I’d like to get back into playing video games, but I don’t want to have to sign up for an online service like Steam or Ubisoft Connect.
I love technical sandbox games like Scrap Mechanic, especially if they have a “creative mode” that allows me to just make stuff.
I’ve been obsessing over RimWorld again after finding out about Biotech and Anomaly which I had to get. I have it on GOG for some reason. Either it was on sale at some point or was given out free. But it’s the only not old game I have on there and not on Steam; but I added it to Steam as a non-Steam game.
And then there’s all the old games I have on there that may or may not also be on Steam. They weren’t on Steam when I got them originally, but some have since been put on Steam (like Heretic and Hexen).
I also own ARMA 2 through Greenman Gaming, all the borderlands and Civ 6 on Epic (because free), and most of the Battlefield games and the C&C complete pack on EA’s bullshit.
I’m not sure if you are in the same boat, but I bought ARMA 2 and Operation Arrowhead many years back directly from the dev’s website. I logged into their site about a year ago, copied the registration keys, pasted them into Steam, and was able to redeem it through Steam directly. If your games have CD keys, Steam can oftentimes accept those directly like you are entering a Steam product key. I think you put it into the field where you enter Steam gift cards and product keys.
The Operation Arrowhead DLC (as well as all the others I got after that one, like the PMC addon) is shown on my Steam list and I think around that time they had some way of getting your non-Steam release of the base game on it because at the time they didn’t have steam keys to do it, and launching the DLC does start the actual game, but the base game isn’t actually listed in my Steam library, so I have no idea what’s going on there 🤷🏻♂️
It’s not that big of a deal since I have moved onto Arma 3 years ago and arma 4 is right around the corner.
If you’re worried about DRM then look at GOG.com - they sell DRM free games, and you can download the installers direct from their website if you don’t want to use their client and want permanent backups. The installers are not online either. I have a large library of classics and new games from them.
I enjoy all the games I bought from GOG (3?)—in case you are wondering they are DRM free so you can keep using them forever (in theory).
But honestly I don’t get people who have a big hang-up about digital stores. Regardless of ownership/ license-ship—these are all pieces of software designed to run on specific software and WILL eventually be unplayable regardless of how they were acquired.
Unless you’re going back to platforms from the 90s or early 2000s, everything needs updates from the internet / downloads to work so even if you have a physical copy of a lot of games on a console, they’re gonna stop working eventually.
Just pay the marginal fee and enjoy. Its a low amount of money to pay for hours of entertainment in like 99% of the cases.
Chess, now and then. Was a fairly active player many years ago, though never became good.
fheroes2 occasionally. Reimplementation of the homm2 engine
escape from tarkov and world of warcraft
Desktop Dungeons
Dwarf Fortress
a bunch of roguelikes
emulated SNES games
Starsector is amazing, even though buying it on the website made me wonder if the storefront was made in the 90s.
Second this. Amazing game that I’ve been following since it was called Starfarer. Highly recommend.
Quite a few, actually. And it’s worth mentioning that many games, while sold via steam, can also be bought directly from the makers. Factorio and Songs of Syx come to mind.
2nd Factorio and Factorio Space Age. Once you get your key (which doesn’t require Steam) there’s even a package in AUR for installing it and keeping it updated on Arch.
You forgot to include the most important phrase… “I use arch BTW” :)
“I use Arch, BTW” is so gauche. Now, we mention Arch in an off-hand way, the way you mention your yacht, or how absurd the taxes on your third home are, or how having two doctorates is becoming so common.
Subtle boasting is the “in” thing.
Minecraft.
You can get partway to Scrap Mechanic with Minecraft and the Create Mod.
I think itch.io might allow game purchases without any account, depending in the game, but even getting drm-free games is almost always going to require some kind of account somewhere. There’s always the “high seas”, but that’s not something everyone is comfortable with.
GOG is probably your best option for completely DRM free games, and fwiw, a lot of Steam games don’t require you to use Steam to launch them. A fairly thorough list is kept here: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_big_list_of_DRM-free_games_on_Steam
Beyond all reason. Pretty sure it’s open source too. Or partly? I looked it up a while ago and can’t remember the details.
Dcss is the best game ever and I’m still playing it after 20 years
