Even More Hidden Gems - Steam Summer Sale 2025

If you read my list of the Best Hidden Gems to buy in this Steam Summer Sale and thought to yourself: "but what about more games?" Well, do I have the article for you. Here's your guide to even more hidden gems to buy in this Steam Summer Sale. To qualify as a hidden gem on this list, it needs to be an amazing game that has around 1000 reviews or fewer on Steam. Consideration was also given to how well a game works on the Steam Deck, so you can expect all of these games to be at least playable on the Deck.

• Slitterhead A$37.43 – a bizarre action-horror game with music from Akira Yamaoka (of Silent Hill fame). It's rough around the edges but utterly unique, feeling like an experimental game from the PS3 era. Gritty, visceral and good wonky fun through and through.
• Eternal Strands A$29.25 – I loved Eternal Strands in my review, and I still think it's superb. An incredible magic system that lets you freeze the wings of a dragon or transform an arena into a deluge of flames and rubble. You can even clamber up behemoths and tear their soul out, incredible.
• Sorry We're Closed A$27.37 – inspired by Silent Hill and other genre classics, Sorry We're Closed stands tall in its departures from formula. The plot is an absurd soap opera with philosophical ambitions, and the gameplay is an eclectic blend of exploration, arcade combat and RPG-like dialogues. It's as much about love as it is cosmic horrors.

• Withering Rooms A$27.37 – if you crave more RPG in your horror, Withering Rooms has what you need. With an atmosphere as oppressive as it is incomprehensible, this is a tough-as-nails side scroller that takes some of the best lessons Dark Souls had to give and only half the jank.
• Locomoto A$24.25 – customise and run your very own train in a charming world filled with cute anthropomorphic animals. There's a fuckload of options to make your train your own and tending to your passengers is nice and relaxing. As long as you don't mind a lot of fetch quests.
• Wizordum A$23.60 – a high-fantasy magical shooter with vibrant retro graphics and tons of secrets to find. Wizordum draws heavily from its inspirations—games like Heretic and Wolfenstein 3D—but it revamps these ancient templates with a modern twist and looks gorgeous doing it.

• Banquet for Fools A$23.60 – a true enigma of a game, Banquet for Fools is a party-based RPG that brims with a raw passion for the genre. The art and animations are beautifully surreal, the gameplay is rich, and the story is sweeping. It is in early access, but what is available is excellent.
• Killing Time: Resurrected A$21.90 – an unsung hero in the pantheon of 90s shooters, Killing Time has great level design and a pulpy supernatural storyline. The Resurrected edition is a Nightdive remaster, which means it's the best possible way to play the game.
• El Paso, Elsewhere A$20.65 – best described as Max Payne with a supernatural twist, where 'El Paso, Elsewhere' truly shines, is in its writing. The slow-motion, guns-akimbo dives into hordes of monsters are important too, yes, but this is a game with a lot to say, and it says it very well.

• Whisker Squadron: Survivor A$19.17 – a roguelite on-rails shooter that took one look at the Starfox-less world we live in and said "enough!" This is a tightly designed shooter with a vibrant art style and great music.
• Those Who Rule A$18.55 – an excellent strategy RPG in the vein of Fire Emblem. The battles are tense, the story is filled with drama and intrigue. Visually, it looks remarkable, especially considering it was made by a solo developer.
• VED A$18.25 – there are a lot of good-looking games on this list, but none of them are as breathtaking as VED. This is a hand-drawn RPG with turn-based combat and a non-linear storyline. The choices you make have tangible consequences, which makes them feel like they have real weight.

• Cauldron A$17.56 – mini-games, the game. Cauldron is ostensibly an RPG, but what I loved most about it was the mini-games that evolve as the game goes on.
• Closer the Distance A$14.75 – this shit will fuck you up. Closer the Distance is ostensibly a life-sim game about loss and healing. It's a grounded, well-told story wrapped in management gameplay. It can be hectic, demanding and confusing, and Steam reviewer 'Lil Nuoc Mami' puts it best: "...you cannot optimise the grief process."
• Let's! Revolution! A$14.75 – a roguelite minesweeper, 'Let's! Revolution!' is packed to the brim with charm. The art and music might draw you in, but it's the surprisingly deep strategy gameplay and quick, satisfying runs that will keep you hooked.

