UPDATE

I'm officially retiring this thread, as I don't spend nearly as much time on Steamgifts as I used to. Thank you to all who contributed! If anyone else is willing to take charge and start up a new version of this thread, feel free!


I'm assuming many of us have a good amount of unplayed games in our Steam library. Asking people to commit to completing them is a tall order, but just trying them out?

Welcome to...

The Game Tasting

How it works: Play an unplayed game from your backlog for 10 minutes -- just 10! A quick taste. Then, come back here and answer three simple questions about your tasting:

  • What game did you play?
  • What did you think about it?
  • Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?

What I'll do: Because I want to hear about various games and get people to play things, I'll incentivize this thread by adding a new giveaway for every five tastings that get completed. All giveaways will be level 2. I've already given one to get the ball rolling, and it's perfectly fine for one person to submit multiple tastings.

What you need to do:

  • Submit your tasting as a TOP-LEVEL COMMENT and not as a sub-comment on someone else's. (I'll only be counting tastings that show up in my notifications. Feel free to comment on others' tastings though!)
  • Please bold the title of your game so that others can scan the thread easily.

Current Giveaways

None! Event Complete!

Completed Giveaways

Tastings Game GA Code Ending
0 Tastings RAGE WGPfg Friday, August 28
5 Tastings Ceville oRzhx Saturday, August 29
10 Tastings Pongo kg1vL Saturday, August 29
15 Tastings White Noise 2 q68VQ Saturday, August 29
20 Tastings State of Mind 8ktWm Sunday, August 30
25 Tastings Homebrew - Patent Unknown EnQqe Sunday, August 30
30 Tastings Luxor 3 08tj9 Wednesday, September 2
35 Tastings Stasis tpnP1 Wednesday, September 2
40 Tastings Shooting Stars! 8gxbE Thursday, September 3
45 Tastings God's Trigger NTr56 Saturday, September 5
50 Tastings Next Hero XxRTj Sunday, September 6
55 Tastings Out of Reach 1BRRZ Sunday, September 12
60 Tastings Haimrik Vvhkq Sunday, September 12
Special Cakeday GA! Forager svfT0 Sunday, September 12
65 Tastings Medieval Kingdom Wars H38Lz Wednesday, September 16
70 Tastings Stronghold HD aoAsu Saturday, October 10
75 Tastings Beat Cop bP1Oj Saturday, October 10
80 Tastings Decay: The Mare gdjTg Thursday, October 15
85 Tastings Phantom Trigger dxyMD Friday, October 30
90 Tastings RiME vIABX Tuesday, November 3
95 Tastings Still Life p3ALF Sunday, November 15
100 Tastings Darkwood ZBvl0 Sunday, November 22
105 Tastings Airport Madness: Time Machine XSM2l Tuesday, December 8
110 Tastings BioShock Infinite NyLYA Tuesday, December 8
115 Tastings Distrust: Polar Survival Xxuhl Tuesday, December 8
120 Tastings Gunmetal Arcadia Zero MfYPw Sunday, December 13
3 years ago*

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What game did i play?
Hello Neighbor

What did you think about it?
Haha well for just playing 10 minutes without a tutorial I am a bit lost at what to do (some puzzle like features, finding items and what to do with them) as I heard from some of the reviews. But right off the bat i love the visuals and as a "stealth horror" before i get too into the game it got me good with the creepy music when you're about to get caught by the suspicous neighbor, especially starting the game at night, and in general getting scared easily.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yes i won it here on steamgifts and plan to play more of it (probably not right away based off of my backlog, but interesting game that deserves more then 10min :) )

And thanks for this interesting event, especially as someone who I guess does this a lot (maybe not a good thing) but love trying out a lot of my games (should start finishing some!)!

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Apotheon.

What did you think about it?
I'm not sure if I like it. It's based on Greek mythology which I really like, but the game play feels a bit boring for me. From what I understand I'll just go around killing people, collecting items and fulfilling objectives - which is fine and all, but something in the way the fighting was designed didn't seem fun to me.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
I'll still give it a chance, mainly because it was a gift from someone and I feel horrible if I don't play the games I was gifted. Also I have hopes that I might enjoy it in the end - some games require specific moods to play for me.

3 years ago
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What game did i play?
Shooting Stars

What did you think about it?
I bought the game because of the giveaway that you made for it, so thanks for the recommendation that wasnt a recommendation.
Pros: Cheap almost 90% deal and fun; Memes
Cons: There is no ending; Gets repetitive along the time

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Played it for almost 4 hours so probably not

3 years ago
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I've given away the game but haven't actually played it myself, so I'm glad to know that your time with it was positive!

3 years ago
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What game did you play?

Knightmare Tower

What did you think about it?

