I feel obligated to recommend a Steam Deck if you have interest in one and can afford it.

We have 2 and I would get a 3rd if I could lol (with a bulky protective case etc. so I can be less careful)

The most cost efficient way to go is buy the cheapest version and then put something like this in it https://www.westerndigital.com/en-il/products/internal-drives/pc-sn740-ssd#SDDPTQD-256G

IMPORTANT NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU GET A 2230 SIZED NVME DRIVE. 2280 drives will NOT fit.

If you don’t want to do that you can alternatively just get a big micro SD card and save the SSD swap for later For best speeds you want it to say A2 and a 3 inside a U.

Even besides playing video games it’s an awesome little mini pc. Not perfect but awesome, and an amazing value at $359.

I fell in love with Submerged when I played it. It’s an exploration game set in a flooded city, where you play a young girl looking for supplies for her injured brother. Lots of navigating between buildings in a little boat, climbing around, and taking in the scenery. Incredibly relaxing to play.

• Shakedown: Hawaii - 80% off at 3,99€ - Think GTA for the 16-bit era.
• 2Dark - 90% off at 2,49€ - Think Alone in the Dark but top-down and in retro/voxel style, from the original creator of Alone in the Dark.
• UnderRail - 60% off at 5,67€ - Hidden or not, this one can’t be recommended enough to fans of the original Fallout (1 & 2, isometric) games.
• Space Haven - 60% off at 8,79€ - In-depth colony/spaceship building & management sim with cozy graphics.
• Crystal Caves HD - 60% off at 2,63€ - A true testament to how to faithfully bring an old platformer into HD, while also innovating on the original. Also contains a lot of hidden gems.
• Supraland Complete Edition - 54% off at 15,71€ - First-Person-Metroidvania in a literal sandbox, lots of freedom, lots of puzzles and exploring. Contains the DLC. Get this to gear up for the eventual release of the sequel Supraworld. The standalone Supraland Six Inches Under is also worth getting, but is “only” at 45% off, which is still great.

for me, I’m really fixated on Cassette Beasts, because Pokemon has been disappointing for me for a long while now. I keep debating on whether I buy it now, or wait until they implement the online multiplayer they just announced.

It’s not super niche, or super on sale, but I’m really enjoying Chained Echos so far.

ITT: not hidden gems

Hidden Gem you say? (obligatory)

Ok, not so much as hidden, but also not super known:
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. A tactical stealth game (think commandos saga back in the day) is 90%
Technobabylon. A pixelated point & click adventure with some cyberpunk themes at 70%
Return of the Obra Dinn. Probably the best detective/deduction game that I’ve played, at 40%
Prey. One of the best immersive sims, at 75%
The Case of the Golden Idol. Is not as good as Obra Dinn in my opinion, but it’s super good none the less, at 30%
Antichamber. Super good puzzle game, at 75%
The Age of Decadence. Ultra hardcore RPG set in ancient Rome, 60%
Tametsi. Is like minesweeper but good, 67% (and only 0.77€)

Huh. Didn’t realize it started today. Will have to check my wishlist.

Anyway, recs in no particular order:

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a lovely little game. Some great East Asian influences, and a really great art style. Combat is sometimes surprisingly difficult. Some fun puzzles and platforming make up a lot of the game.
• Death and Taxes is a short and darkly humorous game where you take on the role of the Grim Reaper and decide who lives and who dies in a workplace-like fashion. If you’re a fan of the web series, Purgatony, this might remind you of that. It’s got a touch of satire to it as well, but not super pronounced. You’ll find that mostly in the details and consequences of who you let live and who you let die (and there are consequences, some very significant).
• Heaven’s Vault is a narrative game that takes place in space. Linguistics (or rather translating text) plays a role in the game and it’s got a hand drawn, cel-shaded kind of art style.
• A Story About My Uncle is a first person, narrative driven, and entirely nonviolent game, with a bunch of cool swingy mechanics (so lots of gameplay, just not shooty bang stuff) and a fairly sweet story. You meet all sorts of fantastic, alien creatures on your adventure, platforming through a strange and beautiful world. Art direction is lovely, honestly.
• ABZÛ is just straight up awesome relaxation (with a few less relaxing points every so often) from some of the devs who brought you Journey and Flower. This time, it’s all about diving and swimming through fascinating locations that vary from colorful reefs to areas reminiscent of long forgotten temple ruins (the name comes from the Sumerian and Akkadian word referring to underground aquifers that played an important part in some Babylonian mythology).
• Quantum Conundrum - Do you like Portal but wish it had a little John DeLancie commenting on your actions? Then this is for you! A fun puzzle game heavily inspired by Portal (the lead dev worked on the original Portal, if I recall). It’s aimed at a slightly younger audience, but I think it works for everyone. Good vibes all around.

