So you want to create public GAs, but you don't want bots and auto-join scripts to enter? Good. Just post a comment in this thread with a link to an invite-only giveaway. The idea is very simple and is really not different from many (most?) of the other threads in the forum, except that you don't need to invest much time or thought into it. Just post the link in a comment, and you're done :-)

A few additional guidelines:

  • Feel free to obfuscate the link to make it more difficult for bots/scripts to enter. This is completely optional and may not make much of a difference, because the forums are probably not as infested with bots and auto-join scripts as public giveaways (see example).
  • You may use itstoohard.com, sgtools.info or other sites as filters to the link, but do try to keep things easy (for humans) to enter.
  • Don't feel obligated to write anything to accompany the giveaway link. If you have stuff to share beyond just the link, you probably should create a dedicated thread for it. Needless to say, you can also write it here, but it's not required.
  • Cross-posting giveaways your posted in other threads is fine, as long as they are your giveaways.
  • If you want to add a dynamic signature showing the game name, giveaway end date and current number of entries, but without revealing the URL to bots, you can use this tool created by Reforced. It takes the signature created by SG and provides you with a new URL that hides the original giveaway address. Just add it to your comment using the regular format for posting images: ![](URL)
  • Just like public GAs typically have a lot of entries, there's no need to maintain a low number of entries in GAs posted here. If you want to give especially good odds to people who enter and still get CV, you may want to instead consider posting the link here (and then remove it when you have your 5 entries). This is not needed here in this thread. The more (humans) the merrier :-)
  • The best way to bump this thread is by posting a link to your own invite-only giveaway. With that said, if the thread drops from the first page a regular "Bump" would also be appreciated.

I'm trying to find how serious the issue with bots really is. So far the results don't really prove things one way or another. Here are some stats from my latest experiment:

Game: Space Trader: Merchant Marine
Number of giveaways: 5
Period: 3 days

Giveaway # Level Type Number of entries Winner's Sent:Won Reroll needed?
1 Level 0+ Public 891 0:82 No
2 Level 0+ Invite only, direct link 55 4:47 No
3 Level 0+ Invite only, SGTools (no restrictions) 48 6:71 No
4 Level 0+ Invite only, shortened URL, captcha-free 50 1:205 No
5 Level 0+ Invite only, shortened URL with "I'm not a robot" captcha 54 162:86 No

Yet some more stats:

Giveaway game Period Level Type Number of entries Winner's Sent:Won Reroll needed?
Tales from the Void 5 days Level 0+ Public 755 0:37 No
Tales from the Void 5 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 183 42:514 No
Hyper Box 4 days Level 0+ Public 554 0:32 No
Hyper Box 4 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 193 178:188 No
Ace Combat Assault Horizon 3 days Level 0+ Public 1596 0:28 Yes
Ace Combat Assault Horizon 3 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 234 88:107 No
8 years ago*

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4 months ago
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View attached image.
4 months ago
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4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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Thank you! :)

4 months ago
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https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/*by4G/lust-from-beyond-m-edition

please read description on this one:
https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Ize*o/brine

7 and 8 are your friends

level 3, one day, global

4 months ago
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I'm not sure if I can still be friends with 7, after 6 told me what it did to 9...

4 months ago
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But can we take 6's word for it? They seem to be the only witness to it after all and we all know eyewitnesses can be ever so unreliable.

And maybe it's just me, but I feel there's something awfully familiar about the enigmatic 6...

4 months ago
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I'd ask 8 about it, since they were caught up in the middle of 7 and 9 when it happened... But the poor fella seems rather shaken up. Said they had to lie down for a while. When I asked for how long, they said, "Possibly forever".

4 months ago
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Perhaps the poor bloke can try the witchcraft of sharing a bunk bed with their twin. Old wives' tales suggest that they may wake up revitalised into a leaner version of themselves. Experts warn though that it would simply lead them into further existential crisis...

