Steam Sale 2015--Less Flash Doesn't Necessarily Mean Less Cash

I actually thought that this Steam Sale might be the one where I don't purchase anything.  Other than the whole Christmas day caching crisis, the Winter Sale has been a muted affair.  Rather than offering a bunch of flash sales with looming timers the sale this year rewards players for exploring their discovery queues.  For simply scrolling through your discovery queue you are rewarded with three free trading cards every day.  If you're not into the whole virtual trading card thing you will probably ignore this.  One thing to remember is that these cards can be sold immediately for a few cents (or, if you're lucky enough to get a foil card, almost $.20!  That's a veritable windfall in trading card terms).  You could possibly rack up enough cash to buy a really cheap game.  Of course the real reason why they want you to explore your discovery queue is so that you'll spend non-virtual moola.  My queue explorations led me to make my first Winter Sale purchases--I'm not sure how they're going to pan out.  I will say that using my discovery queue made me look at games that I would never have found.  The strategy of eliminating the timers and flash sales may pay off for Steam...

My purchases thus far have included Legend of Grimrock, Legend of Grimrock 2 (these two games were bundled together for $5.99--super cheap), Hand of Fate, The Wolf Among Us, and This War of Mine.  I think there are some winners in the group and possibly some duds (for me personally.  This doesn't mean that others might not enjoy them).

Legend of Grimrock is a dungeon exploration game similar to those from the early golden days of PC gaming.  It harkens back to the good ol' days when you sat by the computer with graph paper and attempted to figure out a map for the area (there's even a difficulty where you can choose this option) and fought off any enemies in your path.  It's not extremely flashy but it is challenging.  Your little band of four characters doesn't feel like a powerhouse group that slays freely and it's often a good idea to use your wits and the environment to get rid of any unwanted enemies.  I'm not so sure that the bundle was a good idea...I'm going to save it for later.

In Hand of Fate you face off against the enigmatic dealer...and your own choices.

The highlight of my purchases has been Hand of Fate.  It's a sort of card game that requires a lot of luck and skill.  There is a story mode that allows you to progress through a set of different enemies who unlock special powerups that make your deck more powerful.  As you progress and unlock more cards and face more encounters they get more challenging.  There is a minor combat aspect to the game that requires you to fight and defeat different enemies.  You have to focus on managing your resources, gaining more powerful gear, and simply choosing the right path.  Some encounters require you to choose from "success" or "failure" cards which will either reward or punish you.  Each new step on your journey is different.  The first few levels were relatively easy but now things have gotten a lot harder.  There's also an endless mode that lets you play until your character meets it's end.  This game is a pleasant surprise!

I haven't started up The Wolf Among Us or This War of Mine yet.  I've read nothing but positive praise for both of them and am looking forward to playing them.  The really weird thing is that even though I've purchased all these games, I'm really wanting to go back and play some of my old gems--I've started up a new campaign in The Witcher and feel the magic that was 2008.

The Steam Winter Sale is winding down.  Get your hot deals while you can!