Top 10 Games under $1 – Steam Autumn Sale 2016
Written by David64, November 28, 2016, at 5:17 a.m.
The Steam Autumn Sale for 2016 is in full swing so here are 10 fun games that are all currently on sale for less than $1 each.
10 – Investigator
In Investigator you play as a former private investigator now trying to survive in a post environmental apocalypse setting, making his way to a bunker believed to house survivors. You start the game simply making your way from shelter to shelter progressing towards this bunker, but it’s not long before things start to get weird. There isn’t much of a linear narrative, it’s more about the feeling of this oppressive environment and atmosphere you find yourself in, with some psychological weirdness that will have you questioning reality. It would have been nice if they included some more survival elements given the setting, but as is it’s a really gripping psychological horror experience.
9 – The Detail
The Detail is a gritty, hard boiled point and click adventure game centered around a police detective and a reformed criminal both trying to find peace in a dangerous, crime ridden city. Try to imagine Heavy Rain if it was made by Telltale Games. The game is broken up between these comic book style cutscenes and more traditional point and click segments. The comic book style scenes have some choose your own path elements though I haven’t played it enough to tell how much they actually impact the story. The still, sequential style makes for some really tense moments where you’re not sure what’s going to happen next where, unlike a real comic book, you can’t accidentally catch a glimpse of the next few panels.The heavy subject matter and somewhat gruesome elements won’t be for everybody but if gritty crime drama is your thing, and you like the aesthetic, it is a very engrossing adventure game. The first episode is only 59c during the sale, and all three episodes of the first season can be had for less than $3, so if this is your thing now is a great time to pick it up.
8 – Viktor
Viktor is a Metroidvania style game where you play as Viktor, the brother of the ruler of a land that is under attack by Mephistopholes, the ruler of a neighbouring land. Honestly the plot is a tad thin and cliched, but the game itself is a tonne of fun. It has everything you expect from a game like this: Great, creative boss fights, cool mid level bosses, a satisfying upgrade system and while it’s probably more linear than most games of this type, I think that’s actually one of its strengths. It’s fast paced and just keeps you in the action the entire time.You have a dash that lets you move through enemies and other obstacles and once you get the hang of it it makes traversing the levels a blast. It makes not only for fun platforming but some really cool combat tricks as well where you always feel like you’re in control. These normally aren’t really my kind of games, but I ended up enjoying this one way more than I thought I would. The game is only 79c during the sale but I highly recommend springing another 20 to get the game and the soundtrack for just 99c. It is well worth it.
7 – House of Caravan
In House of Caravan you play as a young boy in what seems to be the early 20th Century who has been kidnapped and brought to a mysterious house, from which he must escape by solving puzzles while slowly piecing together the story of the house’s owners. It’s a sort of virtual Escape the Room style game where you must explore the house to find items to solve puzzles to unlock more rooms and eventually escape. It’s pretty challenging. I wish there was more of a choice in which order to do some of the puzzles, but for the most part there’s really only one thing you can do before unlocking the next one. There is no handholding and it’s very easy to overlook something crucial to progressing, but it’s very satisfying when you figure something out on your own intuition. I did have to resort to a walkthrough more than once but I still had a lot of fun. If you saw our top 10 games list from the Steam Halloween sale it’s a lot like Enki. In fact I nearly put this on that list as well but I thought one game of this style was enough. That said, if you enjoy this one, Enki is also on sale again for 99c so that’s another one to check out.
6 – Reveal the Deep
Reveal the Deep is an underwater platformer where you explore a sunken ship and slowly piece together the story of its’ sinking. There’s a mechanic where you can turn your helmet light to see how the ship was before it started to decay which is necessary for piecing together the story and also solving some of the puzzles. The game is short and pretty consistently challenging all throughout. The puzzles are all pretty straightforward logic puzzles that usually involve moving things around to create a path to progress, which may seem simple but it did take me a few passes through some rooms to figure out exactly what I needed to do. The lack of in game music adds a lot to the feeling of isolation, but it does make things a bit dull at times. Reveal the deep is only 49c on sale and is actually only 99c at full price so if you’re watching this after the sale is over, pick it up anyways because it is well worth it.
