Solution

Some elements are unique here, some common, some uncommon as of recent times.

1

the first column is separated, and strings like 0000ff and ffff00 are weirdly sameish but different enough to catch one's eyes.
If you google (or use other search engine) the first column, you'll find out, that they are hexadecial codes for colours.

0000ff = blue
4b0082 = indigo
008000 = green
ff0000 = red
ffa500 = orange
ffff00 = yellow
ee82ee = violet

7 colours, in a mishmash order... "this time of year" is about pride month, and also dropped the spongebob gif with a rainbow in it, in case some of you are more visual types :P
(What best time to use a puzzle based on the colours of the rainbow, than now? It's also a beautiful sight of nature, incredible results of physics, and has a strong biblical connection to it as well. It's a powerful symbol for many)

The order of colours in the rainbow is the next key. (starting from red - as somebody told me they were taught from starting from violet, I added the "start on red!" part later for safety's sake)

2

So - reorganize the lines of the puzzle, that the colours make a rainbow

ff0000 | eQ&&H16&es | fYwaC --- red
ffa500 | &06S4&&aje | CHAob --- orange
ffff00 | X&Xi&lN&&9 | h9OId --- yellow
008000 | 4a&E&Z0e2& | 7WB94 --- green
0000ff | &M4Pk&7dm& | 1qXjO --- blue
4b0082 | c&Vk9V6C&P | Kj1wI --- indigo
ee82ee | Ypv&hr&Xfe | AaGvl --- violet

3

Now (WaxWorm's comment actually helped a lot to make this easier on one's eyes) the extra ampersand (&) characters could throw you off, but they are just filler.
And if you're " looking at them from a new angle" - in this cade, reading the code out vertically , you get 9 giveaway links, if you only read the numbers and letters, ignoring the 2-2 ampersand in each column.

4

The third column is basically the same until the last step, but instead of using the 5-character giveaway links, I used 7 character comment links - the GA links are simply written in those comments.
You can get the link of any comment by copying the link address from the "permalink" button - and you get one like https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/***eo6pTtr*** - this is WaxWorm's comment. And this: fCh71KA is one of the examples of how the hidden comment links were, with the extra GA link to it. You need to substitute it as you go with a GA link (just without forward slash at the end, as you can see from the link)

end of solution

Puzzles are fun, and you all are welcomed to try yourselves.
But better to be sure if you're doing this for fun, or if you can get something at the end - https://www.vampiregifts.com/giveaway/b9_U9/steam_D_survivors

Last puzzle was cryptography, uncovering the verrry hidden. This puzzle is more like a magician's trick, everything most things are in clear sight - you don't need to decode like last time.
It's more like understanding things, and looking at them from a new angle.

(I really hope everything works properly, I'm running on 5 hours worth of sleep and one of my most taxing days recently.)

Edit: GAs run until 21rdst

Quite a few games, but not a train ^^


Start of new things June 14th

New giveaways added , ALMOST HALF A DOZEN!

To make it more fun for everyone involved (a bit for me too, though spent way too much time setting this up, who's stupid idea was this??):

  • added some formatting. WHICH IS A HINT, even if it was already present
  • spaces do not matter, I just suck at formatting.
  • Same solving method as batch #1, but as you can clearly see, there's a difference in the pattern - it would be boring if it would be the same, isn't it? Gotta keep old solvers on their feet :) You'll know if you've found the stuff.
  • new thing is in bold the third (right-side) part in the textblock

When in doubt, stop a bit and ask yourself a few questions:

  • What am I looking for?
  • Are there repeating patterns, be it a character, or the form of the letterblock? We learned from Tetris that shapes and directions matter :)
  • Can I ask somebody or something more "informed" than I am, about things I'm not knowledgeable about?
  • To fit this month's theme, be gay, do crimes. So fuck the green light, start on red! please don't do that on the streets

(Likely - not sure - that I drop one more batch of games in a few days, I may be lazier and less creative with them, than I was with these ones. Will bump the topic, edit the title, and add a section to be sure it can't be missed :P )

end of new things June 14th


0000ff | &M4Pk&7dm& | 1qXjO
4b0082 | c&Vk9V6C&P | Kj1wI
008000 | 4a&E&Z0e2& | 7WB94
ff0000 | eQ&&H16&es | fYwaC
ffa500 | &06S4&&aje | CHAob
ffff00 | X&Xi&lN&&9 | h9OId
ee82ee | Ypv&hr&Xfe | AaGvl

(Can't make those ... "Sheffer strokes" ( | ) straight... how ironic)

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3 weeks ago*

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21 hours left. Bump!

1 week ago
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Nice, thanks!

1 week ago
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Bump for solved! Thanks for the GAs! :)

1 week ago
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Have all the GAs ended for this? Are you willing to share the solution? I immediately figured out the first column, but even with the hints, I had no idea what to do with the 2nd column.

6 days ago
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Yeah, thanks for the reminder! ...this week was rough, forgot about it.
I'll try to catch some more sleep, then I'll do it :)

6 days ago
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I'm done, after messing up my copy-paste 3-4 times, it should be accurate now :D

6 days ago
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Thanks for the detailed explination. I was set on figuring out how to replace the ampersand symbols and get codes from left to right. Then try and figure out how to convert a 10 character code into something useful. Because I thought they were blanks that needed to be filled in, that got stuck in my head and was all I could think about. I also never even thought to look at it vertically.

6 days ago
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The last gif was also meant to hint at it ^^

Also, I added "almost half a dozen giveaways" and the puzzle got longer by 5 (almost 6 :P ) characters.
Ofc these are trivial for me, but not for everyone. I hope I'll get to make some more interesting puzzles - think different types; some code-breaking that is more than just using an online site to create A from B ; or a trail of crumbs type. Something that is engaging.

6 days ago
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