The Free Game Offers Thread

Epic Games Store

Cat Quest II - May 2 - 9
Orcs Must Die! 3 - May 2 - May 9


Cat Quest is a fairly simple action rpg with an obviously strong animal theme to them. I didn't like the first one but I know a lot of other people seem to. Orcs Must Die is an action based tower defense game, whereas you place traps to fend off waves of orcs but can also fight them yourself once the round has started. The first two were very good, but this one made some questionable design and business decisions (including temporarily being Stadia exclusive) so I've never tried it.



Amazon Prime

Tomb Raider: Game of the Year Edition - May 2
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars - May 2
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition - May 9
The Forgotten City - May 16


Most of these are self explanatory, but I'll briefly describe The Forgotten City. This is an adventure game in which you find yourself exploring an ancient Roman city and trying to undercover the mystery of what happened to it. There is a time-loop mechanic, similar to something like Majora's Mask or The Outer Wilds, in that you have a certain amount of time to explore, solve puzzles, and talk to npcs. At some point "the end" is triggered, which you then get to witness, and you can reset back to the beginning while keeping pertinent knowledge to help make more progress on the next loop.

Epic is giving away mystery games again.

Dragon Age: Inquisition GOTY Edition - May 16 - May 24

Epic Game Store's next mystery game:

Farm Simulator 22 - May 23 - May 30

These Epic Game Store mystery games have been kind of boring, this next one has been free before, including just a few weeks ago on Amazon:

Chivalry 2 - May 30 - June 6

This week's mystery game from Epic is Marvel's Midnight Suns

Oh hey, that's not bad. Pretty good game that hasn't been free before, to my knowledge.

For anyone that doesn't know what this is: This is a strategy rpg from the people who made X-Com but rather than be a straight copy it's got systems from various other games included as well. You create your own character and can upgrade their powers with better gear. You recruit Marvel characters and interact with them in an social system to increase combat performance. Combat itself is card based, while still taking place on a tactical turn-based field.


This also looks like it's going to be the last mystery game. And just to make it perfectly clear to anyone seeing this thread:

Marvel's Midnight Suns - June 6 - June 13

One last day to pick up Midnight Suns for anyone who is interested.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wool

One last day to pick up Midnight Suns for anyone who is interested.

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Just so you know, I *did* read this, and as a result I *did* pick this up, so you're not just shouting into the unanswering void. Well, I mean you are, but I guess sometimes you get an answer back. :)

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the reminder!

Your welcome. I felt bad about burying the original notification in SGF stuff, which started a day after this became free.

Epic Games Store

Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition - June 27 - July 3
The Falconeer - July 4 - July 10


I was wondering if Epic would do anything to distract from the Steam sale. This one isn't huge but I'm happy with it. Sunless Skies is the sequel to a game called Sunless Seas, a gothic horror ship exploration and trading game. Apparently the combat was changed quite a bit in the sequel so I never got around to buying it to try it out, now I don't have to. Huzzah!


This is also Amazon Prime Day month apparently, so their monthly free games are a little better than usual. Some of these are repeats, but as far as I'm aware the Ninja Turtle beat'em up has never been a free game before. Some of the other highlights (and dates) are:

Now - Forager (GOG)
Now - Card Shark (Epic Games Store)
July 3 - Hitman Absolution (GOG)
July 11 - TMNT Shredder's Revenge (Epic Games Store)
July 11 - Knights of the Old Republic II
July 18 - Maneater (Epic Games Store)
July 18 - Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition
July 25 - Cat Quest II
July 25 - Midnight Fight Express


That's the short version. Here's the long version: Prime Gaming Blog

Amazon added a few more "free" games to their Prime Gaming releases this month, but they only last 48 hours so I'm posting about them a few days early.

July 16 - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (Epic Games Store)
July 16 - Chivalry 2 (Epic Games Store)
July 16 - Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration (Epic Games Store)


Suicide Squad practically just came out. The fact that it's free already really speaks to how badly it bombed. But it might be checking out for anyone curious.

