Augmented Steam: Do you use any third party tools to help you use Steam?

[Zed Clampet]

Unlike some other stores I can think of, you don't actually need anything for a comfortable experience with Steam, but that doesn't mean there aren't tools that make it even better.

Almost Essential:​

Augmented Steam adds SteamPeak, IsThereAnyDeal, and has other QoL changes...​

This is a browser extension created and maintained by IsThereAnyDeal and is available for most browsers. I can't tell you how nice it is to have SteamPeak on every game page. SteamPeak actually lists similar games to the game you are looking. Steam, on the other hand, often lists ridiculous games under "more like this". I suspect this is because they are trying to market certain games as opposed to actually giving you a perfect list.

Of course, parts of IsThereAnyDeal is added to store pages and there are some other features as well.

If you use any tools to help you navigate Steam, I'd be interested to hear about them.

 

[BeardyHat]

Been using AS for years at this point, because I can see exactly what my prices are and ought to be. That said, there's one issue I haven't been able to figure out, which is anytime I open a Steam store page, it automatically opens and highlights the search box, which I find annoying. I've poked through the AS options for awhile now, but I haven't been able to find the toggle to turn that off. But I'm also kind of lazy and haven't bothered searching that hard.

Edit: decided to troubleshoot this. It's actually LastPass doing this behavior.

 

[Zloth]

Huh - SteamPeak going bare bones seems kinda pointless. Maybe better than the guesses Steam gives (which are sometime hilarious), but they still don't seem worth reading. I think the basic problem is that different people get different things out of games.

Take BattleTech. If you want, you can get really deep into weapon loadouts in that game - or even get some mods that will let you swap out engines. Or you can simply take what you're given and still do fairly well. I loved tinkering so, if I ask for games similar to BattleTech, I'm saying I want to see a turn-based squad tactics game where I can get deep into each unit's build. Another person might be a lot more concerned about having big, stompy robots. Still another may be more interested in the mercenary aspects of the game.

The SteamSpy website lets you pick out tags to search on. That should help mightily on that front. But then, you could just do the same thing on Steam's Search. Does the tool make that more convenient?