Steam Summer Sale starts tomorrow, here are some tips to save big

Another year, another Steam Summer Sale. I used to look forward to these for the first few years, but giving so much money to Valve over the years has not only desensitized me a bit, but also made me realize that most of the games on sale that interest me now, I already purchased.

With that said, regardless of my personal opinions, the Steam Summer Sale is always extremely popular. It's also one of the best ways to get my non-hardcore PC friends to build up their library a bit. But there are some key rules to recognize during the sale, at least if you want the most bang for your buck. Last year I brought you the handy guide to the Steam Summer Sale, and maximizing your savings, which more or less lets buyers, like you, know that not ever deal is a good deal.

Steam has this clever system where even though a game is listed as being a certain percentage off, that doesn't mean it's at its lowest. That can fool some potential purchasers into buying a game, even though it's listed at 25% off, when the real sale could have it 50% or 75% off. I'm once again going to reference this flowchart which is easily the best way to know whether you should pull the trigger on a game or wait.

Now, before I begin my explanation, I do have to preface that each year, Valve does tend to change stuff up by adding some new categories to sales, as well as some metagame that people will freak out over, exploit and break. However, we can safely assume that most of the standard sections will be there, ie. Daily Deals, Community Choice, Flash Sale, etc.

So let's begin.

1. First and foremost, if the large wall of games on the main page has a game you're interested in and don't own, that's one of the best times to grab it. The Daily Deals last for 24 hours (though technically 48 hours but I'll get back to that) and list the games at the lowest price possible.

If you're really not sure about getting a game the first day, don't worry, you'll have another whole day to grab them. They'll usually appear below the daily deals.

2. Your next stop should be Flash Sales. These shorter sales essentially bring down the price to the same amount you'd see it as a Daily Deal. A lot of the times, games that are under the Daily Deals one day can be found as a Flash Sale the other, and vice versa. With Flash Sales, you'll want to login at least three times a day since they last eight hours. That means once before 10am PT/1pm ET, then anytime after that but before 6pm PT/9pm ET, and then after that time before you go to sleep. That way you'll ensure that you'll get a chance to snag a game you might want for the lowest price possible.

Flash Sales are now 12 hours long instead of 8, however there are now 15 games to choose from. That means you'll only have to check twice a day for new deals.

3. After that comes Community Choice. This is a select amount of games that get voted on by you, the community, hence the name. The winner then gets the deepest discount. Did the game you just voted for win? Awesome! Get it!

Looks like this year's Community Choice has been replaced by a Monster Summer Game. I won't get into the specifics of the game itself, however, participating in the game will unlock Milestones that are associated with additional game deals. Those deals will then unlock the next day. For example, right now Crysis 2 is on sale, and will unlock at 10am Pacific time.

4. Last but not least is the final day of the Steam Summer Sale. On that day, the front page gets littered with the best sellers. At that point, any game that you might have wanted and perhaps missed out on buying during the sale is at its lowest price, which means you should definitely snag it up.

Exceptions!!!

There might be a game that's listed as on sale in section like Top Selling. Even though you might be enticed to buy it right then and there, make sure it's a part of any of the above mentioned sections (Daily Deals, Flash Sales, Community Choice).

Franchises!!!

Let's say you've really been eyeing Far Cry 3 because you missed out on it and now you're kicking yourself in the butt, and now the only game you've seen on sale is Far Cry 4. Don't fret! The sales carry over to the franchises. That means if Far Cry 4 is 75% off, Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon will also be discounted.