It's that time of year again, friends. What have you picked up/what do you recommend for the Steam Summer Sale?

For me, I recommend DAVE THE DIVER. A single-player RPG about a guy who scuba dives by day, then brings his catch to work at a sushi restaurant by night. It has beautiful, colorful pixel graphics, and tons of minigames popping up in unexpected places. I haven't finished it, but so far, it's even faintly based. It openly mocks Dave for being fat, as well as making the save-the-whales Greenpeace standin a bunch of evil, drooling morons that Dave regularly dunks on and has to fight. It's on sale for $18, it's rated Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's a big thumbs up from me.

I also picked up Card Survival: Tropical Island. It's a game about, well, surviving on a tropical island using cards. Click on locations to explore them, and find cards like Palm Tree, Stone, or Heavy Rock. Drag the Stone onto the Heavy Rock to get a Sharpened Stone. Drag that onto the Coconuts from the Palm Tree to get Cocount Milk, Coconut Meat, and Coconut Shells. You now have a little something to eat and drink, but be careful: too many Coconut products will give you diarrhea, which could be deadly on this remote island.

Don't be fooled by the dated graphics. Card Survival is clearly incredibly deep and made with a lot of love and care. It's on sale for $17, and it's rated Overwhelmingly Positive. Full disclosure: despite liking card games and the theme, I didn't care for the actual gameplay and ended up refunding it. Still, I really do think that's a "me" problem, and feel very good about shouting it out.

Not new (to me), but I always recommend Rimworld without hesitation. An incredibly good colony management game with a ridiculous mod scene. In past years, the dev has refused to put it on sale, but it's currently going for a minor discount of $28, it's Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's worth every penny.

In a similar vein, Against the Storm is a very good title that combines a city builder with a roguelite. You are sent out to build a new village, each of which will have different resources and options available. You must take those options and combine them into a thriving new city. Once you've scored enough points (by making your people happy, producing manufactured goods, sending resources back to the capital, and so on), you've won that round. Your city will appear on the map as you are sent out to start a new city. But beware! After every five cycles or so, the Storm will wipe the map clean, leaving only the capital city safe. Against the Storm is rated Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's currently on sale for $20.

Another good older one is Noita. You play a wizard in a roguelike where every pixel is made out of a simulated material. Fight monsters and find loot, new wands, and spells as you descend into the earth, but be careful! That puddle of Oil will light on fire if a spark lands on it. Noita is Overwhelmingly Positive, and currently on sale for just $10.

Still another game I picked up earlier is War of Rights. It's a first person shooter that literally tries to be a Civil War infantry simulator. Designed around relatively large multiplayer battles, you will be handed a musket and expected to stay in line with the rest of your unit, obeying your officers orders (you won't accomplish much running off with your single shot anyway.) It has incredibly realistic graphics for an indie title, using CRYENGINE, and at least one server has had a battle going every time I logged on. My only minor complaint is that you don't necessarily want to play it constantly; being a Civil War infantryman is more of a mood than a lifestyle these days. It's rated Very Positive, and it's currently 50% off at $15.

Those are some of the titles I recommend this year. What about you?