Best Difficult Steam Games on Sale

Unlike generic lists, our game recommendations use a rigorous analysis of Steam user reviews to identify and feature only the best, community-validated difficult games.

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Gothic II: Gold Edition Gothic II: Gold Edition brings together the excitement of Gothic II and the add-on Night of the Raven to your fingertips!

Price -87% 2.76€
Rating 9.1
Release 13 Jan 2010
The Void Only brought to life by scarce sparks of Color, the bleak, grey Void is a peculiar place. The player gets to explore it, get to know the Sisters, Brothers, and other weird creatures inhabiting it, and learn the ways of Color, harvesting it and drawing sigils that change the world around them.

Price -93% 0.73€
Rating 7.7
Release 15 Dec 2009
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a visually upgraded and fully Steam supported remake version of the original high-adrenaline single-play and 16-player co-operative arcade-action FPS which was Gamespot's Game of the Year 2001 and which scored overall of 87% on Metacritic!

Price -85% 2.27€
Rating 9.1
Release 24 Nov 2009
AI War: Fleet Command "You are outgunned. You are massively outnumbered. You must win." These are your orders. Humanity has already fought its war against the machines -- and lost. AI death squads stand watch over every planet and every wormhole, the few remaining human settlements are held captive in orbiting bubbles, and the AIs have turned their...

Price -93% 0.77€
Rating 7.9
Release 21 Oct 2009
Risen Delve into a gritty, raw and atmospheric fantasy world in which every action has a consequence. In the epic world of Risen, filled with mysterious earthquakes, fearsome monsters and unimaginable treasures, forge your path with the sword, learn the art of staff fighting or become a powerful mage.

Price -88% 1.81€
Rating 8.6
Release 02 Oct 2009
Majesty 2 In the world of Majesty, you are the ruler of the kingdom Ardania. At your service are your loyal and somewhat obnoxious subordinates, who have their own minds about how things should be done. In fact, Majesty is the only game where your heroes decide on their own what should be done and when, leaving you to try to control them through...

Price -90% 1.00€
Rating 6.7
Release 17 Sep 2009
Osmos Enter the ambient world of Osmos: elegant, physics-based gameplay, dreamlike visuals, and a minimalist, electronic soundtrack. Your objective is to grow by absorbing other motes. Propel yourself by ejecting matter behind you. But be wise: ejecting matter also shrinks you. Relax - good things come to those who wait.

Price -97% 0.32€
Rating 8.2
Release 18 Aug 2009
Hearts of Iron III Hearts of Iron III lets you play the most engaging conflict in world history, World War 2, on all fronts as any country and through multiple different scenarios. Guide your nation to glory between 1936 and 1948 and wage war, conduct diplomacy and build your industry in the most detailed World War 2 game ever made.

Price -95% 0.53€
Rating 7.4
Release 07 Aug 2009
Call of Cthulhu®: Dark Corners of the Earth Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a first-person horror game that combines intense action and adventure elements.

Price -63% 1.85€
Rating 6.6
Release 16 Jun 2009
Velvet Assassin Inspired by the fascinating story and unbreakable spirit of British secret agent Violette Szabo, players take control of Violette Summer, a beautiful World War II spy deep behind enemy lines with no support or official backing from the British Government.

Price -90% 0.60€
Rating 6.1
Release 01 May 2009
Cogs Cogs is a puzzle game where players build machines from sliding tiles. Players can choose from 50 levels and 3 gameplay modes. New puzzles are unlocked by building contraptions quickly and efficiently. Inventor Mode: Starting with simple puzzles, players are introduced to the widgets that are used to build machines — gears, pipes,...

Price -90% 0.52€
Rating 8.4
Release 14 Apr 2009
Braid This is the original version of Braid from 2009, which may not work well on newer systems. For an updated version of the game with nicer graphics, more levels and a large amount of developer commentary, see Braid, Anniversary Edition.

Price -81% 2.92€
Rating 9.1
Release 10 Apr 2009
World of Goo World of Goo is a multiple award winning physics based puzzle / construction game made entirely by two guys.

Price -82% 2.31€
Rating 9.1
Release 13 Oct 2008
X-COM: UFO Defense You are in control of X-COM: an organization formed by the world's governments to fight the ever-increasing alien menace.

Price -85% 0.75€
Rating 9.1
Release 04 Sep 2008
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus® Abe's peaceful retirement was shattered when visited by a vision from the Mudokon Spirit Guides. Abe™ learned the Magog Cartel was mining Necrum, the sacred Mudokon city of the dead, to collect bones to make super-addictive SoulStorm Brew.

Price -91% 0.28€
Rating 9.0
Release 28 Aug 2008
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee® Selected by the fickle finger of fate, Abe™, floor-waxer first class for RuptureFarms, was catapulted into a life of adventure when he overheard plans by his boss, Molluck the Glukkon™, to turn Abe and his fellow Mudokons into Tasty Treats as part of a last-ditch effort to rescue Molluck's failing meat-packing empire.

