10 Best Games To Spend Your Steam Gift Card On

Steam remains the undisputed king of PC gaming platforms, boasting over 40 million concurrent users and a library exceeding 80,000 games. As Valve's digital distribution service, Steam has revolutionized how we discover, purchase, and play games, offering everything from indie gems to AAA blockbusters under one unified ecosystem.

Steam gift cards are the perfect solution for gamers who want flexibility in their digital purchases. Available in denominations ranging from $5 to $100, these cards can be purchased at many retail locations worldwide or digitally through Steam's website. Once redeemed, the funds sit in your Steam Wallet, ready to be used across the platform's huge marketplace. Beyond game purchases, Steam Wallet funds can be used for downloadable content, in-game items, and even community market transactions.

Steam's seasonal sales — like the Summer, Autumn, and Halloween events — often slash prices by up to 75%, making your balance go much further. This guide recommends games that offer standout value during and beyond those sales, selected for their long-term appeal, active communities, consistent updates, and overall quality. More information on our selection process is detailed in the methodology section at the end.

Built on the Dungeons & Dragons 5E ruleset, one of the biggest game releases of 2023 continues to dominate the Steam charts two years after its release. At $59.99, "Baldur's Gate 3" delivers 100-200 hours of player-driven storytelling and tactical combat. It lets you create unique characters and navigate a world that dynamically reacts to your choices. Dialogue choices, quests, and companion relationships can diverge in dramatic ways, making every playthrough feel like your personal ballad.

What sets "Baldur's Gate 3" apart is the depth of its gameplay systems. Every step of the story is a chance to showcase your creativity — whether by charming a guard, or turning into a gas cloud to slip past a locked door. Combat transforms familiar real-time concepts into tactical puzzles. Instead of button-mashing through fights, players are encouraged to use the environment to their advantage or combine spells for more devastating effect.

The developer Larian's last content patch was released on April 15, 2025, introducing cross-platform play and improved mod support. The modding community continues to keep this Game of the Year winner alive with over 3,000 mods (and counting), including new classes like the Mystic and Artificer, expanded romance options, visual overhauls, and quality-of-life improvements.

Priced at $39.99, "Helldivers 2" cemented its status as one of 2024's best games on Steam, delivering an immersive co-op experience where tight teamplay and all-out mayhem go hand in hand. Each mission is a live operation in the war to liberate planets in the name of Super Earth, pitting your squad against waves of aliens or killer robots. Plans often fall apart in seconds, forcing you to exercise your ingenuity and improvisation skills.

The fun comes from its unpredictability. Misplaced airstrikes, miscommunications, and the sheer environmental chaos create unscripted moments that are as funny as they are intense. Despite all the friendly fire and accidents, "Helldivers 2" never feels sloppy. The controls are tight, your loadout strategy matters, and the right team compositions will result in mission success.

Progression is satisfying without becoming a grind, as the live service model ensures each mission contributes to the larger galactic war effort. These community-wide objectives create a sense of shared purpose among the player base, with individual squad success contributing to overall strategic goals. The progression system unlocks new equipment through Requisition and Super Credits, earned during missions with no pay-to-win mechanics.

At $59.99 for the base game plus $39.99 for the "Shadow of the Erdtree" expansion, "Elden Ring" presents a vast, mysterious world designed to be unravelled rather than explained. Simply load in, pick a direction, and start walking. Every path, dungeon, and distant ruin invites exploration, and the game rewards curiosity with secrets, loot, and some of the most memorable boss fights in all of gaming.

The combat system adapts to different playstyles, allowing players to succeed with brute strength, clever builds, or precise timing. While "Elden Ring" does not provide adjustable difficulty settings, newcomers can ease the difficulty with summons and magic. On the other hand, veterans can pursue challenge runs or conquer the punishing encounters added in the "Shadow of the Erdtree" expansion.

What keeps "Elden Ring" alive years after release is its active modding scene. The modding community has created over 5,000 mods through tools like Mod Engine 2. Popular modifications include "Convergence" — which adds 27 new classes and completely rebalances the game, and "Reforged" — which introduces weapon crafting and enhanced AI behavior.

