We’ve all bought games on Steam sales that we have yet to see the main menu on, let alone installed. Whether it’s because our backlog is just too big or a game was bundled in a set, certain games end up sitting in our libraries unplayed. Not every game on this list was heavily discounted, and not all are necessarily intimidating or niche, but those factors generally play a large role in us ignoring certain games. Enjoy our list of 15 games we bought but never got around to playing. Let us know in the comments if you have any personal picks and if you resonate with any of our entries!
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Blue Shift was Half-Life’s third expansion pack that let us control a security officer in a short single-player campaign. Blue Shift was essentially just more of the original Half-Life. Sure, there’s some new equipment and the twist of playing as the security officer Barney, but the gameplay and unbroken narrative structure were the same, (which is great for fans of the original). Most Steam users own every Half-Life expansion thanks to the many Valve bundles on sale for dirt cheap year-round, but only a few have actually played the more obscure titles like Blue Shift and its older sibling Opposing Force.
Frostpunk
Frostpunk is a city builder with a twist, that twist being a no-win scenario managing a society engulfed in a devastating volcanic winter. Whether it’s because of the clever premise or impressions from famous streamers, Frostpunk sold over 3 million copies as of the last fiscal quarter. Well, a recent Steam summer sale has escalated sales a bit for sure, considering the attractive $3 price point for a time. Because of its bleak tone and demeaning gameplay, it wouldn’t be surprising if Frostpunk ended up collecting virtual dust in many digital libraries, despite its word-of-mouth and recent sales urging players to buy it.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I don’t know if I’ve seen a game so consistently discounted as Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Despite featuring lots of cool elements that expanded the original Deus Ex like dialogue trees and a fully fleshed-out augmentation system, Human Revolution didn’t sell very well. You can typically pick up Human Revolution for $2 on sale, which is a bargain if you’re looking for a good stealth hybrid RPG wrapped in a conspiracy-laden Cyberpunk setting. The barrier to entry in this case is its age and other recent games like Cyberpunk 2077 keeping people from going back to this brilliant game.
Duck Tails Remastered
There were a lot of licensed video games in the early 90s and late 80s, but the original Duck Tails on the NES was one of the better ones. The studio most known for the Shantae series, WayForward, saw the potential of Duck Tails and produced a remake of it from the ground up in 2013. Duck Tails Remastered is another one of those games that got positive reviews and consistent Steam sales years after release. The game is instantly recognizable thanks to its branding, so lots of gamers ended up buying it at one point or another, but how many have played it? The platforming genre is still going strong in 2024, but a remastered, or remade in this case, game from 1988 isn’t likely to be at the front of many gamers’ backlogs.
Mad Max
2015’s Mad Max is one of the best examples of a game receiving mixed reviews from critics yet garnering universal praise from the audience. The fun of its open-world vehicular combat is hard to fault, and the characters have top-tier voice talent. Over the years, gamers realized what they missed out on with this 2015 cult classic and took advantage of the numerous clearances this game has enjoyed. Mad Max is on a lot of gamers’ backlogs and deserves to be experienced by even more people, even if initial reviews and aged graphics sour its reputation a bit.
Murdered: Soul Suspect
The concept behind Mudered: Soul Suspect is instantly appealing. You take the form of a ghost detective who possesses the townspeople of Salem to find the true identity and whereabouts of the notorious ‘Bell Killer’. The gameplay is slow-paced but engaging as you collect and gather evidence around the atmospheric small town. For many, the appeal quickly wore off as the game accumulated negative reviews criticizing its poor controls and short length. Nowadays, Murdered: Soul Suspect enjoys steep discounts down to a mere dollar. The cheap price of admission helps make this detective mystery game’s 4-hour length more palatable. Now we’re just waiting for our backlogs to slim down a bit so we can play it.
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4 felt like the most misplaced entry in the series when it came out in 2004. Strong speculation circled its launch, including rumors that it wasn’t even intended to be a Silent Hill game until the halfway point in its development. Despite some irritants like the single save point and departure from traditional puzzles, Silent Hill 4 did quite well for itself regarding sales and reception thanks to its strong horror atmosphere and claustrophobic apartment setting. Still, that stigma of it being a departure from the series remains, and many fans still own copies of the game without completing it or even starting it.
