Unknown games you should throw your wallet at during Summer Sale
As GOG.com Summer Sale has just started, here’s the list of hidden gems you might’ve overlooked until now.
I. Balrum
The absolute winner in “surprising” category, Balrum has more to it than you would expect. It’s an open-world, huge RPG game with turn-based combat, crafting, building, survival, farming and on top of that — impressively rich story to follow. Weak points? UI that requires plenty of clicking and gameplay being unforgivably hard at times (don’t play as mage, fellow noobs).
But hey, you get a puppy companion. Get it for the puppy.
Balrum: open world survival RPG, now $7,49 (50% off) here.
II. Neo Scavenger
Are you still under the impression that survival games never leave early access phase? This game did, and it’s hella good. Turn-based movement and combat, lots of crafting and skill customization possibilities and an actual story — I’ve played DayZ, Rust and many other survival games, but Neo Scavenger will always have a place in my favorites. P.S. — got scared by a creature? Imagine you can wear it as a coat.
Neo Scavenger: turn-based post-apocalyptic survival, now $3,75 (75% off) here.
III. Crashlands
Butterscotch Shenanigans (devs for Crashlands) are extremely funny people, just like this game — with their sense of humour dropping from every line of dialogue or even item names. Here, we have an open-world crafting/building/gathering game without unnecessary survival elements to make your life harder. Oh, and fights. A lot of fights that may actually make your life harder if you wander too far. But worry not, Crashlands is not an unforgivable game punishing you for your mistakes — just wander around, gather resources, befriend the locals and punch that big evil obnoxious guy in the face.
Crashlands: story-driven crafting ARPG, now $8,99(40% off) here.
IV. else Heart.Break()
Now, else Heart.Break() doesn’t have the best start. You’re a lost little guy in, truth be told, amazingly beautiful world, wandering around in search for your points of interest, job, money, love. If it’s enough to make you curious and keep going, this little gem will reward you immensely. Apart from love story and drama, this game involves a lot of coding (actual coding!) which you can use to completely destroy the world. How you use that power is entirely up to you. Great vibe, one of my favorite in-game cities and unique gameplay that you won’t find anywhere else.
else Heart.Break(): roleplay hacking adventure, now $6,29 (75% off) here.
V. Order of the Thorne: The King’s Challenge
Have you spent your childhood playing King’s Quest games? Do you miss classic point and click adventures, but you’re afraid of unsolvable puzzles made by game dev psychos born to bring gamers eternal suffering and shame of looking into walkthroughs? Try Order of the Thorne. It’s not hard to get a grip on most of the puzzles, graphics are beautiful and it might wake up your inner nostalgic nerd kid. You nerd.
Order of the Thorne: point-and-click adventure game, now $0,99 (90% off) here.
VI. Kona
In the era of raising popularity of walking simulators, it’s not easy to find real gems in the genre. I treat Kona as one for multiple reasons: first, amazing writing found in notes and diaries (seriously, Kholat and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture devs should play this game). Second, there’s a little bit more going on than just walking around — survival plays a huge role in the gameplay and exploration often feels like a puzzle to be solved. The only weakpoint: current story ends pretty abruptly and we have to wait for more, but game offers plenty of content until then.
Kona: survival detective adventure, now $9,99 (50% off) here.
VII. Sanitarium
One of my favorite games of all time, Sanitarium is extremely unsettling, creepy and captivating. If you enjoyed first Silent Hill games and want to explore the mind of a mad man, go right in! Often put on the same shelf as I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, Sanitarium leads you through a disturbing story you can’t stop exploring. One downside: some puzzles may twist your brain and make you feel like protagonist does, but it could be a planned design…
Sanitarium: psychedelic puzzle adventure, now $4,99 (50% off) here.
VIII. Runestone Keeper
One of my favorite time killers, Runestone Keeper replaced solitaire in my procrastination time. It’s a pleasant roguelite, roughly based on minesweeper’s gameplay — you click on tiles to uncover them and meet either a bomb, a hole, a monster or a huge array of helpful places. You can safely alt-tab and go back to work anytime in case boss comes, as nothing happens in between clicks. Warning: “one more run” syndrome is inevitable.
Runestone Keeper: roguelite, now $4,99 (50% off) here.
IX. The Park
A little treat for you, horror lovers! This game is interesting mostly because of its premise — it was made by Funcom as a tribute/expansion to one of questlines player could explore in The Secret World, still remaining one of the most interesting MMORPG games in history, with extreme focus on story-telling. If you have any VR set, check if this game supports it — a lot of scares here are perfectly made for virtual reality. Playing lots of horror games and being resistant to their spookiness most of the time, The Park caught me with a big “boo!”. Haha, I’m not scared, what are you talking about…
The Park: horror game, now $5,89 (60% off) here.
X. Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs
Let’s change the theme completely and wander into the vast world of jRPG games, with brand new title from the genre: Regalia! Memorable characters, well-written dialogues and interesting battle system: there’s absolutely no in-battle healing, only shields can save you from harm. Additionally, you expand your kingdom by building and upgrading various useful places, you make friends with other characters (similar to Persona’s confidant system) or… you go fishing, naturally. Every jRPG should have fishing.
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs: jRPG, now $21,59 (20% off) here.
XI. The Final Station
Very interesting premise for a “zombie” survival game: you’re a train operator and your task is to go from city to city, deciding whether to take survivors back to your train and searching for a safe zone. It’s your job to feed your passengers and keep them alive, and your decisions may lead to many deaths. Don’t let the pixel-arty graphics fool you — this game nails the miserable atmosphere of apocalypse.
The Final Station: story-driven survival game, now $5,99 (60% off) here.
More games will be added to the list, so feel free to bookmark it and check later!
If you want to see any of these games live in action, let me know which one you’d like to see streamed live — I’ll make sure to showcase it during the sale on GOG.com channel.
Outstar is a member of GOG.com Stream Team. We stream DRM-free games everyday in TV-like schedule. You can follow us here or get some games while supporting Outstar here!
