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    5 Hidden Gems in the Steam Summer Sale

    The 2018 Steam Summer Sale is upon us, which means empty wallets and full backlogs! Instead of filling that backlog with even more games everyone already knows about though, let’s go a step deeper and find five hidden gems in this year’s Summer Steam Sale!

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    Visual Out ($7.99)

    Let’s start with a Local Game! Visual Out, made by Dayton’s MadameBerry, was released back in March and is totally worth the $10 asking price. However, with it’s 20 percent off price tag at $7.99 you can experience what it’s like to be a computer program in a dying PC for yourself.

    The game, which draws heavy inspiration from the Metroidvania genre of games, takes place in four areas of a dying computer to help discover what’s going on with both the computer and the owner. I’ve been watching this game since it won GDEX 2016’s ISE Game of the Year, and while I haven’t had as much time to put into the final product, if it’s anywhere near as good as the early version I played is, you’d be doing yourself a huge favor by supporting local and picking up this game!

    Planet Coaster ($20.24)

    Fans of the classic Roller Coaster Tycoon series: you’re in luck! Planet Coaster was created by Frontier Games, who created the original Roller Coaster Tycoon series, as well as spin offs such as Thrillville, and is a true return to form for the Theme Park Simulation genre. With three game modes to play, and a thriving community in the Steam Workshop making new items every day, Planet Coaster has some of the best bang for your buck in the genre.

    Infinifactory ($12.49)

    Zakktronics is known for making engineering-based games, and if that sounds good to you, then Infinifactory is a great entry point into the studio. The game, which tasks players into building factories for a mysterious alien race, has some of the best puzzle mechanics I’ve seen in recent games. While the first few levels are pretty predictable and easy to manage, as players get used to the controls and general mechanics, the game really opens up when you unlock more items to play with. The more I played this game, the more novel (“Why is this system even working without breaking physics?”) solutions I came up with. Throw in a great sense of humor in the games story mode, and a friend leaderboard that compares your scores with everyone else who’s played the game on your friends list, and you’ll be more than happy to become your alien overlords new engineer!

    20XX ($9.89)

    The first year I started writing for Columbus Underground was also the first year I ever went to PAX East. While I saw a lot of awesome games that year, the major one that stuck out to me was BatteryStaple Games’ 20XX. Inspired by the classic Mega Man X series, 20XX takes the classic staples of Mega Man Platforming, and combines them with the modern procedural generation of a Roguelike. With over 100 power ups to try and Multiplayer throughout the entire game, 20XX is a great addition to any Roguelike or Mega Man fan’s library!

    West of Loathing ($8.24)

    West of Loathing is one of the best games I’ve played this year. Players create a character in this fictional version of the American West to go on quests, from everything to recovering stolen goods to fixing the broken player piano, while trying to work their way to the west coast. The Western RPG combines a surprisingly impressive Stick Figure Aesthetic, a surprisingly simple turn-based RPG system and more puns than even I could handle, and you’ve got a good way to indulge yourself in a decent Western experience while waiting for October’s Red Dead Redemption 2.

    So there are five hidden gems to buy during the steam sale! What are some of your favorite games that I’ve missed in this year’s sale? (Really, help me buy more cool games!) Let me know in the comments below!

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    Cody Starcher
    Cody Starcherhttp://www.multivariousgames.com
    Cody Starcher is the Producer and Partner at Multivarious Games, an indie game studio based here in Columbus. His achievements include helping to organizing the annual GDEX, a Video Game expo that focuses on spotlighting smaller game developers across the country and writing the article that you are probably reading! When he’s not working on video games, or writing about them, Cody is normally playing a game and pouting that Back to the Future Part II wrongly predicted 2015. Play some games with me! My username for everything Vidya Games is "CodyWuzHere".
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