Make sure you have these great games before the Steam Winter Sale ends

The season of giving is almost over, so give a little something to yourself.

Steam’s Winter Sale is currently offering tons of great discounts on PC games from now until January 4. Just like we did with last month’s Steam Exploration Sale (we even repeated a couple picks here), GamesBeat’s Jeff Grubb and Mike Minotti each selected some of best, discounted games that should you add to your digital library.

Jeff’s picks

Besiege

Original price: $8
Sale price: $5.59 (30 percent off)

Above: About to be sooo besieged.

Image Credit: Indie DB.

Sometimes all I want is to destroy stuff, and Besiege is one of the best “blow crap up” simulators on PC. It is a game where you build a weapon of war and send it into small towns or crowds of people to cause as much mayhem as possible. Few things are as satisfying as coming up with a clever way to set people on fire, building that contraption to your specifications, and then watching the terror of your ideas manifested in a game. Go play this.

Ryse: Son of Rome

Original price: $20
Sale price: $6.79 (66 percent off)

Above: Main character Marius Titus can handle himself well in a crowd, and enemies won’t often take turns to attack you.

Image Credit: Crytek

Ryse was an Xbox One launch game from developer Crytek. It is a gorgeous, mindless beat-’em-up that I enjoyed despite its shallow gameplay. But you’re easily going to get $7-worth of fun from this dumb, technically impressive action game.

Rocket League

Original price: $20
Sale price: $14 (30 percent off)

Above: Rocket League was the summer’s surprise gaming hit.

Image Credit: Psyonix

Rocket League is one of the reasons I believe 2015 is one of the best years ever for games. After getting this game for free as part of my PlayStation Plus subscription, I bought it on PC so I could play it on my laptop on the go. It’s a brilliant take on soccer or hockey played with cars, and while that might sound frivolous, it’s so well made, so finely tuned, and so exhilarating that it could beat out Fallout 4, The Witcher III, or Metal Gear Solid V as my game of the year.

Mike’s picks

Mortal Kombat X

Original price: $60
Sale price: $24 (60 percent off)

Above: It’s electric.

Image Credit: NetherRealm Studios

While 2009’s reboot of the classic, bloody fighting game series offered nostalgic thrills, Mortal Kombat X stands out for adding a bunch of great, new characters to the franchise. Also, you’d think that you’d be desensitized to digital violence by now, but this game can still shock you with just how gory and crazy it can get. I’m also a big fan of the way developer NetherRealm Studios adds story-driven campaigns to its fighters, which give them a lot of value even if you don’t have friends to play with. Besides all that, a 60 percent price cut for a triple-A game that came out this year is pretty nuts.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

Original price: $30
Sale price: $7.50 (75 percent off)

Above: Eric Cartman rallies his troops (such as they are) in South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Image Credit: Ubisoft

The Stick of Truth isn’t just a hilarious game that looks exactly like an episode of the cartoon it’s based on, but it’s also actually a fantastic turn-based role-playing game that takes inspiration from classics like Paper Mario and Final Fantasy. It’s authenticity makes it one of the greatest licensed games of all time, and it’s pretty hard to ignore when it costs less than $10.

Grandia II Anniversary Edition

Original price: $20
Sale price: $10 (50 percent off)

Above: Awww, JRPG characters used to look so cute.

Image Credit: Moby Games

Grandia II was one of the first great role-playing games to come out for the Dreamcast, and this PC version celebrates the 15th anniversary of the classic with a faithful port. Grandia II has a lot of tropes you’d expect from a Japanese role-playing game but it stands out thanks to a fun battle system and some great music, including the most rocking battle theme of all time. It also features great voice acting, something of a rarity for the genre back then, thanks to a great cast that includes voice acting vets like Cam Clarke and, believe it or not, Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel from The Little Mermaid).