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.
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 came across GOG just the other day. Looks great!
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.
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.
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.
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
Chess, now and then. Was a fairly active player many years ago, though never became good.
Desktop Dungeons
Dwarf Fortress
a bunch of roguelikes
emulated SNES games
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.
I personally play it through steam but I’ve had an account there for a decade now so that doesn’t bother me. But Factorio allows you to buy directly from their website if you prefer. This also bypasses steams cut I would assume (correct me if that’s wrong please) and you get a steam key with the purchase in case you do ever make a steam account.
You do need to make an account on their website to do that so apologies if that disqualifies it for you. Wube is a rare shining example of a god tier company though, finding a bug is literally a meme in the Factorio community cause of how thoroughly polished the game is. They even fix bugs that exclusively affect mods and not the base game.
I bought Factorio back in the early Beta days, because it was one of the only fun puzzle/simulation games that had a native Linux build available directly on their website. They even had a Linux build of the demo. Factorio is the game I’ve got best value for money over the years.
I only got into it 3ish years ago, originally pirating it cause I was broke at the time, but I bought it as soon as I could with my first paycheque from my current job. Absolute god tier game with god tier devs. I would’ve pre-ordered (heresy, I know) Space Age if they let me, but I bought it day one. I’ve already got 617 hours on the steam version, and I probably put about 5-600 hours into the pirated version before I could afford it.
Love me some Factorio and Wube. 2nd favorite game of all time behind Super Metroid.
Numpty Physics (solve puzzles by drawing lines, physics Sim)
Powder Toy (falling sand game)
Box Stacker (add Tetris pieces to solve physics puzzles)
And I’ve been getting into the Glitch mini-game in luanti(minetest)
Dcss is the best game ever and I’m still playing it after 20 years
