A reviewer accidentally leaked the Steam Controller’s price, and folks aren’t happy

After I broached the idea of the Steam Controller’s imminent launch ahead of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame, a reviewer accidentally leaked the device’s price today, confirming that Valve’s new controller is almost around the corner.

Breaching the embargo seemingly by accident, reviewer Techy Talk published his impressions of the Steam Controller. It appears the review was supposed to come out within the next few days or weeks, and it was quickly taken down. However, it gave us a lot of good insight into Valve’s foremost device, which is now almost certainly going to be released separately from the Steam Machine and the Steam Frame because, as I wrote yesterday, it’s not impacted by the AI-induced RAM crisis.

The one thing about the Steam Controller that everyone’s been rather angry about is the device’s supposed price of $100. For a regular controller that is rather pricy and about $25 more than a default PS5 DualSense. “I was expecting $80 max, but $100 for a controller is way too much,” one Reddit user said in a thread focused on the device, while another criticized the hundred-buck controller’s lack of an audio jack. “Far too expensive,” yet another user said.

The general consensus surrounding this new price reveal is overtly negative, as many users are claiming it should have been listed at more competitive prices, with suggested ranges between $60 and $80. I for one am entirely understanding of Valve’s decision to put it this high. After all, the controller is really overengineered and comes with loads of features (even if it does lack an audio jack), has two trackpads, and is built to seamlessly embed itself within the Steam ecosystem that Valve’s trying to create.

It’s not your usual controller by any means, and as such, shouldn’t be expected to either compete with casual options like Xbox’s controllers or the DualSense lineup, not to mention that both of these mentioned series of controllers have “elite” or “pro” versions that cost over $200.

Third-party solutions with additional features can be found for around $70 to $80, so there are reasons to compare them with Valve’s option. Either way, I think this is a rather fair price, and certainly less than what I had expected. So long as the device has a sturdy, long-lasting build and a capable battery, I’m more than willing to spend the extra dime on it.

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Vampire Crawlers has a huge list of gems that you can unlock and draft in your run, and you should always aim for the overpowered ones. While all gems have their respective use-case scenarios, a few work well with almost any card. These gems offer widespread synergy that will help the applicable cards to elevate the strength of the deck and raise the odds of you completing the stages without an issue.

Which are the best Gems to use in Vampire Crawlers

The table below has a list of some of my favorite gems in Vampire Crawlers. I have also given brief explanations on why I have considered them.

Name	Effect	Reason
Double Damage/Triple Damage	Doubles/Triples the damage done by a card	Works well with any card that deals damage, but more so with single-target choices. Cards that target single enemies typically have serious damage. You can amplify it by putting a Double/Triple damage Gem. Those cards can be extremely useful against all enemies, but more so against bosses.
Drain	Heals when the card kills an enemy	While you’ll always take some damage, it’s not an easy task to heal yourself. You can use a specific high-damage card as a healing item if you manage to land a kill with it.
Easy Combo	The card always benefits from the combo	This is my favorite gem out of all options since it completely bypasses the traditional rule of playing cards in ascending mana order to trigger the combo. You can create combos with cards that won’t be possible without the Easy Combo Gem.
Refund	Refunds mana to play the card	Having more mana makes it easier to create combos and deal with enemies. When you play a card that has the Refund gem, you’ll get back the mana you spent. That way, you get the chance to play more cards and trigger any resulting combo if that’s applicable.
Evolution	Evolves the card into a more powerful weapon	This is an amazing gem to get if you’ve one part of a powerful evolution. You can then automatically complete the evolution (without the full requirements) and create a more potent item.
Countdown	Mana cost reduces when not used.	This is another smart way to manage mana, but it’s slightly complex. The idea is not to play the card with this gem, which will then reduce the mana cost. When you play it the next time, it will cost less than the previous turn. You can again refrain from playing it to further reduce the mana cost, and it can drop down to zero.
Wild	Makes the card Wild	If you insert this on a card, it will turn it into a Wild Card. While Wild Cards can be played only once per turn, they can become a part of a combo chain even if it doesn’t meet the basic requirement of the ascending mana cost. Combined with Easy Combo, this is a useful way to trigger more combos per turn.
Reverse Combo	Allows the next card to continue the combo while breaking the base rule of increasing mana ascendancy	When you play a card with the Reverse Combo gem, the next card will always trigger a combo, irrespective of its mana cost.

There are plenty of other gem options that you can also utilize on your run. This guide will provide you with a quick rundown of what each does inside the game. Also, pay attention to your Power Ups since they will also play a key role in determining how impactful a gem will be.

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