The holiday season is upon us once again, dear readers. It seems to me as though Thanksgiving may as well have been just yesterday, yet here we find ourselves either preparing for or recovering from even more holiday festivities. Speaking of holiday festivities, though, it simply wouldn’t be “the most wonderful time of the year” in my opinion without a significant Steam sale to give many of us here in the U.S. something to do while snowed in; in light of that, as if on cue, Valve’s main wintry attraction has begun.

Considering that 2019’s Steam Winter Sale is now live, I’ve elected to continue my semi-frequent tradition of offering you a list of my personal game recommendations based on each game’s significance to me as well as the gravity of its discount. You might recall that I wrote an article similar to this back in July during the middle of this year’s Steam Summer Sale; the procedure here will be virtually the same as it was in that article.

The main difference in this article compared to my Summer Sale roundup is simply the variety of games I’ll be including. I’ve made it a personal mission to avoid recycling the lists of games I use for these articles so as to avoid resting on my laurels. That would be an inexcusable level of laziness on my part.

Even if a game is more deeply discounted than it was during a previous sale within a year, I won’t list it if I’ve discussed it in a list like this in the past unless I feel completely justified in doing so (such as if a game received a particularly significant update and/or piece of DLC).

Aside from that, as I mentioned, this article will be essentially identical to lists I’ve written in the past and will presumably write in the future; to that end, this list will include bundles and honorable mentions in addition to the main entries. There won’t be a single game on lists like this that I haven’t played; additionally, the games on this list are presented in no particular order.

For those of you who might be unaware, this list will be valid throughout the duration of the sale, which runs from December 19th, 2019 to January 2nd, 2020 at precisely 10am Pacific time. Having said all that, I think that’s quite enough yammering about how the list will work. Without further ado, it is once again my great honor to present to you this collection of discounted games I truly believe are worth your time. Let’s begin.

1. Iratus: Lord of the Dead [Early Access] – Discount: 34% – Sale Price: $16.49

If you’ve been following my written content here on Phenixx Gaming for any length of time, folks, you probably know at least a few details of a certain game I hold in especially high regard, namely Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon. Not only have I reviewed that title in the past so that I could more thoroughly discuss why I enjoy it as much as I do, but I also included it in this year’s Steam Summer Sale recommendation list for that same reason.

Iratus: Lord of the Dead, developed by Unfrozen and published by Daedalic Entertainment, was once referred to by PC Gamer as “like Darkest Dungeon, except you’re the bad guy.” That simple description is spot on as far as I’m concerned, and is the primary reason why I basically instantly fell in love with the game shortly after I bought it a few months back.

You might recall that I wrote an Early Access preview of Iratus near the end of this past September wherein I discussed a few aspects of its gameplay, as well as a handful of ways in which it’s similar to Darkest Dungeon. That article should give you the general gist of what playing Iratus is like; therefore, I humbly suggest you read through it if you’d like a more in-depth look at the game.

I don’t plan to cover Iratus in written form again until it leaves Early Access and is in a more complete state compared to its current condition. According to what the game’s developers wrote on its Steam store page, that’s planned to occur sometime between April and June of 2020 if everything goes according to plan.

However, before then, I specifically want to emphasize that I consider Iratus to most assuredly be worth a look despite the fact that it’s technically unfinished and certain gameplay features haven’t been implemented yet. The game’s discounted price during the Winter Sale is a notable reason for that if you’re unsure as to whether or not you can justify shelling out its normal MSRP of $24.99.

Speaking of that, I suspect that since the game will likely still be in Early Access for quite some time, its price might increase to some degree in the future as development nears completion; because of that, I don’t think there’s any harm at all in picking it up while it’s discounted to its current price. Just bear in mind the standard caveat that if you do buy it now, the fact that the game is in Early Access doesn’t necessarily mean that its current content represents the final, finished product.

On a final note for this entry, whether or not you decide to purchase the game during the sale, I’d like to mention that I’ll be covering Iratus and most other games on this list – as well as countless others not mentioned here – in video form sometime in the relatively near future. I’ll elaborate on that more fully at the end of this article.