With a modest $14.99 price tag, "Balatro" transforms a familiar card game into something wildly original. On the surface, you're building poker hands to meet score targets, but under the hood, it's a fast-paced roguelike with layers of strategy, synergy, and risk-reward decisions. Each run becomes a balancing act between building a strong deck and adapting to unpredictable modifiers.

"Balatro" stands out for how readable and responsive it is. You always know exactly why your hand succeeded or failed, allowing for rapid learning and experimentation. Between 150 different jokers that offer powerful bonuses, planet cards that evolve your poker hand, and tarot cards that enhance regular playing cards, each session becomes its own little puzzle.

"Balatro" offers exceptional value with short sessions lasting two hours, or deep dives lasting up to 10 hours. So, don't be surprised if you find yourself hypnotized by the game, or the synthwave soundtrack and the retro-style pixel art. The game has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, and maintains an overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam more than a year after its release.

"Red Dead Redemption 2" (RDR2) faced initial backlash from some fans over the decision to replace beloved protagonist from the first game John Marston with a new character. Since then, RDR2's protagonist Arthur Morgan has become widely regarded as one of the greatest video game characters of all time. Currently priced at $59.99, with frequent sales dropping it to $19.99, this cinematic western contains over 100 hours of content following Arthur Morgan's journey with the Van der Linde gang, and exploring the RDR2 world. 

What gives this game its staying power is the depth of its immersion. Side quests carry real narrative weight, with random encounters evolving into compelling stories. The massive open world features dynamic weather and day-night cycles that influence clothing choices and gameplay mechanics. Horse bonding creates meaningful relationships where proper care improves performance. Combat includes a robust cover system, dead-eye targeting that slows time for precision shots, and weapon degradation requiring regular maintenance. The world truly feels alive — animals and NPCs aren't mere backdrops but integral elements that significantly shape the player experience.

"Red Dead Online" mode adds cooperative story missions, competitive multiplayer modes like races and deathmatches, and role-playing activities including bounty hunting, trading, and collecting.

Ever wanted to play "Factorio" from a 3D first-person perspective? "Satisfactory" blends exploration, engineering, and optimization into a uniquely addictive loop. From the first time you automate iron production, to the moment your factory stretches across the entire continent, every achievement feels earned and rewarding. Featuring over 100 building types ranging from basic miners to particle accelerators, the $39.99 price tag is certainly worth the investment.

The game takes place on a massive 30 km square hand-built world with multiple biomes, including deserts, forests, lakes, grasslands, and mountains. It features a day/night cycle, several different vehicle types, and a rich collection of flora and fauna, many of which are hostile to the player. The progression system begins with manual resource gathering and hand-crafting, but quickly evolves into conveyor belt networks, truck routes, and hypertubes for transporting players and materials over long distances.

"Satisfactory" supports co-op sessions with synchronized factory construction and pooled resources. Progression is shared among all players within the same session, allowing you to level up with friends. If you enjoy solving logistical puzzles, building chaotic machines, or just want to zone out to the drone of efficient automation, "Satisfactory" delivers long-term value for your Steam gift card.

Priced at $41.99 for the base game, "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" offers 30-50 hours of story content across a Belle Époque-inspired world threatened by an entity called the Paintress. The combat system combines traditional turn-based mechanics with real-time elements including precise parrying windows, dodge timing, and free-aim shooting that requires skill beyond menu selection.

The story follows Expedition 33, a group attempting to destroy the Paintress who paints a number each year, erasing everyone who has reached that age. The current number is 33, creating urgent stakes for the Expeditioners. The world design draws heavily on early 20th century French art and architecture, featuring hand-painted environments, from industrial cities to mystical forests. Character progression includes multiple different party members with unique skill trees, and over 100 abilities combining magic, technology, and martial arts.

"Clair Obscur" sold 3.3 million copies within a month after launch, indicating strong word-of-mouth appeal for the current standout of 2025's video game releases. French developer Sandfall Interactive has confirmed post-launch content including additional party members, story expansions, and quality-of-life improvements based on community feedback.

"Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition" is a complete transformation of the game's early promise. With all major updates, bug fixes, rebalanced systems, and expansions, this game is now one of the most refined and detailed open-world RPGs available on Steam. Costing a hefty $80.00, the Ultimate Edition includes the base game plus the "Phantom Liberty" expansion, allowing you to put your Steam gift card to good use.

"Cyberpunk 2077" is set in Night City, which consists of six districts with distinct architectural styles, gang territories, and socioeconomic themes. It includes comprehensive character customization, tons of vehicles and weapons, and three distinct life paths with branching storylines. "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty" adds a 20-hour spy thriller expansion, featuring new characters, including Keanu Reeves reprising his role as Johnny Silverhand, Solomon Reed played by Idris Elba, and President Myers voiced by Kay Bess.

True to its nature as a futuristic cyber world, this sci-fi RPG natively supports modding, allowing players to reshape Night City to their liking. Since its launch, the community has been hard at work making thousands of mods that completely transform the game — from stunning visual overhauls to lifelike NPC behaviors. Two notable mods to check out are "CyberMP" for multiplayer and "Luke Ross Real VR" for virtual reality.

"Final Fantasy VII Rebirth" continues the remake trilogy, reshaping the iconic story with expanded zones, richer character arcs, and new narrative paths. The game is priced at $69.99 and provides 50-90 hours of content expanding Cloud's journey beyond Midgar. This remake shifts the pacing from corridor-based progression to an open world sprawling across six major regions: Grasslands, Junon, Corel, Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, and Nibel.

The combat system offers nine playable characters, each with unique abilities, materia combinations, and weapon skills. The synergy attack system and instant party switching mechanic enables responsive, layered, and dramatic combat scenarios, particularly during boss fights. Exploration rewards include materia upgrades, weapon modifications, and iconic summons like Bahamut. Players can also participate in mini-games, such as motorcycle racing, piano performance, boxing, and arcade-style space combat.

Rebirth doesn't coast on nostalgia. It introduces new events, perspectives and mysteries, encouraging both new players and returning fans to immerse themselves in its detailed world. PC enhancements include NVIDIA DLSS support for improved performance at 4K resolution, enhanced textures and lighting, and a 120fps refresh rate, firmly establishing the game as a creative expansion of the original.

At $69.99, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" delivers a complete package featuring an eight-hour single-player campaign set during the final days of the Cold War, plus a robust multiplayer with 16 launch maps, and the classic round-based zombies mode. The revolutionary omnimovement system allows 360-degree sprinting, sliding, and diving, completely revamping how players traverse maps and engage in combat.

The single-player campaign cuts across diverse locations including Bulgaria, Iraq, and Washington D.C., encouraging players to approach missions through stealth, direct assault, or environmental manipulation. Multiplayer consists of classic 6v6 modes and 2v2 Strike maps with extensive weapon customization. The returning zombies mode offers endless replayability through Easter eggs, wonder weapons, and progression systems that can extend survival across potentially infinite rounds.

While "Black Ops 6" has received mixed reviews from players and critics, it remains one of the most popular multiplayer shooters on the market, which means you'll never struggle to find active lobbies. With high player counts and the arcade-style gameplay that has defined the genre for nearly two decades, this game is a great Steam gift card purchase for any gamer that wants to turn their brain off and enjoy a fast-paced multiplayer shooter.

To create this list, we reviewed dozens of Steam bestsellers, The Game Awards winners, rising indie hits, and recent community favorites. Our goal was to highlight games that:

• Offer high value per dollar through content hours, replayability, or mod support.
• Are currently relevant in 2025, with active communities, updates, or mod scenes.
• Support a wide range of playstyles, such as solo, co-op, narrative, open world.
• Have an average user rating of Very Positive or higher on Steam.
• Are readily available with no region locks or limited release issues.

Current Steam statistics show all these games maintaining active player bases, indicating healthy long-term communities and ongoing developer support. With regular Steam sales occurring quarterly, your gift card budget might accommodate multiple purchases from this list, particularly during major sale events like the Summer and Winter sales that offer discounts up to 75% off regular prices.