your controls work without fiddling. The only mark against it is that, as it’s an older game, you’re stuck with a 4:3 ratio screen. But that’s much better than having it stretched out, and it’s probably a good idea to not be bombarded with the wild (yet lovingly home-made) assets the game has.

FAITH (2017), Free on itch.io: https://airdorf.itch.io/faith (and on Steam)

What am I looking at?
FAITH is a 1 to 2 hour 8-bit horror romp, Where as a priest you are tasked with investigating a family home plagued with demonic possession issues. You also get to roam the Connecticut countryside and get scared shitless by bit-crushed audio.

Is it good?
It was picked as one of the best Horror Games of 2017 by IGN – Along with the likes of Doki Doki Literature Club, Outlast 2 and RE7. It might look like a ZX Spectrum game, but that’s all it needs to provide a thoroughly creepy atmosphere – along with some excellently animated cutscenes and constant threats of death.

This is actually the first in a trilogy of games, with the games coming to Steam when the third title is complete. The second chapter is available on Itch.io is available for the eye-watering price of.. a single dollar.

What’s it like on Deck?
Generally a perfect experience, as expected from a game that looks fresh out of 1980. 4:3 aspect ratio as with Space Funeral, but full pad support right off the bat. And the speakers are superb for the audio screeches contained within.

Dominion (2021, Original Card Game was 2008), Free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1131620/Dominion/

What am I looking at?
Probably the world’s favourite physical (and, according to Wikipedia, the first ever) deckbuilding card game from Rio Grande Games – Which has been awarded ten gongs over the year of its introduction, has sold 2.5 Million copies and has expansions released to this very day. This digital version is the base game in its entirety, currently in Early Access on Steam.

Is it good?
Sure is. A fast paced and complex game of resource management, and the digital implementation is no slouch either – Offering a full tutorial on how to play the game, single player AI opponents based on neural network technology so they’re actually good at the game, as well as Online and Offline multiplayer – the latter of which can also be done via a ‘pass the controller’ option, which would be swell if you’re using a portable computer.

As mentioned, the base game is entirely free – expansions are available within the £5-10 range (and with fourteen expansions, that’s a lot of fucking money), but it offers a great experience without them - allegedly, millions of fielded card combinations can be played with the base game alone, and doesn’t harass you about the expansions in-game. In fact, the store page even tells you that you should start with the Base game and enjoy it first.

What’s it like on Deck?
For something with no pad support, perfectly playable. The 16:10 aspect ratio of the Steam Deck is supported, and cards are adequately legible on the IPS screen. I would personally recommend to switch your right Trackpad to ‘Mouse Region’ for easier navigation and dedicate the entire left track pad as a button to left click on items, but that is personal preference.

Zamboni Simulator 2019 (2020), Free on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1291240/Zamboni_Simulator_2019/

What am I looking at?
You’re looking at driving a Zamboni during a night shift. No jump scares, nothing does wrong.

Well, not quite, but it’s not horror. This isn’t really a game about driving a Zamboni – it’s a narrative-driven game about a guy contemplating his life, and for a lot of the time, contemplating his lack of wanting to live it – stuck in a dead-end job that’s on the verge of kicking him out, peaking at American college, and domestic issues with his wife.

As a warning, this is a tale of nihilism. Read the trigger warnings in the store page description, see if you’re okay with that first. If you’re not, don’t worry, there will be plenty of alternatives later in the article.

Is it good?
Well, there’s not a lot of feedback as this was produced in a Philosophy Game Jam, but the Steam reviews mark this up as ‘Very Positive’. I don’t think that’s precisely correct, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down, but it’s decently received.

What’s it like on Deck?
In-game, it’s as smooth as a low-poly Zamboni could be, and it uses the entire 16:10 screen. Although the default WASD/Mouse settings are adequate to get you going with a bit of trial and error, map R4 with the Magnifier Toggle (in 'actions') so you can read the post-shift reports for more flavour text.

FOOTSIES: Rollback Edition (2020), £2.89 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1344740/FOOTSIES_Rollback_Edition/



What am I looking at?
In effect, it’s a pared down fighting game to the core fundamentals of how such games work – deliberately focusing on spacing, hit confirms and whiff punishing to score one-hit KOs on your opponent. FOOTSIES requires more user participation compared to previous low-rent FGC darling Divekick, but retains that bare necessity feel to the proceedings.

