I used to grab every Humble Bundle that looked half decent. $12 for 8 games? Sign me up. After 3 years I had 400+ games on Steam and had actually played maybe 20 of them. The moment it hit me was when I went to install something and realized I already owned 4 copies of the same indie game from different bundles. Now I only buy bundles if I will play at least 3 of the games that week. Has anyone else had to unfuck their library from bundle addiction?
I picked up Hollow Knight during a summer sale back in 2021 for like 5 bucks because everyone said it was good but I just never got around to it. Last month my internet went down for three days straight and I finally loaded it up out of boredom. Man was I wrong to sleep on it. The controls feel so tight and the map design is insane for something that probably cost less than a fast food meal. I sunk 40 hours into it before I even realized what was happening lol. Now I'm kicking myself for not playing it sooner and wondering what other cheap games I've got sitting in my library that I'm ignoring. Anyone else have a game you bought on sale ages ago and only just now discovered it's actually amazing?
I was at a Goodwill in Green Bay last year, digging through the DVD bin when some dude in a stained hoodie walked up to me. He had a copy of Sly Cooper 2 in his hand and pointed at the copy of Silent Hill 2 I was holding. Straight up asked if I'd trade him my game for his, plus he'd throw in his 'pet hamster that just passed away.' I thought he was kidding, but he pulled a little cardboard box out of his backpack with a dead hamster wrapped in a paper towel. He said the hamster's name was Sir Fluff and that he had sentimental value. I told him no thanks and he got all huffy, said I was missing out on a 'legendary trade.' Has anyone else run into weird trade offers at thrift stores that made you question humanity?
I used to grab every remastered classic that hit 75% off. Then someone pointed out that most of them run fine on a toaster anyway with a fan patch, and the original versions go for like $2 during sales. I checked my library and I had paid $15 for the Baldur's Gate remaster when the original sat at $3.50. Now I look up if the original has a good community patch before buying the shiny version. Anyone else switch from remasters to originals and save cash?
Back in 2012 I used to spend an hour every week browsing forums for old Humble Bundle codes and Steam key swaps... now I just check the PS store sales once a month and grab whatever is under $5. Has anyone else moved away from physical key trading and just wait for digital storefronts to drop prices?
I used to spend every other Saturday morning at the Swap Shop in Tampa flipping through these massive binders people had full of burned PC games from the early 2000s, found some weird gems like a copy of Giants: Citizen Kabuto that nobody else wanted. Now I just scroll through Itch.io bundles on my phone while waiting for coffee, its faster but feels like I lost the hunt. Does anyone else feel like finding a cheap game used to be an adventure instead of just clicking a button?
I was digging through a box of old DVDs in some guy's driveway in Phoenix last Saturday, and when I tried to play the game, my Xbox just started blasting some garage rock anthem called "Mrs. Jenkins Detention" instead, so has anyone else gotten bait-and-switched with fake discs from random sales?
Last Saturday I hit up the Goodwill on 3rd Street in Portland, the one that usually has a solid bin of PC games from the early 2000s. I had $20 in my pocket and was ready to grab a few cheap titles to add to my collection. But when I got there, the shelf was completely bare of anything worth buying - just copies of Monopoly and outdated office software from 2012. The guy working there told me they had a guy come in at 7 AM every Friday who buys all the old game discs by the box. He resells them on eBay for $8 to $15 a pop. I stood there for a good five minutes staring at that empty shelf and realized that thrift store game hunting is basically dead for me around here. Has anyone else noticed the same thing happening at their local shops? Maybe you've found a way to beat the resellers to the punch?
I was digging through a bin at a garage sale last Saturday and grabbed a beat up copy of Sonic 2 for like $2. Got home and the cartridge was a weird yellow color, not the standard grey. Looked it up online and apparently some random company in Brazil made an unlicensed port that actually runs faster than the real version. Has anyone else stumbled across bootleg carts that ended up being kind of cool?
Was talking to my friend Dave last night about my backlog. He said he hasn't bought a game in over two years because he just plays whatever Epic gives away or what's on Game Pass. I told him I still like hunting for $5 deals on Steam but he said I'm just spending money on stuff I'll never play. It hit different because I looked at my library and yeah, I have like 60 games I paid for that are still untouched. Waste of cash maybe.
