The annual Steam Summer Sale is underway. As usual, thousands of games are discounted, the Point Shop inventory has been updated, and new profile bundles featuring animated backgrounds, mini-profiles, avatars, and color schemes have been added.

Also new this year: a "Choose Your Own Adventure" built into the Steam sale. Each time you complete it, you get an animated sticker, and if you collect them all, you get a new badge, shiny up your user profile, earn Steam XP, and if you really try hard, you might even be able to challenge the "World's Most Expensive Steam Profile" (probably not possible)! (3]

Steam (3]

Steam sales, especially big ones like the Summer Spectacular, are always a tumultuous start to the year, with crowds of people pouring in at the gate for the deals. But now that the hoopla has passed and we've had a chance to peruse the deals, we've compiled a list of some of the summer sale's best deals, including new games and, for the serious bargain hunters, games under $5. (Personal recommendation: personal recommendation: The Final Station is down to only $4. If you like weird retro side-scrolling games, this is first-rate.)

The 2021 Steam Summer Sale is going on now and runs through July 8.