2. Mortal Kombat 11 – Discount: 60% – Sale Price: $23.99

In the interest of transparency, I must confess that I’ve only played a handful of games that were released this year. That’s mostly due to my own laziness, honestly, but that’s beside the point. I consider the vast majority of those few games noteworthy at the least, but I never found myself quite as excited to play any of them as I was to sink my teeth into the newest installment in the violently-venerable Mortal Kombat franchise when it released this past April.

Despite how few recent games I’ve played in the past twelve months, whether playing them was for work purposes or during personal downtime, I surprisingly didn’t find it too difficult to conclude that Mortal Kombat 11 is my personal Game of the Year this year. That decision might come as a surprise to some of you, but you must bear in mind that I’ve played almost every mainstream Mortal Kombat title and have loved the franchise since I was but a lad.

You’ll know if you’ve read my full review of MK11 that while I consider it to be an exceptional entry to the legendary franchise, I do have a couple of what I think are significant bones to pick with it. I think those issues should be mentioned here in the interests of fairness, transparency, and avoiding potential pitfalls if you find yourself tempted to pick up the game during the sale.

My concerns stem from the fact that I think certain features present within Mortal Kombat 11 are too heavily (if not altogether unnecessarily) monetized. For example, you’ll recall from my review that I mentioned the in-game ability to purchase so-called “Time Krystals” with real currency, although I should note that these “Time Krystals” can also be earned through normal gameplay.

This in-game premium currency can be used to purchase items such as “Easy Fatality tokens,” a concept about which I have mixed feelings for various reasons which I discussed in my review. Additionally, the game’s first DLC comes in the form of a season pass which will normally cost you $40. This season pass includes a total of six new playable fighters and a host of new cosmetic skins for various characters.

That may sound like a fair deal for the money even when the pack isn’t discounted, but I strongly advise bearing in mind that at the time of this writing, two of those six fighters (DC Comics’ Joker and Image Comics’ Spawn) are not yet playable. The former will be officially added to the game on January 28th, 2020, and the latter is slated to join the fray almost two months later on March 17th.

Having said that, however, the Kombat Pack is currently discounted down to $15.99 during this year’s Steam Winter Sale. Although the pack still has mostly “mixed” reviews on Steam, which appears to be largely because many negative reviews don’t seem to realize that the pack’s fighters are being released individually over time; I think that’s a much more reasonable asking price, all things considered.

On a final note, even if you aren’t interested in any new DLC fighters or in-game purchases, I truly believe you’ll come to adore MK11 as much as I do if you consider yourself any degree of fighting game connoisseur. In brief, the game’s story is gripping, the “kombat” is as brutal and ruthless as ever, and the game’s performance on PC is a notable step up from most of NetherRealm Studios’ earlier titles, in case any of that helps convince you to pick it up.

3. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Platinum Edition – Discount: 71% – Sale Price: $48.05

I know I said I wouldn’t recycle any games I’ve included on previous lists such as this, but I feel compelled to exploit something of a loophole in order to justify granting the Platinum Edition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI on this year’s Steam Winter Sale roundup. You see, dear reader, the Platinum Edition of Civ VI did not yet exist during this year’s Steam Summer Sale when I wrote my previous list of this nature; in light of that, I’ve elected to bend my own arbitrary rules by claiming that this specific edition of the game technically released this year.

In fact, you might recall that within my Summer Sale article, I lamented the fact that a complete Civ VI anthology didn’t exist back then. At that point, the closest thing to such a package for sale on Steam was the “Gold Edition,” which omitted the game’s newest expansion, Gathering Storm. Considering that the Gold Edition commonly wasn’t discounted quite so deeply earlier this year, the prospect of buying Gathering Storm separately on top of that might have understandably been too bitter a pill for some of our readers to swallow.

Having said that, I now firmly believe that our readers who want to give Civilization VI a try and can spare the cash for the Platinum Edition no longer have an excuse to avoid doing so. Assuming the game doesn’t get a third expansion after this article is published (which I sincerely hope it does), this edition will give you the complete experience. It gives you the base game, all the DLC you’d get from buying the Digital Deluxe edition, and the Rise & Fall and Gathering Storm expansions.

