You all know the deal.  Since the Steam sale doesn't really change day-to-day I'm breaking things down into 3 categories.  VR, First Hand Experience, High Interest (no first hand experience but it's caught my eye) and Bought (I may not have played them yet, but you can see where I'm puting the ever more limited Thranx Buck.)

With that, I'll catagorize as buy/meh/pass based on both price AND how good the game is.  It's all about value... will the experience be worth the $$.  My main rule of thumb is that a decent game should have a return of $2 per hour.  If that game was completely and totally awesome... it may deserve a higher rate... if it was meh, then... lower.


Virtual Thranxality
BUY - $DoesntMatter - Beat Saber : If you own a VR headset and DON'T own this yet... you're a fool.  "But Thranx, I don't like rythum games."  Neither do I.  Buy it.  "But Thranx, I almost never fire up my headset."  Are you crazy?  Buy it.  "But Thranx, I don't have $20."  Sell your cat.  Buy it.  This is the exact same thing I said in the summer... it still holds true.
BUY - $17.99 - Arizona Sunshine : The best FPS in VR.  Hands down.  Anither MUST have if you own a VR headset.  Single player story is great.  Horde mode is great.  Co-op is great.  Just a blast all around.
BUY - $5.99 - Space Rift - Looks like it could be good and at $6, it's worth the risk.  Great theme and setting... hoping the gameplay is as well.  There's aspects of the videos I've seen that make it look a little jank, but... it's $6.


First Hand Experience
PASS - $18.74 - Deep Rock Galactic : Looks like it'd be a blast... but it's not.  Game play is pretty flat.  Advancement is boring.  Story is... low.  Suprisingly high rating on steam, but I'm just not feeling ig.
BUY - $3.74 - Infested Planet : I pimped this for the summer sale, and I'll offer it up again... even cheaper now!  Fun little tactical game.  Basic, yet complex.  Varied level design and mission types.  Each of them fun in their own way, not one felt like a boring "I have to slog through this mission type".  Well designed, good progression.  Really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it enough that I took the time to 100% this.
BUY - $4.99 - Borderlands 2 : Bit of a throw back, but if you don't own this... pick it up.  Best $5 you'll have spent in 2018.  I don't exaggerate.
PASS - $7.49 - Age of Wonders 3 : It didn't grab me.  It looks like it should be great, but, story fell flat and gameplay wasn't that engaging.  Gave it a solid 6 hours... if you can't grab me by 6 hours, sorry.
BUY - $7.99 - Dirt Rally : Best Rally racing game, hands down.  And just a really fun driving game in general.  Also awesome in VR.  Don't upgrade to the bundle... the other Dirt games are just OK.  Not on this level.

High Interest
BUY - $9.99 - Scythe : Not exageratting, I own every possible upgrade and expansion for this physically and I have not played it yet.  That is a SIZABLE chunk of cash... and now this is here for $10.  It's a complex game, so I may just buy this to have it teach me to play.  This game is VERY well recieved physically.
MEH - $10.04 - Into the Breach : I don't know why it's so hard for me to pull the trigger on this.  It's like Advance Wars (love) made by the guys who did FTL.  How could this suck?  I'll probably grab it finally.
MEH - $20.09 - Frostpunk - Just priced a little to high to risk, IMO.  Really intersted in it but... I can't pull the trigger yet.  It's a very narrow management game, and while the theme is neat, I thing it'll have the added effect of being a depressing game, which is a minus in my book regardless of how well made or interesting a setting is.
PASS - $10.49 - Kingdom Rush Origins : Static placement tower defense that's just... not great.  I've player the previous installments and nothing about this new one would interest me for over $10.  Maybe not even at $5.
BUY - $14.99 - Hero Defense : Here's an oddball.  It's been off the store for a while but I kept it in my wishlist just in case.  It looks like an interesting tower defense with progression game, so I'll likely bite and buy it.  Odd that it was off the store when I discovered it initially.  Only problem is the price being juuuust beyond my comfortable risk threshold.  If it was $10... yea, sure.  $5... no brainer.

Bought
BUY - $3.74 - Ironcast : Cool match 3 game I've had my eye on for a while.  Looks pretty fun, actually watched a few dev streams a while back.  At this price, it's easy to grab and have at least 2 hours of fun with.

G700s if you can find one.  Best all-arounder in my opinion.  Wireless, but can be wired with communication happening over that wire, not simply charging but still operating wirelessly.  Good ergonomics, not crazy.  Additional buttons that are usable but not in the way when you don't care.  Easy to operate additional buttons.  Scroll toggle.

Where's Thranx's by-yearly porn list?

Thranx is no scientist.

I've had my eye on it for quite a while.  May have bought it... Can't remember.  It will take time to get into from everything I've seen.  A bit grindy as well.  It's like Minecraft meets space engineers with less instruction and direction.... Which is saying something since neither have either.

ok, finally have a PC again and I've got my eye on BattleTech and Divinity sin 2 on sale for a similar price. If you had to pick one, which one and why?

Background, I've beaten Xcom and Xcom 2 (not the original, and not all of 2's DLC). I've played a bunch of Divinity but never actual beat it.

For funzzies anyone recommend Frost Punk? I live in MI so it resonates with me lol.

It depends on what you thought of DS1.  If you loved DS1, get two, I hear it's a fantastic extension of the original.  My heart will always say Battletech, but only if you have the time to really enjoy it.  It's half the pace of the newer XComs,but real enjoyable.  I need to give it more time myself.

You all know the deal.  Since the Steam sale doesn't really change day-to-day I'm breaking things down into 3 categories.  VR, First Hand Experience, High Interest (no first hand experience but it's caught my eye) and Bought (I may not have played them yet, but you can see where I'm puting the ever more limited Thranx Buck.)