Is it good?
Unlike more complex fighting games, this game actually has rollback, which automatically makes it good even with dead lobbies. Outside of that, the game offers an Arcade Mode that, despite the single moveset used in the entire game, actually provides you with bullshit situations that you’d find in actual players and lets you work towards getting over that mentality.

Also, the way text flashes across the screen when something connects is fucking sick. Very Strive.

What’s it like on Deck?
Nigh-on perfect, although I can’t vouch for the online lobbies - They’re pretty dead. But it’s got GGPO rollback, so it’s better than Tekken 7, no cap.

Superflight (2017), £2.09 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/732430/Superflight/

What am I looking at?
Simply put, it’s a Wingsuit game – you get dropped into a procedurally generated map, and you hurl yourself down and through it to score points for near misses and portals to new areas until you slam into a wall or the ground. Pure score game. It’s also made by the same people behind ISLANDERS, which I thoroughly rate, but that’s on Switch, and this isn’t.

Is it good?
A lot of people love it – 9,630 positive reviews on Steam, actually, and a couple of nice writeups from journalists. I don’t mind it, but it’s very simple – something you’d want to belt out for about 2-5 minutes a pop.

What’s it like on Deck?
It’s rated as ‘Playable’, which is accurate – The only thing warned in Steam actually relates to the function where you can punch in a set seed for the procedural generation, which isn’t really necessary. I do recommend turning off motion blur and dialling the shadow distance back a smidge to make it a bit smoother, however.

Card City Nights (2014), £3.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/271820/Card_City_Nights/

What am I looking at?
A Digital TCG based in the world of Ittle Dew – Ittle Dew is on Switch, which makes this a spin-off, but this game came out three years before the Switch with no sign of a port outside of phones, so I’m giving it a pass. Meet zany characters, dunk on their gameplan and collect boosters to build a deck to challenge top brass.

Is it good?
It’s quite a dated game now, but it’s still a nice, simple take on games like Triple Triad and Tetra Master, and comes with a decently substantial (albeit a bit grindy) campaign, some smooth tunes and fairly nice comic-style art (if it’s to your tastes, of course).

What’s it like on Deck?
Not bad at all, although I strongly recommend that you force the game to play through Proton – the Linux Runtime version doesn’t play sound, which is one of the better aspects of the game. Also, like Dominion, I recommend the Mouse Region/LMB combo for the trackpads – that’s all you’ll need, and it’s a comfy way to play.

THE £4-7 SHIT VORTEX DILEMMA

As I was curating this list, I found a problem – Steam’s pricing filters actually work to price brackets – Notably, the three cheapest categories are listed as such:

- Free Games
- Games under £4
- Games under £7

As a result, you’ll find that a vast majority of games are precisely £6.99, with a lot of the games under that either being… not good, a very old game that has likely been ported, or provided a discount (the latter two being banned from this challenge).

I’m still going to recommend two games that don’t exist anywhere else, but I do feel like you’ll get better for your money by clumping that money together, and buying either a £7 game along with a £3 game, or going completely ham and buying a £10 and trying out another banger free title. I’ll list these flex options later on.

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (2022), £4.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1972440/Shotgun_King_The_Final_Checkmate/

What am I looking at?
Well, this turn-based roguelike follows the rules of chess in terms of how the enemies move – but you get to move and blast the shit out of everything coming at you. As you beat stages, You get stronger, but so does the opposing side’s army.

Is it good?
It’s a very new game (released May of this year), but it’s had a fair few nice things said about it by PC Gamer and over 1,000 Steam users. From the Demo, I’d say it’s alright – It’s a very novel concept, I’m not too sure how long it would amuse someone though. If you’re going to flex, I’d shuffle this unless you REALLY like roguelikes.

What’s it like on Deck?
No problems at all on deck – It’s extremely low-rent, and the default WASD/Keyboard layout is enough to navigate on the demo.

Super House of Dead Ninjas (2013), £4.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/224820/Super_House_of_Dead_Ninjas/



What am I looking at?
Originally an extremely moreish Adult Swim flash game, this follow-up is still an extremely frantic action game where you descend a tower on a time limit, murder the heck out of anyone in the way and collect time and score bonuses.

Is it good?
It’s been so long, that I actually forgot how good this game is – It’s still an extremely tight Ninja Gaiden styled platformer even to this very day, which still looks and sounds fabulous to boot. Also, most browser games are fucking dead thanks to the death of Flash, so that’s a perfect excuse to pick this up. Moderate praise on Metacritic after nearly ten years, but if you’re a fan of this style of gameplay, it’ll be a big hit for you.

