Steam remains a go-to platform for game enthusiasts around the world, offering a vast library of titles spanning various genres. Among the mountain of premium, high-cost games, there are hidden treasures on Steam that offer exciting gaming experiences without leaving a dent in your wallet. For those who look for enjoyable gameplay without spending all of their hard-earned money, we’ve created a list of some of the must-play games under $5 on Steam. This list offers a little something for everyone, ranging from action RPGs to casual music games.
Each game on this list has been handpicked for its distinctive gaming experience. The list provides variety in terms of graphics fidelity, gameplay, and genre. Most importantly, though, all of them are worth their minimal price tag. While all gamers have a unique perspective and their personal favorites, we can nearly guarantee that most gamers will find enjoyable experiences from the list of games.
Included are intense AAA action games such as BioShock Remastered, arcade shooters like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, fun social multiplayer experiences in Among Us, and a music tool meets game Incredibox. Here are our selections for the best games on Steam under $5.
BioShock Remastered
BioShock Remastered is, as the name suggests, a remastered version of the beloved and story-driven FPS. If you haven’t played through one of the pre-eminent RPG-like first-person shooters of our time, here’s a great chance. In this game, players can use more than just regular weapons such as revolvers or a grenade launcher. Instead, they have the opportunity to manipulate their DNA, transforming themselves into a lethal weapon.
With the remastered version, players can look forward to a series of bonus features. These include the Museum of Orphaned Concepts, which gives an insight into the game’s development process, and Challenge Rooms which add an extra layer of difficulty. Gamers will also find the Director’s Commentary titled Imagining BioShock, featuring insights from Ken Levine and Shawn Robertson. This makes it a worthwhile purchase even for those who have played through the original game.
BioShock Remastered is also more than just a graphical overhaul. High-resolution textures, models, and interfaces make for a more convenient and visually better experience. The game now provides support for 4K resolution, bringing the underwater city of Rapture to life in newly found detail. It also has new controller support for those who want to skip the mouse and keyboard. For a cost under $5 on Steam, this game provides both a nostalgic rediscovery for BioShock veterans and an amazing opportunity for newcomers.
Among Us
Among Us is an online multiplayer game that tasks players with preparing a spaceship for departure. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The crew, which can range from 4 to 15 players, contains one or more Impostors who have a mission: to eliminate everyone else. This game that became a sensation a couple of years back mixes teamwork, deception, and survival.
Players have two paths to victory: they can either complete tasks to ready the ship or identify all the Impostors. Impostors can hinder these tasks through sabotages, and the crew needs to repair them quickly. Additionally, the crew can monitor each other via an Admin map and security cameras, report dead bodies, and call emergency meetings to vote out suspects.
Playing as an Impostor opens up a world of strategic possibilities, and offers a totally different avenue of play. They can frame innocent crewmates, pretend to carry out tasks to blend in, use vents for moving faster on the map, and use sabotages and locked doors to create chaos among the crew.
There are also a lot of customization options in Among Us that allow players to distinguish themselves from others. Players can choose the character’s color, hat, skin, and even a pet. In addition, the game features different game modes, including Classic and Hide n Seek, across four different maps. To make it a more social experience, it also supports cross-platform play, in-game text chat, and Discord integration. At the time of writing this, the game is at a 25% discount, which makes it even cheaper at $3.74, but even the normal $4.99 price tag is well worth it.
Incredibox
Incredibox is an innovative music game that allows you to create your own tunes with the assistance of animated beatboxers. It lets players select their preferred musical style from nine atmospheres, arrange their mix, record it, and then share it with others. Incredibox blends a game and a creation tool to offer an immersive audio-visual experience. The game is suitable for all ages and can be an educational tool for kids.
Playing Incredibox is easy and fun. Players simply drag and drop icons onto the avatars, prompting them to sing and thus create music. Discovering the perfect combination of sounds unlocks animated choruses that add depth to the music piece. If you’re not in the mood to create and would rather just enjoy the tunes, you can set the game to automatic mode.
