Deal | Even bad guys have a budget: Supervillain strategy game now under $1 on Steam

In Evil Genius, players take on the role of a full-fledged supervillain and build their own secret organization on a remote island. The goal – what else could it be – is nothing less than world domination. And what do you need for that? Exactly: a superweapon!

Before players can get their hands on one, however, they first have to get their own base into shape. They dig rooms and corridors into the mountain, build barracks, vaults, control rooms and research facilities, and employ an ever-growing army of minions. These can be trained for different tasks or sent out on criminal operations across the world map. However, the evil schemes do not go entirely undisturbed. Government agents regularly attempt to infiltrate the base and thwart the aspiring world ruler's plans.

Powerful henchmen and devious traps are particularly useful against them. Intruders can be taken out with saw blades, wind machines or piranha tanks, for example. However, the more crimes players commit on the world map, the more attention they attract from the so-called Forces of Justice – and eventually, it won't just be ordinary agents showing up at the door.

Evil Genius normally costs just under $10 on Steam. Until September 8, however, it is 90% off, bringing the price down to $0.99. According to SteamDB, this matches the previous all-time low, last reached in June. The strategy classic has never been cheaper.

German gaming magazin PC Games reviewed Evil Genius when it launched in September 2004 and awarded it a solid 8 out of 10. The publication particularly praised the extensive base-building mechanics, dark humor and unusual 1960s setting. The high difficulty, cumbersome trap system and lack of a pause function were less well received. Metacritic lists Evil Genius with a Metascore of 75, while the User Score stands at 8.3.

The Steam community's verdict is considerably more enthusiastic, however: 93% of more than 3,600 user reviews are positive. Handheld gamers are out of luck this time, though: On the Steam Deck, the game is rated as “Unsupported.”

Given the strong reviews, Evil Genius may still be worth a look for strategy fans more than 20 years after its release. And at just $0.99, the financial risk is fairly limited anyway. After all, aspiring supervillains have to be a little stingy too – world domination isn't going to pay for itself.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.