5 – The Journey Down: Chapter One
The Journey Down is a point and click game about two gas station attendants who get caught up in a professor’s quest to find information on the Underland and the mysterious megacorporation out to stop her. The game has a film noir sort of feel very reminiscent of Grim Fandango. There’s a great jazzy soundtrack with strong caribbean elements, which are also very prominent in the games absolutely beautiful hand drawn art. It’s a theme/setting you don’t really see a lot of in games and I found it really interesting and refreshing. Great style aside, it is also just a really fun adventure game. It’s probably on the easier side, but I didn’t mind it at all as I was really eager to see where the story went next and just enjoyed all the interactions between the characters. If you want an interesting setting where you can just go along for the ride, this is a great one.
4 – Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura is a platformer that revolves around a very interesting mechanic. You have a camera which can capture an ‘Afterimage’ of the surrounding terrain which you can then manipulate to help you progress. It is such a unique idea, and while it can be difficult to predict exactly how the afterimage will respond I still had a blast with it. It’s lacking a little polish in some areas but the core gameplay is a lot of fun, it’s super cheap even without the sale and there are even lots of extra levels in the steam workshop. This one actually goes on sale and features in bundles a lot so you may already have it somewhere even if you haven’t played it yet. It’s available during the sale with the soundtrack for just 1c more so if you’re buying it make sure you get that bundle because the soundtrack is also fantastic.
3 – Shipwreck
Shipwreck is a Legend of Zelda style top down action adventure game that is very reminiscent of something like A Link to the Past but even moreso, Link’s Awakening. Which is actually one of my favourite Zelda games so I was very pleasantly surprised to find this. You find yourself shipwrecked on an island and must explore the island overworld to find dungeons where you must defeat the bosses to collect Seals to defeat the final boss and make your way home. It has a very authentic retro look but if anything it might be a little too authentic. I found it a little blurry and unclear full screened on my PC, and while I got used to it pretty quickly I think it would be much more at home on something like the 3DS. If it ever gets released on a handheld I will buy it again for that in a heartbeat. There are some little details I wish they added to help bring the world to life like more NPC conversations or Side Quests or descriptions in the Overworld but at this price it’s a no brainer. Again, this game is also available with the soundtrack which does push the price to over $1 but still well worth it.
2 – The Dweller
The Dweller is set in a cave in south america, which has recently began to be explored by a team of archaeologists. Rather than play as an archaeologist however, you play the ancient horror living in the cave whose job it is to clear them out. You move through the ground and pounce on the unsuspecting archaeologists, with much of the puzzles centering on how to get from one piece of separated ground to the other. There’s definitely some humour to the game and letters you unlock between levels slowly reveal the story from the archaeologist’s perspective. It’s just a great mix of clever puzzles, clever writing and a great general mid-90s PC shareware sort of feel that I really enjoyed.
1 – See No Evil
See No Evil is an Isometric puzzle game with some interesting mechanics revolving around sound. You play a character known as the seer, who is blind, and must escape a sort of dark labyrinth by solving a series of increasingly difficult puzzle room. In your way are guards who are also blind and will be alerted by noise such as sound of your footsteps, or shouts you can let out to lure them off their paths. You must navigate the levels at times carefully to avoid being heard or other times using sound to your advantage. The gameplay is really precise with everything responding exactly how you expect it to and makes for a very satisfying experience. The game has a really beautiful dark fantasy art style, and a dramatic yet smooth sort of soundtrack that makes it really easy to get lost in the game and get into that puzzle game zen. Even though it is a single player game it’s available in a two pack which is still under $1 during the sale so you can give a copy to a friend. And as seems to be the pattern with this list, the really good soundtrack is also available to buy on Steam though buying it together with the game does push the price to a little over $1. But whatever, still a really great deal.
So those are 10 super cheap games to give you something to play this Thanksgiving week, and to celebrate the season we are giving away your choice of any game from this list to the first 10 Commenters on the linked video that have a suggestion for another game that is currently on sale or just your thoughts on any of the games from this list. If you’ve already played it, or it caught your eye, anything at all. This giveaway is ongoing for the duration of the sale so make sure to leave a comment before the sale ends and check the other comments for more suggestions.
