It looks like Steam has finally listened to its users and made it easier to find free games. Here's how to find the new “Trending Free” tab to download new games for free.
Explore trending free games
Steam currently has so many free games that it can get tedious to sort through them. The new “Trending Free” tab includes both free games and free demos, but it doesn't include free play events, which let you play paid games for free for a short period of time.
Start at the store screen by opening Steam and scrolling down. In the “Browse by Category” section, you'll find the redesigned “Free to Play” menu. However, that page doesn't have the option to check out trends. There is a “New and Trending” category, but it only shows new games.
Under the “Under $10 section” there is a menu with several tabs. The default is “New and Trending” and the last tab is “Trending Free”. There you have it!
There's an annoying “free demo” game that I don't think should be there because it's not a full game. At the very bottom there's a “see more” option. There, click “play for free” and you'll be taken to the same cool “play for free” dashboard we saw earlier.
You may have noticed that the first tab on the lovely “Free to Play” dashboard is “Popular.” Isn't this the same as Trending? Steam doesn't clarify the difference between “Popular” and “Trending.” However, at the time of writing, “Popular” and “Trending Free” do not have a single game in common.
More rankings please
The new “Trending Free” tab is hidden and hard to find, but it does seem like trends are more influenced by them than by ads or sponsorships. If Steam is going to embrace UI recommendations, I'd like to see them implement a ranking system similar to Amazon's book rankings, where popularity is determined by sales.
This is especially helpful for people who enjoy indie games that can be hard to find if they're not that popular. Players can expect to be able to scroll through the top 200-300 games in their favorite categories in just a few minutes.
