When you uninstall Steam, the game will no longer function
Once Steam is uninstalled, everything that is associated (games and software) with Steam will uninstall too

There is an offline mode, but if the game has an update you will be required to go online to do so
Also I hear you need to log into Steam every 2 weeks if you use offline mode, though I haven't tried that out to confirm if its true, I rarely used offline mode on Steam

Yeah they fixed that, finally.

Okay, so my "educated guess" (in reply to TDP) regarding why a company would offer a FREE game that's DRM would then be a valid one (that the objective is to lure you onto Steam or similar sites in the hope that you'll buy more of their games--but the catch is that you can't leave them if you want to continue to play the game).

Because from what you're saying: Yes, you can play the game offline, BUT once Steam is uninstalled, the game is also uninstalled or at least broken. Correct?

Yup, you got it

I don't know for any specific game, but there are games that do, in fact, not require Steam even when acquired via the service (the application is required to download and install - that's the same step - all games on there, but some games can then simply be copied out of the Steam folder, and even to another machine, and played without trouble).

That's actually not necessarily true, there are DRM-free games on Steam, like Far Cry 2 or Binding of Isaac. When you uninstall Steam, those will still work without any issues - you'd have to find the whole list tho, Steam does't advertise them.

Maighstir'd

I was already aware of the list, but I'm speaking in general regards to a large majority of games, I should of said that in my original post but oh well

A lot of old DOS games from the mid nineties and prior can just be dragged out of the Steam folder and ran without the client
A good example would be a lot of the ID Software games, the classic Doom's, early Hexen/Heretic games, ect

Depends on the game. Steam consist of a large framework (called Steamworks) made up many different components. One of these is the DRM called Custom Executable Generation (CEG) (http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/publishingservices.php). However, it is up to each publisher which part of Steamworks they want to make use of, and some do not make use of CEG. This means that you can use Steam to deliver DRM free games (as long as they do not use a 3'd party DRM, that is).

There is a thread here on gOg documenting which games on Steam are delivered DRM free -
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_drmfree_games_on_steam.

That's what Timothy Leary said.

Yes - true - very true. ;-)

There is a long list of them on this very forum. Search for the DRM free on Steam thread.

Developers have explained it pretty well before. When you upload to Steam there is a checkbox about using Steam's form of DRM, which I think is called Steam CEG or something like that. It's optional for them. Most use it, some do not.

Just stay away from anything that says UPlay on it. You will have to log into UPlay in addition to having Steam running.

The 2 weeks thing is not true. It works, or it should work indefinetly. I had a three week run with offline steam and it worked normally. Thank god i had a lot of games installed that time, or i would have to go outside or something for entertainment (the horror O.o)

Just don't have the power go out at your house. Then you're fucked.