What’s it like on Deck?
Controls were recognised straight away, and booted up and played well in default configuration. The game supports 16:9, but not 16:10, so you’ll get a small amount of letterboxing.

THE FLEX PICKS – MORE FOR YOUR MONEY

While the default selection goes through the gamut of what can be procured, there’s certainly going to be those out there who might not like a certain genre, have already played something from being used to PCs in the past, or simply want more or less games to go through. And that’s quite alright – Here’s a selection of games that also fit the bill, although some might stretch the boundries of the rules originally set.

FINDING FANTASTICALLY FRUGAL FROLICS (Alternative free games)
 

Spoiler

Friday Night Funkin’ (2020) – Free on itch.io - https://ninja-muffin24.itch.io/funkin
 

Newgrounds’ new poster child from the ashes of Macromedia Flash being shuttered, FNF is a frankly great and frankly brutal rhythm game that started as a Game Jam game, and ending up raising over $2 million on Kickstarter for a full game. This open-source release of the game has an active modding community, but the default game comes with 21 tracks that need to be beaten in sets of three, and multiple difficulty settings to batter your controls with.

Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (2008) – Free on TalesOfGames - https://www.talesofgames.com/related_game/barkley-shut-up-jam-gaiden/

 

 

The joke sequel of a sports game that the developers never played, Charles Barkley is wedged into a 6-hour JRPG, which starts with Post-Apocolypse Basketball being outlawed due to Barkley performing a dunk so powerful it killed most people in attendance. A sequel scrubbed of any trademarks was planned, but later cancelled.

 

Rolling Bird (2018) – Free (79p donation) on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/978800/Rolling_Bird/

 

An extremely simple but mechanically great clone of Namco’s classic arcade game Rolling Thunder, I can attest to it being super tough, being great on Deck, and makes me dearly miss Rolling Thunder. I believe the Demo is exactly the same as the paid version, but you should give Hijong Park their money – they also have developed several other great retro clones, so check out their developer page on Steam as well.

rRootage (2003) – Free on Github - https://github.com/abagames/rrootage

 

The remastered version is available for a cost on Switch, but the original game came out yonks ago and hardly needs remastering – a classic from Kenta Cho, this shmup lets you take on crazy bullet hell scenarios using three distinct modes that ape Psyvariar, Ikaruga and Giga Wing.

Helltaker (2020) – Free (£7 donation) on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1289310/Helltaker/

 

Polish Developer Vanripper made a Sokoban game about sharply dressed demon girls, on a sole wish that he wanted to see more art of sharply dressed demon girls. Not only did he get his wish from the game being received incredibly well on Steam (like, 100k positive reviews on Steam well), he made a fun game out of it, too. You can also pay £7 to get a pancake recipe and art book if you want to support the developer and you can’t follow a guide. Free fanmade ports are available for Switch and Vita, but nothing official.

The Looker (2022) – Free on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1985690/The_Looker/

Released two months ago, this send-up of The Witness is listed by Steam users as ‘One of the games ever made’, and ‘If you hate The Witness, you’ll love The Looker’. 55 puzzles, but nothing incredibly taxing but everything at least mildly amusing. I had a great time playing this, but like The Witness, it’s something you’ll want to look into yourself to keep the surprises.

SKYE (2020) – Free on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1214360/SKYE/

Brought to us by a student team from Breda University in the Netherlands, Skye is a very simple and visually charming flight game where you swan about a tiny set of islands inspired by the Scottish Hebrides in a small seaplane. There’s a set of missions, but you can happily ignore that and just take in the idyllic landscape and coastal views.

SMASHING SPARE STIRLING STEAM SOMETHING-OR-OTHERS (1p to £5 Alternatives)
 

Spoiler

Cats Organized Neatly (2020) - £1.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369340/Cats_Organized_Neatly/

A very cute, hand-drawn puzzle game where if all the cats fits, they sits. The developers have also got their hands on a Switch dev kit, so expect it soon there as well. Don’t like cats, and prefer dogs? WELL, HAVE I GOT A SOLUTION FOR YOU:

Dogs Organized Neatly (2021) - £1.99, on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1597730/Dogs_Organized_Neatly/

A very cute, hand-drawn puzzle game where if all the dogs fits, they sits. The developers have also got their hands on a Switch dev kit, so expect it soon there as well. Don’t like cats AND dogs? WELL, first go fuck yourself, BUT BOY HAVE I GOT A SOLUTION FOR YOU AS WELL:

Save Room (2022) - £2.09 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955330/Save_Room__Organization_Puzzle/

A non-cute, not very hand-drawn puzzle game where if the guns fits, they sits. Clearly inspired by the organisation aspects of Resident Evil, Inventory Tetris is now a full game, and is marked as ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ on Steam because of course it fucking is.