• Vampire Therapist A$14.26 – therapy is expensive, but this is a downright bargain. Vampire Therapist does what it says on the tin. A visual novel where you talk to vampires and use real cognitive behavioural therapy concepts to help them. The writing is sharp, with an excellent balance of wit and empathy.
• Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum A$13.87 – a dangerous mix of Hotline Miami and Deus Ex. Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum is a smart, funny immersive sim that gives you a crazy amount of freedom and the world's best mission handler (✿◕‿◕)
• Ctrl Alt Ego A$13.27 – let's keep that immersive sim train going babyyyy. Ctrl Alt Ego is about foregoing your humanity so that you can inhabit the cold metal bodies of any computer in the game. Robots, door switches, actual computers, become it all.

• Wendigo Blue A$13.05 – an extremely fun side-scrolling brawler. Beating the hell out of bad guys is a timeless gaming tradition, and Wendigo Blue fleshes it out with roguelite mechanics. It's still in early access, but there's a lot of good stuff here, certainly worth a look.
• Alisa A$12.97 – I love a good, classic survival horror experience. Alisa delivers on that, with its retro PS1-style graphics and clunky mechanics. Faithful to the end, it's a tough game that revels in your misery. Unfortuntely, that's exactly what I wanted, and I played the shit out of this game that hates me.
• Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate A$11.60 – a chaotic sandbox that encourages players to "use magic spells and military surplus explosives" in their quest to take down a criminal organisation (or, syndicate, if you will). This game is bonkers, it's in early access, and it's only going to get crazier.

• Virgo Versus The Zodiac A$8.99 – if you liked the battle system in Clair Obscur, Virgo Versus The Zodiac has a similar active turn-based combat system, and it did it six years ago! This is an amazing JRPG-style game with great characters, a banging OST and an engaging plot.
• Treasures of the Aegean A$8.68 – a metroidvania with a time loop twist, Treasures of the Aegean is a buttery smooth platformer with beautiful environments and brain-tickling puzzles. There's a shitload of collectibles too, a completionist's dream.
• Ikenfell A$8.68 – a turn-based tactical RPG full of fun and interesting characters, a compelling story and perfect presentation. It captures the feel of a Game Boy Advance RPG while still looking crisp and colourful. The gameplay is a mix of overworld exploration with puzzles and wielding devastating magic powers in combat encounters. Ikenfell has a lot going for it.

• Dustland Delivery A$8.25 – if you've been playing Death Stranding (I know I have) and thought "the delivery aspect in this game isn't complicated enough", well, you should try Dustland Delivery. In what I can only assume is a hyper-accurate trucker simulation, make deliveries, cheat on your husband and build a post-apocalyptic trade empire.
• Ex-Zodiac A$7.98 – did you see Whisker Squadron further up the list, scoff, then skip over it because you hate on-rails shooters? I'm so fucking sorry, but here's another one. Ex-Zodiac is even more Starfox, and it feels great to play. The levels are varied, the bosses are insane, and it gets better with every update.
• You Will Die Here Tonight A$7.37 – control multiple characters throughout the eponymous "tonight" until they succumb to certain doom. Step over the corpses with your next character until you make it to the credits, each one laying down a path to freedom. You Will Die Here Tonight also effortlessly combines isometric exploration and first-person combat in its RE1-style manor.

• Tux and Fanny A$7.25 – I don't want to spoil anything about this game; it's an amazing experience you should try for yourself. While the game gives you a goal, it also encourages you to completely ignore that goal, offering instead a desultory array of side-activities. It wants you to appreciate the small things.
• UltraNothing A$4.46 – I've seen UltraNothing described as a fever dream, and that's now the only way I describe it. A 2D puzzle strategy game? It's also a platformer? It's not an RPG. I'm scared all the time.
• Lakeview Valley A$2.19 – a "murder RPG" that gives you a distressing amount of freedom in how you complete your objectives. There's also voices coming from the trees. Oddly, less scary than UltraNothing.

Wow. That's a lot of fucking games. I promise they're all good, or your money back (please note, I didn't ask for any of your filthy money). I knew I had left plenty of games out of my original list, so I tried out a new formula here. It was much easier to write more games into the list, and I'll likely continue to use it for larger lists like this in the future.

If you have any suggestions for me to buy. Sound off in the comments under this article. I'll buy anything...

Anything.