Alternatively, if Gathering Storm is the only DLC you’re missing, the expansion itself is discounted by 40% during the sale; it’ll currently set you back $23.99, which is a notably deeper discount than has been commonly seen on Steam since the expansion’s release this past February. Whether you don’t have any version of Civ VI at all or you’re just missing Gathering Storm, and you want to make a more informed purchase decision, you can learn more about the newest expansion by reading my first impressions of that particular piece of DLC.

4. Hitman: Essential Collection Bundle – Discount: 83% – Sale Price: $18.13

I don’t think this entry is technically another loophole, or at least not as much of one, but I nevertheless wanted to make a concentrated effort to get some version of the adventures of IO Interactive’s legendarily-bald contract assassin on this list. In doing so, I can once again recommend a few select installments of this venerable franchise in the hopes that playing them will entice you to experience the entire series.

To accomplish that, I’ve elected to include what I consider to be the somewhat unfortunately-titled “Hitman: Essential Collection Bundle.” In exchange for its asking price, this anthology contains 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money, 2012’s Hitman: Absolution, and the entirety of 2016’s episodic series reboot simply entitled Hitman. You’ll also get two pieces of DLC for Hitman 2016, namely its Patient Zero bonus campaign and the entirely cosmetic “Game of the Year outfit bundle.”

Note that this bundle does not include 2018’s arguably more popular installment which serves as a sequel to the aforementioned reboot, which is entitled Hitman 2, or any of its DLC; regardless, I still consider this collection to be an excellent way for anyone to dip their toe into this outstanding stealth series.

I referred to this bundle as “unfortunately-titled” entirely because I think it’s disappointing that the collection doesn’t include the equally-outstanding newest game; I’m such a fan of the entire series that I would argue every game under the Hitman banner is essential. However, I implore you not to let that omission deter you. That’s especially true if you’re either completely new to the franchise or merely missing a few games’ worth of the story.

Considering that the bundle contains the three most recent titles leading up to Hitman 2, however, I’m confident that playing through the three games included in the Essential Collection will allow you to make a highly informed decision as to whether or not you ultimately enjoy everything the series has to offer enough to pull the trigger (pun most assuredly intended) on 2018’s installment of Agent 47’s adventures. Even if you find you dislike the series, at least this bundle will definitely allow you to say you gave it a fair shot (again, pun intended).

5. Two Point Hospital – Discount: 66% – Sale Price: $11.89

Bullfrog Productions’ 1997 release Theme Hospital appears to have been wildly popular back in its heyday, both on the steadily-emerging personal computer platform of that era and (apparently) the original PlayStation once it was ported over the following year. Having played the classic version thanks to GOG, I can certainly see why the game earned such a cult following and positive reputation based in no small part on its unique sense of humor.

However, I couldn’t help but feel that the game seemed a bit too dated, even considering its age. I always thought the classic version, as amusing and generally enjoyable as it was, could use a breath of fresh air. Then, in 2018, along came Two Point Studios (and their noteworthy publisher Sega), who proceeded to gift the world what I consider to be easily among the best spiritual successors to Theme Hospital in the form of their partially eponymous Two Point Hospital.

From what I’ve been able to discern from the time I’ve spent with both the original Theme Hospital and this specific spiritual successor, it certainly appears to me that Two Point Hospital strives to maintain the classic game’s formula as best it can, while changing and building upon just enough aspects to keep the gameplay fresh for as long as possible. In my personal opinion, that adherence to Theme Hospital’s gameplay and sense of humor definitely works in Two Point Hospital’s favor.

For instance, Two Point Hospital features a treatable in-game psychological disorder whose name currently escapes me, but its symptoms are both easily spotted and hilarious. This particular condition entails patients believing they’re hugely-popular rock stars; this leads them all to dress, act, and style their hair exactly like Freddie Mercury in one of his more iconic outfits. It takes a session with a psychiatrist to cure this condition and allow patients to realize that they are not, in fact, the legendary Queen vocalist.

If the inclusion of that particular treatable condition isn’t enough to at least cause you to consider picking up Two Point Hospital, perhaps knowing that the game has a healthy supply of DLC will help sway your decision. The three main pieces of DLC (Bigfoot, Close Encounters, and Pebberley Island) are all individually discounted by at least 20%, although you can grab them all in a bundle to save a bit of cash.