Back in March, my friend Dave told me to stay away from GOG because he thought all those old game sites were sketchy. I ignored him and grabbed Fallout 2 when it was free for 48 hours. It runs PERFECT on my cheap laptop and I'm 20 hours in now with zero issues. Has anyone else had a friend give bad advice about where to grab cheap games?
It got me thinking about how many old games have free legal versions floating around if you know where to dig, anyone got a list of good demos that actually have a lot of content?
I had been using a free launcher for years to grab old games dirt cheap. Last week it auto-updated and wiped all my save files for a Fallout 3 playthrough I was 40 hours into. Turns out the cheap launcher was storing saves in a hidden temp folder that gets purged on updates. Anyone know a better way to manage saves for these bargain bin finds without paying for a bigger service?
I spent ages chasing down $20 copies on eBay that always got sniped. Last week I snagged it for zero dollars on a local Facebook swap group, just had to drive 15 minutes to some guy's garage. Anyone else luck out on freebies that way?
I was bragging to my neighbor's 14-year-old about finding a cheap copy of Chrono Trigger at a garage sale for $3, and he just laughed and showed me how he plays the entire game for free on his phone with a translation patch. Turns out there's a whole world of free fan translations and romhacks for old JRPGs that I never even knew existed (and most of them fix bugs or add quality of life stuff). Anyone else feel kinda dumb for spending years hunting physical copies when there's so much accessible for nothing online?
Last month a friend saw my Steam list and asked why I had so many $60 titles I never finished. He told me he only plays games he finds for under $5 on sale or from giveaways. I started checking the bargain bins on GOG and Fanatical and now I've got 20 solid games I actually play for less than one new release cost. Has anyone else cut way back on buying full price and seen their backlog shrink?
Picked up a dusty Xbox 360 controller at a Value Village for 5 bucks last Saturday. The left stick drifted so hard during a Dark Souls bonfire run that I fell off a cliff twice. Anybody else have luck getting these things working again or is it just e-waste?
I keep seeing folks pay full price for games that go 75% off every few months. I grabbed Doom 2016 for $5 last summer sale. Why do people not just wishlist stuff and wait?
Everyone always says to wait for Steam summer sales but I found the real deals are on GOG. If you click 'On Sale' then set the price slider to max $5, suddenly you get stuff like System Shock 2 for $1.99 and classic RPGs nobody talks about. I snagged 8 games last Thursday for less than what one new release costs on console. Has anyone else tried doing deep price cuts on GOG or do you still stick with Steam?
Bought a copy of Fallout 3 GOTY from G2A last week for $10 and the key was ALREADY used. Support took 4 days to reply and told me to contact the seller. Never again. Anyone else got burned buying from key reseller sites?
I was waiting for my hold at the library last week and overheard a kid ask the librarian about video games. She pointed him to a display with old PC game discs you can check out for free. I ended up digging through their bin and found a copy of Dragon Age Origins and Deus Ex Human Revolution just sitting there. My library has like 30 games total but they rotate them every few months when people return stuff. I grabbed a couple and they worked fine on my laptop with no scratches or anything. It's not Steam or GOG but it's literally free if you have a library card. Has anyone else found good games at their local library?
Last Tuesday I was digging through the bin at a Goodwill in Tacoma and grabbed a copy of SSX Tricky for $2.50. Got it home and saw this huge circular scratch right on the read area. Figured it was dead. But I grabbed my toothpaste and rubbed it in circles for like 10 minutes then cleaned it off. The game booted right up and played perfect. I was so stoked I went back the next day and the lady at the counter said they had a box out back of old PC games nobody wanted. She let me have a dozen games for free. Got Fallout 2 and Deus Ex in there. Has anyone else ever had a scratch fix work out that good?
I used to wait for the big Steam summer and winter sales, grab a bunch of stuff 50% off and think I was killing it. Then around February I started grabbing the free games Epic gives away each week. Half the time it's random junk I never play, but I got Control, GTA V, and a few other big titles for zero dollars. Now I just check the Epic store every Thursday morning before I hit the road. Has anyone else found better deals just taking the freebies instead of hunting discounts?
I spent months watching a Steam wishlist title drop from $30 to $5 over three sales, but my buddy grabbed it for $2 on a random Wednesday flash discount I missed. Turns out, setting alerts on multiple sites like IsThereAnyDeal caught that deep cut, but I wasted more time checking than I saved. So do you camp out for the absolute rock bottom, or pull the trigger at a price that feels good enough?