Bumping as a reminder to redeem Suicide Squad today if you are curious and want to try it. I have no idea how long WB will keep the servers running with how badly it did, so I certainly wouldn't buy it at this point.

I had stopped paying attention to this stuff but noticed by accident that Amazon was giving away a ton of games (with Prime) this month. Everything from Lord of the Rings, to Borderlands, to Kerbal Space Program. I want to bring special attention to Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales and Greedfall. The former is a Witcher spinoff with card battle mechanics and the latter is the budget Bioware style rpg I mentioned in the monthly games thread.

IGN - Amazon Prime Gaming September 2024

Amazon is doing Prime day stuff next month (didn't they just have one of these a couple months ago?) so next month might be good too.

P.S. Tales from the Borderlands is better than actual Borderlands.

Amazon Prime's "free" games this month are appropriately Halloween themed and include Doom: Eternal, Bioshock Remastered, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Death's Door, and A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Spoiler for full list:

Available now:
-Hive Jump 2: Survivors (GOG)
-SCARF
-Tomb Raider: Legend (GOG)
-The Eternal Cylinder (EGS)
-Spirit of the North (EGS)
-No Straight Roads (EGS)
-BioShock Remastered (GOG)
-DOOM Eternal (MS Store)
-DreadOut 2
-Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition (EGS)
-Priest Simulator: Vampire Show (EGS)
-The Gap

Oct 17:
-Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets
-Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness
-Through the Darkest of Times
-Killing Floor 2 (EGS)
-Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol

Oct 24:
-Pumpkin Jack (GOG)
-The Gunk (GOG)
-STASIS: BONE TOTEM (EGS)
-Gargoyles Remastered
-Monster Train (GOG)
-Morbid: The Seven Acolytes (EGS)

Oct 31:
-A Plague Tale: Innocence (GOG)
-Death’s Door (EGS)
-Haunted Hotel: Personal Nightmare Collector’s Edition
-Scorn (GOG)
-Coromon (GOG)

Half Life 2 and it's DLC episodes are free as part of it's anniversary until Nov 18th. For an extra $2 you can get the Orange Box which includes the original Portal.

Of the games Amazon Prime Gaming is giving away this month, two of the better ones are available today.

Overcooked 2 is an arcade style cooking game in which you have to assemble a series of dishes while contending with various level gimmicks before time runs out. I think this has been free before.

Dredge is a fishing boat rpg with a bit of a supernatural occult twist. It's dangerous to go out at night, but as you make money from selling fish you can afford better lines, engines, lights, etc.

Amazon has expanded the number of "free" games they are giving out this month as part of a promotion with their Secret Level show. Some of titles include The Outer Worlds, Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, and various old Warhammer games such as Dawn of War and the original Space Marine.

I also saw a tweet recently claiming they will have promotions during The Game Awards.


Epic's free game this week is The Lego Skywalker Saga. Next week their holiday mystery game giveaways begin. I feel like there's always at least one thing worth redeeming.

The free epic mystery game from Epic this week is The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, an online co-op survival/crafting game about dwarves.

I grabbed Return to Moria and played it with a few friends yesterday - It was actually pretty okay. It has a good amount of atmosphere, it handles decent-but-not-great, and I can see the appeal in putting more hours in. It seemed very much like Grounded, but in Middle Earths Moria.
It'll recommend giving it a go, especially while it's free. You can play up to 8 players in the same game, but it's not a persistent world game like Valheim. Rather one person has a save game, that they can host and provide a key to friends, so they can jump into that game and explore together.

The daily free mystery games at Epic Games Store has started. Today's free game is Vampire Survivors.

You are only really saving about 5 dollars (its a cheap game), but its still worth checking out. It's kind of a super casual survival roguelike thing. It reminds me of old War3 custom maps.

Today on Epic is "Astrea: Six Sided Oracles" which is a rogue-like dice(deck)builder.