Edit: I forgot about Blacktail. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s a new take on the Baba Yaga myth and stars the voice actress who played Meg in Hades. That lovely, husky voice.

Edit 2: If you’re looking for something a little old school, Jade Empire is a fantastic game by BioWare. KOTOR, but with real time combat that’s heavily inspired by kung fu films and carries that general vibe with a bunch of East Asian visual aesthetics thrown in. If you like Crouching Tiger and similar movies, this is a great game to play, especially if you’re also a fan of BioWare’s RPGs (or just RPGs in general, honestly).

These next few are very hit or miss and some may find them either unpolished or just not that enjoyable. I’m listing them because they’ve got either an interesting story, or interesting mechanics. You’ll notice that two of them have a “mixed” rating, so this is more about “if you like the idea, maybe try it”.

• The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is a narrative game that puts you in the shoes of a blind princess. It was made to be a game that blind people can enjoy, and the controls and mechanics are fairly basic (and it’s keyboard only as far as I remember, but there might be controller support, I don’t know), but the audio design is fantastic (for obvious reasons). There’s some very basic combat, and it’s all about timing and listening for cues. I honestly think it’s a fantastic game, but it’s not for everyone. Many people will find it straight up boring, but I really enjoyed it for the few hours it took to complete. Good news is that it has a demo! Try it out first. Also, WEAR HEADPHONES. It’s actually a necessity here. Binaural recording and object placement is entirely dependent on your ability to hear things (since you can’t see anything, though it’s got some pleasant screensaver-type visuals which do fit the theme of the area you’re in).
• eXperience112 is a bit of a weird game. It’s kind of a point and click adventure, but you don’t control the main character. It takes place on an ocean vessel where something’s gone wrong. You essentially play a camera operator and what seems to be the only survivor speaks to you directly so you can point her in the right direction. Also, she remembers when you last saved. If you don’t play for a while, she’ll comment on the fact that you left her alone for a while. It’s buggy and got some jank, but interesting.
• (Edited, again, to add) Republique is very similar to the above game (eXperience112) in that you act as a camera operator guiding a young woman through the game. It differs in that it’s very stealth-oriented and has a cyberpunk dystopian feel. Also, it’s FREE, which I had no idea about. Apparently the devs just went made it free permanently last year. So no money wasted if you don’t like this one. Also, not missing out on any deals, so no need to rush before the sale’s over or whatever.
• The Occupation is kind of the middle ground between a walking sim and immersive sim, which sounds like a weird description. It has narrative and some gameplay elements that you’d find in immersive sims (open-ish levels, multiple characters to speak to and ways to complete a level, some stealth, etc.), and every level takes place in real time, which is important because you’ll have scheduled appointments for interviews and you’ll be gathering evidence before that time is up, so you’ll be looking at your in-game watch often. That watch is the reason I find it gets into walking sim territory, because you’re kind of restricted by it and it sometimes makes things feel a little “on-rails”. The whole thing takes place after some terrorist event killed someone close to the main character, set in a kind of dystopian London, but with a very '70s/'80s vibe in aesthetics. It has a demo, so try that first. If you don’t like it at all, you won’t like the game. If you find it intriguing, later levels get more intense, so you might be interested in buying the full game. If you like the demo, then yeah, maybe buy it. It’s not too long to complete.
• (Note: I initially had this up in the regular recommendations, but thinking it over, this is pretty hit or miss for various reasons.) Not a hidden gem exactly, but if you like space, No Man’s Sky isn’t the disappointing game it was on release. I’d urge anyone who likes space and exploration to at least give it a shot. You can turn on creative mode and not worry about any survival elements as well. It’s got a bit of a plot to get you used to the galaxy (and also explain some of the lore), but you can just do whatever you want and ignore that. There are three major alien races and you can learn words from their language by interacting with them or interacting with pillars on various planets that will teach you a word. I like this part of the game a lot for some reason. There’s some other lore hidden around as well, but it’s really up to you if you want to discover it or not. Reason it’s down here and not up there is that purely because they’ve added so much new content over the years, it can feel quite overwhelming sometimes. I find it’s best to focus on a few aspects that you like and ignore the other stuff if it doesn’t interest you.

