Gaming

APICO, a nice little beekeeping simulator with bee-breeding mechanics and building.

Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator, an incredibly cheap God-game/nation simulator. Not comparable to WorldBox, though. Just a little game for making nations fight and painting maps

For me it’s Songs of Conquest - spiritual successor of Heroes of Might and Magic 3. It looks great, the gameplay is awesome, they took all of the best parts of HoMM and got rid of the more frustrating ones (for example there is a unit cap for a single slot, so you can’t have 2000 skeletons in a single unit). There are also some cool new mechanics, like every unit gives some kind of essence, which is used as a resource for using spells, so depending on your team composition you get access to different spells. Overall definitely worth checking out for every HoMM fan!

I highly recommend CrossCode, currently only costs $6 (It also has a free demo if you want to try it first). It’s a really well polished game with a great story, and the action is amazing too. It also includes difficulty settings you can change if you feel yourself getting too frustrated (as I did sometimes). This video also sums it up pretty well. Hope you enjoy!

Here are a few that I really enjoy (though their level of "unknown-ness" is debatable):

Mini Metro: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1127500/?snr=1_5_9__205

Demeo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484280/?snr=1_5_9__205

Evoland: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1020470/?snr=1_5_9__205

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'll admit 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

I'm going to come in with some actual more hidden gems:

• Megabyte Punch

• Dorfromantik

• Hatchwell

• Imposter Factory (and the whole series)

I'm always pretty keen on little indie city management games, this Roman city building game I've seen is pretty good, reminds me of old Caesars 3

just grabbed god of war, disco elysium, and hellblade senuas sacrifice...

as far as recommendations go, Mass Effect legendary edition and dragon age are very enjoyable if you like RPG with a focus on lore, story and characters. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a wonder and a steal at $20. Witcher 3 for $12. Horizon Zero Dawn for $16.50

It is not hugely discounted, but Dave the Diver has been fantastic. Exploration with chill music mixed with running a sushi restaurant