If you already own the base game, the DLC bundle will currently set you back $15.58; alternatively, if you don’t have Two Point Hospital, you can grab the game in the same “Healthy Collection Vol. 2” bundle with every piece of DLC for a total of $26.04.

6. Neo Cab – Discount: 25% – Sale Price: $11.24

Neo Cab, developed by Chance Agency and published by Fellow Traveller, honestly sticks out in my mind as the most interesting title I’ve elected to include on this list. That’s mainly because of everything I’ve experienced within it thus far in terms of its story and certain aspects of its gameplay. I’ll avoid spoilers in describing exactly what those aspects are, of course, but I do feel particularly compelled to at least give you the gist of what I’m referring to. Allow me to elaborate.

Within Neo Cab, you play as Lina, the last human taxi driver remaining in a world of fully-automated ride-hailing services run by a widely-distrusted massive corporation whose name currently escapes me. As it happens, this certain corporation also controls and automates many other aspects of modern society within the game, which only serves to add to the reasons its practices are so reviled.

Your primary goal before the story really kicks off is to focus on doing your job well so as to maintain your high satisfaction rating among those who use your cab service and make as much cash as possible. Your job operates on a star rating system, with the standard goal of maintaining five-star status. If your satisfaction rating falls below four stars, you risk getting fired; that’s bad news both for you and for the hopes of humanity who hate using the services of the aforementioned corporation as much as your character does.

As far as Neo Cab’s gameplay is concerned, one of the most interesting aspects in my opinion begins when your character receives something referred to as a “Feelgrid.” This high-tech device essentially functions as a mood ring (although yours takes the form of a bracelet) which changes color based on what Lina is currently feeling. The brighter any given color is glowing, the more intensely Lina is feeling her current emotional state.

This concept has the potential to affect your conversations with your customers; this can, in turn, affect your customer satisfaction rating and your earnings. For example, if you have an especially pleasant conversation with a passenger, your Feelgrid’s mood broadcast will turn bright green; alternatively, if a passenger says something that angers you, your Feelgrid will turn a deep shade of red.

If a customer sees via your Feelgrid device that they’ve angered or otherwise upset you, this might cause them to apologize for their actions and/or statements that caused you to feel that way, or it might not, depending on how much of a jerk they are.

It’s also worth noting that although you’re playing as a cab driver, you don’t have to worry about controlling any actual driving in the game. Instead, you primarily have to focus on choosing from a selection of dialogue options in order to maintain a pleasant conversation with your current passenger(s) while time passes until you get them to their destination. That’s probably for the best, since I doubt I’d be able to focus on the road while I’m livid at a passenger who obviously just vomited in my car and then vehemently denied doing so.

In all honesty, dear reader, I’m uncertain as to whether the description I’ve just provided of Neo Cab and the reasons I enjoy it truly do the game justice. After all, this article certainly isn’t a full review of the game. To that end, there fortuitously exists a free demo version of it that can be downloaded from its Steam store page if you wish to try it out before you shell out any cash.

7. Bully: Scholarship Edition – Discount: 65% – Sale Price: $5.24

If you disliked going through several years of your nation’s public school system anywhere near as much as I did, I personally strongly believe that Rockstar Games’ Bully puts enough of a relatable, tongue-in-cheek spin on that concept to make it a great game for you. Bully has been one of my favorite games since I first played the PlayStation 2 version of it shortly after its release in October of 2006. Additionally, it is especially high on my list of favorite Rockstar games.

What’s more, the only version of the game that’s available for purchase on Steam is the enhanced “Scholarship Edition;” this version was originally exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Wii consoles until it was ported to Windows in 2008. The Scholarship Edition of Bully adds quite a bit of new content; admittedly, however, the only aspect of such content I can currently remember is a selection of new classes and associated mini-games through which you’re periodically required to progress.

Within the context of Bully, you control 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins. Jimmy is a very troubled student who’s considered to be “plagued” by behavior issues. As a result, he’s been expelled from virtually every school he’s ever attended. In light of that, the majority of the game takes place on the school grounds of Bullworth Academy, a boarding school for “last-chance” students like Jimmy.

