Rimworld for sure. I paid full price for it on Ludeon’s website and played it a lot. When it released on Steam I started playing it there and now it’s my most played Steam game by far. Based on some quick and dirty math, it’s cost me under $0.03 per hour of enjoyment.
Another big one is Against the Storm. I’ve only played a few hundred hours so far but that’s been worth every penny I spent too. I bought it during the last Winter Sale on Steam and I’ve put in about 200 hours.
It reminds me of grinding levels in classic WoW, but without the benefit of getting new skills and feeling more powerful with the levels.
The problem is the level scaling. It literally doesn’t matter if you gain levels because everything else does too. You don’t feel any accomplishment because you haven’t gained any power over the monsters.
You can’t get your butt kicked by a boss and go elsewhere to gain a few more levels to try again because the boss gets more powerful too.
The game is fully playable and has hardly any bugs. They have a set schedule for updates: every two weeks. I’m amazed at the changes they’ve done since I picked it up during the winter sale (9ish months ago). The devs are dedicated, that’s for sure.
It’s one of my favourite games. The devs are really good at making the choices you make interesting and meaningful.