It's a platform game, originally free at Kongregate, with revamped graphics, controller support (but they removed mouse support), more balanced gameplay, endless mode and the usual Steam stuff (cheevos). I've not played the original version, but I've read the game doesn't really have new content compared to the original. It is still a nice platformer where you go up constantly inside a tower without platforms - but enemies are being thrown at you from below, so the way to keep going up and killing enemies is actually jumping/attacking over them. There are many different enemies: slow, fast, with defenses, shooters, needing more than 1 hit, etc. Not your average platformer, but a nice deviation from your standard action platformer. In its simplicity, it's great and fun to play. It also has a shop to buy improvements and stuff with gold you get while playing, so with time you end getting higher, fighting bosses, you can imagine. Probably you can get it very cheap at any sale.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?

Yes, if it ever finds a place out of my backlog.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
A Plague Tale: Innocence (I could finally put my hands on that game).

What did you think about it?
Graphics are awesome, story seems interesting so far, and I like the game mechanics and fighting system. It is a little different than the usual; a mix between stealth horror (when you have to hide and sneak, and they kill you the moment they catch you) and range fighting (no other kind of stealth kill up to now). In general, everything seems pretty good.
Oh, yeah, voice acting is pretty cool too (I can't get used to the accent tho xD).

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Of course I will. I hope it will keep getting better, particularly on the character's development (I am pretty interested in Hugo, the little brother, and his "condition").

PS: The game is a lot goryer (gorier? more gory? more gore? Didn't know how to to say it) than what I expected... Which is also good for me xD.

3 years ago*
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What game did you play?

Gothic Universe

What did you think about it?

Gothic Universe is a bundle of the first three games in the Gothic/Arcania universe (which has more games later), and includes the first, the second with its expansion, and the third (without the expansion), plus a playable teaser of a remake/reimagining of the first which is being remade at Barcelona, and you can play it for free in Steam. So this wine tasting is actually about 4 games. The games are action RPGs played in third person, released in the first decade of this third millenium (the remake is from 2019).

First warning is that these games don't work well in modern OSes, but there are community patches for that, easily available and useable if you follow the guide(s). Once you get the game working, you get a low-fi poly, low-res textures, but fully voiced not too old but not recent either game.

I must say I am quite impressed with these games, and I'm not surprised they have a cult following, with mods, extra quests and campaigns, and such things that you can get for free to expand the base games. They play nicely, have nice characters and stories, and the combat system is action & combo based, rather than spamming skills or attacks.

My only downside is that the remake teaser (which is about 1h long) has high spec requirements, and ran pretty badly in my 6yo system. Otherwise, the three first games felt and played so nice.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?

While they feel they'll need some hundred hours to complete, I think I'll end playing them.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Commander: Conquest of the Americas Gold

What did you think about it?
It's a 10 years old trading/strategy game about starting a new colony in the Americas. Graphics is acceptable I guess but the interface feels very unintuitive. I went through the tutorial and tried to do first missions but couldn't find the options I needed to click to get through it.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Definitely not now. I'm considering removing it from my account.

3 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

3 years ago
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Sorry about not doing more tastings, not feeling like it, nor writing later. It was fun, and thanks for the gibs.

3 years ago
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No worries. I actually haven't been pulling my weight with this thread since I've been busy and the community train got my focus! I owe the thread some new GAs!

Don't worry about stepping away. It's not fun if it becomes like a chore, and I've appreciated everything you've already contributed! Hope you're doing well outside of this. Best wishes.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Zombotron

What did you think about it?
It was pretty fun. Movement feels weird, but the weapons and shooting is pretty cool.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, I will keep playing it until I finish it (probably).

3 years ago*
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Busyness with work and the community train pulled my focus and left me neglecting this thread. Sorry! I'll post some updated GAs when I get time to later today.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?

Divide by Sheep

What did you think about it?

I have no idea where I picked up this game but looked like a charming puzzle game so I chose it for this because of that. As soon as I booted it up I realised this looks like it was designed for mobile, the UI was for mobile without a doubt. Going into the gameplay, it's a puzzle game where you have to get the sheep/wolves/anything else onto the life rafts, but each raft can only take a certain number of that animal. To get 3 stars on each level, you have to give the correct number of the correct animal on all 3 rafts by using the land squares to knock animals into the water and break up the groups.

Decent logic, but the gameplay doesn't change up much, nothing gripping. Good visuals though, a clean and neat art style, game ran smoothly too.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?

Probably not, I got bored before the 10 min mark as it was.

I don't know how I didn't find this thread sooner, this is an awesome idea! Might do a couple more games tonight, got some free time and I really need to sort out my backlog. I see this has been kinda neglected a bit but hey, if people keep posting about different games, I'll keep checking the thread regardless of GAs tbh.
Quick question though, can I put multiple games in the same message, or should I make a different comment for each game?

