Yesterday, I shared how—this month—I bought 226 PC games for $135. Generally speaking, there were three responses to that post:
“Wow, that’s a ton of games for so little!”
“Will you ever actually play all of those?”
“That’s gotta be pure slop.”
Fair questions. So here’s some context.
Back in 2015, I had a dumb-but-sincere goal: to collect every budget game on Steam. At the time, it felt doable. But then came the deluge—more games releasing every day, plus the rise of asset flips and lazy shovelware. I gave up on the idea and started being… selective-ish.
Still, that reckless phase taught me something valuable: not all budget games are garbage. In fact, some of the best games I’ve ever played came from that experiment. They just never had marketing muscle behind them.
Here are a few that stuck with me:
Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages. A top-down action RPG, set in space, with some similarities to Escape Velocity but with a more involved story. It also has a killer soundtrack, and a spin-off novel available on Amazon.
Enemy Mind. A horizontal shooter, with pixel art graphics, where you play a consciousness that can seize and take hold of enemy ships.
Shadowgrounds. A top-down shooter that takes place in a space colony. Somewhat similar to Alien Breed for Amiga but with even better weapons. Made by Frozenbyte, the same team behind Trine.
Caster. A low-poly 3rd person shooter where you battle bug-like creatures, featuring lots of terrain deformation.
AquaNox. An underwater submarine cockpit shooter that merges arcade thrills with a fun post-apocalyptic sci-fi story.
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi. A vampire-themed survival horror and FPS hybrid with the best opening scene I’ve experienced in any video game.
Of course, it wasn’t all hidden gems. 2015 was also the year I was introduced to Hotline Miami, Psychonauts, VVVVVV, Disciples: Sacred Lands, and Savant Ascent. All those games I acquired 10 years ago for less than $1. Good luck convincing me that wasn’t a better use of a dollar than a gas station coffee.
Now, sure—I played some absolute trash. Camera Obscura, Intergalactic Bubbles, Warriors & Castles—all of them unplayable disasters. I ignored the red flags. I thought “it’s only 50 cents.” Rookie mistake.
I have since become pickier.
And I know what you’re thinking: “You bought 226 games this month. That’s you being pickier?”
Yes, I bought 226 games this month. But I’ve become discerning. I avoid anything with reviews below 60% on Steam unless it’s hilariously bad (Daikatana, I’m looking at you). No meme games. No anime titty mahjong. No asset flips with “Simulator” in the title.
Lately, I’ve been diving into Warhammer, Star Wars, Battlefield, Sherlock Holmes, and Men of War titles—all dirt cheap. Finally played Enter the Gungeon, Doom (2016), Skyrim, and Undertale.
And some new-to-me standouts? Try these:
Another Crusade
Sundered
The Ascent
Andro Dunos 2
Soulstice
So no, price doesn’t equal quality. If you’re willing to dig through the bargain bin, you’ll find gold. Just wear gloves.
Then I would say that your opinion of these things is irrelevant since you didn’t have the time to truly experience them. In most games 5 minutes is the length of the tutorial section, in shows it’s the beginning of the pilot episode, for movies nothing has actually happened yet.
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I definitely can form an opinion of a game within the first five minutes of playing it—just as I can with a TV show or movie.
Namely, I can form an opinion on control, mechanics, aesthetic, and enjoyability.
Should every game be completed in order to assess its worth? Nope, not at all.
Then I would say that your opinion of these things is irrelevant since you didn’t have the time to truly experience them. In most games 5 minutes is the length of the tutorial section, in shows it’s the beginning of the pilot episode, for movies nothing has actually happened yet.
If all the games you play require tutorials, then you haven’t experienced a whole lot of games.
There are whole genres devoted to instant gratification. No tutorials. Most arcade games, for example. You start up and simply play.