The best deals from the Steam Winter sale
Didn't we just have a Steam sale? No matter—the year may almost be over, but Valve always squeezes in one last big sale to close out the year. The Steam Winter sale is live now, and runs until January 5. We've collected our favorite deals here, featuring some of the best games of the year and especially low prices on other games we recommend.
Several of our 2020 Game of the Year picks are even on sale, including Hades, Paradise Killer, and Spelunky 2. Our Game of the Year is on sale, too, but that one's staying a secret for another week!
Below the 2020 games we've organized the deals into categories: $25, $10, and $5. You might be surprised at a few of the discounts in there: The entire Deus Ex series is only $10, while our favorite game of 2019, Disco Elysium, is on sale for 40 percent off. Pick it up now, and you'll get the "Final Cut" update coming in March 2021 for free.
The games under $5 tend to be a bit older, but we've picked some of our absolute favorites of the last few years to fill out that section. You can probably find enough loose change in the couch cushions to buy a great game or two.
Here are the best deals from the Steam Winter sale this year.
2020 videogame sales
2020 games in the Steam winter sale
Hades | $19.99 / £15.59 (20% off)
It's not just filled with excellent roguelike action, but great writing and characters, too. That's what truly sets Hades apart: We chose it as the best action game of 2020 for the way it weaves its story into run after run after run, giving you more reason to keep coming back.
Death Stranding | $29.99 / £27.49 (50% off)
It has the trademark Kojima wackiness, but what sets Death Stranding apart is the depth of its simulation—simply trekking up a hill and across a creek becomes exciting and perilous. As we wrote in our review, "a journey that will linger in your mind long after it's over."
Doom Eternal | $19.79 / £16.49 (67% off)
Kill the legions of hell by the thousands, 2020 style, at one hell of a discount for a game released this year. It's faster and more intense than 2016's Doom, and we loved it: James scored it a 94 in our review.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection | $23.99 / £17.99 (40% off, new low price)
Five Halo games on PC for $24 is a bit of a no-brainer. You're getting a lot of game in this bundle, and with more updates to come, including a server browser. Play one of gaming's best FPS series with glorious mouse aiming.
Paradise Killer | $14.99 / £11.61 (25% off) - A real step forward for the detective game genre, with a fantastic soundtrack.
Monster Train | $17.49 / £13.64 (30% off) - A great card game that'll suck up hours of your time. Think a lot Slay the Spire, a little Magic the Gathering.
Crusader Kings 3 | $39.99 / £33.59 (20% off) - The year's premier simulator of royal family drama and intrigue. One of our all-time favorite grand strategy games.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps | $14.99 / £12.49 (50% off) - Getting lost in a gorgeous, 2D world of natural splendor and cute meerkat friends is fitting after the year we've had. Bring a controller, recline, and enjoy (if you want to know more, here's our review). The first game is also only $5 itself right now.
Star Wars Squadrons | $23.99 / £20.99 (40% off) - Finally, a legit Star Wars flight sim after so many years. It feels sublime on a flight stick. Go dogfight!
Cloudpunk | $13.39 / £11.38 (33% off) - The story is so-so, but flying around a stunning voxel metropolis is so much fun it doesn't matter.
Super Mega Baseball 3 | $33.74 / £26.24 (25% off) - Our favorite baseball game on PC (not to be confused with Blaseball, which is quite different).
Amnesia: Rebirth | $23.99 / £19.03 (20% off, new low price) - Cosmic horror that doesn't hold back. "It makes The Dark Descent look downright adorable," we said in our review.
Noita | $14.99 / £11.61 (25% off) - What happens when you apply physics simulation to individual pixels, then toss in fire and explosions and acid and ice? Beautiful chaos
Spelunky 2 | $17.99 / £13.94 (10% off) - A "more is more" sequel, but when that applies to one of our favorite games ever and piles of new secrets to find, it's a real treat.
Wasteland 3 | $41.99 / £38.49 (30% off) - A meaty PC RPG to sink your holiday break into. Old school, but with just the right modern touches, according to our review.
Risk of Rain 2 | $19.99 / £15.99 (20% off) - A fantastic co-op roguelike that's all about finding ridiculous item combinations to deal crazy damage in the 45 minutes you'll spend alive, then doing it all over again.
Persona 4 Golden | $15.99 / £12.79 (20% off) We thought it would never happen, but Persona finally made its way to the PC. A great JRPG if you like mysteries and getting to know a cast of nuanced characters.
Iron Harvest | $34.99 / £32.89 (30% off, new low price) - World War I, but with mechs. Company of Heroes fans should especially check out this alternate history RTS.
Fall Guys | $15.99 / £12.79 (20% off) - Battle royale, but in the style of an obstacle course game show. Good for some laughs, if not the year's biggest social gaming phenomenon.
F1 2020 | $29.99 / £22.49 (50% off) - The official F1 adaptation continues to be one of the best racing games out there, with a deep career mode, tactical racing, and spectacular graphics. It could give off a bit more personality, we said in our review, but is "simply a superb game."
