Steam Autumn Sale 2019: the discount games you need to buy

New-ish releases

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Gears 5 (£24.99, from £49.99)

Gears 5 might lose the "War" from the title, but it’s still packed with gritty combat as you battle through the Swarm, explore newly open areas, and experience a richer and more complex narrative than before. And the expanded suite of multiplayer and co-op modes is sure to entertain.

F1 2019 (£22.49, from £44.99)

It feels like we say this every year, but F1 2019 is the best entry to date in Codemasters’ long-running sim series, bringing in myriad enhancements along with a fun F2 mode, a competitive "F1 Esports" area, and more.

Resident Evil 2 (£14.84, from £44.99)

One of the year’s best games is available for a song right now on Steam, as you can grab Capcom’s brilliant reimagining of Resident Evil 2 for less than 15 quid. It’s gorgeous, fantastically frightening, and does a great job of modernising the horror classic.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (£32.43, from £49.99)

Another 2019 gem may also be frightening to some players, but not in quite the same way. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice puts a fresh spin on From Software’s own Dark Souls/Bloodborne template, and is similarly brutally tough – but playing as a sword-wielding shinobi gives this experience a different kind of feel.

Mortal Kombat 11 (£24.99, from £49.99)

Ages after its controversial debut, Mortal Kombat keeps getting better and better. Mortal Kombat 11 hardly reinvents the wheel, but the ultraviolent kombat is deeper than ever, looks fabulous, and comes with an honestly excellent story mode.

Indie Darlings

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Dead Cells (£15.39, from £21.99)

This indie smash is like a side-scrolling hybrid of Dark Souls and Metroid, with tense and challenging action along with enticing exploration. It’s tough, though: you’ll die early and often and have to start over, but each new rebirth gives you a better chance at success.

Disco Elysium (£27.99, from £34.99)

You might not have heard of Disco Elysium, but this recent indie is one of the most raved-about games of the year. It’s an isometric CRPG in the vein of Planescape Torment, putting you in the role of a detective who also happens to be a pretty awful human being. Brilliant writing elevates this unexpected gem.

Return of the Obra Dinn (£12.39, from £15.49)

Speaking of a brilliant narrative adventure, Return of the Obra Dinn is another modern classic – this time setting you off to solve a mystery as an insurance adjuster exploring a crew-less ship in 1806 after it’s been lost at sea for years. The brilliant black-and-white aesthetic, like a retro Mac game brought to life in 3D, helps give it a one-of-a-kind allure.

Trover Saves the Universe (£16.65, from £23.79)

Ricky and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland’s Trover Saves the Universe is arguably this year’s funniest game. The platform adventure has you off in search of Glorkon, a "beaked lunatic" who stole your dogs and "stuffed them into his eye holes." Yeah, it’s a weird one. It’s also playable in VR, if you choose.

Must-Play Classics

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Cities Skylines (£5.74, from £22.99)

The last core SimCity game was a bit of a misfire, but Cities: Skylines filled the void admirably. It still plays with the classic SimCity framework, but thoroughly modernizes nearly every aspect with compelling depth and diversity, making this a big game that you can pour hours and hours into. Plus, it has modding support! And it’s cheap.

Grand Theft Auto V (£12.49, from £24.99)

Surely by now you’ve played Grand Theft Auto V. But if somehow you haven’t, now’s the time to jump on that train. Rockstar’s magnum opus is still the benchmark for open-world gaming, with both a fantastic single-player experience and the persistent world of Grand Theft Auto Online to explore.

Kerbal Space Program (£7.49, from £29.99)

Ready to nerd out over a physics simulation? If so, then Kerbal Space Program is ready to enthrall you for hours upon hours. You’ll build a space program from the ground up as the goofy little green guys, with each misfire hopefully pushing you closer to the stars as you advance technology and create new spacecraft.

Prey (£4.99, from £19.99)

Bethesda’s Prey reboot might have been a bit overlooked, but it was one of our favourite games of 2017 – and now you can have it for five quid. This tense first-person adventure drops you into an ageing space station filled with alien mimics, which hide in plain sight by inhabiting everyday objects. Yes, that coffee cup could kill you. Watch out!

Portal/Portal 2 (£1.06, from £14.38)

You’ve probably played both Portal games by now, but we’d be remiss not to list these for any sad souls who somehow missed them. Now you can get two of the all-time great puzzle games for a whopping £1.06, as you wield blue and orange portals to solve conundrums, navigate environments, and cue up more hilarious robotic narration.