While Jimmy’s mother is off traveling on yet another honeymoon, Jimmy will have to contend with boarding school life until he can execute his plan to become the most popular kid in school, by any means necessary. That’s where you come in. You’ll control him as he goes through various missions in what I’ve taken to calling the “classic Rockstar style” in order to accomplish that ultimate goal. You’ll make a few friends and quite a few enemies along the way, whether that’s intentional or otherwise.

8. My Friend Pedro – Discount: 30% – Sale Price: $13.99

The Steam store’s description for the game known as My Friend Pedro, developed by DeadToast Entertainment and published by Devolver Digital, claims that the game is “a violent ballet about friendship, imagination, and one man’s struggle to obliterate anyone in his path at the behest of a sentient banana.” From what I’ve played of the game, that description definitely has the “violent ballet,” “imagination,” “mass obliteration,” and “sentient banana” parts correct. Allow me to briefly elaborate.

My Friend Pedro contains mechanics that would nowadays simply be referred to as “bullet time,” but it uses these mechanics in a highly uncommon manner from what I’ve seen. For instance, once you unlock the ability to use bullet time early on in the game, your character can perform acrobatic slow-motion flips in the air while bullet time is active rather than just diving in a straight line or moving normally.

Beyond that mechanic, your prime directive is simple: kill everything that moves for no better reasons than because every enemy you encounter is trying to kill you first; and because Pedro the talking banana told you to of course. If you find yourself in the market for a simple, yet nonsensical shooter, I think this particular title will be right up your alley.

Additionally, it just so happens that My Friend Pedro is currently a nominee in this year’s Steam Awards in the “Most Innovative Gameplay” category; deservedly so, in my opinion. Considering that it’s the only nominee in that category that I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed, I voted for it. In light of that, I suppose you could go so far as to say that by casting my vote for My Friend Pedro, I’ve made Napoleon Dynamite proud.

9. SMITE’s Ultimate God Pack [Honorable Mention] – Discount: 50% – Sale Price: $14.99

As you might be aware, I try to avoid including DLC on lists like this, with the notable exception of Civilization VI: Gathering Storm during this year’s Summer Sale. When I do elect to include DLC as part of a sale roundup, I do so because I believe purchasing the discounted DLC I mention will bring you significantly more value out of whichever game to which the DLC is attached, hence Gathering Storm’s inclusion. As of this entry, that club has its second member in the form of SMITE’s comprehensive Ultimate God Pack.

The fact that the Ultimate God Pack is obviously DLC rather than a normal standalone game is the main reason I’ve designated it an honorable mention on this list, not that such a designation is a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. Even so, however, I strongly believe now is a great time to grab the pack, even if you’re not familiar with SMITE but find yourself curious about it.

You see, dear reader, I think the Ultimate God Pack is an outstanding value at its current price and, to a lesser extent, even when it isn’t discounted. It doesn’t just unlock every currently playable god, with each character being a representation of a specific member of one of various pantheons, in the game; on top of that, it also grants you immediate access to every new playable god that will be added to the game at any point in the future.

That means you can try any god you think you might like as much as you want, whenever you want. Due to that, there’s no need to grind for the in-game resources to unlock the gods you want or wait for them to become part of a weekly free-to-play rotation. I consider that to be an excellent premium purchase model for a free-to-play game’s economy that’s structured in a way such as this.

In fact, I believe most other MOBA games could benefit from implementing something at least similar to what I’ve taken to calling “the SMITE model.” There are, however, still in-game purchases which will net you varying amounts of the game’s premium currency, called “gems;” these gems are used to purchase cosmetic goodies such as god skins, alternate voice packs, and chests which can unlock exclusive versions of these items.

I’m typically opposed to in-game premium currencies that can be purchased with real money because of the possible financial harm those micro-transactions can potentially cause in certain circumstances; however, in the case of SMITE specifically, I’m more tolerant of gem purchases directly because of the existence of the Ultimate God Pack. In this case, at least you get a veritable ton of content right from the get-go and in the future in exchange for a one-time purchase.

