Best steam games under $25?

[Avilan the Grey]

See thread title... I am interested in RPGs, Adventures and strategy. No MMORPGs.

[Eldan]

Deus Ex: HUman Revolution. I paid around 20 Euros for it, I'd assume it's about the same in Dollars. A bit short, but fun and worth that much. Looks like a sneaky game, but if you don't like that, no one's stopping you from equipping a gatling gun and laser cannon and playing Cyborg Rambo.

[Avilan the Grey]

Deus Ex: HUman Revolution. I paid around 20 Euros for it, I'd assume it's about the same in Dollars. A bit short, but fun and worth that much. Looks like a sneaky game, but if you don't like that, no one's stopping you from equipping a gatling gun and laser cannon and playing Cyborg Rambo.

Ah. Maybe I should list what I have. Thanks anyway :

Champions Online (got it today because why not)
Crusader Kings II
Skyrim
Fallout New Vegas
Fallout 3
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Plants vs Zombies
Monkey Island Special Edition
Sid Meyer's Pirates
Torchlight II
XCOM Enemy Unknown

[Zen Monkey]

The original Thief and X-Com games are really cheap but worth playing.

[Mando Knight]

KotOR is fairly cheap.

[factotum]

I would advise holding off if I were you. The Steam Christmas sale will probably be on in less than a month, and you might be able to get awesomeness then that isn't in your price range now.

[Impnemo]

FTL - Great indie game, nintendo hard.

Alien Swarm - Free, fun, but small and shrinking player base

AI War, fleet command - another nintendo hard indie game

Sword of the Stars Complete Collection -Do not get SotS 2, and I hestitate to recommend 1 anymore because of how they handled 2's release. Utterly shameful. Still, SotS 1 is a fantastic 4x-ish game.

Crysis Warhead (or maximum edition, you are after Crysis Wars) - I only recommend this because of the total conversion mod Mechwarrior Living Legends. This one goes on sale often, $10 even sometimes down to $5. Dont be scared off by "crysis", most any box built in the last 6 years can handle this game and the mod itself has more polish than most AAA titles.

Frozen Synapse - Squad tactical command, solid gameplay

[Avilan the Grey]

I would advise holding off if I were you. The Steam Christmas sale will probably be on in less than a month, and you might be able to get awesomeness then that isn't in your price range now.

You know, people using logic, common sense and giving good advice in general are really irritating

You are right, of course.

[Weezer]

If you like CKII, give the other paradox Grand Strategy games a try. EUIII, Victoria II and HoI3 are all amazing games that are both available on steam and pretty cheap. Though one heads up, unlike for CKII, the major expansions/dlc are pretty much necessary. Paradox in its pre-CKII state tended to release games that were okay but flawed and then majorly fix the flaws and turn the games into masterpieces through big patches and expansions. Europa Universalis III is my favorite, and the complete pack on steam is 30$ (oddly it's called Europa Universalis III Chronicles, EUIII complete doesn't have 2 of the most recent expansions). It's also the closest to CKII in style, it's about nationbuilding and colonization, while VII focuses on economy and HoI3 is the most complicated (as well as best) WWII military strategy 'sim' i've ever seen.

Sword of the Stars Complete Collection -Do not get SotS 2, and I hestitate to recommend 1 anymore because of how they handled 2's release. Utterly shameful. Still, SotS 1 is a fantastic 4x-ish game.

Actually, SotS2 has been fixed to the level that the devs would've wanted at release (according to an anouncement by them one or 2 months ago) and it's pretty damn good, especially if you like very complex 4x games.

[Impnemo]

I realize, but at the same time I have to ask myself, do I think that behavior deserves rewarding? Only way to say I don't approve is to vote with my money, and they got mine when I pre-purchased, so I figure I'll vote with yours instead.


If EA, Activision, Ubisoft or any of the big guys had done that for a release there would have been marches in the street. They're not one of the big monolithic companies, but there is still only so much slack I'm willing to grant.

[Ogremindes]

I saw the Spiderweb Software Complete Pack last night. More than $25 for the pack (it's $40), but it contains 11 massive, secret-ridden old-school CRPGs. I haven't played all of them, but all the Spiderweb stuff I've played has been very good.

