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There are a small but growing number of indie games on Steam that will cost curious gamers a pretty penny to check out. Many are priced at well over $100, with one or two even getting close to the $1,000 mark. There aren’t too many people rushing out to buy these games, although some may well be keen to find out whether they come close to justifying their high price tags.
Updated September 20, 2022, by Tom Bowen: With several big video game publishers increasing the price of their games from $60 to $70 in recent years, gamers everywhere may soon have to get used to the idea of splashing out a little extra in order to get their hands on the latest games. Some developers have taken this idea a step further, however, jacking up their prices well above the $100 mark. Thankfully, for the moment, at least, this kind of insane pricing seems to be reserved for specialist projects and overly optimistic or opportunistic indie devs, though it may only be a matter of time before titles from the likes of EA and 2K find themselves among the most expensive games on Steam.
16 VR-CPR ($119.99)
The visuals on display in VR-CPR are actually pretty impressive, though whether there are many would-be first-aiders willing to take medical advice from a game developed and published by a company called Studio Evil remains to be seen. Even if people are able to look past this unfortunate name, the $120 price tag will likely prove to be a bit of a stumbling block.
As of the time of writing, VR-CPR has only one Steam review, in which the author questions whether the game is using the latest AHA CPR guidelines. According to them, several of the instructions in the title haven’t been included in said guidelines since pre-2010, which likely contributed to their decision to request a refund from Steam.
15 1000 Stages: Adventure!!! ($149.99)
With over 1,000 floating platforms and three whole exclamation marks, 1000 Stages: Adventure!!! is a 2D walking simulator that looks more like an Atari 2600 game than one of Steam’s most expensive titles. It will set players back $149.99, although the developer has expressed a willingness to provide free keys for those whose monthly income is below $800.
Interestingly, the game hasn’t always been priced so high, with one reviewer revealing that they paid ten English pounds for it back in mid-2018. Even at that price, they thought it was a waste of money, although the developer did respond to their review almost three years later to wish them a happy new year, which no doubt softened the blow a little. There are actually two positive reviews, although neither of the people who left them played the game for more than 30 minutes.
14 Run Thief ($199.99)
How exactly developer H.G.G. can justify charging just shy of $200 for Run Thief is a mystery that Sherlock Holmes himself would almost certainly be stumped by. It’s an early access title that looks more like a nineties bargain bin game than something that was released in mid-2019.
The game puts players in the shoes of a thief who has uncovered details about a plot against the Emporer. As the title suggests, they’re tasked with running away from a seemingly endless stream of pursuers while avoiding traps and overcoming environmental hazards. Only two people have reviewed it so far, and neither would recommend it.
13 The Island of Dr. Yepstein ($199.99)
Described by its creator as “an uncompromising first-person action shooter,” The Island of Dr. Yepstein is a little reminiscent of a Far Cry game when it comes to visuals. Sadly, it’s the series debut installment that it bears the closest resemblance to, which is to say that the game’s graphics are incredibly dated considering its late-2021 release date.
To the developer’s credit, though, this does at least feel like a genuine attempt at developing an FPS game rather than somebody just slapping a high price tag on their work and hoping that a few people bite just for the memes. Reviews seem to suggest that it used to be priced at $2 rather than $200, though a few people did appear to purchase the game at its current price.
12 Virtual Orator ($199.99)
The idea behind Virtual Orator is an incredibly simple one: provide a VR experience that helps people to overcome their fear of public speaking. If the two reviews are anything to go by, the developer Virtual Human Technologies really nailed the execution, with both stating that they’d recommend the title to others.
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The game features numerous venues and allows users to adjust the size of the audience and their general behavior. What’s more, players can import and practice with their own notes, making it a great tool for rehearsing speeches and presentations as well as overcoming glossophobia. At $200 though, only those with an incredibly severe fear of public speaking are likely to bite.
11 Reincarnation of Ocean ($199.99)
Released in August of 2021, Reincarnation of Ocean is a side-scrolling RPG adventure game by Chinese Developer CatCat gaming. Unfortunately, not a single person has reviewed the game so far which makes it difficult to determine whether it might actually be worth its outrageous price tag. The accompanying pictures and video suggest that it probably isn’t though.
The playable character, Prince Elves, who’s somehow able to walk indefinitely along the ocean floor without running out of breath, floats ever so slightly above the ground and passes straight through solid objects. What’s more, all of the enemies appear to be ax-wielding skeletons, suggesting that there’s not much variety on offer even in spite of the game’s high cost.
10 Arcade Drift ($199.99)
By some accounts, Arcade Drift can actually be a lot of fun, and its stylized visuals are pretty much on par with a lot of modern mobile games. The issue here is that most modern mobile games are given away for free, not priced at a ludicrous $199.99. Just to add extra salt to the wound, the game is currently still in early access, meaning that those who do stump up the cash are paying for an unfinished title.
In its current state, the game boasts five maps and three cars, with more of both having at one point been planned. Unfortunately, updates seem to have dried up pretty quickly after the game first came to Steam, suggesting that, like many Early Access games, it may never be finished. That didn’t stop somebody from dropping two hundred big ones in mid-2022 though, with the Steam user in question then going on to joke that they had sold their car to afford the game in the reviews section.
9 Fight ($199.99)
Despite what its name may suggest, fight is actually an FPS game and was developed and self-published by Chinese company rongyou. It’s currently the developer’s only game on Steam and has been available on the platform since June of 2021. Perhaps due to its insane pricing, it doesn’t appear to have sold all that well.
