Steam is a place where gamers can get tons of games for low, prices depending on whether or not there’s a sale or a special. It’s a pretty ingenious system and can render a game that would normally be full priced new to being half that price. Normally you’d only see that from a game that was several years old at Gamestop or if they were desperately trying to get rid of the games before they were forced to do something with them.
With the massive quantity of games on steam, it can be hard to decide between which game you want and which game you might want. Not only that, but if the game is not on sale, you might have to spend some precious dollars on a game that you don’t even know if you’ll like.
However, there are games on Steam that don’t put too much of a strain on your wallet and are worth every penny you pay for them. These games are under five dollars and while there are many games under this price tag (not including ones on sale) some of the games in this massive list are true hidden gems.
Below I will list five games under five dollars that you may or might not have heard of, that are truly worth the small price you pay for them. Besides its much better to pay under five dollars for a game that you will have a fun experience with for around 3 hours rather than pay twelve dollars for a movie you don’t even know if you’ll like for around an hour and a half.
The Binding of Isaac
This little gem only comes to a total of $4.99 which is absolutely amazing considering how much you get for it. The game is about a little boy named Isaac who escapes into his basement when his mom goes crazy trying to sacrifice him to God. From there he has to navigate through randomly generated dungeons with various powerups to help him defeat the evils within his basement.
It has a quirky yet highly disturbing art style making all the hell beasts look somewhat cute and terrifying at the exact same time. The player also can get very attached to Isaac, wanting to make sure he succeeds in surviving these beasts and his super religious mother. The Binding of Isaac is an RPG shooter with rogue-like elements to it that really make it stand out from the rest of the pack.
The Binding of Isaac’s main story line is 10 hours in total, meaning you already get your money’s worth if you just blow through the main campaign and the main campaign only. If you want to explore a little it might take around 31 hours depending on how deep into the game you go.
For any completionists out there wanting to collect everything the game can span all the way up to 109 hours or possibly more. I really recommend the Binding of Isaac for the sheer amount of game, story and just enjoyment out of it for such a low price.
DLC Quest
Have you ever sat back and said to yourself “Man these companies are taking DLCs way too far!” Well you haven’t seen anything yet. The game is only $2.99 and honestly is worth any penny for the sheer entertainment value this satirical yet cautionary tale evokes. DLC Quest is based on what would happen if DLC was taken too far by companies, having gamers pay for every single minute thing they may take for granted.
It even pokes fun at certain company practices that have come under fire in the recent years for scamming players out of money. It’s a platformer, allowing the player to only do certain things if they collect enough coins for their DLC. Collecting coins is a big part of the game because without money the player can’t progress. Even a DLC that seems meaningless can be important in the long run to be the game with the best ending so remember to buy it all!
The first mode of gameplay is about an hour long and isn’t very challenging but the second mode Live Freemium or Die offers another hour with new features like wall jumping! Which you also have to buy as a DLC. This game is worth playing at least once if only to sheer amount satirical brilliance in brings to the stable and the unsettling parallel to how companies are doing DLC now.
The Blackwell Legacy
The Blackwell Legacy is the first in a series of point and click adventure games for the low price for $4.99. The game focuses on Rosa Blackwell, whose aunt just died and just when she thinks her day can’t get any worse she’s forced to help report on a suicide that just happened at NYU. From there, Rosa’s life goes from bad to worse when she finds out the real reason behind her aunt’s apparent madness and finds out that she might have inherited the dangerous Blackwell Legacy which is the ability to comunicate with the spirits beyond with the help of Joey Malone a 1930’s ganger ghost.
The series has a supernatural, mystery solving angle to it, that lasts around 2 ½ hours long and it is really worth price of admission. It’s the first game in the series, and it intros the story and world you’re about to jump into very well.
The main characters are well developed, the voice acting is pretty good, the humor will make you chuckle more than once and it’s just an all-around good story. The Blackwell Legacy deserved to be plucked from its bargain bin and played like the beautiful tribute to all point and click adventure games it is.
Unholy Heights
While tower defense games might be a niche genre of gaming, but I would be hard pressed to leave out the $3.99 Unholy Heights. The basic story is, you are the devil and you’ve taken an apartment building to house monsters only.
You get a variety of creatures living in your building who, depending on their placement within the apartment building will be used to help defend it from meddlesome humans. The happier you make your monsters, the better stats they gain and the more likely they will survive an assault from the angry humans.
The game itself is strangely addictive and as the Landlord you get really involved in the lives of your tenants. Trying to get them to pay rent without leaving town before you get the chance to collect. You also have to desperately try to make your cartoonish creatures of darkness the happiest they can be so they can have good stats.
It’s easy to get invested in this game and while the main story is only supposed to be eight hours, players might find themselves wanting to log more hours into it because of its addictive nature.
Super Hexagon
Super Hexagon is a surprisingly difficult game with a very simple concept for only 2.99. Navigate the lit through atle shapen increasingly difficult set of puzzles primarily in the form of various hexagons. The music in the background syncs up perfectly with the music that’s playing and each puzzle gets far more difficult than the next.
Players will have to get used to hearing the female voice say “Game Over” whenever they start playing because this game is hard to get the hang of at first. It’s a good test of reflexes and it’s one of those games that is hard but not in an unfair sort of way. Every error you make in Super Hexagon is your own, not because of bad programing but because you didn’t react fast enough. It is one of those games that you show your friends and say:
“You guys have got to play this!”
This bright, difficult, puzzle game deserves to be picked up even by the most skeptical gamer because while it may be difficult, when you surpass the level that you were struggling with before the feeling of triumph is indescribable.
There are many other Steam games around this price range that were not listed here, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be checked out. All because a game doesn’t have a AAA price tag and budget doesn’t mean it should be left forgotten among gamers. Who knows, maybe going through what’s essentially the bargain bin of Steam will help you find your own hidden gem.
Published: Jul 30, 2014 12:11 pm