As others said, it’s not for everyone. The gameplay loop is and will remain repetitive.

For what it’s worth, I hate horror but I generally just get surprised, not scared in this game. To me it’s a game where you go in with the mindset that you’ll likely die in some horrible way, but it’ll make for a funny scene or story afterwards.

I’d actually recommend watching clips of people. Not big name YouTubers, just the random 5-60s clips people upload and figuring out if those sort of events would be things you’d laugh at or enjoy being part of yourself.

Do you have any examples of dubious sites they list? To my knowledge they take the legitimacy of the sites seriously, so it would be great to know if that's not the case.

isthereanydeal.com lists only legitimate retailers, no second hand/grey market sites. Not exclusively Steam though, so check on the site before purchasing (though usually every website will be selling Steam keys except like Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, Ubisoft, EA Origin).

You can also link your Steam wishlist, set up alerts for when a game falls below a certain price, etc.

Haven't used it myself yet, but I've seen it recommended: the User Agent Switcher extension. It might fix some websites you have issues with?

ASCII survival isn't for everyone, but I do very much enjoy Cataclysm, Dark Days Ahead or Bright Nights depending on your preferences in realism.