Today's free game on Epic Games Store is Ghostrunner 2. The first one has been free fairly often before but I think this is the first time this one has been. It's a fast paced action cyberpunk thing. I haven't played it myself.

Today's free game on Epic Games Store is Sifu. It's a difficult martial arts action game in which your character grows older every time you fail. Featured in one of the Amazon Secret Level episodes. It's on Game Pass but I think this is the first time it has been free.

Humankind is free this week on Epic Games Store, along with a deep sea diving game called Deep Blue, or something. Humankind is a 4X empire builder like Civilization. Much like with Civ 7, it's main feature was a game mechanic that had you changing civilizations and receiving different bonuses over the course of the game.

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is free on the Epic Games Store this week. The first game has been free previously, but I think this is the first time the sequel has been. It's a park management sim.

Next week they have two mystery games coming. They usually do this during big sales and I'm not sure what's significant next week that would encourage them to do this now.

The two mystery games ended up being Cat Quest, a very cheap game that has been free before, and some other cat game I've never heard of. Neko jump or something. Next week is another mystery game using the same cat wallpaper, so I'm betting on Cat Quest 2. Another game that has been free before and is relatively cheap.

Short of them continuing this another week and giving away Cat Quest 3 (the newest one), or Stray, I don't really see what the point of having these be mystery games was.

I was right, this week's free Epic Games Store game is Cat Quest 2. Also been free before. Not sure why these were mystery games.

Next week is River City Girls, a pretty decent sidescrolling beat'em up with light rpg elements. Not sure if it has been free before.



Meanwhile, if you have Amazon Prime, some of the games you can claim this month include: Mafia III, Minecraft Legends, Paleo Pines, Endless Space, Gloomhaven, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Thief Gold.

Epic is having another sale, and so the mystery games are back.

This week's free game is Dead Island 2. They are also giving away something called Happy Game, which I've never heard of.

This week's free mystery games at Epic were/are Sifu, a martial arts action game that has been free before, as well as two smaller games I am unfamiliar with: Deliver At All Costs, an isometric car driving game, and Gigapocalypse, which looks like a phone game about giant monsters destroying human civilization.

This week's free mystery games at Epic are Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and Limbo.

Wonderlands being the fantasy version of Borderlands. You still have guns but instead of grenades you have a number of spells to choose from. You can also dual class ability trees.

The final free mystery games at Epic are Deathloop and Ogu and the Secret Forest.

Next week's free title is not a mystery, and is listed as Two Point Hospital.

I really enjoyed Deathloop. That's a pretty nice free game.

The free Epic Games Store game for the week of July 17 - July 23 is Civilization VI: Platinum Edition. This is the base game, the two expansions, and a handful of civ DLC packs.

This week on the Epic Games Store they are giving away Monument Valley and Ghostrunner II. Monument was a mobile puzzle game that blew up awhile back and it has now come to other platforms.

Next week they are giving away Monument Valley 2 and The Battle of Polytopia. The Battle of Polytopia is another port of a mobile game. It was essentially a Civilization lite. Very, very basic limited turn representation of expanding borders, acquiring resources, and building units.



I haven't really been paying attention to the games Amazon Prime has been giving away for Prime members lately, but did notice they have been giving away a lot of classic old Dungeons and Dragons games, which I thought some here might appreciate. This month's editions are the old Ravenloft games.

Some of the other games they are currently or have recently given away include GoG versions of Civilization III and IV, several titles in the Thief series, Midnight Suns (Marvel X-Com), Into the Breach (turn based strategy from FTL devs), and Venba, a short cooking game about an Indian family immigrating to Canada.

From now until December 2nd, Ubisoft is giving away Immortals Fenyx Rising on their Ubisoft Connect PC App.

This is an action adventure open world game based on Greek mythology using mechanics heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Climbing surfaces, swimming, and flying are limited by a stamina meter that can be leveled up by completing puzzles in the open world. Another thing I often see mentioned with this game is its humor, which some people seem to find hit or miss.

