Well the problem is that games aren't returnable, right?
I myself have several avenues that allow me to play games I can't afford.
For consoles, I have Gamefly, and I can buy a used game at gamestop and return it for a full refund within a week.
For PC I just pirate it to see if it was worth it.
When Total War: Medieval II came out, I was in Best Buy ready to purchase it. I convinced myself not to, and went home and pirated it, and found out the game was incredibly broken and buggy. Thanks internet!