Six games from our childhood—ones we haven’t thought about in 25 years—are on sale during the Steam Summer Sale

It’s going to be nostalgic! During the Steam Summer Sale, we’re digging up some really obscure games that most of us remember from our childhood.

I can still hear the creaking of the ancient floorboards in my hometown’s library, back in the ’90s. The village library, run by volunteers in an old barn, was flanked by two huge green barn doors. Inside: Piles of books for young and old crammed into the narrowest of aisles, steps, and shelves. Space utilization that even Tetris could hardly do better. Even as a little kid, I had to suck in my stomach to navigate the hallways—and navigate I had to, because my destination had nothing to do with books. I wanted video games! Somewhere way in the back.

Back then, I unearthed real CD-ROM treasures. The early games based on *Löwenzahn*, *Willy Werkel*, *Ronja the Robber’s Daughter*, and, of course, *The Adventures on Lego Island*. And I thought I, the clever fox that I was, was the only one with them.

But here at GlobalESportNews, everyone did the same thing! My colleague Mary raves about “Lego Island” at least once a month, it feels like, and even some of the younger faces at GlobalESportNews, like my colleague Franzi, have experienced little gems like “Fritzi Fisch” or “Spy Fox.”

That’s why we’re covering the 2026 Steam Summer Sale from a different angle today. We’ve dug up some completely obscure but discounted games from our—and your—childhood and youth that many of us haven’t thought about in over 25 years. With that in mind: Have a “nice” day. Speaking of which…

N.I.C.E. 2

• Genre: Shooter-racing game
• Release: 2000
• Price & Discount: 1.60 euros (80 percent off)

Back then, I spent so many hours playingN.I.C.E. 2back then, because the concept was—and still is—one of a kind: car racing… but with rocket launchers mounted on the car. And the package definitely had a lot to offer: over 40 cars, over 20 tracks, all kinds of projectiles that can cause damage to the gearbox, engine, brakes, transmission, and so on. Sure, N.I.C.E. 2 remains a superficial arcade-style chaos, but for under 2 euros, the trip down memory lane is definitely worth it.

Freddi or Fritzi Fisch

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 1994
• Price & Discount: 4 euros (40 percent off)

To quote my colleague Dani: “I devoured the Freddi Fish games (try saying that three times fast!) as a kid. In these point-and-click adventures, Freddi and her best friend Luther go on all kinds of adventures—and they’re so funny that I still love to reminisce about countless moments from the games to this day. Perfect for kids ages 4 to 99.”

What many people don’t know: The Freddi Fish games were actually created by Ron Gilbert, the creator of Monkey Island. And I’d even go so far as to say that the Freddi Fish games are still suitable today for both young and young-at-heart audiences.

The Peoples

• Genre: Building strategy
• Release: 1999
• Price & Offer: 1.35 euros (75 percent)

Okay, a quick detour to GOG, because I just have to include this gem of a building strategy game:& nbsp;Die Völker! To quote my colleague Miffy: “My brother and I used to game a lot together, and one of the games that actually ran on our family computer was The Peoples. It was a building game like The Settlers. The really obscure thing about it was the premise: We play as one of three alien races that, thanks to some drunk storks, ended up landing not on different planets but on the same one: the blue Pimmons, the Amazons, and the insect-like Sajikis—and of course, it all ends in an arms race.”

*Die Völker* was a little dig at *Starcraft* and *The Settlers*, but it stood on its own as a cool little building game. The sequel, *Die Völker 2*, did too, by the way. And do you want to read something really, really obscure? When I think of *The Peoples*, I always think of *The Lord of the Mushrooms* , a free promotional game that publisher Jowood used to include on every demo CD back in the day. It’s set in the Völker universe, but it’s a Moorhuhn clone where you buy ammo with points and so on. The game is so obscure that you can’t even find a single gameplay video for it on YouTube.

Little Fighter 2 Remastered

• Genre: Beat ’em up
• Release: 1995 (Original), 2025 (Remaster)
• Price & Discount: 11 euros (30 percent off)

Little Fighter 2 I used to play this game nonstop back then. So much so that my parents’ house is still littered with stacks of drawings where I immortalized all the characters. My favorites were Louis—that armored Saint Seiya knockoff—who could shed his armor and transform into the spear-wielding warrior LouisEX. Or Firen and Freeze, who run into each other and merge into the super fighter Firzen.

Little Fighter 2 remains one-of-a-kind to this day. A mix of arena brawler and beat ’em up, where all kinds of colorful characters go at each other with fists, weapons, and plenty of punch. For me, as a Street Fighter kid, it felt so carefree to just grab a baseball bat when a fist wasn’t enough.

Little Fighter 2 was originally developed by a studio in Hong Kong, included on the Bravo Screenfun CD, and only brought back to Steam as a remaster last year. The remaster has received quite a bit of criticism because it doesn’t seem to offer any controller support, so be sure to check the details again. Still, the mere fact that I can still play Little Fighter after all these years is worth mentioning.

Spy Fox in: Dry Cereal

• Genre: Adventure
• Release: 1997
• Price & Discount: 4 euros (40 percent off)

I have no idea aboutSpy Fox,
so I’ll let my colleague Franzi take it from here: “I hadn’t thought about Spy Fox in ages until Steam suggested the series to me again. Shame on me! Because Part 1, in particular, has such iconic characters—like Professor Quack, who invents the coolest and also the weirdest spy gadgets (laser toothbrush, X-ray gum, night-vision shoes). I’m going to drown in nostalgia now and play Quartett with a pig. Hello?! The stakes are Krim’s stuff! Oh, and if you’ve just finished 007 First Light: Spy Fox is a direct parody of James Bond. So if you’re looking for some fun entertainment, Agent Fox is your guy!«

Released by Spy Fox—let me just take a quick peek at my notes—three adventure games and two arcade games. If you want to snag all five games at once, they’re currently only 12 euros on Steam.

Gex Trilogy

• Genre: Platformer
• Release: 1996 (Original), 2025 (Remaster)
• Price & Discount: 12 euros (60 percent off)

You only have to look at Gex for a second to realize right away: Yes, the Gecko is from the ’90s. A Mario clone with sunglasses, designed to look cool—just like so many others back then. And even though Gex never really made it big, it still holds a special place in our hearts to this day. Especially for my colleague Dani:

“I added the Gex games to my cart right away, because as a kid I’d only ever played a single level of the Gex platformer. The cemetery level was included on some demo CD-ROM that came with a Kellogg’s cereal box back then—and I played it over and over again! I’m convinced that even today, I could find all the secrets in that level right away!”