Featured Image Credit: Vertical Fish Studios, Valve
Topics: Steam, Valve, Free Games
You can currently nab six free games on Steam by doing absolutely nothing. I mean, you gotta click the button that adds them to your account, but otherwise you don’t have to do anything else.
Free games. Sounds amazing. Oftentimes, though, there’s a reason games are being given away for free… and said reason is because nobody would ever pay for them.
Steam is probably the biggest offender when it comes to said free games, because good lord there’s a lot of rubbish on there. So how exactly do you wade through all the bad ones, and find those diamonds in the rough? That’s what I’m here for.
Before we get started, thank you in advance to the Free Steam Games Twitter account for finding all of these!
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Right, we’re ranking these from worst to best. And by “worst to best” I mean that I took a glimpse at the Steam user reviews, and ordered them accordingly. You’re welcome, by the way. Sheesh.
First up, Kathana from developer and publisher Gameolic Development Studio. Obviously we’re not starting off strong here, but perhaps lower your expectations a little further for this one.
It's a 3D MMORPG that looks like it's 20 years old because, uh... according to the Steam reviews, it literally is 20 years old. Apparently the performance is somehow really terrible too. Also, the devs are marketing it as an "early access" game, which seems a bit odd, all things considered.
Next up, PANZERKAMPF from developer and publisher Krieg Games Ltd.
Ugh, after Gamescom the sight of a tank game makes me mad. Apparently playing this one will also make you angry too, as the Steam reviewers say that the performance is really bad, the controls don’t work properly, and all the multiplayer lobbies are filled with bots.
Fishing Time is a 2D fishing game (surprisingly) from developer and publisher ElJoka.
I think the art style here is cute, but the reviewers are not being kind to it. Folks on Steam say that there’s just not enough to do in the game, and it seems barebones. At least it looks better than the last two.
How Your Package Gets Delivered is an endless-runner style game from developer and publisher MindPlayPark.
No review consensus here, so you might wonder why I’m putting it so far down. To be frank, it looks basic, but it also looks serviceable… which is potentially more than I can say for the other games thus far. Also reminds me of those old Miniclip games, so it gets points for that.
Now, onto some games that look genuinely good.
Stomach is a PS1-inspired first person horror game from developer and publisher Vertical Fish Studios.
Look, if you tell me your game is “PS1-inspired”, I’m all ears. This looks weird and also pretty creepy, and it’s got a great review score on Steam. Definitely worth a shot.
And finally, but certainly not least, you’ve got Microwave Yourself, a "psychedelic" VR puzzle game from developer and publisher Pallio Corp.
This is literally, and I mean literally, a game about microwaving stuff. Sounds awful on paper, but the reviewers are oddly complimentary. In fact, the only complaint I could really find is that it’s too short, which is a compliment in itself.
Alright, that’s your lot… for now.
By which I mean, there will definitely be another one of these lists in probably less than 24 hours. The free games never stop flowing.