Steam is the top platform for a lot of PC gamers, and for good reason. It functions well, has tons of great sales, and a huge variety of titles from AAA games to indie bangers. There are also a bunch of games that are exclusive to Steam that you can't find anywhere, though they are very much in the minority.
If Steam is your primary platform, make sure to grab these rare titles into your library during a sale. Many of them are Valve games, but we'll leave out Half-Life 1 for getting a PS2 port and Half-Life 2 specifically for being included in the special Orange Box and thus being available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, technically still very much playable on those consoles.
Garry's Mod
The Sandbox That Spawned Multiple Iconic Games
Valve's physics sandbox Garry's Mod is among the most influential games on Steam. It spawned a few game modes that have since become extremely iconic, like Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt, to name a few. It's a fun little tool that lets you play around with various assets.
You could even spawn in NPCs if you wanted to and throw around objects to see what happens. The main draw remains all the user-made content, though, which works as an infinite source of entertainment. Who remembers the good old days of gaming YouTubers playing Prop Hunt on cooldown? I do!
Aperture Desk Job
A Special Portal Treat For Steam Deck Enjoyers
Let's talk about the Steam Deck for a bit. If you happen to own this brilliant piece of tech, you might already be familiar with Aperture Desk Job, which is a small game created by Valve specifically for the Deck. You're on your first day on a job, and if the world looks a little familiar, that's because it is.
It's actually based on the world of the Portal franchise. You progress through your workday, joined by the iconic humor made famous by many other Valve titles. It feels more like a demo for Steam Deck, but considering it's completely free, it's definitely worth trying out at least once.
Cruelty Squad
A Punch Of Color And Cruelty Directly To Your Retina
Speaking of climbing corporate ladders, Cruelty Squad. You're a member of this group in this rather bright and retro-looking FPS game that puts you into action-packed and visually busy levels filled with enemies.
Your job is to make your corporation proud by descending into what the developers call a "garbage world," but it won't be easy. If you enjoy immersive sims, you'll definitely see the appeal here, with a few callbacks to games like Deus Ex and even tactical shooters like Rainbow Six. It's a bloody and gory experience that isn't for the faint of heart, but also works as a lovely callback to a lot of old-school first-person shooters.
DOTA 2
A Continuation Of The Iconic MOBA That Started It All
The original Defence of the Ancients mod for Warcraft 3 blew people away, and eventually led to the masterpiece of a MOBA that DOTA 2 is today. Whether or not you're more of a League of Legends person, you can't deny the cultural impact DOTA 2 has had over the years, even inspiring its own song from Basshunter.
The esports scene is massive, and considering it's free-to-play, with every single hero available to you from the get-go, it's easy to see why some people might choose it over the limitations League of Legends introduces, even if some argue that its learning curve is more punishing, and its matches are slower in pace.
Team Fortress 2
A Hero Shooter That Remains A Banger Years After
Another incredibly free-to-play treat from Valve, Team Fortress 2 is a must-try for anyone who has spent any time enjoying hero shooters in the last ten years or so. Overwatch, Marvel Rivals, and Valorant all stand on a solid foundation arguably laid by Team Fortress 2 and its predecessor first.
It features a far smaller roster, but each class actually feels very distinct, and the matches are a nice callback to those chaotic days of early Overwatch when no one knew exactly how to play the game. If you miss that, give this one a play. It's still a masterpiece.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