4 months ago
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Since 6 and 9 have a pretty mutual relationship and 7's resistance to 9 was futile, 6's opinion of 7 might be a bit skewed.

4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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ʎɐʍʎuɐ dɯn𐐒 ˙ɹɐǝlɔun suoıʇɔnɹʇsuI

4 months ago
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Made this giveaway invite only by mistake, figured it'd fit right in this thread. :)

The giveaway is for Projections, level 2 entry restriction, ends 08/02/2025, 17:55.

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/3o??R/

?? = Michael Jordan's jersey number

4 months ago*
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Thanks, bump!

4 months ago
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Appreciated!

4 months ago
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Accidentally made into an invite... Good luck!

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/**501/the-pale-beyond

** BoyFriend - abbreviated, both letters uppercase

4 months ago
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4 months ago
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bump!

4 months ago
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4 months ago*
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Wow, great haul, thank you!

4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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Great selection, thank you.

Edit: Aww, and thanks for Tanglewood!

4 months ago*
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Thank you for the giveaways, here's a bump!

4 months ago
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Thanks for a selection!!

4 months ago
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thanks

4 months ago
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4 months ago
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Appreciate the chance. Thank you

4 months ago
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[bump]
٩(͡๏̮͡๏)۶

4 months ago
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I've heard great things about this game, thank you! Bump :)

4 months ago
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In the Humble Monthly Bundle of March 2019, Humble Bundle included the game EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair, along with 18 DLC. In February of 2025, local SG user Codric decided that he probably won't ever play it, and that the keys should find a new home.

Base game, Start of the DLC train
The GA for the base game is level 3+ and runs for one week; the DLC GAs are all for level 1+ and run for two weeks.
To access the giveaways, remove the "no bots" message in the link and replace it with the title of Mel Brooks' 1987 science fiction parody movie. Then, remove said title, because it doesn't actually belong there.

For your information (in case you don't want to click through the train), these are the DLC - I'm not going to add a Steam link for each one, I want to be done with this already:
Blood Storm, BM03 Vegalta Gold, Depth Crawler Gold Coat, Gigantus DCC-Gogo. Marking, Gigantus DCC-Zero Marking, Gigantus Tank, Bullet Girls Marking, Gigantus Tank, EDF IFPS Markings, Gigantus Tank, Natsuiro HS Markings, Gleipnir, Ifrit, Mission Pack 1: Time of the Mutants, Mission Pack 2: Extreme Battle, Pure Decoy Launcher 5 Pack A, Pure Decoy Launcher 5 Pack B, Reflectron Laser, Spark Lancer, Sting Shot, and Volatile Napalm.

4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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In the Humble Monthly Bundle of March 2019, Humble Bundle included the game EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair, along with 18 DLC. In February of 2025, local SG user Codric decided that he probably won't ever play it, and that the keys should find a new home.

SG user Calibr3 decided to read this paragraph in the voice of the narrator from The Stanley Parable. He was very pleased with his decision.

4 months ago
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Thexder thought ill of people who spoke of themselves in the 3rd person. "What a bunch of weirdos", he thought, "I am glad I am not like them."

Then, to his horror, he realized he was very wrong. It took him some moments to come to terms with that new fact.

...

...

...

...

He finally calmed down a little. "Oh, well, I guess I will have to live with that". But he was still a bit distraught, so much that he forgot to finish his train of thought with his usual "Cheers!".

4 months ago
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Kid started reading the replies and smiled to himself. Thought of that game he once played... "Bastion", it was called. Hadn't touched that one in years. Still remembered the narrator like it was yesterday. Some games are just made to stick around in your head... if you let 'em.

4 months ago
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Bump.

4 months ago
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Bump! :D

4 months ago
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Ah, Spaceballs, loved that movie as a kid. I remember the dub calling it "La guerra de los esféricos" (the war of the sphericals) which I assume was to make it even more obvious that it was a Star Wars parody since that one originally got dubbed as "La guerra de las galaxias" (the war of the galaxies).
I should probably rewatch that movie, haven't watched it in like a decade or more.

