Steam's summer sale is great for Mac gamers

Online game retailer Steam is running a big summer sale right now, which makes it a great time to build out your Mac OS X game library, thanks to heavy discounts on some recent and not-so-recent games.

As we've noted previously, the Steam sale "offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours)." While most of the games on sale are Windows-only, there is a healthy selection of Mac games. But more importantly, those Mac games are significantly less expensive than they are on Apple's own Mac App Store.

When the Mac App Store launched, I compared prices for games there, on Steam, and from Amazon, and said at the time that, "While it's the most convenient, buying from the Mac App Store isn't always the least expensive way to get Mac games."

That's doubly true now, with Steam discounting many games even further. Here's a quick chart of Mac games I found on both Steam and the Mac App Store, and how much they cost on each.

Many of these Steam deals are good through July 23, but some may expire sooner. If you've spotted any other great Mac game discounts on Steam (or elsewhere), feel free to post them in the comments section below.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Civilization V

Assassin's Creed 2

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Stronghold 3