Catch up on the essentials
- If you plan to delete it after the campaign, the storage hit is hard to justify, while friends who will keep it installed for ranked and couch play get the best return.
- A genuinely rewarding exploration crawler if you and your co-op partners enjoy slow, patient discovery and don't mind rough edges.
- The current discount is a real price break, but I would not assume it is the cheapest this title will ever see given how recently it shipped in October 2026.
Selected from this article · 2026-10-18
Read on for the full picture01Mortal Kombat 1 on PC: local and online fighting with friends, but layered monetization and a punishing install footprint
STEAM DEAL · 80% OFF
Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 delivers a cinematic campaign, deep Kameo assists, and solid shared-screen and online PvP, so friends who want to grind sets together get real value at $9.99, but solo players chasing clean unlocks should expect heavy grinding and ongoing DLC costs.
Game highlights
New timeline and Kameo assists
The official pitch is a Fire God Liu Kang reboot with a fresh universe, and fights now layer a Kameo partner who brings Special Moves, Throws, and defensive Breakers on top of your main. That tag-style layer is the headline mechanical change and is wired into both online and shared-screen play, so teams can practice doubles-style callouts locally or remotely with cross-platform matchmaking on PC.
Invasions as the solo grind
Invasions is positioned as a single-player campaign that blends RPG progression with fights, doling out rewards as you push through distinct seasonal challenges. Players can spend dozens of hours clearing board paths to unlock cosmetics, which is why reviewers describe the mode as a long, repetitive setup for the actual ranked matches.
Local play plus cross-platform matchmaking
Steam categories list Shared/Split Screen PvP, Shared/Split Screen, Online PvP, and Cross-Platform Multiplayer alongside Remote Play Together, so two controllers on a couch, ranked across consoles and PC, or streaming a session to a TV are all first-class options. That makes it easy to drop in with a friend whether they live with you or across the country.
Cinematic story mode with mixed reception
The official store copy highlights a new universe and modes, and the story delivers movie-style camera work and cinematic stakes. Long-time players note the first half lands well before the multiverse twist, so the campaign works as a two-night rental rather than the reason to keep the game installed.
Heavy install footprint and Denuvo
Multiple reviewers report installs between roughly 130 and 200 GB, with shaders recompiling at every launch and Denuvo anti-tamper running by default. Audio for several languages ships bundled without a per-language option, which is why players with limited SSD space keep uninstalling the game after a session.
What players are saying
What keeps coming up positively
- Local and cross-platform play makes it easy to find a sparring partner at any time.
- The campaign, character redesigns, and fatalities still deliver the signature MK spectacle for series fans.
- Kameo assists add a fresh layer of strategy to team-style play and casual couch matches.
Where the friction shows
- Roster characters, fatalities, and premium skins are gated behind DLC and microtransactions beyond the base price.
- Invasions mode becomes a repetitive grind for unlocks, and reviewers say the push feels mandatory rather than fun.
- Install size routinely exceeds 130 GB, shaders recompile on every launch, and storage pressure pushes players to uninstall.
- Story pacing drops sharply once the multiverse twist lands, and several fans call it the weakest main roster and Kameo selection in years.
Is it worth buying?
At $9.99 against a $49.99 regular price, the discount makes the core roster and story worth a look, but only if you accept that the real roster and cosmetics are spread across paid DLC packs and Invasions grinding. If you plan to delete it after the campaign, the storage hit is hard to justify, while friends who will keep it installed for ranked and couch play get the best return.
Price checked 2026-10-18：$9.99，down from $49.99（80% off）。Player-fit tags
Good fit
- Friends who want consistent local and online ranked sessions with Kameo assists
- Series fans revisiting the reboot timeline and fatalities on a budget
- Players with a large SSD who want a cinematic story mode plus a long seasonal grind
- Players who already own DLC packs and want to round out the roster cheaply
Probably not for you
- Solo players who dislike grinding cosmetic and character unlocks in Invasions
- Buyers on a tight SSD who object to a 130-200 GB install for a 2D fighter
- Players sensitive to microtransactions layered on a full-priced fighter
- Long-time MK fans expecting MK11-level customization and stage interactivity
02Deep Dish Dungeon: patient co-op dungeon exploration with metroidvania crafting and atmospheric puzzles for careful players
STEAM DEAL · 15% OFF
Deep Dish Dungeon
A genuinely rewarding exploration crawler if you and your co-op partners enjoy slow, patient discovery and don't mind rough edges. Worth considering at the 15% discount, but only after you've checked recent patch notes for the backpack and save bugs that have softlocked multiple runs.