Hylics (2015) - £1.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/397740/Hylics/

More absurdist JRPG shenanigans, this time using Claymation and more coherent design choices over a couple of hours for your money. Extremely trippy, has positive ProtonDB reports, and even has a 10 hour long sequel for just over a tenner.

The Convenience Store (2020) - £2.09 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1228520/Chillas_Art_The_Convenience_Store/

 

Chilla’s Art horror games are all mostly cut from the same cloth – You do some shit in a PSX styled low-poly environment, get spooked by how characters pop up out of the blue, laugh it off, and then eventually shit yourself by the actual jumpscare the game throws at you. They’re extremely popular with game streamers as they’re cheap, timed for about an hour or two, and iterative while still being aesthetically pleasing and can terrify the living daylights out of people. The Convenience Store is one of the best in the selection, but have a peruse of the developer’s selection – they’re all mostly well received.

 

Pony Island (2016) - £3.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/405640/Pony_Island/

Only missing a spot on the main list because I’ve yet to fully play it, Pony Island is the first game Dan Mullins did before my 2021 GOTY, Inscryption – now available for pretty much bob-all, it’s a genuinely brilliant point and click meta-game that revolves around hacking an initially cute shmup game made by Satan. Verified on Deck, critics love it, and I think you’ll love it too.

Candice DeBeBe’s Incredibly Trick Lifestyle (2016) - £3.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/453790/Candice_DeBbs_Incredibly_Trick_Lifestyle/

 

I put this in here to check that you’re still reading.

Open Hexagon (2021) - £3.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1358090/Open_Hexagon/

Obviously this didn’t make the cut from being a spin-off, but was considered as Terry Cavanagh himself has given his blessing to this more unhinged successor to Super Hexagon. Full Mod/Workshop support, more mechanics and fully customisable, this game takes the Hexagon formula and runs to its eventual conclusion – stages that only robots can clear.

El Tango de la Muerte (2018) - £3.99 on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/701380/El_Tango_de_la_Muerte/

 

Although it’s extremely short, El Tango de la Muerte is a very unique spin on rhythm games, being set in 1920’s Argentina and set up like a latin soap opera. It works with the Steam Deck out of the box, although you will probably have to futz with the control settings to move beyond WASD movement with the D-Pad.

ENQUIRIES ESTABLISHING EXTRA EXTRAVAGANT ENTERTAINMENT (Games in the £7 Range)

As mentioned in the £4-7 Shit Vortex, a lot of steam games sit around the 6.99 mark to be easier to spot in the filters. But what ARE they? Well, I mostly omitted them due to the fact that it’s where the quality in games does increase dramatically – early PC ports of console games and top-tier older PC games normally languish here, alongside any of the deepest discounts trying to make some margin.

So, let’s see what you would get by forgoing a couple of quid more. Note: this will include games that can openly break additional rules, but for good reason – either by being outstanding games that don’t have a home on existing handhelds, and such other reasons. Let’s get started:

 

Spoiler

LISA: The Painful (2014) - £6.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/335670/LISA_The_Painful/

A game that’s part laugh-out-loud writing, part absolute pain, LISA is an Earthbound inspired RPG that routinely punishes you just for carrying on and puts you in horrible situations – permanently losing party members, permanently losing limbs, and permanently losing your humanity as you struggle with substance abuse as you look for your adopted daughter in a post-apocalyptic world comprised solely of male perverts and madmen. The trigger warnings are no joke, but the game is absolutely worth your time.

BallisticNG (2018) - £5.79 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/473770/BallisticNG/

 

 

It’s the Wipeout 3 PC port you always wanted, even if you didn’t know it – Packed with original tracks, ships and tunes, it provides an absurd amount of value and is absolutely stellar on the Steam Deck – Even before you venture into the Workshop mods that dumps even more content in. A Switch version is coming, but there’s no release window so far.

Fallout: New Vegas - £7.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/22380/Fallout_New_Vegas/

 

Frankly, it’s the reason a lot of people picked up a Steam Deck in the first place – to have a handheld version of the most majestic 3D Fallout game, myself included. The only reason NOT to buy this is if any key site offers the complete ‘Ultimate’ package for a similar, if not lower price due to being out for so long – Because the DLC within is essentially the best series of DLC provided in any game. Perfectly playable on the Steam Deck, and a perfect game.

Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition (1998, 2000 release) - £5.99 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/13240/Unreal_Tournament_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/



UT99 is the greatest arena FPS of all time, frankly the only good thing Epic Games has ever put out, and I’m adding it out of sheer hubris.

..And everything else

Spoiler

There’s still a lot I really haven’t mentioned, especially after dropping the rules. Anything that fits between £8-10 is fully within “Good indie game or discounted AAA game” territory – Underrail, Portal 2, Everhood, Hotline Miami, Garry’s Mod, Dishonored, ZeroRanger, Final Fantasy VII and Undertale firmly reside in this price range, amongst others.


And for £10-12 bracket, Even more good games – the Playstation classic Journey, Baba Is You, Dicey Dungeons, World of Horror and Katana Zero all reside here.


From this point, the line really blurs into deep discounts and stone cold classics. The £16 filter brings up Persona 4 Golden and any Yakuza game you want, including Yakuza 0. If you want something PC Exclusive, pick up either Project Zomboid, Dinkum or V Rising and call it a day.

Regardless, at this point you’ll also be contending with Bundles (either from Humble, Fanatical or Indiegala. The experiment is done at that point.

So, what the fuck would you buy, Siri?

Hard to say, but I would be the type of maniac that would min-max. My top picks overall would be:

Holocure, Space Funeral, Dominion, Helltaker, Rolling Bird, and The Looker for free picks (£0).
Save Room (£2), Pony Island (£4), BallisticNG (£6), and finally Fallout New Vegas (£8).

In fact, what I’d actually do is buy New Vegas: Ultimate Edition for a crisp fiver on CDKeys, but of course I’m accounting for pure RRP costs. Budgeting works, but don’t mug yourself by just buying on Steam. That’s what’s good about Steam.

And now, onto the Q&A!

Spoiler

Q: wHEre vampiRE SURvivOrS
A: It’s a great game, at a great price (£2-ish). It’s also on Xbox now, so it instantly falls at the first hurdle. 20 Minutes to Dawn also exists, but at that point I’d just go with HoloCure for this particular selection, and has absolutely nothing to do with my completely trashed Youtube account that’s full of fake anime girls malding at Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy.

EDIT: I was wrong, and my anime loving hubris has me crestfallen. If anyone is allergic to Anime, you can happily switch Save Room for VS, and HoloCure and Helltaker for FAITH and rRootage. but they're free and you should totally play them you fuckin weeb

Q: Waaaah I don’t like two dimensions I want my grafixxxxxxxxxx
A: Newsflash – All the graphics intensive games are either too expensive, too shit, too F2P, or are already on other formats to be considered. If you want something fancy, I recommend either stumping up for EA Play for a month (within Steam, so it should work like a peach with your linux-based handheld), or just picking up Apex Legends.

Q: What makes this list any better than a bundle?
A: In most cases, it isn’t – If a game you want is featured in a nice discounted bundle? By all means pick it up. But the problem with bundles and discounts is that they’re never static. This list is, for all purposes, the baseline of great games you can pick up when starting your journey on PC.

Q: Why should I bother picking up any of this when I can go to fucknintendo.org and pick up an entire library of SNES games?
A: Why did you bother picking up a PC when all you need to run that shit is a Raspberry Pi?

But to level with you, I’ve been there, basking in the glory of a ROM collection, or a pile of pirated software. The actual problem is, well, you really do just bask in it – choice paralysis sets in, and you play ffffffffffffffuck all of them. This list is small enough that maybe, just maybe, you’ll play something new and really enjoy it.

Q: How are you installing those non-steam games, bucko? That sounds HIGHLY UNETHICAL.
A: Most of the games listed are self-contained Windows Programs, so it’s quite easy – download them on wherever they are on the internet (you can use the Desktop Mode web browser for this), unpack the game wherever you want (I like the SD Card, personally), point steam to it (add as Non-Steam Game), go into the new game’s options, Change the name as you wish and force the game to run through Proton (any should do, if not ProtonGE). Then, go back into game mode and play. Easy!

Q: The fuck is ProtonGE?
A: It’s Proton with some extra shit to make games work betterer. Look up a guide for ProtonUpQT, that’ll get you going.