As you finish your song, you can save and share it. Each saved mix generates a link that you can share and let others listen to it. The listeners can also give votes for the music pieces. The mixes that receive the most votes are hoisted on the Top 50 chart on Incredibox.
Originating as a webpage in 2009 by Lyon-based studio So Far So Good, Incredibox has now garnered a lot of attention and is available on multiple platforms. If gamified music creation and the community-based around it sounds like fun, the game is surely worth a look. At the time of writing this, the game is available at a 20% discount at $3.99, instead of the regular $4.99 price.
Wall World
Wall World is a newly released game that blends rogue-lite, mining, and tower defense mechanics. Set within the mystical confines of the Wall, this game puts players in charge of a mining rig in randomly generated mines. As the game proceeds the player discovers various biomes with unique aspects. The journey continues through both day and night and in various weather conditions, revealing clues about “the others” who have traversed these paths before.
Mining plays a central role in the gameplay. You are encouraged to burrow deep into the Wall from different points, which nets the player valuable resources and advanced technologies that allow upgrades. However, players must keep track of time and ensure they are ready to face the monsters that inevitably attack.
In Wall World, you’ll find yourself switching from mining tools to weapons as gathering resources is interrupted by enemies. The weaponry ranges from basic machine guns to advanced homing missiles. For fans of mining, building, and tower defense games, this $4.99 game is definitely worth every penny.
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is a modern version of a classic shooter game, originally developed for the Xbox Live Arcade. At its core, the gameplay is straightforward. The player controls a geometric ship within a grid and fights against an onslaught of foes, presented as other geometric shapes. Like its ancestors, including the likes of Asteroids, the game’s objective revolves around survival, dodging bullets, and racking up as high a score as possible before falling to the ever tougher opponents.
Combat in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is as frantic as one can imagine from a classic shooter. Players need to balance between dodging and dealing damage to enemies. The waves of enemies spawn within the grid and present new, increasingly difficult challenges. Fortunately, your ship is equipped with deadly weapons and bombs that decimate the entire screen.
In the end, a high score is all the game is about. With each enemy destroyed, your score multiplier increases, but the multiplier resets upon your ship’s destruction. Hunting for bigger multipliers poses the danger of losing it all. Those looking for an addictive, fun, and adrenaline-fueled classic shooter are bound to love Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, and the $3.99 price tag is a small price for all that.
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition
In Plants vs. Zombies, the player acts as the final defense against a zombie invasion. The only weapons at your disposal are various alien plants. However, worry not as each plant poses a unique set of abilities. The plant weaponry ranges from peashooters to cherry bombs that can quickly dispatch a horde of enemies. The situation will become more dire as the game continues. To succeed, players must strategize quickly and create their favorite defensive plantations even faster. In addition to enemy units, there are also challenges including the setting sun, fog, and the swimming pool.
The game offers five different modes: Adventure, Mini-Games, Puzzle, Survival, and the Zen Garden. There are a total of 50 levels in Adventure mode alone, each with different conditions and challenges. The enemies also have distinct abilities, depending on the type of zombie.
In Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition, players can earn 49 powerful perennials and gather coins to purchase items like a pet snail or power-ups that help in-game. The game offers endless replayability with the aforementioned game modes. That is more than worth the $4.99 price tag.
Parting Words
As evidenced by the list above, Steam has a lot to offer in affordable games. No matter what is their favorite genre or style of game, gamers are bound to find exciting new experiences without breaking the bank. Whether the gamer is looking to experience AAA titles they missed at the launch, get into the latest independent entry, or find a simple and addictive strategy or puzzle game, Steam is likely not going to disappoint.
There are tons of games that didn’t fit into our list this time around. We didn’t want to create an endless article filled with games. However, we wanted to add a few more entries that missed the list by just a smidge. Among the titles that are definitely worth considering are the following. Bullet hell roguelike Vampire Survivors, 2D fighting game One Finger Death Punch, the genre-defining, original version of Doom, and the mystery puzzle game The Room. Some of the games that are usually more expensive, but currently are available for under $5 include the likes of survival horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the top-down action game Hotline Miami.
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