The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 2

After a good start yesterday , day two of Steam's dozen-day Summer Sale isn't necessarily obliterating our minds with savings, but there's still some great values available today or through shorter-term flash sales.

, day two of Steam's dozen-day Summer Sale isn't necessarily obliterating our minds with savings, but there's still some great values available today or through shorter-term flash sales. Within, find our picks for the best current deals on Steam. Don't forget that GOG is having a summer saleof its own, too.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal.

5 - Ikaruga

50% off: $4.99 / £3.49 Steam store page | Note: May be reduced further in a Flash sale

50% may not be a huge discount, but one of the best SHMUPS of all time is worth every penny. Unlike most bullet hell shooters, Ikaruga's polarity-switching gameplay gives you the power to absorb some bullets while dodging others. At first, switching from white to black and back to stay alive just seems cool. Once you discover how the polarity system plays into scoring, you realize how deep and intimidating and brilliant it really is. Ikaruga's developer Treasure has been mostly dormant for the past few years, and this is their first-ever port to the PC. Back in January, the developer said it was mulling a new game for Steam. The more successful Ikaruga is on PC, the more likely that is to happen.

4 - Amnesia Collection

80% off: $6.99 / £4.79 - Steam store page

The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs, conveniently bundled into one cheap night terror. We loved bothof them. Unlike horror games which arm you with evil-defeating ghost bullets, Amnesia is about being hunted: running, hiding, being disgustingly terrified by a sound effect. What Amnesia gets more than other survival horror games is that the things you can imagine are far more horrifying than anything it can show you on the screen. Even so, it'll show you some damn nasty stuff.

2 - The Walking Dead: Season 2

50% off: $12.49 / £9.49 - Steam store page

Putting players into Clementine's tiny shoes in season two of The Walking Dead was a gamble. In the first season, Lee was a grown-up, with the strength to fight walkers and the authority to make big decisions. How would that translate to playing a young girl? While episode one was a step down in quality, episode two was one of the best episodes Telltale has ever created. It proved that players can still make tough decisions as Clementine, and the season has mostly made her a believable protagonist. She can seem a little too grown up now and then, but the season is both gripping and heartbreaking so far. $2.50 per episode is a fantastic price.

2 - Prison Architect

66% off: $10.19 / £6.79 - Steam store page

Introversion's security sim is an interesting confluence of capitalism, architecture, management, and morality. The theme puts multiple, often contradicting goals before you: prisoner safety, spatial efficiency, prisoner well-being, making a profit, and making sure your prison is totally secure. Building a space that supports these goals is a fascinating exercise.

1 - Mount & Blade Collection

80% off: $6.99 / £4.99 - Steam store page | Flash sale: Buy it before 8 p.m. EST

It won't make your GPU sweat, but Taleworlds' medieval sandbox action-RPG is one of our favorite open-ended experiences on PC. M&B's “go anywhere, pillage anything” approach to the genre is unlike anything else: a dynamic world populated by dozens of lords and dukes serving multiple factions, each roaming the same massive medieval landscape as you. Steal from farmers. Get married. Siege a castle. The combat is clumsy at times, but we love loosing arrows packs of bandits. Warband is what you should play, but this collection is a ticket to the ridiculous Star Wars Conquest mod for the original Mount & Blade.

Other great deals today

Remember that games not categorized as Daily Deals or Flash Sales may be reduced further.