Game highlights
Hand-built dungeon designed for curious explorers
The developer description positions this as an atmospheric, hand-crafted dungeon crawling and exploration game with metroidvania and crafting elements, and players echo that the world rewards patience, attention to detail, and creativity. Routes branch, shortcuts unlock over time, and secrets are tucked into corners rather than signposted, so your group will need to actually look around instead of rushing from marker to marker.
Camp-based crafting and cooking progression
Official text explains that you gather resources at a camp and craft tools or cook meals that buff your stats, with new recipes unlocking as you go. Reviews confirm that progression feels metroidvania-like, with new tools opening previously unreachable paths. Early food options are basic, so expect to live on roasted ingredients or simple stews before richer recipes appear.
Three-player online co-op with no PvP
The store listing advertises solo or up to two friends in online co-op on PC and Mac, with cross-platform multiplayer and full controller support including DualSense. The official copy emphasizes sharing knowledge and taking care of each other rather than competing. Players who tried it in a trio reported the difficulty and progression felt tuned for that group size.
Minimal UI and on-your-own guidance
The developers are explicit that the game is meant to be played without hand-holding and that you may feel stuck before discovering the answer organically. Reviews describe being legitimately stumped several times before solving puzzles, which is meant as a compliment rather than frustration. There is no quest log or marker chase, so reading the environment is the core skill.
Stamina-driven combat and resource juggling
The game's stamina system forces you and your party to coordinate who swings, who tanks aggro, and when to eat or heal, turning encounters into a tactical back-and-forth. Looting, foraging, and inventory management stay relevant throughout a run because supplies directly feed back into combat and exploration.
What players are saying
What keeps coming up positively
- The hand-built world and metroidvania-style tool unlocks make exploration feel genuinely rewarding once you crack a puzzle
- Cooking and crafting at camp give runs a tangible sense of forward motion and stat growth
- Co-op encourages communication, with the stamina system turning simple fights into coordination puzzles
- The minimal UI and absence of quest markers create a rare atmosphere of quiet, immersive dungeon crawling
Where the friction shows
- Backpack and inventory despawn bugs after death frequently destroy keys and progression items, softlocking multiple saves
- A single auto-overwriting save slot means a bad crash or glitch can wipe hours of progress with no manual backup
- Bows and certain enemy attacks misbehave, and arrows can fly off target or whiff entirely in mid-combat
- Solo play feels significantly harder and less forgiving, with several players recommending a full group of three instead
Is it worth buying?
At $12.74 instead of the $14.99 regular price (15% off), this is a fair but modest discount rather than a blowout sale. The exploration, crafting loop, and co-op design are compelling, yet the recurring backpack despawn and single-slot save complaints have cost players entire runs. If you're tempted, the discount plus possible future patches make it reasonable, but waiting for a deeper sale or a confirmed bug fix is also defensible.
Price checked 2026-10-18：$12.74，down from $14.99（15% off）。Player-fit tags
Good fit
- Players who enjoy slow, hands-off exploration and don't need quest markers to stay engaged
- Small co-op groups of up to three who like coordinating stamina, healing, and inventory pressure in real time
- Crafting-focused dungeon crawlers who want recipes and tool upgrades to gate progression
- Fans of atmospheric, low-UI games such as Return to Moria or Deep Rock Galactic's traversal design
- Patient puzzle solvers willing to backtrack, read the environment, and figure things out without guidance
Probably not for you
- Anyone uncomfortable losing hours of progress to a known backpack or save corruption bug
- Players who want a built-in quest log, map markers, or clear direction between objectives
- Solo players who dislike combat and resource management without AI companions like Bosco or bots
- Speedrun or action-first dungeon crawlers looking for fast combat loops and quick restarts
- Completionists who expect multiple save slots and robust manual save separation
03Chained Beasts — A Rowdy 4-Player Colosseum Roguelike That Thrives With Friends On the Couch
STEAM DEAL · 35% OFF
Chained Beasts
Grab a squad of three other friends before buying because the chained co-op chaos is genuinely the highlight, and right now it is sitting at $12.99 on a 35% discount. Solo or with randoms the risk-versus-reward affliction loop and one-map structure flatten out fast, so treat this as a party game first.
