Buying Games on Steam: A Complete Guide to Funding Your Wallet and Making Purchases

Steam has become the predominant platform for PC gaming over the past decade, with over 125 million active users as of 2023. The Steam store offers a vast catalog of games spanning every genre imaginable, from AAA blockbusters to small indie passion projects.

With so many titles to choose from, funding your Steam wallet is a crucial first step to building your PC game library. This article will walk you through everything you need to know, from adding payment methods to making purchases.

Benefits of Using Steam

Before diving into the funding process, let's overview some of the key benefits Steam provides:

• No Physical Copies Needed: Steam pioneered the digital distribution model for games. Everything is downloaded directly without needing to buy boxed copies. This makes building a collection much easier.

• Frequent Sales: Steam is known for hosting seasonal sales multiple times per year, with discounts reaching as high as 90% off on some titles. This makes it very affordable to buy games.

• Library Access Anywhere: Your full library is accessible as long as you have your account credentials. You can download and play games on any PC.

Adding a Payment Method

In order to purchase games on Steam, you need to have a payment method associated with your account. The platform supports debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, and Steam gift cards.

Debit or credit cards tend to be the most convenient approach. Not only are they easy to manage, but you can also set spending limits if you want to budget how much you allocate towards games.

Here are the steps to add one:

1. Launch the Steam client and click your username in the top-right corner

2. Select "Account details"

3. Choose the "Payment methods" section

4. Click "Add a payment method"

5. Enter your card details and billing address

6. Make sure the payment method is set as your default for purchases

If you run into any problems adding a card, double-check that all the details are entered correctly. You may also need to have a small amount of funds available on the card, around $1, for the initial verification.

Funding Your Steam Wallet

Rather than paying for each game directly through a payment method at checkout, you can add money to your Steam wallet balance beforehand. This acts as a central account to deduct funds from when making any purchases.

Adding money is simple - just follow these steps:

1. Repeat steps 1-4 from above

2. Click "Add funds to your Steam Wallet"

3. Select an amount between $5-$500 to add

4. Choose your preferred payment method

5. Complete the transaction

The money will now show in your Steam wallet section, ready to use for games or any other items in the Steam store like soundtracks and profile customizations.

If you prefer, you can also add funds through PayPal as an alternative to entering card details. The process works the same way.

Using Steam Gift Cards

For those who don't have a bank account or can't use cards/PayPal for any reason, Steam gift cards present an easy path to funding your account.

You can purchase the gift cards with set amounts like $20 or $50 from various retailers online and in-person. Popular sites include Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Walmart.

Once you buy a card, simply scratch off the back to reveal a redeemable Steam wallet code. Enter this code via the "Redeem a Steam gift card or wallet code" option in your account details. The value will then get credited to your balance automatically.

Gift cards make great presents for Steam users too!

Buying Games on Steam

Now for the best part - shopping for and purchasing games!

The discovery and buying process works like so:

1. Browse or search for titles that interest you

2. Select a game and view details like ratings, descriptions, screenshots, and videos

3. Click "Add to Cart" on any titles you want to buy

4. Once finished, click your cart icon and view its contents

5. Confirm the items you want and click "Purchase"

6. Choose your Steam wallet to complete checkout if funds are available, otherwise pick another payment option

7. After a few moments, the game will be added to your Steam library ready to download and play!

Remember to take advantage of Steam's frequent seasonal sales around events like the Summer Sale or Winter Sale. You can often build an impressive game collection without breaking the bank thanks to deep discounts.

Managing Your Steam Library

As your game library grows over time, effectively managing it becomes more and more important.

You can view your full collection by selecting "Library" at the top of the Steam window. By default, games are sorted by recent activity but you can customize how they are organized through the various filter and sort options.

Some key management features to utilize:

• Categories - Tag games with custom labels like "Favorites" or "Backlog"

• Hidden Games - Remove clutter by hiding titles you don't want showing

• Sort by Size - See which games are consuming the most drive space

• Update Preferences - Control when and how games update automatically

Getting familiar with these tools will ensure your library stays neat and optimized.

Key Takeaways

That covers the essentials of funding your Steam wallet and buying awesome PC games to play! To recap:

• Add a debit/credit card or PayPal to enable purchases

• Funds added to your Steam wallet act as a central balance for all spending

• Gift cards make great alternatives if you can't use payment methods

• Take advantage of seasonal sales for big discounts on games

• Effectively utilize built-in tools to organize your growing library

Steam has built one of the most impressive catalogs of games out there today. Now that know how to shop for titles and manage your account, it's time to start expanding your collection!

What was the first game you bought on Steam? Did you take advantage of any recent sales? Let me know in the comments!