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

What did you think about it?
Better than expected. A straightforward Far Cry experience. Some parody humor, some great action and some partially annoying designs (everything shines too much). I think what I liked the most was the whole movement skill package, which comes by default with the main character (really high speed running and swimming, plus no fall damage nor drowning).

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, I will and I did already actually. I forgot to post this last night, and I already kept on playing. Probably it is going to be a short experience, but one that I won't regret at all.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Call of Cthulhu.

What did you think about it?
The animations in cutscenes were pretty bad, and it seemed llike they weren't done along with the voice acting. But overall the game feels creepy and eerie, and that is a good thing.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, I will surely do.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Titan Souls.

What did you think about it?
Didn't like it at all. The controls and gameplay didn't feel good for me, which made the boss fighting more difficult than it should. And even when I beated some, it didn't feel like accomplish something, only like I was getting rid of some pain.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Nope, I don't think so.

3 years ago
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Thanks for all of your tastings! I've liked reading what you've been trying out. Also, I felt the exact same way about Titan Souls. Definitely not for me.

3 years ago
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I actually tasted some more games, because I wasn't too sure about what to play next, but I didn't want to post too many in a row. It could look like spamming or something like that.

3 years ago
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Post away! That's what the thread is here for! Even though I don't respond to all of them, I definitely read each and every one. It makes me happy to see people adding to it, even if it's just one person going through a whole lot of different games.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded

What did you think about it?
A really fun and brutal top-down shooter (I don't know if that is how I am supposed to call it). Every second is so chaotic, always in the edge of danger, and I am really enjoying it.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, a little bit every day probably.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Dragon Ball Xenoverse

What did you think about it?
I don't think it was a good idea to play Kakarot before this one, because it makes it feel a little old, but I wanted to try the coop/multiplayer system.
The fighting system is good, but it felt a little slow for a Dragon Ball game. And apparently, there is going to be a lot of walking and talking with NPC (not a fan of that).

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Probably I will, but it depends on how I feel about it the next couple of times I play it.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Call of Juarez

What did you think about it?
In the middle of all these tastings, I wanted a first person shooter, so I went for this one, which I bought a long time ago, but never played it (and I wanted to check if it was worth to get the next games of the saga).
I didn't like the minutes I played... at all. No shooting... Only some hiding, some running, some searching. Everything too boring.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
I don't feel like doing it, but I probably will.

3 years ago*
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What game did you play?
Boundless.

What did you think about it?
It reminded me of Minecraft, in a way. If Minecraft was inherently multiplayer? You start in a world without any possessions, and then you collect and craft and build - to what end, I'm not sure. There doesn't seem to be a story. (But maybe there is, and it starts after tutorial?) So far I'm not very impressed. I didn't really enjoy what I've seen of the game. I'm also not a fan of the art style, which is a bit disappointing.
Edit: I have fond memories of Minecraft. Can't say the same for Boundless.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Highly unlikely. I didn't even want to finish the tutorial. I'm not really excited by what I've seen. I might still go back to it to give it another try if I feel bad enough (that I have it but haven't played it). But I think it's more likely that I'll remove it from my Steam library.

3 years ago*
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What game did you play?
The Turing Test.

What did you think about it?
Someone told me that it reminded them of Portal games, and I can see why. There is a gun, there are cubes, you solve puzzles. There is even an AI, who may or may not be evil. (I'm not that far in the game yet.) However, it reminded me more of The Talos Principle, mostly because of the topics the AI keeps on bringing up. I really like it so far, even if the puzzles seem a bit on the easier side.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
I played almost 3 hours today, and stopped only because I got stuck in a puzzle and my brain is tired of thinking. I will definitely go back to it and finish the game soon (probably in a few days).

3 years ago*
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What game did you play?
Amnesia: The Dark Descent

What did you think about it?
I have been liking it a lot. I like the constant tension and fear from the character, and the whole atmosphere. it is clear for me that they worked a lot to improve their flaws from Penumbra, to make this a better game. Let's see how the story develops now (because they are really trying that you get interested, so I hope it is as good as they are selling it)..
Oh, yeah, one thing. The movement of the main character feels a little clumsy, so it can be hard to do some required platforming sometimes.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, I will. Probably 1 hour each day or so.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Skul: The Hero Slayer

What did you think about it?
It is AWESOME!! So much fun playing this thing. A roguelike action platformer (but mostly simple platforming up to now) where you play as a skeleton trying to save the demon king from the hands of mankind. You are collecting coins, some accesories for passive or active skills, some skulls to change shapes (every shape with different abilities), and some more things. Every run has a lot of variations and they feel really different from each other, even when almost every enemy is the same (some mini-bosses change).
The in-game feeling kinda remind me what I felt while playing Hollow Knight (I like this more though) and the combination of skills and stuff looks like what I saw from Hades.
Anyways, totally recommended :).