Q: Hey, dickhead, you didn’t mention Dwarf Fortress!
A: My bad, I haven’t played it yet. It’s a bit arcane and complex for my smooth brain, even after writing 33,000 words on cheap PC games.

Q: Aren’t these games rather expensive for a handful of hours?
A: If you want a game that costs zero money for infinite hours, speak to the guy who just shouted at me over Dwarf Fortress.

Q: bUt GamE pasS
A: If you want the full library of Game Pass on your Steam Deck, you can absolutely install Windows 11 and enjoy yourself with an existing subscription – There’s plenty of guides out there, and you can even use that crisp £20 budget to pick up a grey market Windows 11 key to get rid of the watermark. Personally, I would dual boot, keep the watermark and spend the money in SteamOS still - but I can’t be arsed, choice is brilliant like that.

Q: So, are all F2P games shit in your eyes?
A: Not really – I’ve been playing Path of Exile for over a decade, and I’ve already clocked 40-80 hours on the Deck with that alone. But I’m trying to be realistic with what people can actually afford, and microtransactions are a slippery slope.

Q: No giveaways? Are you that robot with the No Fun Allowed sign?
A: Yes, but that’s not the point – Like discounts, they’re not around forever to claim.

Q: Hey, you didn’t mention [VERY OBSCURE ANIME VISUAL NOVEL WHERE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE SAD]
A: I’m sorry, truly. I know some shit about PC games, but I don’t know everything. But why don't you tell me about it? Especially Misao and System Shock 2, I had to axe them from this guide as I didn't know much about them (yes, this guide was longer)

So, how about you?

If there’s a game that fits this extremely obscure range of rules, and is an absolute cracker, I’d like you to shout it out.

Same format as I did – Name of the game, Price, Where you can get it. Tell us what it is we’re looking at (like, put up a screenshot, just find some shit on google serious dude), and if it’s good (and more than ‘yes’). Ideally, it should work on Deck (or as a surrogate, Linux), but feel free to look at both ProtonDB to find out instead.

Let's hear it for the ABSOLUTE UNITS who have shared their choices:

bradigor - Arrow Sudoku (£4.99), Pullfrog ($2), Pushamo ($4.99), Basket Belle (£3.99), Milkmaid of the Milkyway ($4.99)

 

keptbybees - Don't Make Love, Super Auto Pets, Watch Me Jump, You Have to Win the Game, Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt for free picks, Shatter (£1.69), Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (£2.09), Why Am I Dead At Sea (£3.99), Reventure (£4.99) and Deathstate: Abyssal Edition (£6.99)

Anyway, if you got this far after reading everything in the spoiler tags, seriously, thank you for putting up with it, and I do hope you'll find something you'll greatly enjoy on your new bit of kit.

tl;dr play UT99

[Ry]

Vampire Survivors ain't on Xbox btw. 

[Qazimod]

I like "recommendations within budgets" threads, but alas I don't have a Deck so can't really comment. Nice idea though.  

[bradigor]

Will look through my library in the week.

[Siri]

57 minutes ago, Ry said:

Vampire Survivors ain't on Xbox btw. 

 

Ah, fair enough - when I read 'Early Access' in the Game Pass blurb, I thought it was for both XBox and PC.

 

In that case, if anyone is allergic to Anime, you can happily switch Save Room for VS, and HoloCure and Helltaker for FAITH and rRootage.

 

Half the reason I wanted to shout about so many games - there's something for everyone. And I'm hoping to hear more from others!

[jonamok]

Amazing OP. Thank you.

[bradigor]

For less than £5 each you can get the Sudoku games from the guys behind 'Cracking the Cryptic' - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1613680/Arrow_Sudoku/

Only a couple are verified, but they all work. 

 

PullFrog is a cool little twist on Tetris for $2 on Itch: https://afk-mario.itch.io/pullfrog

 

Pushamo is a wonderful puzzle game on Itch for $4.99: https://gamedevbrook.itch.io/pushamo

 

Basket Belle is a very cool platformer with a narrative for £3.99: https://store.steampowered.com/app/329690/BasketBelle/

 

Milkmaid of the Milkyway is a lovely point and click, that takes a couple of hours to play and just $4.99: https://machineboy.itch.io/milkmaid-of-the-milky-way

 

Just a few off the top of my head. 

 

 

 

[Siri]

Fun fact: I put my money where my mouth is, and bought Save Room because of my own fucking post.