Sekiro Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro received the highest honors, winning GOTY at the 2019 Game Awards and heaps of accolades on top. It’s also arguably the most difficult FromSoftware game, which is saying a lot. The singular focus on parries and shieldless sword combat really limits how you can build a character, forcing players to ‘git gud’ to overcome its challenges. Sekiro is not a game you can easily ‘cheese’ through. It’s not surprising to learn that Sekiro has the second lowest completion among similar FromSoftware games (Bloodborne being the lowest) with 27% of players clearing the final boss. Sekiro’s curated approach and brutal challenge aren’t as welcoming as Elden Ring, causing it to sit in players’ backlogs until they muster the courage to finally confront it.
Prey 2017
The 2017 reboot of Prey is a cult classic that helped push the immersive sim genre forward. It didn’t have the fast pacing of Dishonored or Deathloop, instead honing in on complex emergent gameplay and a constantly evolving environment that you familiarize yourself with. Because of Prey’s positive reputation as a cult classic in recent years, players are eager to try it out, which is easier than ever considering the amount of sales and discounts it’s enjoyed. Actually dedicating yourself the 30 GB of space and dozens of hours to figure out its emergent systems is another matter.
Control
Remedy has enjoyed breakthrough popularity thanks to the success of Alan Wake 2. Their previous game, Control, did well enough when it launched, but it’s now receiving a bit of a bump thanks to the aforementioned Alan Wake sequel. Players looking back through Remedy’s catalog undoubtedly took advantage of the recent discounts Control has had. Whether it’s due to Control not being a direct entry to either of Remedy’s two series’, Max Paine and Alan Wake, or because of its unusual premise and mix of live-action scenes, Control still likely isn’t being played as much as it deserves.
Rise of the Ronin
Whether we like to admit it or not, Rise of the Ronin sits in between some massive game releases as the odd duck out. Yes, it received positive reception from critics and fans alike, but the daunting stance-based sword gameplay and large open world are likely to result in it sitting on the back burner of gamers’ priorities. Furthermore, Rise of the Ronin shares an overall aesthetic and action controls with games like Nioh, Sekiro, and Ghost of Tsushima, resulting in some folks waiting until they’re ready to experience that samurai vibe once more.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium isn’t for everyone. As an isometric RPG, it features robust dialogue choices and a flexible skill tree emphasizing player choice. The game received multiple game-of-the-year nominations and won awards like there’s no tomorrow thanks to its iteration on old-school Fallout mechanics. But the tone is particularly well executed, and also where some resistance may be met with certain players. The atmosphere is constantly bleak with themes of civilian oppression serving as a common thread throughout. Disco Elysium has enjoyed many sales through the years, and many players have bought the game due to its tremendous success, but it can be difficult to start up due to the heavy tone that it exhibits.
XCOM 2
XCOM 2 takes the turn-based tactical gameplay of the first game and ramps it up a notch. There are more scenarios, more class abilities, and far better mod support than the first game had. Despite these general improvements, XCOM 2 has some intimidating aspects to its design like the aggressive timer putting pressure on choices during combat sections. XCOM 2 often gets praised as the go-to modern turn-based strategy game thanks to its vast mod support and cheap availability, but it’s also a deep systems-heavy game with some difficulty spikes that keep it in the backlog of many gamers’ libraries.
For Honor
There just aren’t many successful games that fit within For Honor’s unique niche. Medieval sword duelers have garnered a cult following, but For Honor sits as a triple-A title with dedicated multiplayer servers, and it somehow succeeded with yearly updates. Naturally, such a unique premise attracted a variety of gamers to try it out for themselves, but there’s also a large number of people who bought it on sale through bundles or on a whim.
Subnautica
Subnautica is an excellent survival crafting game set within the horrors of the deep ocean. While the crafting genre is bigger than ever today, Subnautica has a more niche appeal due to its lack of multiplayer functionality. Searching for minerals deep in the ocean trenches can be a very isolating experience, further amplified by the Cthulu-esque horrors that pressure your every move. Subnautica has been offered for free from PlayStation on several occasions and can usually be found at a steep discount, so many players have snatched it up. Here’s hoping the single-player restriction and horror elements don’t scare off too many players, as Subnautica is one of the best games of its genre.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
Share Your Thoughts Below (Always follow our comments policy!)