“Lock up your wallets,” the tired old joke goes, “it’s Steam sale time.” And indeed, the Steam holiday sale is a great opportunity to pick up tons of games for not very much money.
The trouble is, the Steam sale tends to encourage people to pick up as many games as possible, then never get around to playing them. In previous Steam sales, I’ve probably gathered sufficient games to keep me busy for literally years now — to such a degree that it’s now quite hard to find something new I might want to buy when a new sale comes around — and yet have still only barely scratched the surface of the games I own.
A lesser-appreciated thing that you can do around Steam Sale time, though, is try out something that you might not have given a chance normally. Perhaps it’s in a genre you don’t normally like, or you’ve been put off by mixed or middling reviews, or you’re simply not sure if you’ll enjoy it from what other people have told you about it.
The Steam sale is the perfect time to take a chance on these games, though, and see how well you get on with them. If you like them, great! Keep playing! And if you don’t… well, you’ve only spent a few quid on them at most — at least if you’ve obeyed the Unwritten Law of Steam Sales, which is to not buy anything unless it sees a larger-than-50% discount — preferably 75% off.
One might argue that demos fulfil much the same function as what I’m proposing here, but demos don’t often give you the full picture of how a game plays in the long term — often, they provide a simple slice of gameplay divorced from its surrounding context, which in many cases doesn’t do it any favours, particularly if the game itself is a complex one. Grabbing a copy of a game you’ve been on the fence about for a few quid, meanwhile, allows you to jump into the experience with beginner’s mind, try it out for yourself and give it a fair shot without having to worry about it “expiring” or anything just as it starts getting interesting.
I’ve got my eye on a few things I might be interested in trying this Steam sale, and they’re all titles I probably wouldn’t buy under normal circumstances.
First up, I grabbed XCOM the other day, since everyone says it’s great. I don’t know if or when I’ll get around to playing it, but it’s nice to have the option.
Second, I’m interested in taking a look at WarGame: AirLand Battle after a friend of mine expressed some interest in potentially playing it multiplayer sometime. Military war games aren’t usually my thing, but that may be just because I haven’t tried many of them in the past. AirLand Battle sounds like it does some interesting things that I quite like the sound of, but I’m worried I’ll be embarrassingly shit at it and never be able to get anywhere.
Thirdly, I have the original version of Sins of a Solar Empire in physical format and quite liked it, but didn’t get super-into it. The latest version Rebellion is in the Steam sale, and I’m umming and ahhing over giving it another shot — particularly since, again, it’s something I might be able to play with friends.
Finally, Divinity: Dragon Commander looks like an enjoyable time, featuring, as it does, jetpack-wearing dragons, political intrigue, RPG elements atop a strategy game. I saw a very early version of this back at Gamescom in 2010 and liked it a lot, so I’d be interested in giving the full version a go.
If the price is right on any of these over the course of the Steam sale — they’re all a little high at the time of writing — then I’ll more than happily give them a go. Who knows? I might find a new favourite among them. Why don’t you try doing the same?
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