 

It's really good! Completed all 40 puzzles in about two hours, and had a great time doing it - didn't want to stop after starting it this morning. The controller support is a little buggy on deck, but I futzed with the mouse via the Deck's shortcut and it seemed to snap things back into place - it's either that, or going full KBM with the set SteamOS template. In all, not bad at all for something completely unknown.

 

I'm considering adding an addendum for some of the game types I immediately ruled out - Fangames that are intended to be the same thing as the franchise its copying and not be awful, and games with less egregious F2P models. There are a couple (honest!), but I'll want to get a couple more examples first.

 

Basket Belle looks great, @bradigor, and I'll have to log into my itch account to grab Pushamo as it was part of a bundle.

 

I should mention to anyone worried about chipping in - if a game does not use anti-cheat, it probably works fine on anything because of Proton, so do go ahead and sound off about anything that is good and free (or cheap without a discount)!

 

[Siri]

Well, shit, you learn something new every day!

 

One of the most popular games that existed on the 360 Live Arcade, I Made A Game With Zombies In It (I'm not doing the actual naming convention for it, CBA), is 100% free on Steam. It used to be $1, so you can call it a 100% discount, really.

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1800730/I_MAED_A_GAM3_W1TH_Z0MB1ES_1N_IT1/

 

EDIT: actually, don't consider it a discount, it wouldn't make the list fuuuuucccckkkkk 

[bradigor]

9 minutes ago, Siri said:

Well, shit, you learn something new every day!

 

One of the most popular games that existed on the 360 Live Arcade, I Made A Game With Zombies In It (I'm not doing the actual naming convention for it, CBA), is 100% free on Steam. It used to be $1, so you can call it a 100% discount, really.

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1800730/I_MAED_A_GAM3_W1TH_Z0MB1ES_1N_IT1/

 

EDIT: actually, don't consider it a discount, it wouldn't make the list fuuuuucccckkkkk 

 

WHAT?!?! How did I not know this?

 

Edit:

 

OH FUCK THAT SOUNDTRACK!!! I completely forgot how awesome it is. 

[keptbybees]

I've had a go at the challenge, it was very hard trying to find games that have not been released on consoles as well but I think this list works. I haven't got a Steam Deck but most of them have a playable or verified deck rating on Steam so I think it is good. With that, the list:

 

Don't Make Love, Super Auto Pets, Watch Me Jump, You Have to Win the Game, Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt for free picks (£0).
Shatter  (£1.69), Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (£2.09), Why Am I Dead At Sea (£3.99), Reventure (£4.99) and Deathstate: Abyssal Edition (£6.99)

 

More information on the free game in this section:

Spoiler

Don't Make Love

 

 

This game concerns two Praying Mantises who are in love and are discussing consummating their relationship - of course this does mean that at the end the female will kill the other which makes it a much harder decision. This is a narrative based game where you choose lines of dialogue/how to react to move the story forward, so it is very much a visual story but it is an interesting spin and well written.

 

Super Auto Pets 

 

 

One of the genres that has really come into its own over the last few years is the Auto-battler and there are now a host of options to choose from. The basic premise in most of these games is that you get a limited amount of currency before each round to buy units and upgrades with in a time limit before two teams are matched together and the AI plays out the ensuing battle based on your choices. I've gone for Super Auto Pets as it is pretty easy to pick up and play without much prior knowledge needed before hand, the systems themselves are very straight forward but there is depth in the kind of builds you can make within whatever pool of animals are currently in the rotation. There is a paid expansion you can get that give you more options but free players can't be matched with anyone owning the expansion so you will always have the same playing field as your opponents.

 

Watch Me Jump

 

 

Another short narrative game, this time about a WNBA player called Audra Bee Mills though Basketball takes a back seat for most of the game.  This is very much one for lovers of visual story games, if they aren't your bag then you are unlikely to get on with the title. The graphics could kindly be described as functional, you get to choose from only two options for each decision and there is minimal other gameplay, but the story is worth playing through and makes up for the other shortcomings. It was apparently adapted from an existing play and it shows in the quality of the writing. This was originally a paid for game (around £2 I think) but has recently gone to free.

 

You Have to Win the Game

 

 

This is a retro love letter to the old platform games like Jet Set Willy, so expect an interconnecting map made up of screens with silly names and optional collectables for the extra challenge. If you like this then the creator made a paid follow up called 'Super You Have to Win the Game' which turns everything up a notch.