10. Prison Architect [Honorable Mention] – Discount: 75% – Sale Price: $7.49

I mentioned in this year’s Summer Sale roundup that I prefer to be in a more, shall we say, dictatorial state of mind in order to more intensely want to play games like the Tropico series; in which you control an actual, not even necessarily fictional dictator of a small island nation. I prefer to be in a similar mindset when playing an entirely different game, namely Prison Architect, which was developed by the combination of Double Eleven and Introversion Software and published by Paradox Interactive.

Within this title, you’re tasked with building, filling, and managing a maximum-security prison. As you might imagine, there are several inherent aspects of those processes which can both ignite and indulge such evil and dictatorial moods. If you want to play a management simulator of sorts that’s not too dissimilar from the aforementioned Theme Hospital and Tropico franchise, in terms of managing construction and finances, you’re absolutely free to do that within the confines of Prison Architect.

Alternatively, if you’re like me and find yourself feeling particularly evil most of the time you play the game, you can design a prison specifically designed to make its inmates despise you and any guards who are unfortunate enough to be tasked with keeping the peace. You can also incite large-scale prisoner riots essentially at your leisure, and then choose whether to call in the riot squads to restore order or just let the inmates and guards duke it out for control of the facility.

When I initially purchased Prison Architect quite some time ago, the game was still in Early Access and clearly had a significant amount of work that still needed to be done. The prison-building sandbox was largely intact at that point, but new features and updates have regularly been added since then which have considerably improved the game in my opinion.

Nowadays, the game even has a full story campaign whose chapters follow the lives of a select few high-profile inmates. All of that is to say I think you’ll get quite a lot for your money from Prison Architect if you choose to pick it up at its current price, especially if the developers continue to create new free updates and DLC packs.

11. Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy Bundle [Honorable Mention] – Discount: 70% – Sale Price: $8.99

This bundle, in addition to the aforementioned Bully: Scholarship Edition, is the second and final entry on this list which I elected to include based almost entirely on my personal sense of nostalgia for the games in question. Sure, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V are both outstanding games in their own right, especially with the latter’s popular online community.

If you’re anything like me in this respect, though, sometimes you just want to go back to the classic games which laid the foundation for the great new installments. To that end, the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy bundle includes the three most well-known earlier games in the franchise, namely Grand Theft Auto III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas. That’s all for what I would call quite an agreeable asking price, to boot.

I have many fond memories of these three games, on both PC and PlayStation 2. It’s primarily for that reason that I’m so glad the wonderful creation that is the Steam platform allows me to relive those memories whenever I so desire without requiring me to buy another PS2 and find a copy of each disc. Although I hate to end an entry on a less-than-positive note, however, I feel it’s my civic duty to warn you that most Rockstar games (including these three) do not sync their save data to the Steam Cloud as far as I’m currently aware.

That unfortunately means that should you elect to temporarily uninstall any game in question before you’re finished with it, or perhaps suffer a failure of whichever storage drive upon which you’ve installed the games, you’ll have to restart each affected game’s entire campaign whenever you elect to play again. I found that out the hard way before Steam introduced the ability to transfer game data between local storage drives.

There you have it, folks! A collection of fourteen games – counting each individual game in the listed bundles and excluding some DLC in the form of SMITE’s Ultimate God Pack – that I wholeheartedly recommend you pick up during this year’s Steam Winter Sale. If you’ve got any recommendations for games you enjoy that aren’t listed here or that I may not have played, be sure to let your fellow readers and I know about them in the comments below!

Before I officially sign off, however, I’d like to pass along a side note. I mentioned during the first entry on this list that I’ll be covering many of the games I discussed within this article, as well as countless others, in video form sometime in the relatively near future. I’d like to elaborate on what I mean by that before I wrap things up.

Considering how astute our readers are, I’m sure you’ve guessed what this announcement means: Phenixx Gaming’s official YouTube channel will be launching very soon! You’ll be seeing plenty of videos on many gaming-related topics produced not just by me, but by some of my esteemed colleagues as well. We’re keeping the channel’s launch date under wraps for now, so be sure to follow us on social media to make sure you’re informed as that fateful day nears. On a final note, a good Steam sale to all, and to all, a good night!

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