Hey, everybody! This thread is meant to provide an updated link to the database of DRM-free Steam games. The old thread was getting pretty outdated, so everyone thought it would be a good idea to update it a little bit. The list of games can be found here:

http://steam.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games

WHY KEEP THIS LIST?
While it's obvious that we all love GOG's DRM-free digital distribution stance, it's also pretty clear that some developers/publishers won't ever stray away from using Steam as their sole method of digital distribution on the PC. What seems to be lesser known, however, is that these developers/publishers have the option of tying their games to the Steam client itself, and a lot of them choose to not do this. This list is a compilation of all of the known Steam games that don't actually require the client to be installed anymore after the initial download of said games. By keeping a log of the titles, players will be able to know which Steam games can be played in the future, regardless of the Steam client's availability. Essentially, we want to keep track of the Steam games over which the paying customer has complete, unrestricted control.

ABOUT THESE GAMES
Every game listed here can be run without the Steam client even being installed anymore after the game is downloaded. In these cases, Steam is used as the method of distribution and nothing else; the games are essentially portable programs once they're on your hard drive. These particular games have no restrictions whatsoever, and can be copied/pasted to any number of machines and external hard drives or flash drives and played without any network connections present at all. You can bring them to friends' houses, public libraries, college campuses, etc., and never worry about being online or logged into any accounts.

HOW TO TEST GAMES FOR STEAM CLIENT DRM
Checking Steam games for DRM is a simple process: Just rename your main Steam program file and try to run a game. If the game runs, then it's DRM-free, and it does not require Steam at all. If it doesn't run, then it's dependent upon Steam or some other third-party DRM. An even better way of testing would be to copy the game folder to a totally different machine, but I understand that this may be difficult for a lot of people. In my experience, renaming the main Steam program file should suffice. Keep in mind, however, that renaming the main Steam program file will ONLY work to check for Steam DRM, and third-party restrictions may be missed; moving the game to an entirely different system really is the best way to check, if possible. If you discover a DRM-free Steam game that isn't on this list, please leave a comment with the game title and the operating system on which it was tested. We'll all love you forever!

ONE FINAL NOTE
Please, PLEASE don't use this thread to discuss whether or not you like Steam, whether or not Steam is DRM, etc., as the debates/arguments have already been done to death. This list is for people who don't mind installing Steam onto their PCs, and who don't mind buying games through Valve's service. I understand that some people don't like Steam, and that's totally fine; this topic is here for the people who don't mind using it, and it's meant to be informative and helpful to GOG users and anyone else who finds this page through search engines or direct links in the future.

Thank you very much for your work and effort into this. I feel this is worded better than the previous one.

Nice one!

Good Job. :)

Yep,good one.

Thanks for making a new thread.

Fairy Bloom Freesia should still be removed from the list. Just double checked it. If you run it it wants you to log in to Steam. If you delete steam_api.dll it will only say that you need the file to run it.

have you tried blocking it via firewall?! - ive several games similar that all run fine if you block communication with steam

ill add - some of these are actually GOG downloads as well! O____o

Doing great work, pedrovay2003. Thank you for your time, patience, and effort!

Okay, Real Boxing and the Mortal Kombat Kollection have been added, and Fairy Bloom Freesia has been removed. We're up to date!

Okay, those have been removed. Thanks for the catch! I keep forgetting about the different sections at the bottom of the wikia page.

Good thread. People might actually believe me about fallout now that it is on the list.

Quake 1, Quake 2, Quake 3, and HeXen II won't normally launch without the Steam client, but can do so thanks to source ports:

Quake 1: Dark Places
Quake 2: KMQuake 2
Quake 3: ioquake3
HeXen II: Hammer of Thyrion

I just added the entire Five Nights at Freddy's series to the list. I don't know why I hadn't done that earlier, honestly.


Those Quake and HeXen pages are for mods made by players, right? Do you think we should start a section in the wiki for games that work without Steam after being modded? I'm wondering if stuff like that should be separated (I've been thinking about that ever since I first saw Fallout 3 on the list.)

There is already such a section in the wiki; Patchable Games. Doom 3 BFG Edition is included there, which can be made independent of the Steam client, thanks to a source port (similarly to my examples). Of course, if you disagree with Doom 3 BFG Edition's entry in the section, then you'll disagree with my examples as well (at least for this section).

On another note, Eradicator and NAM, being DOSBox games, can run without the Steam client. Interestingly enough, a bin/cue image of the games' discs can be found in a subfolder of the games' installation directory. I suspect this might also be the case for other Night Dive games.