Game highlights
Chained Co-op That Punishes And Rewards Coordination
Up to four players are literally tied together, and the official description leans hard into that gimmick as the centerpiece. Coordinate and you can trip enemies or drag them into hazards, but desync and you end up tangled around a pillar. It is built for split-screen or online play, so set expectations around a group session rather than solo practice.
Affliction Risk-Reward That Warps Each Run
The healing and leveling system doubles as a handicap lottery, trading health or XP for debuffs ranging from colorblindness and dropped weapons to lost arms or constant burning. Potions can remove them but introduce worse side effects, so every decision bleeds into the next fight. It is the hook that pushes players to attempt just one more run.
Environment Physics As A Weapon
Combat is not just weapon swings, since the arena doubles as your arsenal: hurl urns, throw enemies into spike walls or snake pits, and toss weapons for ranged damage while keeping a backup ready. Trial-and-error with the physics is a major part of the fun, and creative kills win crowd favor. Expect comedy when a perfectly aimed throw rebounds off a teammate.
Boss Progression And Gladiator Ascent
As fame rises you face armed-to-the-teeth arena heroes stacked against you, with victory edging the party closer to Rome and possible freedom. Each successful run unlocks new characters with distinct abilities and lets you bank coin for weapons or gear that can flip a fight. Multiple difficulty tiers exist, though the higher ones change numbers more than mechanics.
Slapstick Tone With Real Carnage
The Colosseum framing plus environmental hazards gives every kill a slightly absurd edge, and visible blood sprays that linger in the arena underline the brutality between jokes. Players repeatedly call out moments where friendly fire or bad rolls turn a clean fight into a clip-worthy disaster.
What players are saying
What keeps coming up positively
- The chained mechanic, physics chaos, and mixed couch plus online co-op feel like nothing else currently on the storefront.
- The affliction risk-reward loop creates memorable mid-run disasters like stacking near- and far-sighted debuffs into useless 'bagel vision.'
- Coordination between friends, especially learning to embrace friendly fire, multiplies the fun several times over.
- The art style and gladiator atmosphere consistently impress, reinforcing the feeling of a real Colosseum show.
Where the friction shows
- There is only one map and a small weapon pool, so repeat runs feel stale roughly two hours in once gear and bosses start cycling.
- Higher difficulty tiers are widely seen as poorly balanced, with one kit (the Bear) dominating while perk RNG often fails to produce a viable build.
- Afflictions skew harsher than the buffs and gear available, so players feel crippled more often than empowered across a run.
- Unlocks such as outfit challenges only credit the player who triggers them, which frustrates full co-op parties running the same content repeatedly for everyone.
Is it worth buying?
At $12.99 (35% off the $19.99 regular price) it is reasonable if you already have a reliable 2–4 player group ready on day one. The current discount is a real price break, but I would not assume it is the cheapest this title will ever see given how recently it shipped in October 2026. Casual solo players or anyone needing a long progression ladder should probably wait, since the value is almost entirely in social play right now.
Price checked 2026-10-18：$12.99，down from $19.99（35% off）。Player-fit tags
Good fit
- Three or four friend groups looking for a 30–60 minute run-based party game on couch or online.
- Players who enjoy risk-versus-reward systems where healing and leveling carry hidden penalties.
- Gamers who like physics-driven combat and creative environmental kills more than tight sword-and-shield duels.
- Roguelike fans who do not mind a small early roster and want something fresh to experiment with.
- Anyone who already planned a game-night lineup and needs a chaotic centerpiece that rewards coordination.
Probably not for you
- Solo players without a reliable group, since the shine fades quickly without the co-op chaos.
- Roguelike completionists who need deep perk trees, varied maps, or long meta-progression ladders.
- Anyone frustrated by RNG-heavy builds where a run can end before a viable kit appears.
- Players who dislike strict difficulty spikes, since higher tiers are widely flagged as unbalanced rather than fair.
- Buyers expecting a long campaign, because current content runs short on substance once the first map is cleared.
