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.
Me and my friends tried to play the ascend but it was unplayable because of desync everywhere. Ever had that problem? Since then I think it may have been the player hosting the server because we always have problems depending on who is being the host.
Sorry to hear. I’m not sure what you mean by desync? Do you mean that the remote players lose track of what’s happening on the server? I don’t recall having major issues with that. I think our game is always hosted by the same person, so maybe it could be dependent on host?
Pickups stayed on the ground is the only thing I remember but there was other funky stuff.
Maybe we should give it another go with me hosting. Seem to be the only person able to do so without someone having problems.
Oh, wait, now that you mention that it’s bringing back some memories. Yes, I think we have run into issues like that, but it wasn’t so much that we stopped playing because of it. It’s been a little while, but we’ll get back to it eventually. I just love the environments on that game.
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Me and my friends tried to play the ascend but it was unplayable because of desync everywhere. Ever had that problem? Since then I think it may have been the player hosting the server because we always have problems depending on who is being the host.
Sorry to hear. I’m not sure what you mean by desync? Do you mean that the remote players lose track of what’s happening on the server? I don’t recall having major issues with that. I think our game is always hosted by the same person, so maybe it could be dependent on host?
Pickups stayed on the ground is the only thing I remember but there was other funky stuff. Maybe we should give it another go with me hosting. Seem to be the only person able to do so without someone having problems.
Oh, wait, now that you mention that it’s bringing back some memories. Yes, I think we have run into issues like that, but it wasn’t so much that we stopped playing because of it. It’s been a little while, but we’ll get back to it eventually. I just love the environments on that game.