Epic Games Store is starting their Holiday Sale and will be giving away about 15 games for free again this year.

This week's Mystery Game is Hogwarts Legacy. This is that Harry Potter rpg that came out a few years back.

It will be free until December 19th, when the daily Mystery Game giveaways begin.

That's a fairly big title, that have also received updates since release. There are a ton of hours that you can get out of that game, if you want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wool

Epic Games Store is starting their Holiday Sale and will be giving away about 15 games for free again this year.

This week's Mystery Game is Hogwarts Legacy. This is that Harry Potter rpg that came out a few years back.

It will be free until December 19th, when the daily Mystery Game giveaways begin.

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Also, Epic is giving away the Mobile version of Dead Cells, if that's of interest to anyone (yes, you have to install the Epic Games Store app first - https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/mobile)

I don't recall if Dead Cells has ever been free before, but it's a good game for this.

For anyone unfamiliar it is a Metroidvania Roguelite. Which means it is a 2D action platformer like Castlevania but whenever you die the world resets and randomizes (Rogue). Most games with death mechanics like this do have some form of progression that remains, hence the -lite qualifier.

Friendly reminder that the Epic mystery game giveaways will now begin rotating out every day. I can't promise I will post about them every day.

Today's free game is Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel. I've never heard of this one, but its highly rated on Steam. It looks like it could possible be a Vampire Survivors clone with Norse theming.

Edit: I made a mistake. Jotunnslayer was yesterday's game. This just so happens to be the time of day Epic free games refresh, and I noticed that Eternights is the new free game for the day. This is some kind of anime thing that they have given away previously.


Meanwhile, if you have Amazon Prime, one of the "free" games they are giving away this month is Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus. This is a 2D action platformer that was released a couple years ago and is also well regarded on Steam, though I feel like it is also frequently overlooked.

Disco Elysium is today's Epic free mystery game.

Disco Elysium is a very strange and well regarded narratively driven rpg with a focus on dialogue and skill checks rather than combat. Part of the structure of the game has you level up and develop different personality types depending on the choices you make. The main character does not remember who he is, and the things you can choose for him to decide to believe about himself can get pretty crazy.

Trine I, II, III and IV in the Trine Classic Collection is free on Epic Games today. I've only played the first one, but I remember it being a pretty and good platformer. Potential multiplayer too, if I remember correctly.

The last two Epic free mystery games are Total War: Three Kingdoms and Wildgate, a pvevp sci fi game. They will now be returning to a weekly schedule with Bloons TD6 being next week's game.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Milton Finkelstein

Trine I, II, III and IV in the Trine Classic Collection is free on Epic Games today. I've only played the first one, but I remember it being a pretty and good platformer. Potential multiplayer too, if I remember correctly.

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I played the first two. The first one was a classic case of a good game idea with a somewhat shakey execution, with the second game perfecting it in every way.

House Flipper is free on Steam until April 6th.

It looks like another Epic Store Sale is starting, which means they are finally giving away free games worth sharing again.


This week, May 14-20, the free games are:

The Telltale Batman Series: Shadows Edition
Sunderfolk

Next week's two games are mystery games.


Telltale is a company that makes (or used to make) narrative adventure games. They are very light on gameplay and are mostly telling a story that you shape by making choices as you go. Their Batman games were among the best of the ones they made. Apparently the "Shadows Edition" changes the art style to have a black and white aesthetic.

Sunderfolk is a multiplayer tactical rpg. The thing that stands out the most about this game is the fact that only the host needs to own the game. Other players can join and play on their phones. This gives versatility with the people you play with. I think it's supposed to be good, but don't know much else about it.

I've played a bit of Sunderfolk. It's a neat little game actually, almost like Into the Breach if you've played that.
It worked great with 2 people playing together on a couch and one player streaming to Discord where the third player watched and played through their phone.