Your weekend look at what good stuff is currently on sale

I wanted to buy a few games on itch but they don’t include VAT in the displayed price, so a game on a -25% sale gets then +20% VAT and the deal is not so interesting anymore… Ended up not buying anything. Maybe they should display the real price like litteraly every other store does. And also let people wishlist games and buy several at the same time.

Yeah, I agree. It's caught me out a few times, would be nice if they stored my address too when it asks me because of VATMOSS stuff...

Edit: They plan to eventually.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 29 June 2019 at 3:38 pm UTC

I picked up Deep Sky Derelicts (Steam key) for 75% discount on Gamebillet. Overall, I see typical discounts on Steam during this Summer Sale, i.e. There aren't that many really juicy deals.

More Steam deals:
Valve Complete Pack (-95%) includes beloved classics like the Portal and Half-Life series. Strongly recommended for fans of the original Half-Life is obviously Black Mesa (-60%)

Double Fine Bundle (-93%). Some real gems in this large collection, e.g. the Remastered versions of Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle.

All 3 Trine games bundle: Trinelogy (-86%)

Serious Sam Complete Pack (-84%)
All Serious Sam games are Linux native via Serious Sam Fusion (free).

Lastly, because I love Observer: Layers of Fear + >observer_ Bundle (-76%)

Another great bundle for those who may not have them yet, Metro Redux Bundle (about -81%)
Note: while this link is GoL affiliate HumbleBundle, the bundle is also available from Steam directly at the same price, if you prefer.

If you missed it on Itch.io, Basingstoke is still free for Linux gamers.

That's weird, this thread of Steam sales does not have many suggestion posts, even after the weekend. Very different from previous sales, what's going on?

It's an interesting question. Answering from my own perspective, I have already accumulated so many games in my Steam, GOG, itch.io collections, that my propensity to buy more titles has lessened. I should aim to play and finish more of the ones I already own.

Another influencing factor for me is that a game needs to really appeal to me *and* be a good price to fuel my urge to make an immediate purchase. For me, there aren't many instances of this appearing in the recent Steam Sale. I keep a very close eye on titles that appeal to me and the discounts are practically all at the same level as they usually reach. I'd only tend to make purchase recommendations if the purchase was a really juicy one (i.e. appeal and/or level of discount).

Buying games at a good price means that I can buy more of them, and as such support more Linux developers. I'm not keen to recommend Windows-only titles that work on Proton, as I feel that native Linux titles deserve our support much more.

Another factor that comes to mind is it feels that there has been a bit of a slow-down over recent years in terms of Linux titles being released by developers who previously made an effort in the direction of Linux. For me, I am severely disappointed by the studios who produced FTL (now Into The Breach), Dungeon Warfare (now Dungeon Warfare II), Shadow Warrior (now Shadow Warrior 2), Space Run (now Space Run Galaxy), M.E. Shadow of Mordor (now M.E. Shadow of War), The Witcher 2 (now TW3), and the long waits for Linux ports of titles expected to eventually come to Linux (Are they really coming?).

On the other side of the coin there have been some fantastic new titles popping up, and they've garnered my suppoort, but I already own them so won't appear in my recommendations for the latest Steam Sale (e.g. Slay The Spire, Dicey Dungeons on itch, 7 Days To Die, The Long Dark). My most anticipated Linux game coming up soon is Serious Sam 4. Another title I'm exceptionally keen on is Dying Light 2 (but is it going to get a Linux release?)

I think game developers also have the problem that more and more titles are released and available to purchase nowadays, and there is a massive dilution effect. For native Linux developers, Proton is assisting that dilution even further. Linux gamers have so much choice over what titles they can buy, but have self-imposed financial constraints so won't increase their total spend on the game market. I'd like to know the stats of percentage purchases native Linux versus Proton for Linux gamers and that would indicate the sort of dilution effect caused by Proton. (I bought 1 Proton title and 1 native Linux title in the Steam Sale, and 2 Linux titles outside the Steam Sale over the past few days.)


EDIT: Actually just spotted a native Linux title that I'd recommend due to appeal and discount in the Steam Sale: Strafe: Millennium Edition at 75% off.


Last edited by g000h on 1 July 2019 at 11:51 am UTC

Another couple of great games spotted at fantastic discounts, in the Steam Summer Sale:

Sky Force: Anniversary at 90% discount.

Sky Force: Reloaded at 50% discount.

and potential to get both:

Sky Force Bundle at 73% discount.

Highly recommended!