Oh, that reminds me. Legend of Grimrock is pretty damn fun too. It's a first person dungeon crawler.

[Volthawk]

I would advise holding off if I were you. The Steam Christmas sale will probably be on in less than a month, and you might be able to get awesomeness then that isn't in your price range now.

I googled this earlier on (was wondering when it started myself), and from what I can see the Christmas sale will start on the 20th.

[Corlindale]

King's Bounty: The Legend is a fantastic turn-based strategy/RPG hybrid. There are more games in the series, but the newest one is above your budget, and I prefer the first to Armored Princess. If you like Heroes of Might & Magic style combat you'll be right at home here.

Dungeons of Dredmor is a fantastic roguelike which can easily last you hundreds of hours once it sucks you in. Highly recommended, and dirt cheap.

[Andre]

CS:GO is cool for 5 bucks (ten when the sale ends) but beware, people will try and convince you that you won't be able to play without a professional gaming mouse, mousepad, keyboard, and headset. I reply that my mousepad is small, full of folds, and has kittens on it.

[Zen Master]

King's Bounty

I never understood the love for King's Bounty. I have both it and Armored Princess - but ... I dunno, to me they seem to devolve into an endless grind for more troops. Am I doing it wrong?

Frozen Synapse - Squad tactical command, solid gameplay

Isn't the player base basically gone now?!

Anyways .... um, Bastion. Get Bastion. Best game since ... I dunno, Torment or something.

[Sharoth]

CS:GO is cool for 5 bucks (ten when the sale ends) but beware, people will try and convince you that you won't be able to play without a professional gaming mouse, mousepad, keyboard, and headset. I reply that my mousepad is small, full of folds, and has kittens on it.

CS:GO? What does that stand for?

[Hiro Protagonest]

Hm... you said no MMORPGs. But the MMO I want to suggest is hardly standard fare, and it ain't an RPG...

Well, my other suggestion is Terraria. Side-scrolling RPG. Dig/mine/build/explore/fight/loot stuff. Basic goals are to build as many houses as possible (which, while they can be stacked on top of each other, sadly penalizes the construction of large castles, as they only count as one house), to mine metals and get better equipment (silver and gold are actually good for equipment in this game), and to explore under and aboveground (floating islands! A telltale sign is when there's a cache of metal on surface, although the less valuable copper and iron might just spawn there anyway).

[wiimanclassic]

Alpha Protocol, more so if you have a 360 controller to play it with also.

[Castaras]

Don't Starve is awesome. Still in beta, a survival rpgish thing that's addictive and amusing. Very tim-burton ish, and currently can be pre-ordered for reasonably cheap - and you get two copies, so you can split the cost of the game between two people.

[Partof1]

If point and click adventures are your thing, I just finished the Sam and Max series, and would highly recommend it. It's a Telltale studios thing, the people who made the Walking Dead games.

The whole collection is about $50, but that's for 16 episodes, and I got mine on sale at $15 for the lot. Take a look, once the Christmas sale has started.

[Corlindale]

I never understood the love for King's Bounty. I have both it and Armored Princess - but ... I dunno, to me they seem to devolve into an endless grind for more troops. Am I doing it wrong?

The games can be quite annoying and unforgiving if you start losing too many troops in each battle, but I think the idea is to try to avoid casualties as much as possible. In this way, each battle becomes something of a puzzle as you try to figure out which threats to take out first and which order to advance in. I find it quite interesting (I must do, I sunk a combined total of about 150 hours into the two first games).

It's true that there is a LOT of combat in the games, but since that's pretty much the core of the gameplay I don't really mind it.

[Andre]

CS:GO? What does that stand for?

Counterstrike: Global Offensive. Technically, it doesn't fall in the categories he mentioned, but it's worth a shot for a variety of reasons... provided that you like it, its price basically amount to a very cheap fast food dinner, and in return you get a game which is highly unlikely to be replaced anytime soon and gets regular updates. Sure, it's a fps, but a tactical/strategical one, try running around while jumping and emptying your magazines on people and see how far you go with that kind of playstyle.

