Some of my all-time favorite games are in the $10-$20 dollar price range because most of the unique and content-packed indie games fall within that price category.

It also seems to be the sweet spot on how much I would prefer to spend on a game. Sure you have your $60 triple-A games that are developed by massive developer teams, but honestly, it’s those indie games that are under $20 that really stick with you.

We did a lot of research to find these games and as always, we try to focus on some titles that you may not have heard of or know about. There will undoubtedly be games that we miss, so be sure to share your favorite Steam games under $20 in the comments below.

With that being said, here is our list of the Best Steam Games under $20.

Scrap Mechanic

Scrap Mechanic is a game that I covered a few years ago I had a lot to say about the survival mode in the game, and most of it was not so good.

Well, since making that article, I revisited the game, and the survival mode has improved a lot and has come a long way. Although the game is still in early access and is needing some more content, this game is really unlike any other.

Scrap mechanic is a multiplayer or single-player game where you have both creative and survival modes where you build cars, machines, and tools to help you expand. The creative mode I haven’t played all that much, but the survival mode is extremely fun.

Building your first car from scratch and working on building your base or creating farms is extremely satisfying and if you can get a friend or two to play with, this game is one you can dump hours and hours into.

They are still updating it to this day and I see a very bright future for the game. Also, if you need some help getting started, we do have some guides on the website that may be able to help you out when getting started.

If you are into unique survival game experiences, I highly recommend getting Scrap Mechanic or at least keeping an eye on it when more content is added.

Paint the Town Red

Paint the Town Red is a voxel-based fighting game with over-the-top violence and a lot of replayability. The game has so much content and new things to do that you can get a ton of hours out of it.

The main game has a bunch of different scenarios. These are areas such as a biker bar or pirate hideout that you can walk around and explore as you please. But, as soon as you hurt anybody, the entire place erupts into a massive brawl, and your job is to eliminate everyone.

Each map has fun music and a bunch of little secrets to discover. Those scenarios are fun on their own, but then you can add modifiers to them to play however you’d like. You can do stuff from zero gravity to even a Superhot modifier. 

Some of the modifier combos are insanely fun, so you can experiment with them. Besides that, there’s also a large sandbox map to walk around and d o whatever you want. There’s also an arena mode that has both endless fights or level-based fights.

Then, the game has a huge map-making community. Some people make entire maps that have stories to them, and it’s awesome to see how creative some people are. These player-made maps give the game a ton of replayability.

Lastly, the game has an entire roguelike built into it. This game mode, called Beneath, lets you choose a class and explore Doom-like levels while defeating enemies. 

Any one of these parts could make the game worth it, but it has so much content packed in that it’ll give you many hours of enjoyment.

Hidden Folks

Hidden Folks is one of those games that doesn’t look like it would be fun, but it absolutely is. It is a game where you need to find a certain number of people or objects in areas that can be small or large.

The game has a ton of areas to look around in and find stuff, and they are all very unique. The game gives you a ton of stuff to look for and they will also give you a hint as to where they might be located in the world.

There might be a banana and the game tells you that a couple of monkeys are looking at it. It is your job to look around the world for a bunch of monkeys so you can find the banana. There are soo many things to find and it is a lot of fun if you enjoy searching for games.

It is like a where’s Waldo book if you have ever read one of those when you were a kid. The entire game is hand-drawn and the noises wherever you click were voice acted by people.

That means the car noises are people. The animal noises are people. It is definitely worth looking into if it interests you because it definitely is worth the money if you want to buy it.

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia was and still is a game that changed horror games and set up a new standard for suspense and atmospheric horror elements.

Phasmophobia sets you, and if you play with friends, your group is basically the team that goes in to investigate homes and areas before the ghosts or spirits get taken care of by a ghost hunter team.

You have to set up your gear and use the information that you have to figure out what ghost or spirit you are dealing with. During this time of investigation, there are things called Hunts, in which the ghost will go into a “kill mode” sort and hunt you all down if you are still within the building.

It really plays off of teamwork because everyone needs to play their part, whether that be setting up the gear, trying to talk with the spirit, monitoring everyone’s insanity readings, or being the literal bait for the ghost.

I still get chills playing this game because it’s the lack of intrusive and obnoxious jump scares that make the game terrifying. You’ll catch a glimpse of the ghost here and there or you’ll all of a sudden see the doors lock and know you need to hide immediately or you’ll die.