The game currently has no reviews, though several Steam users have jokingly tagged it as an eSports title. To its credit, the game does feature PvP combat and even allows users to join lobbies with their friends. The visuals leave an awful lot to be desired, however, especially for a game that requires a 1050ti to run and recommends a 2080 and 16 gigs of RAM.
8 Safety Education ($199.99)
Japanese developer Colyu has released two games on Steam, both of which are priced at $199.99. The first is a VR disaster simulator called Safety Education which aims to teach players how to escape danger in the event of an earthquake or flood. It’s pretty basic and can only be played in Japanese, although the complete lack of user reviews suggests that even Japanese players are put off by its high price.
The developer’s second title, COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention, has no user reviews either and also lacks English language support. It does, however, feature a flying blue cat that serves as an interactive guide of sorts. Like Safety Education, the visuals are incredibly basic and while the information provided may be useful, it can probably all be found elsewhere online completely free of charge.
7 Lgnorant girl doll ($199.99)
Lgnorant girl doll is a turn-based RPG that follows the story of two magical “girl dolls” called Nana and Anna as they complete a number of missions across an open world. One is calm, the other is emotional and together they combine their powers to take on a variety of enemies. For those who may be wondering, the character designs are indeed exactly what one might expect from a game about “girl dolls.”
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Remarkably, the game has three user reviews, although only one of them is in English. The user who left it played for less than half an hour and warns that the translation is “pretty rough.” A Chinese user left a review saying that it felt more like an experiment than a serious attempt at a game and complained about frequent errors and the plot being almost impossible to advance.
6 W.H.A.L.E. ($199.99)
W.H.A.L.E., which stands for Water and Hydrogeological Analysis Laboratories Enterprise, is an educational VR experience that aims to teach players about sustainable water development. It was created as part of a collaboration between an Italian university and the European Union and currently has a price tag of $199.99.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, there are currently no user reviews on Steam, although there are plenty of screenshots to give players an idea of exactly what it is they’re missing out on. Spoiler alert; it doesn’t appear to be much. Perhaps there are a few people out there interested in analyzing water and mixing together different liquids in a VR world, but even then, it’s a tough sell at nearly $200.
5 VRemedies Procedure Experience ($199.99)
VRemedies Procedure Experience is a series of four VR simulators geared around different medical procedures. Each one is priced at $199.99 and focuses on a specific procedure, including CT and MRI scans, surgery, and radiotherapy. The developer describes them as being photo-realistic, but if the screenshots are anything to go by, this is a bit of an embellishment on StaplesVR’s part.
Only the MRI simulator has been reviewed, with one user complaining about the inability to skip through to the actual MRI scan itself. They didn’t recommend it and have less than half an hour of playtime on record. To their credit, the developer did respond to say that the ability to skip ahead would come in a future update, although that was almost two years ago now and there’s still no sign of a new version.
4 Derelict ($199.99)
People should not buy Derelict. At least not according to the game’s developer, JEPR, anyway. It says so several times right on the game’s Steam Store page, with a news post explaining that the development of the early access title was put on hold indefinitely in early 2020 due to the developer running into legal troubles and losing their job.
Rather than take the game down, however, JEPR simply increased its price to discourage people from buying it, although, remarkably, more than one person has shelled out the $199.99 required to purchase it. The developer did recently post to say that they’d resumed work on the game, however, so it’s likely that the price will drop back down to a sensible amount in the not-too-distant future.
3 Earthquake escape ($199.99)
In certain parts of the world, earthquakes are an incredibly common occurrence, with children needing to learn where and how to hide in order to stay safe during a tremor from a very early age. Earthquake escape takes its inspiration from this idea, with players taking on the role of a child who finds himself home alone during an earthquake.
Once the earthquake begins, players are given a set amount of time (for reasons known only to the developer, 11 seconds rather than 10 or 15) in which to find a safe spot to shelter. Giant exclamation marks highlight points of interest, with players simply needing to “operate the protagonist children” to the right spot before the timer runs out. Those who do will live, with everybody else faced with the dreaded “game lose” screen.
2 Super Fight ($199.99)
Super Fight is a side-scrolling beat-’em-up similar to the classic Streets of Rage and Double Dragon games of yesteryear. There are a few key differences, however, the most notable being that there’s only one stage and just a single enemy type. There are two unique playable characters though, as well as a number of different single-use weapons that will make Breath of the Wild fans feel right at home.
For whatever reason, at least 18 people have splashed out the $199.99 needed to add Super Fight to their Steam libraries, with many going on to leave negative reviews after actually trying it out. Thanks to a plethora of joke reviews though, almost two-thirds of the game’s reviews are positive, but that’s not quite enough to move it from the “Mixed” to “Mostly Positive” category.
1 Ascent Free-Roaming VR Experience ($999.00)
Given its exorbitant price tag, it should come as little surprise that only four people have reviewed Ascent Free-Roaming VR Experience. Three of the reviews simply read “Not bad.”, while the fourth is in Russian and loosely translates to “Liked.” Reviews elsewhere suggest that the game isn’t all it’s cracked up to be though, with The VR Shop giving it a rating of just 5 out of 100.
To be fair, the game doesn’t actually look too bad and even supports five-player multiplayer through a LAN connection, although it’s unlikely to see much action outside of VR arcades due to its high cost. Unfortunately, those hoping to exhibit the game commercially will need to purchase a separate license, but as the developer’s web page and social media accounts are no longer active, that no longer seems to be possible.
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