both games are currently available for less than a buck on Steam, which probably is the cheapest you will ever get them legally.

Shining Force is a turn based strategy game that I loved to play back in the days.

You basically start both games with a few characters that you control in the world. The game switches to a grid based battle mode during events where you take control of your characters. Units can move and perform one action per turn. Movement depends on the characters move statistics, actions on its vicinity to friend and foe, mana points and available actions. Available actions are to attack, cast a spell, use an item or search the area.

Units grow stronger both by fighting with enemies, defeating enemies and performing actions. Experience points are awarded for those actions which let the characters gain levels. Characters can be promoted later in the game.

If you like turn based strategy games like Final Fantasy Tactics, the Fallout game series (with the exception of Fallout III), Jagged Alliance or Panzer General and to a lesser extend Heroes of Might and Magic, then this game is for you.

You can check out the Sega sale (up until September 27) here on Steam.

The second bargain that I’d like to mention in this article is the Dnd (that is Dungeons and Dragons) sale on Good Old Games. The site is celebrating the approach of download number six million, and has some interesting promotions in store. This includes a D&D classic promotion where you can buy great games for up to 60% off.

The collection includes Bioware classics like Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2 Complete, Icewind Dale 1 and 2 Complete, Planescape Torment and Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition. You can get download versions of all this games plus Temple of elemental evil, Dungeons and Dragons Dragonshard and Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone for less than $35. You also get 20% off of individual games which all cost less than $10 to begin with.

What I really like about Good old Games is that you can be sure that the game plays fine on your modern Windows machine. All it takes is to make the purchase and download the game. It comes with a single installer that will install the game on your computer.

Another interesting feature is that you get bonus contents like manuals, wallpapers or soundtracks in addition to the game which you can download from the site as well.

Oh, and did I mention the occasional free game that gets thrown in? When I joined I got four of them including Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky. When the download count hits 6 million, you get the excellent Broken Sword: Shadow of The Templars Director’s Cut for free if you claim it in the 48 hour period that follows. You can check out the D&D Sale here.

The games may not look like much anymore, but they make that up with gameplay and fun that you have playing them.

While it is certainly possible to download them from an Abandonware site, it is not always clear if the right holders have made the game available for free. It is a grey area legally and I prefer to buy old games instead.

One of the sites that I discovered some time ago that caters to the old games niche is Good Old Games, or GOG. All games on the old games websites are DRM-free and working on newer versions of Windows.

Even better, prices usually range between $5.99 to $9.99 which I personally find very acceptable for classic PC games. When you look at the games catalogue, you will find many classic PC games listed. From the Alone in the Dark and Baldur’s Gate series over classic Sierra adventures like Gabriel Knight or Phantasmagoria to all time favorites like Dungeon Keeper, Panzer General 3D Assault and Unreal Tournament GOTY.

The majority of games retails for $5.99 or $9.99 with only a few exceptions that break the $10 mark which means that you can get between 5 to 10 different games for the price of one PC game that has just been released.

Here is a list of games that I can recommend on Good Old Games:

• Baldur’s Gate: The Original Saga (RPG)
• Baldur’s Gate 2 Complete (RPG)
• Broken Sword: Director’s Cut + The Original Game (Adventure)
• Broken Sword 2: Remastered + The Original Game (Adventure)
• Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon (Adventure)
• Dungeon Keeper (Strategy)
• Fallout (RPG)
• Fallout 2 (RPG)
• Fallout Tactics (Strategy)
• Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (Adventure)
• Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within (Adventure)
• Heroes of Might and Magic® 3: Complete Edition (Strategy)
• Heroes of Might and Magic® 4 Complete (Strategy)
• Icewind Dale Complete (RPG)
• Icewind Dale 2 Complete (RPG)
• Master of Magic (Strategy)
• Master of Orion 1+2 (Strategy)
• Panzer General 2 (Strategy)
• Panzer General 3D Assault (Strategy)
• Phantasmagoria (Adventure)
• Phantasmagoria 2 (Adventure)
• Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri™ (Strategy)
• Unreal Tournament GOTY (Action)

All 24 games and extensions would cost $171.78 Dollars. This may look like a lot of money, but it turns out that it boils down to $7.1 per game if you buy all the games listed above.

You find lots of good old games in the list, classic games that every PC gamer should have played. Yes, graphics are definitely not top notch anymore but if you can ignore that, you end up with lots of value for your money.

The game pages on the Good Old Games website list game compatibilities, with most PC games being compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Users do need to know that some old games limit the screen resolution. It can happen that the maximum resolution of a game is 640×480. Some games can be played in window mode to make them more playable.

The community part of the website has forums for each game much like the Steam community forum. Here you find tips, tricks and help if you run into problems.

In short: Good Old Games offers affordable PC gaming classics that are compatible with recent operating systems. The only downside for non-English speaking users is that games are only offered in English on the website.

The site has been set-up by European distributor CD Projekt, to make it possible for people to purchase games from the 80s and 90s, which includes many classics. Games will cost between $5.99 and $9.99. At this price, you will get games that play on both old and new computers, without any hardware issues. Another big plus: all games are totally DRM-free.

Considering newer games are terribly expensive, paying 5 bucks for a game is a great catch. You can purchase a game for almost the same price as a cup of coffee. Since it’s DRM-free, there’s no limit on how many computers you can install it on. GOG has already signed up with publishers like Codemasters and Interplay and I’m pretty sure more publishers and distributors are going to follow suit.

The site hasn’t yet started offering any games for purchase. If you are interested, a closed public beta will begin on 1st August, which you can sign up for. Otherwise, you can wait till the site is launched in September and then check it out.

I’m interested in how many of you would be willing to buy games from GOG.com. Also, what are your thoughts on sites offering DRM-free games? Would you prefer classic games over the over-priced games currently available? Let me know in the comments.