From June 22 to July 5, Steam hosted the annual event that most PC Gamers, myself included, look forward to: The Steam Summer Sale.

look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?

This year, I got the Portal Bundle (includes Portal 1 and 2), the LucasArts Adventure Pack (which includes Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Loom, The Dig), and Streets of Rogue.

Portal is a fantastic first-person puzzle game. I already played Portal 1 and 2 before, but I’m keen on spending time with GLaDOS again and hopefully learn to create custom maps.

Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis is an old-school point and click adventure game. I have a weakness for games with great pixel graphics and storytelling. Getting the other games in the LucasArts bundle is a wonderful bonus.

Streets of Rogue is an Early-Access rogue-like game with lots of humor and charm. For an Early-Access game, it’s quite solid and playable. However, it can be pretty violent and deals with mature themes, so I wouldn’t recommend it for kids.

wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?

I also considered getting The Wolf Among Us and Tales from Borderlands but I’m hesitant to get them from Steam. Last year, Humble Bundle had a “Telltales” Bundle that offered these games and several others for $15. If I recall correctly, they also came with a Telltale key, which meant I didn’t have to run Steam to play them. I’m not a DRM purist, but if a game has a DRM-Free option for a difference of a few bucks, I lean towards that deal.

Incidentally, at the time of this writing, Humble Bundle is having an incredible Telltale sale which includes both TWAU and TFB. I’m so glad Steam didn’t completely destroy my gaming budget.

gadgets and gizmos a-plenty

I also spent a few cents on two Strange weapons for Team Fortress 2. I stopped playing TF2 about a year ago but I played it over the weekend to see what was new. I’m glad that TF2’s matchmaking has improved, but it’s just as addicting as ever; so I uninstalled it again. I’m sure I’ll play it again someday (especially if it has a Halloween update).

no big deal, i want more

The sticker collecting “game” also kept the event interesting for me. Like the previous sale, I was able to collect cards that I was able to sell on the Steam marketplace. I earned about two dollars from the cards; I’m saving that for my next purchase when the Steam Thanksgiving Sale arrives.

Overall, the 2017 Steam Summer Sale was nice, but I miss the insane discounts of the past Summer Sales that used to be part of my world.

SUMMER SALE ON GOG.COM (until June 20, 12:59 PM UTC)

Seems like GOG is changing their strategy this year. Instead of giving away multiple free games based on the amount you’ve spent, only one game is being offered after the first purchase. This is fair and reasonable since the game being offered is Rebel Galaxy.

I immediately liked Rebel Galaxy the first time I saw its trailer. It has a space-cowboy vibe that reminded me of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Plus, having Blues Saraceno’s “Evil Ways” play in the trailer’s background was a great idea. I’m not yet sure if I’m going to like the game, but I’m looking forward to getting it anyway.

Now the only thing I have to figure out is which game to buy. Should I get a classic game that is not available on Steam?

There’s also the possibility that a Summer Sale for Steam and Humble Bundle may be right around the corner, so I have to keep a close eye on my budget. It will be easier to keep my wallet safe this year since I still have several games in my backlog—including Overwatch—and I’m not inclined to get new games at the moment.

Besides, Gwent is now in public beta and I’d like to check that out too.

Incidentally, GOG Connect is back. I got AI War: Fleet Command and UnEpic added to my library of DRM-Free games for free. Thank you, GOG! GOG is love.

update:

I spent about $5 on the recent GOG Summer Sale, having bought Arcanum and Alpha Centauri.

Arcanum is an old-school steampunk RPG. I only played a few minutes, but I liked it. I have the feeling the game’s lore will enchant me. There are patches available that fixes some bugs and improves some features.

Alpha Centauri is exactly what I expected from a Sid Meier’s game: addicting and incredibly fun. I have only played a couple of hours so far, but I can tell I’m going to love this game.

Best of Indie Legends Bundle

An impressive limited-time deal from Bundle Stars. USD $3.49 (97% discount for a bundle worth $122.90). The bundle contains Steam keys. Update: This bundle is now over.

• Skull Girls is incredible; the tutorial section alone is the best I’ve seen in a fighting game. On the surface, Skull Girls could be described as “Street Fighter” with waifus, but the game’s fighting system is remarkable and complex enough for both casual and serious fighters. Getting the “2nd Encore Upgrade DLC” at this bundled price is fantastic.
• I played the demo version of Freedom Planet. It’s a cool side-scrolling platformer that reminds me of Sonic the Hedgehog.
• UnEpic is another solid platformer with RPG elements. It also has a level editor which is always nice to have (even if I will probably never use it).
• I already have Insurgency and Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball in my library, so I’ll probably gift these to my friends or maybe offer them as a giveaway.
• I don’t have any experience playing the other games in this bundle (Viscera Cleanup Detail, Lethal League, Memoria), but I’m looking forward to playing them.

Overwatch is currently on sale with a generous 50% off it’s original cost. The sale is on until June 5, 2017.

I haven’t played Overwatch, but now seems to be a good time to jump on the payload. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get a dance emote. Sombra and Mercy’s dance emotes are among my favorites.

I’ve seen enough gameplays, memes, and webcomics about this game to be familiar with the characters. I like playing Support roles in Team Fortress 2, so I’m pretty sure I’ll lean towards Zenyatta, Lucio, Ana, and Mercy if and when I start playing.

Speaking of Mercy, I’m working on my digital painting skills and here’s a work-in-progress of the lovely healer.

Synopsis

A crabby witch must confront her dark debility when complications from her new home prevent her from starting her life-changing quest.

Description

• Developed for TyranoBuilder Spring Game Jam 2017
• A short, dark, funny, kinetic novel
• Original artwork
• Music: Winner Winner! Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

“Twisted Fates” is a series of dark fantasy/comedy short stories set in the same story world.

Download and Play for Free

Trivia

• This is the first game I developed using TyranoBuilder.
• This was not my first idea for the game jam. I had to scrap my original entry because I felt the story wasn’t a strong match for the contest’s theme: “Fresh Starts”.
• That other game project that I scrapped will become my next visual novel project.
• Blossom’s braided crown hair style is a hint at her royal heritage.

Support

If you liked this game and would like to see more, please consider buying me coffee so I can keep making stories and forget about sleeping. :D