 

Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt

 

 

You play the titular Princess Remedy who is being sent down to Hurtland to use their recently acquired healing powers to tend to the sick people of the land. She does this by having a shoot out with the things ailing them. If there was one word to sum the game up it would be 'quirky' and it is will be very clear from the Steam page for the game if it is going to be for you or not. I found it a fun diversion and I enjoyed the short dialogue of people telling you what is wrong with them and then how they have been healed. The healing mechanics are quite fun as well if basic.

 

 

More information on the paid for games in this section:

Spoiler

Shatter (£1.69)

 

 

I loved Arkanoid and Breakout along with their various clones, there is something satisfying in clearing a room of bricks by bouncing a ball back at them. Shatter takes the basic concept of these games and adds in different axes, moving blocks and powerups alongside a 'suck/blow' mechanic which can be used to hoover up the floating tokens that come out of the smashed blocks as well as affect the blocks on the screen. Really good fun to play and a good game for high score chasing for a measly £1.69, they are apparently releasing a remastered version of the game in a few months so you might want to hold off to see how that is but I think it is worth picking up now at such a low price.

 

Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (£2.09)

 

 

I would imagine most people on this forum will have at least heard of the Oregon Trail game, this takes the loose concept and uses it as an excuse to throw random shooting challenges at you one after the other. Not a game for long play sessions but a fun game to pick up and have a couple of runs on to see what madness you will encounter this time. 

 

Why Am I Dead at Sea (£3.99)

 

 

You start the game by finding out you have been murdered on a ship and now your spirit must find out who you are and why this has happened by using your sprit powers and possessing other people/animals. This is a well written little murder-mystery game with some puzzle solving, there is a fair bit of dialogue reading but it does what it sets out to do well and has probably been a little overlooked.

 

Reventure (£4.99)

 

 

Why have one ending for your game when you can have a hundred? That is the the premise behind Reventure where you must try achieve all of the possible outcomes for the game. There is a lot of fun in learning the map and how different actions affect what you can do to influence the direction to try and end up at the various outcomes. Some of them are very quick, some are much longer, a lot of them involve your dying but once an ending is found you jump straight back into the start of the game to go again. Most of the endings lead to you starting with a new look and ending text and it is compelling to see what new things you can find within each run.

 

Deathstate: Abyssal Edition (£6.99)

 

 

This game describes itself as a one-stick bullet hell shooter and that is a pretty good summation of what you get here. Your character is constantly shooting their weapon and you just have to focus on getting into the best positions to get a good shot off whilst not getting hit. There are several characters, including unlocks, you all play in slightly different ways and pick ups to upgrade your character during the run. It is based on a 'rogue-like' so each run will be different which may put some people off. Personally I'm a big fan of the genre and while it isn't as good as the bigger names in the field, of which nearly all are ineligible to be included in these lists, I think Deathstate does enough to stand out by doing something a little different.

 

 

 

 

[bradigor]

Shatter is on PS3 but it is so good on Deck it should be allowed.

[Siri]

47 minutes ago, bradigor said:

Shatter is on PS3 but it is so good on Deck it should be allowed.

Yeah, I know that feeling - I think I would have a list of free also-rans as long as my arm if I didn't limit to games that have never appeared on anything else.

That's a great write-up, @keptbybees, thank you for taking the time! Don't Make Love sounds great, and I'm pretty sure I have super wagon adventure somewhere, so I will give them a go!

I will add links to the posts in the 'What about you?' part of the OP, to honor those who have taken part - I don't think anyone else needs to be super strict, and I'll be looking into some stuff that I absolutely banned for myself as straight up addendums.

(this is absolutely an excuse to put Streets of Rage Remake at the top of one list in 2022)

[Siri]

Sorry, bumping this with only a couple of games, but for a particular cause -

 

Waves and the Early Access Waves 2, a couple of great Geometry Wars clones that are only on PC, are now free to play.

 

This is unfortunately because the creator, Rob Hale, passed away due to complications from Cancer. They considered making the game free while undergoing treatment, which their partner has acted upon. The games will likely never be updated, but will be on any storefront for as long as they're around.

 

So, have a play of it - both games work well on Deck. Then give the people you care about a hug.

[bradigor]

Oh no, that's so sad. Both games are really good, so do get then. 

 

Can I add Don't Die Mr Robot DX to the midst buy list, just short of 4.99 on Steam. Runs perfectly on Deck 

[watusi]

On 12/08/2022 at 16:58, bradigor said:

Shatter is on PS3 but it is so good on Deck it should be allowed.

 

Just fired this up, I'd forgotten what a great game it is! Also, the Boss Music is up there with the bestest video game music ever.