10 best cheap PC games to enjoy right now

Have you ever got that feeling where you want to play something new, interesting and engaging, but can’t afford paying for that sweet new AAA title? Well, there’s a lot of cheap PC games that you can easily get for a few bucks, even without crazy discounts from Steam’s Winter/Summer Sales.

From indie games to old classics, there are lots of titles for any kind of taste, and we’ll be showing you some of them. While this is not a definitive list for all cheap PC games, you’ll surely enjoy some of the names we’re dropping here.

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1. Garry’s Mod – $15

An old classic that never gets old, Garry’s Mod is a sandbox game where you have full access to everything that the game may provide. Think Minecraft’s Creative Mode, but without the squareness. You can create and spawn anything you want, from buildings to weapons, and make them interact in the most chaotic ways.

The game still has great community support to this day, and lots of mods are available on Steam Workshop, making the experience even more amazing. And of course, you can play with friends, making everything even better.

2. Stardew Valley – $15

Have you ever had the urge to run away from the city and become a multi-tasker farmer? That’s exactly the plot for Stardew Valley. After inheriting your grandpa’s farm, you leave your job to start enjoying the countryside life. And it couldn’t be a better option.

You can enjoy a simple life taking care of your farm, raising animals, exploring the mine, trying to catch a rare fish or just following the story and getting to know more of the valley’s habitants. The music and the art style have a relaxing touch on them, and that alone is enough to make you spend hours on the game doing the most mundane of the things.

3. Gunfire Reborn – $13

A roguelite shooter, best enjoyed in multiplayer but also great for solo, still in Early Access from Duyoi Interactive Entertainment Limited. You shoot your way through a dungeon, where you’ll find random generated rooms with many enemies in each of them. By completing achievements, you’ll unlock new weapons and upgrades. You can get various characters, and you’re not limited to firearms. Other projectiles and melee weapons are also available.

Each run will be different, since you’ll find new upgrades and weapons each time you play, so being able to adapt to the situation is essential. And don’t worry, dying a lot before getting the hang of it is natural. Discovering the best builds for the situation is half the fun. Blowing things up is the other.

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4. Terraria – $10

A 10-years ongoing game that finally got its “final” updates in 2020 (though Re-Logic still releases some patches from time to time), Terraria has beautiful 2D sprite graphics that complement its gameplay. You explore the world searching for resources just like Minecraft, but combat and item farming is much more prominent, giving the RPG touch.

The game has a great sense of progression, and by finding and defeating the awesome bosses it presents, the difficulty of the world gets higher. You’ll need more and more preparation for the next challenges, and that ensures the game will never get boring.

5. Ori and the Blind Forest – $5

The first thing that catches our eyes is the incredibly beautiful art style, mostly done by hand-painting. Made by Moon Studios, it combines some relaxing and well-suiting music, a cute protagonist and a great platforming gameplay. Ori and the Blind Forest is a must play for those looking for a not only challenging, but emocional engaging game.

It reminds us of the classic Limbo, but in a much more vivid version and with more potential. The Definitive Edition is really cheap for all it offers, so going through the journey of saving the decaying forest of Nibel is a must.

6. Fallout: New Vegas – $10

A well remembered Bethesda title, you take the role of the Courier, who has to recover your stolen package and discover the secrets of post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. During this path, you’ll find lots and lots of enemies, companions, quests, sidequests and robots. All in a day’s work.

The game had some of its own problems at release, but most of them are gone by now after some patching. The gameplay is similar to Fallout 3, and your choices will affect your ending. It’s also arguably a more enjoyable experience than the most recent Fallouts, but that’s a different story.

7. Hollow Knight – $15

Just like Ori, we have another metroidvania game with lots of exploration, amazing bosses and hidden lore. The quirk here is that now we’re dealing with insects. And they are cute insects. Hollow Knight is sometimes regarded as a “honorary Souls game”, where you’ll die a lot while uncovering the secrets of Hallownest.

The non-linear nature of the game makes every player’s first experience unique. Mapping the realm takes some time, and make it double if you want to discover all the secrets from the old Hallownest Kingdom. Team Cherry made a great work on this first title, and we hope to see its sequel, Silksong, coming to life someday.

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8. Left 4 Dead 2 – $10

A classic zombie shooter game, Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the best definitions of the genre. You fight your way through the acts, surviving the zombies and the special Infecteds in the way. Even if you’re not into shooters, you’ll probably enjoy this game. The amount of details you can find in both scenarios and character interactions is stunning, and the graphics still hold up to this day, even for a 2009 game. Also, online is still pretty active.

The the game’s AI ensures that your experience will always be new even when going through previously completed stages. Adding the incredible number of mods the community has to offer, you one of the most successful Valve games, and we can only hope that the spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood, can live up to its predecessor. 

9. Portal 2 – $10

One more classic to add to this list. Portal 2 is well-remembered for being an innovative puzzle game, where you must advance through the rooms by using your portal guns in order to unlock the path. The second title took the good parts from the first release, and Valve made it even better.

The portal system can also be used to fight your enemies, and a Coop option was also added, making things even better if you’re struggling with a specific puzzle. Now you and your friend can struggle together!

10. Papers, Please – $10

If you ever wondered what it’s like to work in an immigration center in post-war scenery, this is the perfect game for you. And if you never did, you’ll also probably like this one. You work as a immigration inspector for the fictional Arstotzka, and by using your guts, the visitor’s documents and the fingertips records of the system, you’ll determine if that person is looking for honest work or just mischief. 

Morals will be challenged during the game, and you’ll need to be able to see through manipulations while also being fast and effective with your work, since you need payment. Each decision will impact the ending of the game, making a nice replaying factor.

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Some other factors can make lots of other pc games to be just as cheap as these, or even more. Maybe they are randomly given away for free someday. Maybe not. But whenever you see some cheap pc games, don’t hesitate in trying it out. You never know when you’ll find a hidden gem.