Of course, I stand by Weezer in saying that CKII is definitely a great game, it comes with a variety of mods, and way easy to mod for yourself too. EUIII with all the expansions is nation-based, not character-based, has even more mods available and features the same ease of modding.

[Hunter Noventa]

Hm... you said no MMORPGs. But the MMO I want to suggest is hardly standard fare, and it ain't an RPG...

Well, Terraria. Side-scrolling RPG. Dig/mine/build/explore/fight/loot stuff. Basic goals are to build as many houses as possible (which, while they can be stacked on top of each other, sadly penalizes the construction of large castles, as they only count as one house), to mine metals and get better equipment (silver and gold are actually good for equipment in this game), and to explore under and aboveground (floating islands! A telltale sign is when there's a cache of metal unusually close to the surface, although the less valuable copper and iron might just spawn there anyway).

Terraria is great, it also has lots of mods available. And it's not technically an MMO, since you can play single player with no problem at all, multiplayer is strictly a host/client affair, so you only have to play with people you want to.

I will throw in a vote for Sins of a Solar Empire : Rebellion. It's a pretty amazing 4x RTS where you battle for control of Star Systems. Games can take hours as build and throw fleets of warships at one another. Rebellion is the best way to get it, as it's a semi-sequel that uses the same engine as the original game, but has all the expansion content as well as all-new content.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Terraria is great, it also has lots of mods available. And it's not technically an MMO, since you can play single player with no problem at all, multiplayer is strictly a host/client affair, so you only have to play with people you want to.

Nah, the MMO I was going to suggest was Planetside 2.

[Teln]

The Orange Box is $20, and it's worth every penny.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

You want an interesting spin on an RPG, check out Recettear. It's a cute JRPG where you...manage the item shop that adventurers come to. Really extensive demo, and I love the translation job.

[NeoVid]

I just got the entire Penny Arcade series (up to this point, there's an episode left to go), and I was very impressed. Episode 1 had plenty of faults, but it was still funny and fun, while also short enough that the problems it did have didn't get too annoying. Episode 2 was flat-out excellent. Very funny, good storyline, plenty of hidden things to find, much better mechanics, longer and less linear. Episode 3 is fundamentally different from the others, being an old-school JRPG instead of a point-and-click adventure game, but it's still good, though there's a lot more combat getting in the way of the story than in the first two.

[Wookieetank]

Anyways .... um, Bastion. Get Bastion. Best game since ... I dunno, Torment or something.

I'll add my vote to this

Dungeons of Dredmor is a fantastic roguelike which can easily last you hundreds of hours once it sucks you in. Highly recommended, and dirt cheap.

This too, and all its expansions.

I'll also throw out the Walking Dead. If you like zombies, its a must have.

[Sleverin]

If you're not against extreme pixelated violence, Hotline Miami is an amazing game. The crazy pace of the game, the interesting throwback surrealistic feeling of the game kept me drawn in, and the interesting narrative is very, very different for a game that seems like just mindless violence.

I haven't bought it yet, but Dead Pixels seems like a solid choice for 3 bucks. Side scrolling beat em up action, seems reminiscent of Ricer City Ransom. If you're into that sort of thing.

Into throwback RPGs with silly premises? Breath of Death VII and Cthulu Saves the World are NES-esque parodical travels down memory lane that are pretty cheap (you can get them both for 2.99 in a double pack) and are a good time.

[Avilan the Grey]

If you're not against extreme pixelated violence, Hotline Miami is an amazing game. The crazy pace of the game, the interesting throwback surrealistic feeling of the game kept me drawn in, and the interesting narrative is very, very different for a game that seems like just mindless violence.

I haven't bought it yet, but Dead Pixels seems like a solid choice for 3 bucks. Side scrolling beat em up action, seems reminiscent of Ricer City Ransom. If you're into that sort of thing.

Into throwback RPGs with silly premises? Breath of Death VII and Cthulu Saves the World are NES-esque parodical travels down memory lane that are pretty cheap (you can get them both for 2.99 in a double pack) and are a good time.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions... I will wait for the sale before making any purchases.

Oh and Hotline Miami... I read the raving review in Swedish PC Gamer (it is a Swedish game, btw) but not really my thing. The pixels has nothing to do with it.