With that, I'll catagorize as buy/meh/pass based on both price AND how good the game is.  It's all about value... will the experience be worth the $$.  My main rule of thumb is that a decent game should have a return of $2 per hour.  If that game was completely and totally awesome... it may deserve a higher rate... if it was meh, then... lower.


Virtual Thranxality
BUY - $11.99 - Out of Ammo : This was a Vive launch title, but I feel like it often flys under the radar.  It's a static tower defense game where you assign solder types to each tower/enplacement that you build and then you can individually take first person control of the dudes in their towers.  Lots of fun and fully co-op.  Price break isn't pheonominal, but it's a very fun game.
BUY - $DoesntMatter - Beat Saber : If you own a VR headset and DON'T own this yet... you're a fool.  "But Thranx, I don't like rythum games."  Neither do I.  Buy it.  "But Thranx, I almost never fire up my headset."  Are you crazy?  Buy it.  "But Thranx, I don't have $20."  Sell your cat.  Buy it.
BUY - $19.99 - COMPOUND : Short on content, high on fun.  Aside from Arizona Sunshine, this is the best FPS in VR.
PASS - $14.99 - The Nest : Meh game in EA with near zero development pace.  It made some waves when it first appeared, but this one's a pass.  Seems great in concept, but you'll just be board and have tired arms.


First Hand Experience
BUY - $4.94 - Infested Planet : Fun little tactical game.  Basic, yet complex.  Varied level design and mission types.  Each of them fun in their own way, not one felt like a boring "I have to slog through this mission type".  Well designed, good progression.  Really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it enough that I took the time to 100% this.
BUY - $6.74 - Just Cause 3 with DLC : This is such a fun game.  Just a fun, explody times open world shooter.  It's a blast.  SUPER worth this price.  I never played the DLC, so, I'm picking it up in the sale.  Just hours of fun.
BUY - $19.79 - ARK : I'm never going to not recommend this game.  SO much game here for $20.  Play with the PvP nutters, or play solo... it's amazing.  Really fun.  I'll be running a server with some friends a month or two before the final expansion drops in october.  Such a great game.  Price is tied for its historic low.
BUY - $14.99 - SUPERHOT : This one may break the $2/hr ratio, but worth it.  The ONLY knock on this game is its length.  A ton of fun.  Also great in VR (seperate buy).
BUY - $4.79 - Absolute Drift : Fun top down driving/drifting game.  Score and challenge based, it's alot of fun.  I wouldn't recommend it without a controller, as analog control of the throttle is a requirement.  Tons of fun tho, and a good challenge.
MEH - $15.99 - My Time At Portia : Eeeehhhhh... seemed like a little more actiony Stardew Valley, but it just doesn't come together somehow.  Slow to get into, doesn't keep you with it.  I need to give it more time, but it just doesn't grab you.  Discount is not emense and without the game really grabbing me... it's almost a hard pass.  There's something there... I just haven't felt it yet.
PASS - $8.49 - Cefore : Creative blowing up puzzle game with a great style... you'd think it'd be a win, but there's no where near enough content yet, and the challenges are far too easy.  It's also not a good sign that puzzles really only have a single solution.  The best open puzzle games like this are the ones where there's a hundred ways to solve each problem... this one is really shoe horned.  It's still in EA tho, so... they still have time to deliver.
PASS - $14.99 - Puyo Puyo Tetris  : The Puyo part of this isn't very good.  The tetris part of it isn't anything special... just a hard pass here.  I WAY over paid for this on the Switch and ... it's just tetris.  I'd probably still say pass at $5.  :-/

High Interest
BUY - $15.29 - Tyranny : I'd  have this already if I'd taken the time to finish Pillars or Grim Dawn.  Or Wasteland 2.  My backlog on cRPG is high.  I also really want to play through the remasters of Baulder's Gate and Icewind Dale ... and I want to do a full Fallout playthrough before 76 drops... yea, I'd be buying this if it weren't for a major genre backlog.
BUY - $9.99 - Hyperlight Drifter : Man this game has a great look.  It's been on my wishlist for quitea while.  This may get bought.  Looks real good, very good reviews from solid sources.  94% overall on steam.  Wow.
MEH - $23.99 - Hunt Showdown : Looks like a blast but it's been hard for me to pull the trigger on this.  Checkout Airic's stream for the deets... he plays this a TON https://www.twitch.tv/therabblewrangler it's his prime game.
PASS - $24.99 - ELEX : I want to love you... but man you're janky lookin'.  I'm no alone in this... 12 people on my friends list have it in their wishlist... not a single owner.


Bought
$6.39 - Infested Planet - Planetary Campaign : Note the above mention in the FHE section.  Main game was great, was happy to throw a few bucks at the DLC.
$4.49 - Just Cause 3 DLC WOOOOOO.  Love this game, more content = more win.
$13.99 - [frl=https://store.steampowered.com/app/591370/Production_Line__Car_factory_simulation/]Production Line[/url] - I love these kinds of process/tycoon games.  *fingers crossed* for a winner.

Gobnil's been organizing a recurring 4X game event and our first night is on the calendar for Wednesday, 4/11 at 5P/8E.  We'll be playing Stellaris... so strap on your space crown and prepare lead your empire to victory.  That, or prepare to be handed a brutal defeat as you simply learn the game (like me!).

Keep an eye out for more of these in the future if you're in to empire-scale straegy games.  Civ6, Endless Space, Galactic Civilizations and maybe even Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery) are all on the table for future 4X nights!