Price -84% 0.49€
Rating 8.3
Release 28 Aug 2008
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six makes its next-generation hardware debut in the most dramatic installment of the renowned first-person shooter franchise to date. Rainbow operatives take to the chaotic streets of Las Vegas as an escalating terrorist siege in 'Sin City' threatens to take world terrorism to new, uncontrollable heights.

Price -75% 2.49€
Rating 7.6
Release 09 Apr 2008
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Enter the world of cinematic stealth action with Splinter Cell, the game that propelled the genre to cult status. You are Sam Fisher, an elite covert agent in the NSA's top-secret division: Third Echelon.

Price -75% 2.49€
Rating 8.5
Release 01 Apr 2008
Manhunt You awake to the sound of your own panicked breath. In Manhunt, you must run, hide and fight to survive. If you can stay alive long enough, you may find out who did this to you. This is a brutal blood sport.

Price -55% 4.54€
Rating 6.9
Release 04 Jan 2008
Wolfenstein 3D World War II rages. The Nazis are planning to build an unstoppable, mutant army. On a mission to steal the secret plans, you were captured and imprisoned. Now, a lucky break gives you the chance to escape, but a maze of passages and trigger-happy Nazis stand in your way.

Price -88% 0.64€
Rating 9.0
Release 03 Aug 2007
Quake III Arena The greatest warriors of all time and space have been summoned to battle for the amusement of an ancient alien race. Wield a variety of guns and power-ups as you fight for glory against ruthless combatants in this fast-paced single-player and multiplayer FPS.

Price -63% 5.61€
Rating 9.2
Release 03 Aug 2007
X-COM: Terror From the Deep The war continues... X-COM: UFO Defense brought you to a galactic battlefield. X-COM: Terror from the Deep brings the alien terror into a totally new dimension.Seeking to take advantage of a weakened Earth, X-COM's deep space foes unexpectedly change strategy and launch a powerful second front against planet Earth.

Price -90% 0.50€
Rating 8.6
Release 04 May 2007
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl tells a story about survival in the Zone – a very dangerous place, where you fear not only the radiation, anomalies and deadly creatures, but other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who have their own goals and wishes.

Price -48% 10.46€
Rating 9.3
Release 20 Mar 2007
Hitman: Codename 47 As the enigmatic Hitman, you must use stealth and tactical problem solving to enter, execute and exit your assignment with minimum attention and maximum effectiveness. For a price, you have access to the most devious devices, but how you use them will determine if you retire as a millionaire or get permanently retired.

Price -90% 0.87€
Rating 7.0
Release 15 Mar 2007
Hitman: Blood Money Money Talks. Silence Pays. Prepare to Make a Killing. When assassins from Agent 47's contract agency, The ICA, are eliminated in a series of hits, it seems a larger, more powerful agency has entered the fray. Sensing he may be a target, 47 travels to America, and prepares to make a killing.

Price -90% 1.07€
Rating 9.2
Release 15 Mar 2007
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Enter the realm of a retired assassin, forced back into action by treason. You may be a hired killer but you still have a sense of loyalty and justice. Visit the dark recesses of a world corrupted by crime, greed, degradation and dishonor. And a past that catches up with you.

Price -96% 0.41€
Rating 8.0
Release 15 Mar 2007
Commandos 2: Men of Courage Commandos 2: Men of Courage is a tactical action/strategy game set against the backdrop of World War II. Take control of an elite group of commandos who must venture deep into enemy territory and utilize their combined expertise to complete a series of mission-based objectives.

Price -84% 0.84€
Rating 8.3
Release 15 Mar 2007
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty You have been selected for active service in the Commandos Corps, and must now mobilize in a series of 8 new dangerous missions.

Price -87% 0.66€
Rating 8.4
Release 15 Mar 2007
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines is a real-time tactics game set in World War II that puts you in command of a small squad of elite troopers. Send them behind enemy lines on a series of hazardous missions, and bring them back alive.

Price -89% 0.55€
Rating 8.7
Release 15 Mar 2007
FlatOut Ram through pile-ups and smash through your windshield as you push racing to the edge! FlatOut™ delivers more heart-stopping thrills than any sane driver can handle!

Price -91% 0.66€
Rating 8.9
Release 02 Feb 2007
Call of Duty® (2003) Call of Duty® delivers the gritty realism and cinematic intensity of World War II's epic battlefield moments like never before.

Price -50% 9.99€
Rating 9.2
Release 13 Oct 2006
DEFCON Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.

Price -91% 1.08€
Rating 8.4
Release 29 Sep 2006
The Ship: Murder Party The Ship is a murder mystery multiplayer.

Price -83% 1.74€
Rating 8.3
Release 11 Jul 2006
Dangerous Waters S.C.S. - Dangerous Waters allows you total control over multiple air, surface, and submarine platforms in a modern-day naval environment. Take direct control of individual crew stations and also plan and execute combined arms naval strategies from a top-down 'Commanders Eye' perspective.

Price -97% 0.45€
Rating 7.4
Release 07 Feb 2006

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