Hey all, it's one of the great holiday traditions; the annual Steam Holiday Sale. As always, Valve does a little bit extra just to prove why they are worthy of being the benevolent dictators of PC gaming. Along with the usually great sales on individual games and publisher packs, looks like Valve is doing something similar to the Summer Camp sale, where by getting achievements in games, you're entered to win prizes. The catch is that you're not guaranteed a prize; you could get anything from a lump of coal to free games and future coupons. Since it seems like you can trade anything you are gifted, I figured we might be able to get a trading thread going here for CFers; maybe we can turn some lumps of coal into prizes. I just logged on, and got the Overlord Complete pack just for checking my inventory, so it definitely looks like they're giving away stuff that wasn't published by Valve. Plus, the grand prize is truly incredible: EVERY GAME ON STEAM! Total bananas. Good luck, and remember the cardinal rule of Steam Sales: DON'T buy unless it's a daily deal, since the publisher discounts run until the end of the event.
The problem with the Steam sales are that they're so awesome I kept trying to buy games I already have because I never have any chance to play them
Bump for Day 2: Highly Recommend the Double Fine pack; Psychonauts is one of my favorite games of all time, plus you can get a prize! So sad that I have a non-steam copy that I can't use for the achievement. Costume Quest is also an amazing game oozing with personality and charm. I've heard some very good things about Recettear as well; thinking strongly about a pickup, though I can't help thinking the game would be so much better on a tablet interface. Also, unrelated, but the Humble Bundle http://www.humblebundle.com/ just got completely out of control; if you beat the average you get the previous bundle as well: 11 Indie games for ~$5. These guys are up there with Valve in just getting how to be a good company.
Wow the interwebz is amazing. This lists every achievement that will give you a chance at a free game/coal, as well as how to do it. If you're like me and have a whole bunch of the indie bundle games lying around, this seems like a good time to get cracking on them... http://steamtreasurehunt.wikia.com/wiki/Winter_Objectives
Thanks. Never heard of them. Just got all their stuff. And it's through Steam too so makes it easy for me.
Tempted to get Arkham City from today's sale, but think I'll just wait until it is on sale again. So much other stuff to play (including the first game). Good stuff.
http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/14549340777/1-min-price-for-getting-steam-keys This is a new low for humanity; stealing from an awesome charity like Child's Play just to eke out a few extra free games from Steam? Not cool, and I hope Valve does something about these fake accounts.
Every year during the Steam Holiday sale, I buy 10+ games... and every year, I never play them. But hot-damn, I got a good deal on them.
Anyone want to try trading in order to get the achievement? Have a few coupons, some coal, the Frozenbyte Pack (Trine/Shadowgrounds/Shadowgrounds: Survivor), Bit.Trip Runner, and Terraria.
FYI, last day of the sale is today; if you missed anything over the last week, be sure and get it today now that you're flush with XMas cash. Batman: Arkham Asylum $25 Skyrim $40 LA Noire Complete $12.50 Deus Ex HR: $17 Saints Row the Third: $33.50 Portal 2: $7.50 Terraria: $2.50 and the best $5 you'll spend all 2012: BASTION. Highly recommend the soundtrack to this one as well; this theme has been stuck in my head mercilessly over the holidays: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t8cELTdtw6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