04AI Olympius: budget sci-fi third-person shooter with two-player co-op, 30 missions, and a base-building side mode
STEAM DEAL · 15% OFF
AI Olympius
AI Olympius is a low-budget indie third-person shooter that leans heavily on its 30-mission campaign, two-player co-op, and a layered upgrade tree, and it is a reasonable pickup for patient solo players or co-op duos who enjoy grinding resources, freeing up robots, and replaying short arenas at the current discount. Anyone who dislikes resource grinds, ammo scarcity, or sparse checkpoints should approach carefully.
Game highlights
30-mission campaign with RPG progression
The official description lists 30 story-driven campaign missions set across multiple planetary sectors, and the developer advertises roughly 35 hours of playtime. Players earn resources and then spend them on character skills, weapon modifications, and costume upgrades, with over 60 modification options available. Reviews consistently mention armor and weapon upgrades as the campaign's main hook, suggesting steady progression for players willing to invest time into the upgrade menus.
Two-player co-op in split-screen or online
Official categories confirm split-screen and online co-op for two players on the same PC or over a simple network connection. Co-op works alongside the main campaign, so a partner can join the full 30-mission run rather than a bolted-on side mode. The co-op design pairs well with the game's high enemy density, since turrets and flying robots can punish lone players harshly.
Mind-control mechanic and hacking minigame
The store page highlights a mind-control ability that lets you capture enemy robots or convert allied machines mid-fight, which adds a tactical layer to otherwise straightforward firefights. A separate hacking minigame is referenced in reviews, although some players describe it as uninspired. Using the capture ability well seems to matter most when ammo runs dry, which ties directly into the resource pressure mentioned elsewhere.
Base-building side mode for resource extraction
Beyond the campaign, AI Olympius includes a base-building mode where you construct, defend, and upgrade outposts to extract resources that feed into the upgrade economy. The developer describes it as intertwined with the main story, though several reviewers call it more of a concept than a finished feature. Players who enjoy tower-defense-style defense loops will likely get the most out of it.
Stable performance and consistent updates
Multiple long-term reviewers specifically call out smooth performance on mid-range hardware and frequent patches from developer Lion's Shade. Bug reports are rare in the evidence, with one reviewer citing zero crashes across hundreds of hours and another noting flawless play on an 8-year-old machine. That update cadence is a meaningful point for early-access buyers who want a responsive dev.
What players are saying
What keeps coming up positively
- Character movement has weight to it and gunplay feels responsive in the early hours
- Visuals and soundtrack are repeatedly singled out as strong, with a neon-lit Roman-punk aesthetic
- Developer responsiveness and frequent updates earn trust from long-term players
- Performance holds up on older and mid-range hardware with few crashes reported
Where the friction shows
- Enemies absorb large amounts of ammo and turrets plus flying robots can kill quickly in later sectors
- Save points are spaced far apart, so deaths force lengthy section replays
- Upgrades and hacking minigame feel generic rather than exciting
- Controller remapping is buggy and the character creator's sliders are hidden behind a starter mask
Is it worth buying?
At $12.74 with a 15% discount off the $14.99 regular price, AI Olympius is cheaper than typical full-price shooters but still costs more than impulse money for a short early-access campaign. Two-player co-op, a 30-mission length, and base-building add meaningful value, yet the resource grind and ammo scarcity mean the value lands best for players who specifically enjoy replaying missions to upgrade. Solo players on the fence should weigh whether the upgrade grind sounds fun, and co-op duos get the most mileage because enemy pressure eases considerably with a partner.
Price checked 2026-10-18：$12.74，down from $14.99（15% off）。Player-fit tags
Good fit
- Players planning to grind upgrades and replay missions in two-player co-op
- Fans of low-budget indie sci-fi shooters with a Mass Effect-like tone
- Players who enjoy base-building defense loops on the side
- Gamers on older or mid-range PCs who value stable performance
- Patient solo players who do not mind sparse checkpoints
Probably not for you
- Players who dislike resource gathering and ammo scarcity as core friction
- Anyone expecting polished controller support or rebinding on PC
- Players who want long uninterrupted checkpoints between deaths
- Buyers looking for high-budget production values or cinematic storytelling
Share this article
