What’s the best tool to get instant notifications for indie game sales & price drops?
Never Miss an Indie Gem on Sale
For independent game enthusiasts, snagging a beloved title at a discounted price is always a thrill. Indie games often offer unique experiences, but tracking their fluctuating prices across various digital storefronts can feel like a full-time job. Thankfully, a variety of tools exist to keep you instantly updated on sales and price drops, ensuring you never miss out on a great deal for that hidden gem you’ve been eyeing.
Dedicated Deal Aggregators: Your Best Bet
When it comes to comprehensive tracking and instant notifications, dedicated deal aggregator websites are often the champions. These platforms monitor prices across dozens of digital storefronts (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Humble Bundle, Fanatical, etc.) and allow you to build wishlists, often by importing your existing Steam wishlist.
IsThereAnyDeal.com
Widely considered the gold standard, IsThereAnyDeal (ITAD) offers robust features. You can import your Steam wishlist, add games manually, and set up email notifications for price drops below a certain threshold or specific historical lows. It also provides browser extensions for popular browsers, which can show current prices directly on store pages and alert you instantly.
GG.deals
Similar to ITAD, GG.deals provides excellent price comparison and tracking services. It also supports wishlist imports and offers email alerts. Their interface is user-friendly, and they often highlight bundles and free games, making them a strong contender for any deal hunter.
Platform-Specific Wishlists: The Basics
Most major digital storefronts offer their own wishlist and notification systems. While these are convenient, they are typically limited to sales on their specific platform and might not be as “instant” as third-party aggregators.
- Steam Wishlist: By far the most common. Add games to your Steam wishlist, and you’ll receive an email notification when they go on sale on Steam. It’s reliable but only covers Steam.
- Epic Games Store: Allows you to wishlist games and receive email notifications for sales.
- GOG: Features a wishlist system with email alerts for discounts.
While these are good starting points, relying solely on them means you’ll miss out on deals from other retailers that might offer even better prices or bundles.
Community-Driven Alerts: For the Truly Instant
For the absolute quickest heads-up, community platforms often excel. Enthusiastic deal hunters are constantly scanning for new sales and sharing them as soon as they drop.
- Reddit Communities: Subreddits like r/gamedeals and r/indiegamespecials are incredibly active. By subscribing and enabling notifications (if using a Reddit app), you can get near-instant alerts posted by users. Filtering by “new” and checking frequently is key here.
- Discord Servers: Many gaming communities, specific publishers, and even deal aggregator sites run their own Discord servers. These often have dedicated channels for sales announcements, which can be configured for push notifications directly to your device.
These methods are excellent for catching flash sales or limited-time offers that might expire before a traditional email notification arrives.
The Verdict: A Multi-Pronged Approach for Maximum Coverage
There isn’t a single “best” tool, but rather a combination of tools that will give you the most comprehensive and instant notification system for indie game sales and price drops. For the ultimate setup, consider this:
- Primary Tracker: Use IsThereAnyDeal.com or GG.deals with your imported Steam wishlist and email notifications configured. Install their browser extension for quick checks.
- Community Supplement: Subscribe to r/gamedeals on Reddit and join a relevant Discord server (e.g., IsThereAnyDeal’s own server, or a general gaming deals server) with push notifications enabled.
- Platform Wishlists: Still use the native wishlists on Steam, GOG, and Epic for redundancy, especially for platform-exclusive deals.
By leveraging these tools together, you’ll be well-equipped to catch indie game sales and price drops as soon as they happen, ensuring your gaming library grows without breaking the bank.
