Steam Sale: Valve Discounts Box-Pushing Games 12 Comments
Image: Valve
Valve is still holding smaller discounts with a clear genre or Steam-themed reference outside of the four major annual Steam sales. It means always, always, always. Until Monday evening next week (April 28th at 7 p.m.), a discount campaign for the boxing games genre, or Sokoban, is now running.
Boxes
In Valve’s event calendar, the new discount campaign until the end was listed as a “Sokoban Festival”; with the start of the event, it now operates as a box-pushing festival or, vainly translated into German, as a puzzle box festival. Perhaps (also) many gamers wouldn’t be able to do anything with the prominent term. However, if it doesn’t sound much better with the new name, an explanation follows. Box pushing refers to a puzzle genre in which boxes or objects must be pushed through limited spaces to get them into specific positions. Its origins lie in the 1982 Japanese game Sokoban, which combined simple rules with a high level of thought—moves cannot be undone, and paths can be easily laid out. Since then, the genre has been a prime example of minimalist yet challenging logic puzzles and has been experiencing a creative renaissance for years, in which the basic premise is often enriched with a story, physics mechanics, or borrowed gameplay elements from foreign genres.
As usual, Valve presents some of the participating games with a short trailer. In addition to the discounted titles, the Steam operator also focuses on free demos and games that appear quickly. In addition, there are three projects in the Steam Punkteshop again. Until the end of the Sokoban festival, an animated avatar, a profile frame, and a sticker can be purchased for free.
As usual, it’s worth keeping in mind that sale prices don’t necessarily have to be the lowest prices. The SteamDB database provides an overview of currently discounted games, previous low prices, and various filter options. If you’d like to recommend games participating in the event and currently at a discount, you’re welcome to leave your comments. Ratings or experiences with participating titles are also welcome.
As is well known, Steam campaigns are a kind of Jackpot sale, in a way. In fact, the Box-Push Games event is Valve’s first April discount campaign, but it won’t be the last. The Festival of War Games will follow on April 28.
Overview of future Steam events: Festival of War Games: April 28 to May 5, 2025 Collector’s Creation Festival: May 12 to 19, 2025 Zombies and Vampires Festival: May 26 to June 2, 2025 Next Summer Fest: June 26 to June 10, 2025
A lifelong video game enthusiast, Julien reviews the latest releases and explores the technologies transforming the gaming world.
