Case in point: Interplanetary (not clear whether the original or the enhanced edition) was reported to work on Linux without the client back in August 2017, but it is no longer the case. Both versions seem to require the client now. :\

Since they are free this month I was able to test them :)

The Grandfather
The Lady

Both games don't need the Steam client at all. Tested on Win7/64.

There's a very small fraction of the Steam community that cares about DRM-Free games. Most will just handwave you and tell you to get better internet.

A couple more Linux games I've tested recently (unless noted otherwise, they're all new to the Wiki and worked out of the box):

· Beat The Game

· Linelight

· One Night Stand

· Paper Dungeons

· STASIS (Linux beta version tested)

· The Padre (needed the 'steam_appid.txt trick') (Early Access Game: v0.5.0.38 tested)

· Overgrowth (already in the Wiki: confirmed for Linux)

· SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell (needed the 'steam_appid.txt') (already in the Wiki: confirmed for Linux)

· Woodle Tree Adventures (already in the Wiki: confirmed for Linux)



And two Windows games that I tested on Wine set as Windows 7:

· Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey (it's the original; the remastered version, which is also available for Linux, does need the client)

· Lakeview Cabin Collection

Am I the only one that just plays everything in Offline mode? I never have to worry about my connection, or even logging on.

Steam's Offline Mode has been historically notoriously finicky, "accidentally" breaking after a while (needing you to go online to set it to offline again). This thread of DRM-Free games is less about just playing in Offline Mode via the client, but more about not needing the Steam client to be installed at all for either playing or reinstalling offline at a later date, ie, games that are completely "portable" and would still work if you zipped them up, wiped your HDD, reinstalled Windows fresh then unzipped them without the Steam Client ever being installed.

I had it in offline mode for 6 months straight when I volunteered overseas. No issues. Also I have a bunch of puzzle games installed on the wife's laptop in offline mode. No issues, though I do sign-in there occasionally to switch games.

Lucky you. The plethora of posts on Steam's forums complaining it over a period stretching +6 years or more shows that "but it works for me" hasn't been a universal experience. Same with other related stuff, eg, downloaded Steam mods stop working for some games in Offline Mode.

In any case, the point of this thread is what games on Steam have no DRM at all and still work if you uninstall the client completely / reinstall Windows + copy the game folder over without the client.

Ditto. Been using offline mode for two years now. NEVER one problem.

But you still will be dependent on the Steam client and maybe one day offline mnode won't work anymore - maybe after an update or reinstall. I still prefer my games to be runnable without any client at all.

I'm surprised that nobody has reported them before, but turns out that both Overlord and Overlord II work out of the box on Linux without the client. Plus, they're native builds, instead of Wine-wrappers as I thought. :D

Also, two other games that worked out of the box:

· Poly Towns (Linux)

· Corporate Lifestyle Simulator (Windows: tested on Wine set as Windows 7)

A Tale of Caos: Overture worked out of the box without the client. Tested on Linux with Wine set as Windows 7.


PS: Acts II & III are delivered as free DLCs, so make sure you acquire those as well in order to get the whole story.

This one is a bit work. Knight Shift is able to run without Steam but it needs two things:

1) The registry keys located under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Reality Pump\KnightShift

2) The serial key that comes with the game

Without 1) the game will just tell you that it's not properly installed but after the intro you will have to enter 2) or you wont be able to start the game at all.

So technically I would not really call this DRM-free but the game runs fine without Steam.

GooCubelets
GooCubelets 2
GooCubelets: The Algorithm


All three games are running fine without Steam. Tested on Win 7/ 64 bit.