Ever since Steam was released eighteen years ago, it’s been at the forefront of video game services you stare at while endlessly scrolling. For almost two decades, Steam has allowed fans to spend anywhere from pennies to hundreds of dollars on games to skip over every time you try to figure out how to enjoy the first free Saturday you’ve had in what feels like years. But as other eternal-scrolling services such as Xbox Game Pass ramp up, it’s worth asking: is Steam still the best platform to make your eyes glaze over as the sand in the hourglass of your life runs low?
Scrolling through Steam is a largely pleasant experience, with light blues and clear box art that makes it easy to see everything you’ve ever purchased while depressed, downloaded, and then uninstalled because you needed space for a triple-a title you also didn’t play. And for those who prefer to hook their computers into their home entertainment centers, Steam features a “Big Picture Mode” listing your most recent purchases as if you’ll ever do anything with that RPG Maker Humble Bundle.
Unfortunately, like most free-to-play games these days, scrolling through Steam features DLC in the form of almost every game on Steam. Fans will need to drop a lot of money before longer scrolls as they search through decades of video game history and come up with maybe giving Stellaris another try and see if it sticks. Will it? That’s the fun of Steam!
The good news is that much of the DLC for scrolling through Steam goes on sale every quarter. These “seasonal sales” are wonderful for picking up indie titles that you’ve read are good and really want to get around to playing because you know they’re good for you but you move right past because, let’s be honest, are you really gonna go with an emotional journey walking simulator on a Tuesday night?
And that’s what’s so fun! You just keep on scrolling and scrolling!
Make no mistake: Steam throws in some curveballs! Sometimes you’ll scroll and find a game you think you want to play - only to learn it no longer functions on your operating system! Others might require a deep dive through mysterious forums to learn the ancient secrets of changing all the config files in a game’s folder to be able to run correctly in 2021. And don’t forget suddenly needed updates! Just because you feel like you could settle on Civilization VI doesn’t mean you’ve won, baby! Not by a long shot!
Of course, in today’s climate, it’s easy to see gamers upset with the concept of spending hard-earned money on games and “not playing them.” But it’s been this way for years! Steam has only updated a trend once cornered by confused grandmothers buying gifts for religious milestones. Steam took the concept of blankly looking at some of the most impressive technology ever conceived and made it into an art.
Completists will also probably be frustrated by the fact Steam has over 30,000 games, making buying every one to scroll past quite expensive. And once you’ve organized your list by options such as “last played” and “alphabetical,” there isn’t a lot to do besides keep scrolling and wondering what you might’ve done with that money if you hadn’t blown it on 100+ hour games you’ve barely looked at twice.
Scrolling through Steam for an hour and finding nothing to play isn’t for everyone. Fans who prefer a deep story or nuanced combat won’t find much to love here. But there is a simple joy in scrolling through the video game equivalent of “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Especially as you pass by the three erotic games you bought after that one breakup.
