Prologue

If you haven't tried it already, go to the Steam store page and type "prologue" into the search engine.  You will get a long list of games that can be played for free.  Most of them are not very good, but a few might appeal to you if you have a particular interest in what might be an underserved niche.  Two examples that come to mind are Alder's Blood: Prologue (a horror themed strategy/tactics RPG) and Empty Shell: Prologue (a game that feels like GTFO, but plays like Teleglitch).  They are demo games at heart, but not every free game falls into the category of a sample that is trying to rope you into buying the real product.  In fact, there are a number of completely free-of-charge video games on Steam (as well as other online software distribution stores) that aren't covertly trying to get you to spend money. 

The oddly named Buriedbornes is one such example.  It's basically a dungeon crawling RPG with a somewhat Dark/Demon's Souls vibe to it.  The art is static, but well drawn and it has all the fundamental mechanics you'd expect from a game of this type.  The only complaint I have with it is a persistent online requirement despite being a single-player game.  Normally, that wouldn't be an issue for me except that if the servers are down then you can't play.  I guess that's the real price you pay for this free game.  

Another game that got special mention on the "Three Moves Ahead" end-of-year-discussion podcast was Ardor.  It's a very small, tightly designed turn-based strategy game.  At first glance, it has a chess-like feel to it.  Upon further examination though major differences start to become apparent; hexes instead of squares, only one player-controlled playing piece, and a deck-builder card mechanic instead of a simple "I go, you go" approach.  The ability to unlock new cards and upgrade already acquired cards after each level is neat, and keeps Ardor from becoming an overly linear experience.  Even so, it does have a handy "revert back to the beginning of the turn" button - a very nice feature to have in the event that you miscalculated something important.

On the less analytical side of things, there are some nice free games out there as well.  Take the VR-supported game Dagon, for example.  It is an accurate retelling of the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name.  Player input is minimal, but the narrator and environmental design do an excellent job of setting the mood for this horror tale.  

Speaking of horror, the Faith Demo is not actually a demo.  It's the first entry in a trilogy of games.  The graphics and sound are very retro (I mean we are talking Apple II retro here).  Despite the simple presentation, the game is actually pretty darn scary thanks to some well crafted tension building scenes.  The overall ambience is surprisingly good too.       

First released on Steam way back in 2014, NaissanceE is a walking sim, but not just any walking sim.  The environments in this game are positively intimidating in terms of size and scale.  It is almost as if the game is deliberately designed to make you megalophobic.  Thankfully, there isn't anything in the game that is out to cause you harm other than plain old gravity, so exploration and discovery are really what this game is all about. 

There are a number of other games I could cover such as the beautifully stylized Sailing Era with its anime inspired character and scenic 2.5D harbor towns, but I think I've provided enough examples for this blog post.  In general, I think games are too expensive these days.  Thankfully, there are a few good ones that are totally free.