Most of the games I listed aren’t too long or time-consuming. The only significant exceptions are Kena and No Man’s Sky. The rest can be generally completed in a few hours or a couple of days. Kena isn’t super long either, but it does require a bit more of a commitment than the others.

Edit 3: Add Jade Empire to the “not short/quick” games list. Definitely requires some time investment.

Edit 4: Added Republique and moved NMS down to the “maybe try” part of the list.

I don’t have any games to recommend but I wanted to thank people here for some actually good suggestions. I feel like I’ve been taken for a bit of a ride at that other place by shills in similar threads compared to this.

1. Roadwarden($7.36) - A text based RPG wherein you play as a roadwarden and influence the future of the land with a 3 day time limit. Good story

2. Fear and Hunger 1 & 2($5.59 & $9.59) -The dark souls of rpgmaker games. Loot is randomized for each playthrough. There’s a dismemberment system that also applies to you. You lose your legs, it’s gone for good the entire playthrough.

3. Frostpunk($5.99) - You manage the last city on earth in the middle of the eternal frost.

4. FTL: Faster than light($2.49) - 2d Spaceship simulation rougelike with randomized map. Your goal is to reach the last star sector and defeat the mother ship.

5. Fran Bow ($3.74) - 2d Point and click psychological horror where you play a young girl with an unfair destiny

“Path of Achra” for a pretty traditional roguelike that focuses on short runs and setting up “broken builds”. Highly rated and pretty cheap.

“Halls of Torment” It’s vampire survivors x diablo. My favorite of the genre beside the “original”. Not sure how hidden it is though.

“Stone Story RPG” Not really sure how to describe this one. ASCII art sorta-idle game?

“Siralim Ultimate” mystery dungeon type monster rearing rpg with some wild synergies and buildcrafting. Tonnes of ways to “break the game”

If you’re a fan of co-op survival and adventure games, Grounded is great. There’s also Raft which is a more chill style adventure game.

Personally I’m probably picking up in this sale:

• System Shock
• Outer Wilds
• Aquatico
• Pummel Party
• The Long Dark: Survival Edition
• A Way Out
• Phasmophobia
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection
• Voidtrain

I suppose it depends on what a person considers a hidden gem because everyone’s tastes are different. I’ll list a few categories and at least 1-2 of my favorites in those categories that I’ve found on Steam and are currently on sale:

Exploration/Base-Building:

• Grounded
• Raft
• Rimworld
• Subnautica/Subnautica: Below Zero

Story based/Farming/Romance:

• My Time at Portia*
• My Time at Sandrock

Visual Novels:

• Basically anything made by PixelFade (Ace Academy, Ethereal Enigma, Crystalline). One of the few English-based VNs that are fully voiced in English and have a pretty decent plot/story. Interactive with different choices affecting different outcomes and even some minigames at least in EE.
• Nekop er Hush Hush. Ok, listen. I won’t beat around the bush here. There IS an 18+ DLC for this but it’s not necessary to enjoy the game. It honestly has a pretty interesting story/premise and I did get pretty heavily emotionally invested in the characters.

*Note that MTAP has been fraught with issues. Although these issues don’t necessarily make the game unplayable, and it’s still enjoyable, be aware that it is was Pathea’s (the studio) first such attempt and as such they were still learning. Their second game Sandrock has solved a lot of the issues and it’s not necessary to play the first one

A Hat in Time: 50% off at £12. A really cute 3D platformer.

Wobbledogs: 40% off at £10. Looks and plays like a pet simulator but is almost more about genetics and seeing what kind of bizarre “dogs” you can create.

Let’s Build a Zoo: 45% £9. I’ve seen this described as similar to a Bullfrog game (think Theme Hospital) and that’s good way to put it. It’s a zoo simulator, but full of silly humour and things you can do, like butcher your animals for meat. A big feature of the game is breeding, including crossbreeding animals to create hybrids like a snake/pig monster.

Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper: 80% at £2. It’s an old game and the dating shows, and nor is it a brilliant masterpiece of writing (it’s Sherlock investigating Jack the Ripper after all) but it does scratch the detective game itch. It’s fun to explore London as it was in Sherlock’s day, and it does provide its own theory as to who Jack the Ripper was, as well as laying out the events in a way that are much easier to follow than reading a book. I’d recommend it for true crime and mystery fans and I look forward to the other games in the series.

My picks for some (actually) hidden gems :)