This game checks all the boxes and is being updated continually, and of course, is an excellent game to buy for under $20 dollars.

Inscryption

Incryption is an incredibly unique card game with some light horror elements, that blends card gameplay with escape room games and even pixel RPGs. Now, I’m a person who doesn’t really enjoy card games, but Inscryption is one that really drew me in. 

At first, I was very unsure of the game, and actually almost refunded it. But after I got the hang of the mechanics, I realized that I really loved the whole style. The setting and mysteries involved are blended perfectly with the roguelike gameplay.

The main concept of the card game is sacrificing your cards to place more powerful cards. The goal is to weigh your opponent’s scales down by causing enough damage to them. At the start of each round, you draw basic squirrel cards which you can sacrifice, giving you 1 blood. Any cards that cost 1 blood can then be placed down. The game slowly gets more complicated as you go on. It adds mechanics as well as insane ways to make your cards more powerful.

There’s even a dedicated roguelike mode built-in called Kaycee’s Mod, and that can give you a ton of replayability. 

Overall, Inscryption is one of the most interesting games I’ve played in a while. Even if you have no interest in card games, I promise you this one is worth checking out.

Black Mesa

Black Mesa, if you didn’t know, is a full recreation of the original Half-Life. Not only does it live up to its original, but it even surpasses it in every way. This game was worked on for over 10 years before it was released, and it wasn’t done by Valve.

It was a separate team entirely and Valve liked the recreation soo much they actually let them monetize the game. The game itself is actually incredible by the way. The weapons feel satisfying to shoot, the enemies are a decent challenge, and the world just looks amazing.

Everything about this remake is worth all the money you put into it. It doesn’t matter if you never played the original, it feels like an entirely new game while staying true to the original.

There aren’t any new levels added, it is a full almost exact remake. There is a new system within the game that lets you play modded servers similarly to Gmod, but not many people are playing those.

The game is totally worth the investment and it is hands-down one of the best remakes out there. If the game looks fun, you will probably enjoy playing it.

The Forest

The Forest is a game that the Cubold Crew played together along with some other friends a few years back and it still holds as one of our favorite games and memories of all time.

The Forest offers us a way to play such a unique and story-driven game together and you don’t really get that a lot for a game under $20 dollars.

The game starts with you crashing on a mysterious island and in search of your son. You soon find out that you aren’t alone on the island and there are mutants, cannibals, and seriously deformed creatures all around you.

I don’t want to spoil it but there is so much to this game that it will blow your mind. I still remember the absolute terror that would set in when all we had was a small little hut and it was nighttime and you hear the sounds of the wind and forest around you.

There are cave systems, clues, and mysteries surrounding the island, and just honestly too much to say about the game because it holds such a special title to us.

I could sit here and talk about the forest for hours and hours but honestly, we recommend buying it and getting a few friends to play with because this is a game you won’t forget.

Baba is You

Baba is You is an interestingly named puzzle game where you use text blocks to manipulate the world. The main character you play as is a small rabbit, which the game calls Baba. I’m not going to attempt to explain the mechanics of the game since that would bore people too much, but basically, you can use words to add attributes to in game items. 

Certain blocks will make your character clip through walls, or make every wall in the world controllable. You need to avoid hazards by removing the bad attributes or finding special ways to move items.

The game actually encourages you to exploit and break the mechanics. Some levels are only solvable by doing really obscure solutions, so if you do get this then expect to need a walkthrough a few times. 

Baba is You is an insanely creative game which some really intuitive puzzles. Any fan of puzzles or logic-type game is going to love playing this one. 

Cuphead

Cuphead is a game that has the mentality of being an extremely hard game. Yes, it might be a difficult game, but look at the reviews. It is overwhelmingly positive on steam. You can’t argue with that. We have played the game multiple times and it still gets better every time we play it.

People might discourage you from playing it, but take it from us, it is one of the best difficult games out there. If you look at something like the Dark Souls series, a lot of people have quit saying that it is hard.

It is not a hard game. You just need to learn how to play it and have patience. Cuphead is definitely one of those games that take a lot of practice to get good at. If you don’t know, Cuphead is a boss-rush game.

You basically have to defeat a bunch of enemies for the Devil or else your soul will be his forever. You need to defeat a ton of bosses and it is in the old style of 1950s cartoons. It is extremely unique and is worth every penny.

It definitely is difficult, but if you like challenging yourself, then this game is totally worth purchasing. You can even play with a friend, but only through couch co-op or steam’s remote-play together.