As a girl who loves video games, I was excited about using Steam to continue getting to play, but now on my laptop, while curled up on the bed in my dorm, rather than on the couch by the TV in my living room in California. Steam accounts are free to create and allow you to browse, buy, and access games through the internet. Ever since my brother helped me to set up an account, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring and personalizing my Steam account, which is why I boiled down to the main eight reasons why you should get an account to level up your gaming.
1. Getting to play with friends easily.
Because I am going to college across the country from my brother, hanging out with him changed quite a bit. Thankfully, Steam allowed us to still be able to play video games with each other despite the distance. In fact, being able to play with my brother easily was one of the main reasons why I got a Steam account to begin with, and Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball has quickly become a staple game for us to play together. After he and I friended each other, I am able to see whenever he’s online and what he’s playing and send him a quick Steam chat, and he can do the same with me. Also, as more of my friends have started wanting to try out video games, when they got Steam accounts, it was easier to recommend games to them and play with them. The easy interface got them coming back for more.
2. Finding new favorite games.
Sometimes playing the same old games or genres over and over again can get boring. As someone who typically would play puzzle games or simple platformers, I was looking to branch out, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed visual novel and story heavy games (along with some unique puzzle games). The Steam Store is user friendly and takes into account what games you have been playing recently, as well as the tags most frequently associated with the titles you own, to try to give suggestions for what you might like. You can also do searches mixing and matching tags to find the perfect combination, whether it’s a game that’s a multiplayer, puzzle game like Parcel, or a free-to-play, story rich game like Emily is Away.
3. Ports of games.
Steam offers many ports of games that used to be only playable on certain consoles and makes them available to be played on your computer. As a Nintendo fangirl, having the Wii U and 3DS is usually perfect to play all of my favorite Mario, Zelda and Kirby titles, but some of my other favorite franchises are not related to Nintendo and therefore I couldn’t experience them first hand. One example is Dangan Ronpa, which used to be exclusive to the PS Vita, something I didn’t own. The first game in the Dangan Ronpa franchise was recently ported to Steam and the other games will also be ported soon, so all the Dangan Ronpa fans will be able to play the games without having to buy a new console.
4. Community posts.
Getting stuck on a rough part of a game, looking for tips on how to up your game, or simply searching for some cool fan art? Well then, community posts will be perfect for you, as every game on Steam has a community page devoted specifically to it. You can converse with others to fix troubleshooting, get updates from the game creators and developers that will tell you what they’ve fixed, and see what percentage of players from around the world have unlocked certain achievements. There are even screenshots from gameplay that are posted by other players, and if they contain spoilers, they will have a black cover over them so that they cant be seen without hovering your mouse over them, so you can search the community hub and still be spoiler free and browse.
5. Achievements.
Although you are not required to get achievements, I find them to be a positive addition to many games and find it fun to pursue them. Sometimes, they show you how you’ve improved over time by getting good enough to perform special moves or getting a high score or adding an extra challenge. In games that are story and decision based, the achievements can be helpful in keeping track of what endings you’ve seen already and which ones you have yet to play through. Other times, they are used for humor and to direct you towards secrets and easter eggs, like with The Stanley Parable.
6. Accessing games on my laptop and from any other computer.
One of the problems with large consoles like the Wii and Xbox is that they are incredibly problematic to move around with. Therefore when I went to college, I was unable to bring those with me. What I did bring, though, was my laptop. I bought all my Steam games on my laptop, which gives me portability. While I love that, I don’t always have my laptop with me when I want to show my friends something or simply play on my home desktop. With Steam and my email address, I can access all my games on a friend’s desktop or laptop and we can play together with ease while also not compromising on the security of my account.
7. Creating a wish list.
While I usually am not a huge fan of online shopping, I could browse the Steam store for hours, going through tags recommended based on the other games I’ve looked at and what I’ve been playing from my library recently. Not everything I look at is the perfect game for me, and sometimes I have a hard time remembering games with long titles or titles in a different language. Fortunately, there is a button readily accessible in the screen for each game that says “add to wish list” that creates a menu for you to be able to easily browse titles in which you have an interest in. You can also rank them on which one you want to get soonest and which ones you wouldn’t mind waiting a bit for. One of the best features of the wish list is that it emails you when one or more of the games on your wish list is on sale.
8. Great sales.
If you wait long enough, any game you may desire will go on sale, either simply for a promotion or for a holiday. Because of Chinese New Year, one game that was previously $30 became $6, and another game was 50 percent due to a random week-long special deal. On Black Friday, the Steam sales are absolutely incredible, with many titles, both popular and not, going on sales up to 90% off. Even if you don’t want any of the titles in the sale for yourself, you can buy a game on sale and send it to a friend who also has a Steam account as a gift. It is amazing how far a Steam gift card can go when a sale is on. A gift card used wisely during a Steam sale can go a long way and bring hours of gaming bliss.
