You love video games, but you’re not made of money. Lucky for you, game studios and subscription services offer a handful of free titles every month. Don’t miss out. Here’s what you can download in April.
Oddworld: Soulstorm (Image: Oddworld Inhabitants) Everyone loves free games. Steam has a hefty collection of them, but some places offer titles for only a limited amount of time. Epic Games gives away multiple games a week. Amazon’s Prime Gaming subscription service has new titles each month. But if you’re not paying attention, you’ll lose out on a PC game you could have kept forever. In an effort to help gamers know what’s out there to claim, we’re tracking the best free games available in a given month. While some titles are free outright, others are included as part of a subscription service. Here’s everything you can grab this month. Best Free Epic Games Store Games Epic Games gives away free titles every week; no need for a subscription. Head over to the Epic Games Store website or open the launcher, scroll down to the Free Games section, and hit the Free Now banner on the title you want. Then, go through the process as if you were purchasing the game. You won’t be charged, and the game will appear in your games library on the Epic Games launcher.3 Out of 10 (Until April 15) How hard is it to make a good video game? Find out in this «playable sitcom» called 3 Out of 10, where a struggling game studio tries to make a game that gets a better score than 3 out of 10. The game is mainly presented as an animated show with minigames included throughout. Deponia: The Complete Journey (April 15 — April 22) Spanning four point-and-click adventure games, the series centers around the garbage dump planet of Deponia and the utopian world of Elysium. Rufus of Deponia meets Goal of Elysium, and hijinks ensue. Deponia: The Complete Journey packages the first three games together in one edition. Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth (April 15 — April 22) Based on the book of the same name, The Pillars of the Earth is a point-and-click adventure game about the building of a cathedral in 12th century England. The game features three playable characters and offers character choices that change events from the book. The First Tree (April 15 — April 22) In the exploration game The First Tree, you play as a fox searching for her missing family. Along the way you will unlock the story of a son reconnecting with his father in Alaska. Sludge Life (Until May 28) This third-person 3D platformer with retro CRT graphics is really just a vandalism simulator in disguise. Sludge Life is short and sweet, allowing you to explore the game’s surreal world, meet a cast of crass characters, and tag areas with graffiti. Devolver Digital has made the game free to keep for the next year. Rocket League (Now Free) Rocket League combines high-speed racing with competitive sports gameplay as you play soccer with racecars. And last fall, the game moved exclusively to the Epic Game Store and became free-to-play for anyone who wants it. We previously gave it an Editors’ Choice award, praising it for a fantastic concept and over-the-top fun while maintaining enough nuance to be a high competitive esports title. We consider it to be one of the best PC sports games available, and now you can get it for free. Best Free GOG Games GOG doesn’t have regular giveaways like some other websites do, but there is a small collection of free games, which mainly comprises classic computer games. Titles like Shadow Warrior Classic Complete and Postal: Classic and Uncut, which you would have to pay for on Steam, are free on GOG. Other classics, like Ultima 4 (1985) and Akalabeth: World of Doom (1979), are not available anywhere else. Akalabeth: World of Doom (1979) Ascendant (2014) Beneath a Steel Sky (1994) Bio Menace (1993) Cayne (2017) Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure (2020) Doomdark’s Revenge (1984) Eschalon: Book I (2006) Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995) Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy (1991) The Lords of Midnight (2013) Lure of the Temptress (1992) Postal: Classic and Uncut (2003) Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves (2013) Shadow Warrior Classic Complete (1997) Stargunner (1996) Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius (2014) Teenagent (1994) Treasure Adventure Game (2011) Tyrian 2000 (1999) Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar (1985) Ultima World of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams (1991) Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire (1990) War Wind (1996) Children of Morta (While Supplies Last) This giveaway is a little different because it requires you to make a purchase, but you get a free game out of it. GOG and Visa are teaming up to give away 53,000 codes for the action RPG Children of Morta. Get the game by signing up at the giveaway page, then making a $25 payment using a Visa card. Save the card to your account for future purchases, and you will get your free copy of this roguelike tale of the Bergson family’s journey to free Mount Morta of the evil Corruption. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition GOG allows you to score a free copy of the first Witcher game if you download the GOG Galaxy desktop client. Go to the Recent view and click the giveaway button at the top of the screen. As long as you agree to let GOG send you news and offers, the game is free to claim. Best Free Microsoft Store Games Microsoft doesn’t usually give away games on the Microsoft Store, but there are a few titles the company has decided to make free moving forward (some you can find only on the web, and not the desktop app). If you have a game code to redeem, sign into your Microsoft Account, then enter the code at redeem.microsoft.com; from the web app, go to More > Redeem a code. If it’s a game for your Xbox console, you must first make sure remote install is set up on your console. Crackdown (Now Free) Initially released in 2007, Crackdown received praise as a sandbox style third-person shooter that lets you cause massive amounts of destruction to the environment as you fight a crime wave in a dystopic future. Crackdown 2 (Now Free) Crackdown 2 brings back much of the same gameplay as the first game but with additional superhuman abilities and expanded multiplayer. Set 10 years after the first game, the title has you fight terrorists and save the city from a mutant-creating viral outbreak. Farming Simulator 14 & 16 (Now Free) Farming Simulator is a popular game for those looking to grow crops, care for animals, and run a farm while operating true-to-life farming equipment. While a new edition is released every year, the editions from 2014 and 2016 are now free in the Microsoft Store, giving you a good chance to try out the games before investing in the newest version. Phantom Dust (Now Free) Released in 2004 for the original Xbox, Phantom Dust combines third-person combat with card collecting to create a unique real-time strategy experience.
