Most people who buy games on Steam never play them • Hacker News Board

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#101

Post by oc1 » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:13 PM UTC

Am i the only one who couldn't care less about these semantics and doesn't get what the heck you're even talking about?

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#102

Post by Levitating » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:13 PM UTC

It depends on what games you like.

One game that I recommend to anyone is Firewatch. It's a beautiful, linear story game with easy to understand mechanics. And it only lasts a few hours, so it's a small time investment.

I can also recommend Outer Wilds. It's a puzzle story game. It gives you a lot of freedom, with the downside that it's somewhat easier to get stuck. For this game you should buy a gamepad.

If you like single player shooters, I recommend Half-Life 2.

Hope this helps!

PS. As for peripherals, a keyboard+mouse should be plenty. Some vehicle driven games require a gamepad to play comfortably.

As for a GPU, the games I mentioned here will run on anything semi-modern. No need to buy something brand new.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#103

Post by seventhtiger » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:14 PM UTC

It's hard to recommend games when you don't have a baseline taste. The past couple of years having a demo became very common on Steam, so I suggest trying some demos.

You've played a 2D platformer and a multiplayer shooter, two very popular genres with massive offerings. If you're interested in more along the same lines, just off the top of my head I'll say try Hollow Knight as a 2D platformer, and Overwatch 2 as a multiplayer shooter (this one is free). Overwatch 2 may be overwhelming for someone new to gaming.

There is a genre called cozy games for more relaxed experiences, like Journey. There are also turn-based roguelikes, and for those I would recommend Balatro.

I don't know about Ubuntu or Linux compatbility so look into that, but I know Steam's OS and Proton have made massive strides.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#104

Post by unsui » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:14 PM UTC

Subnautica in VR (with the Submersed VR mod) is easily the most immersive environment I have ever encountered.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#105

Post by uxcolumbo » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:15 PM UTC

You might want to try out the Steam Deck - https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

You might like story driven games, like Read Dead Redemption 2, Witcher 3, Mass Effect... all on sale on Steam currently.

You can also install emulators on the Steam Deck, so you can play those games before you started your working life.

Otherwise look into how to install Valve's Proton on Ubuntu to play the games available on Steam.

Alternatively get yourself a cheap PS4 pro on eBay, which usually come with plenty of games bundled. Don't need the latest and greatest console. PS4 still has a huge library of games and you can get those cheap on eBay too.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#106

Post by qnleigh » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:16 PM UTC

I think the point is that, on the whole, sales manipulate consumers into spending -more- money than they otherwise would have. Of course this isn't true for every person all the time, but on average I suspect it is; sales are common partly because they actually lead to more revenue, despite the discount.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#107

Post by Etheryte » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:17 PM UTC

This is like Michael Phelps giving swimming advice. Interesting to listen to for sure, but not really applicable to the vast majority of people.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#108

Post by namr2000 » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:18 PM UTC

There are still a HUGE number of games you can play with Intel integrated graphics all of which are extremely good. Many of the greatest games of all time are quite old or 2D which means you don't need anything special to run them. At most I'd invest in a controller (both Xbox & PS5 controllers are compatible) but you don't even need that to play almost all games on Steam. Some cheap but great games: Hollow Knight, Celeste, Hades, Outer Wilds, Undertale, Rimworld.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#109

Post by petderek » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:18 PM UTC

Regarding gamepads: you can use the xbox/playstation ones with your computer. Bluetooth is hit or miss for me (windows), but they both work really well with a USB cable. Its subjective of course, but the console manufacturers do a pretty good job with comfort and quality.

If you liked Doom, it might be fun to play through some of the newer doom games like Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal and see how they've evolved over the years.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#110

Post by kibwen » Sun, Jul 13, 2025, 8:21 PM UTC

The problem is that I could recommend a hundred wildly different games that you might like, but playing a hundred games just to figure out which one is right for you doesn't sound like a good use of your time. Can you give more information? You like single-player games? Classic card games like solitaire (rec: Zachtronics Solitaire Collection)? Postmodern card games (rec: Balatro)? Deckbuilding roguelikes (rec: Slay The Spire)? Actual roguelikes (rec: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup)? Postmodern roguelikes (rec: Caves of Qud)? There's so much out there, even the cream of the crop is overwhelming to a newcomer. If you're a programmer, maybe look at the best games from Zachtronics (Spacechem, Opus Magnum, Shenzhen I/O, TIS-100, Last Call BBS... they're all pretty good).