Steam Winter Sale: $25 and under
Steam deals under $25
Disco Elysium | $23.99 / £20.99 (40% off)
A truly stellar RPG and the best game of 2019. Here's what we said in our review: "The writing is funny, subversive, and, admittedly, a little self-indulgent at times. But it's also incredibly good, with an anarchic literary flair that makes even the most matter-of-fact conversation hugely entertaining."
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order | $23.99 / £21.99 (60% off) - Star Wars by way of Dark Souls with satisfying lightsaber combat, which is what matters most. "A must for Star Wars fans," we said in our review.
Control | $19.99 / £17.49 (50% off) - One of our favorites from last year, with "abundance of mystery, wonder, and glorious room-destroying combat" according to our review.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 | $17.99 / £11.99 (60% off) - One of the finest RPGs of the decade, and absolutely worth playing before Baldur's Gate 3 if you haven't already.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | $15.99 / £13.99 (60% off) - The successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night mostly lives up to that series' legacy, according to our review.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | $17.99 / £14.99 (70% off) - While you're waiting for Valhalla to go on sale, Odyssey can soak up a couple hundred hours of your time.
Civilization 6 | $14.99 / £12.49 (75% off) - The best Civ game ever? It's even got a battle royale mode.
Metro Exodus | $15.99 / £13.99 (60% off) - Take a memorable journey though a stunning post-apocalyptic world (with some so-so shooting).
Steam Winter Sale: $10 and under
Steam deals under $10
The Deus Ex Collection | $10.60 / £7.79 (88% off)
A hair over $10, but too good a bundle to resist. If you didn't think Cyberpunk 2077 had enough vents to crawl through, or that its hacking and stealth play didn't go far enough: This incredible deal includes Deus Ex, Invisible War, Human Revolution, The Fall, and Mankind Divided. DLC, too.
What Remains of Edith Finch | $6.99 / £5.24 (65% off) - A beautiful narrative game that will take you through the lives of a whole tragic, fascinating family in just a couple hours. Perhaps the pinnacle of the "walking simulator."
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus | $7.99 / £4.99 (80% off) - A "fun and frantic" FPS according to our review. We especially appreciated how Wolfenstein 2 wasn't afraid to get a little extra weird with its alternate history.
The Evil Within 2 | $9.99 / £6.24 (75% off) - A modern horror gem from the creator of Resident Evil. It's even more batshit than that series, if you can believe it.
Resident Evil 7 | $9.89 / TK (67% off) - An excellent soft reboot starring one of the most deranged families in PC gaming. One to play before RE8 in 2021.
Ark: Survival Evolved | $9.99 (80% off) - While you wait to test your hardware with Cyberpunk 2077, the dino survival game will get your GPU's fans spinning.
Steam Winter Sale: $5 and under
Deals under $5
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut | $3.74 / £2.74 (75% off)
An excellent cyberpunk RPG that somehow makes the inclusion of fantasy tropes cool. This story is full of twists, great characters, and cozy cyberpunk trappings. Expect plenty of netrunning, underground criminal byways, espionage, betrayals, and tasteful levels of future slang.
The Sims 4 | $4.79 / £4.19 (88% off) - We can't count the number hours we've put into The Sims 4 over the years. This price is really just a gateway drug to its many expansions. Every one of them (except Snowy Escape) is on sale too, so you can pick them all up for roughly… $450.
Among Us | $3.99 / £3.19 (20% off) - It's the game no one will shut up about. But it's genuinely and amazingly fun, and now it's a buck off so you have no excuse not to see for yourself.
Donut County | $4.54 / £3.60 (65% off, new low price) - If 2020 has you feeling like a large void, but unable to swallow up entire buildings, then Donut County is the ideal place for you. It's a cute, funny game about sucking up the world with a nice story about a sad raccoon wrapped around it.
Terraria | $4.99 / £3.49 (50% off) - Despite adding tons of content since launch, it's always only been a mere $10 for one the best PC games. And now it's $5. Just buy it if you haven't already.
Transistor | $2.99 / £2.32 (85% off) - Before Hades, Supergiant made Transistor, a quiet and moody RPG set in an empty cyberpunk city. Expect the lovely audiovisual treatment Supergiant is known for, and unique combat that mixes real time slashing with a stop-and-pause strategy. It's rad.
Hotline Miami | $2.49 / $1.74 (75% off) - Brutally gory and punishing shooter set to a pounding disco beat.
Wizard of Legend | $4.79 / £3.71 (70% off) - A great-feeling no-nonsense action roguelike to lose some hours to if you've exhausted Hades already.
American Truck Simulator | $4.99 / £3.74 (75% off) - See what America really looks like for as much as a latte. The earlier expansions are on sale too, with Oregon and New Mexico going for under $4.
Thumper | $3.99 / £3.19 (80% off, new low price) - One of the best looking and sounding music games ever for a quarter the price of a fancy vinyl album. Chip in another two bucks to get the soundtrack.
Fallout: New Vegas | $2.99 / £2.39 (70% off) - Hard to believe any RPG lover wouldn't already have it in their library, but just in case.
Lyne | $1.49 / £0.99 (50% off) - Excellent minimalist puzzle game that's remarkably cheap even without the discount. A buck and a half gets your hours of challenges.
Dungeons of Dredmor | $2.49 / £1.99 (50% off) - This roguelike RPG isn't just deeply challenging, it's also remarkably funny.