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yeah, I sure will keep playing. Probably will keep with it even after beating it.

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Ori and the Blind Forest

What did you think about it?
I liked it! It looks well-made and I really love story rich games. I just barely started it (played maybe 15 mins) but even that was enough to hook me in. The story started out sad, and I'm hoping it gets happier! But I'll see, I guess. I like the controls and the way game teaches you the different collectibles, etc.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
Yes. It's going to be my next game.

3 years ago
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Ori is absolutely wonderful! I hope you enjoy it!

3 years ago
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Thank you! I played a bit more last night and it's definitely a lot of fun :)

3 years ago
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I just recently started playing Ori for the second time after I had given up on it in my first attempt a few years ago becuase I was not able to pass through a certain passage the first time around pretty early in the game. I got through this now, but am really thrown off by the difficulty. I've now reached that tree and did not manage to pass another certain passage. This game is too freaking hard in my opinon. Kills all the joy from the great atmosphere, story and graphics. I wish I could play more of it, but ultimately I find it way too frustrating and demanding ;__;

II'd be interested in knowing how you feel about the difficulty once you've gotten further into the game.

3 years ago
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I'm playing in the "easy" mode. Which difficulty did you select?

3 years ago
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Oh, I only have the vanilla edition, not the Definitive Edition. There is no difficulty select, unfortunately :(

3 years ago
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Ah, that explains it. I was gifted the game a couple months back, so it's the definitive edition. I wonder what the difficulty setting on the original is. The "easy" mode is, well, pretty easy. (Even if I'm bad and I die a lot.) If you can afford it, buying the definitive edition might be worth it since the difficulty select helps a lot.

3 years ago
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I was considering it. But then I'm truly feeling a strong resistance towards spending money on a game which I already own for something that should have been implemented from the very start or at least be patched in later instead of milking owners by forcing them to buy the same game again, only upgraded. It really bothers me, and it's also what totally sets me off from their newest title, as cute as it looks.
I'm getting angrier and angrier as I type, lol.

3 years ago
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I definitely understand - you shouldn't be required to pay to access something that needs to be in the base game.
I beat the game (but didn't do everything in it) and it was fun. However I can see how off putting it'd be if the game was really hard. (I could never play in that case!)

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Hollow Knight

What did you think about it?
Hollow Knight has no difficulty setting, though hopefully the game may get one like Ori did (above post). Those coming from an RPG background may be put off by the difficulty of timing 20+ perfect jumps and attacks in a row, and in that case I'd recommend grabbing a mod to enjoy the story. This is a very hard platformer with great controls and animation, and a simple yet deep story.

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
I played for 10 minutes and couldn't stop. I finished the game. :)

3 years ago
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How long did it take you to finish it? (Also by finish, which ending do you mean?) There is a lot of content in Hollow Knight and I think the game is worth exploring :)

3 years ago
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I played HK for 23 hours i think, first completion, around 102%

3 years ago
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What game did you play?
Hotline Miami

What did you think about it?
Didn't like it. I really tried to like it, because I won that game here, so I wanted to beat it, but I went through 7 levels (7 out of 20) in around an hour, and I couldn't enjoy any of them. Then I got stuck in the next level without any motivation.
I don't get why that game is so well evaluated... Maybe the psychodelic vibe (which, btw, I also hate) plus the music. But I was struggling with the mechanics; my melee hits were passing through the enemies sometimes, the bullets weren't going where I was aiming, sometimes I could hear myself attacking before the enemy, but I was dead anyways. And, at the end, it was easier to finish the levels by going crazy (instead of going carefully), almost like speedrunning the game, though I would get a worse qualification for doing it like that (i guess the game is made with the purpose of making you suffer).

Do you plan on continuing it past 10 minutes (either now or in the future)?
I already tried it twice... However, I don't think I will have the mood to finish it.

3 years ago*
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When I first played Hotline Miami, I played it in a careful, calculated manner, and I didn't like it at all. I didn't understand the hype.

Then I watched a friend play and he basically played it in a manner that I would call "lawnmower mode" where he would just flail his knife and speed through the levels. He died a lot, but he would get through twenty attempts at a level in the time it would take me to do one or two.

I ended up playing it his way and liked it a lot more. I think the game's clunkiness (which you identified and which bothered me too on my first playthrough) make it that you can only really enjoy it if you lean into and appreciate its chaos. There's just a fundamental level of messiness, and sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it completely messes up a run. As soon as I started playing it like a fast-paced, careless action romp rather than a careful, calculated stealth game, I ended up actually enjoying it. That said, I totally get where you're coming from and don't begrudge you your feelings at all. I definitely felt the exact same way.

3 years ago
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Closed 3 years ago by ruteqube.