4 months ago
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bump

4 months ago
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Bump!

4 months ago
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Bump

4 months ago
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Don't create invite-only giveaways.

Whitelist people instead.

That's much better in preventing people from exploiting/abusing your generosity.

4 months ago
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No. Thank you.

4 months ago
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Thank you for your advice. I will be sure to heed the wisdom that you garnered in your... checks profile ... one week on this website.

4 months ago
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What prevents someone from taking your invite link and sharing it with other people you wouldn't want to join your giveaway?

4 months ago
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??
This thread is openly visible for all

4 months ago
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As Tristar said, this thread is openly available. The people I don't want to join my giveaway are, in this case, bots that automatically join any public giveaway. I don't mind if people share the link, as long as they share it with real people that have genuine interest in the game, and they do it in a way that the bots don't get their hands on it. (It would be different if i was doing a puzzle for people to solve.)

4 months ago
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did bro read the title of this thread? better yet, literally the first sentence?

4 months ago
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You have never given anything away and you're telling people what to do... with their own games?

4 months ago
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Got it, blacklist people who give unsolicited advice without actually creating giveaways, heard you loud and clear

View attached image.
4 months ago
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Hi! Here one for the game The Smurfs 2 - The Prisoner of the Green Stone.

It's a GOG key, and I'm not really sure about the region restriction ^^U

https://www.steamgifts.com/happyvalentines/Z-l,K-n,j-/the-smurfs-2-the-prisoner-of-the-green-stone

To enter:

Please replace "happyvalentines" with "giveaway" and remove the hyphens (minus signs and commas)

Good look!

4 months ago
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are you sure you are going to create a giveaway for a gog key here? because as per the rules, you are supposed to provide steam keys for giveaway in this site, and even if the winner mark it as received (since they received the gog key), it will cause an issue for them since they don't have the game in their library. as such, you might receive a not received mark on the giveaway even though you gave the gog key to the winner. i just want to make sure that you are aware of this.

4 months ago
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ohh, sorry i didnt know about that... Err, then i'll delete it better, i dont wanna cause any trouble, thanks!!

4 months ago
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no problem!

4 months ago
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GOG keys are usually given away in threads, and steam messaged to people, or sacrificed to the bots by pasting in plaintext. If you search for gog in the forums you'll see.

4 months ago
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Little sendback after winning Cattails: Wildwood Story from a invite giveaways (Lvl 2+ required) :

Venba -> Venb?

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/?pL3x/venba

4 months ago
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[ENDED]
Doodle God, 0 CV, not sure if there even are people who don't already have this. :) (Lvl 2+)
The game has cards and achievements!

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/??GBR/doodle-god
There is an acronym for the world Wide web, you'll have to use a lot of trial&error to find out which of its 3 letters you'll need for the two "??". Godspeed!

4 months ago*
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3 months ago
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3 months ago*
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Bump ^^

3 months ago
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Unexplored, Level 1, minor bot protection in URL

(Runs for about 26 hours from this comment).

3 months ago
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blasphemous,ru restricted, 2 hours
Doesn't have price set on Russia so I assumed that it's region restricted there. Sorry.

3 months ago*
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https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/?JRxS/tin-can

Lvl 2+ required
? = A B C D ? F G H ...

3 months ago
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Smoke and Sacrifice
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!

1day
Lvl4+

View attached image.
3 months ago*
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ty bump

3 months ago
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Bump!

3 months ago
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Bump

3 months ago
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Thanks. Hadn't seen this game before! Looks kinda interesting.
Bump!

3 months ago
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Whoever loves Indiana Jonesey vibes and flying Trimotors.

3 months ago
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also look like dead rising

View attached image.
3 months ago
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It’s more of an Uncharted/ Tomb Raider clone, however yea it does have mobs of undead at times.

3 months ago
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