Right now, the Epic Games Store is giving away Dead by Daylight and While True: Learn() until December 9. The first is an incredibly popular asymmetrical multiplayer game, while the latter is more defined as an educational experience. With these additions, EGS is really flexing the variability of its game offerings, as this multiplayer and education experience will be followed by an action RPG and a simulation game on December 9.
From December 9 through December 16, Epic Games Store users will be able to claim Godfall: Challenger Edition and Prison Architect. The former is a bit of an odd situation, but for fans curious about that as well as Prison Architect, here is what gamers need to know about them.
Epic Games Store Free Game for December 9 – Godfall: Challenger Edition
Godfall: Challenger Edition has stirred some controversy among PS Plus subscribers, as it’s available in December on PS Plus too. In Godfall's base game, players must equip Valorplates to defeat a mad god, and while it has its flaws, it’s a unique approach based on the idea of a “looter slasher.” Many were expecting the full game, and that may have been a good redemption arc for the game. However, PS Plus subscribers and EGS Users are actually getting Godfall: Challenger Edition, which is described as a “cut-price limited-feature edition” by Counterplay Games.
Essentially, the “cut price” means that after it leaves PS Plus and EGS, gamers can pick it up at a $15 price point. The “limited-feature” means the aforementioned story doesn’t take place in this version of Godfall. Instead, players are given an endgame character in essence and can complete three endgame activities. These include Lightbringer, which is a horde-like game mode where players must drive the darkness back by sealing Dark Tears in a race against time; Dreamstones, which allow players to relive the memories of Orin and grind high gear loot in random encounters with selectable modifiers; and Ascended Towers of Trials, which is an infinite-until-you-die tower crawler-style mode with an emphasis on bosses.
Epic Games Store Free Game for December 9 – Prison Architect
A few months ago, Epic Games Store gave users The Escapists. It’s about escaping prison, and now fans are getting Prison Architect, which is a construction and management simulation game based on running a prison. These unique premises bring in fans of simulation games but also non-sim players based on that premise alone. Players are hired by a CEO to run a for-profit prison and are responsible for building facilities, connecting utilities, hiring and managing staff such as accountants and janitors, incorporating reform and labor programs, setting schedules, and the like.
Each prison, which can have additional conditions applied, is rated by the game and thus determines how well a player is doing. These ratings are typically based on recidivism rate, happiness, violence in the prison, and more—each prison itself is also ranked by different classes such as Minimum, Medium, Maximum, and Supermax Security. Players can also build female prisons, Psych Wards, and so on, and its overall approach has inspired other simulation-based games.
Hitting a certain failure condition can result in the player being “fired” and these include riots necessitating the National Guard, bankruptcy, too much prisoner death, too many prisoner escapes, too many warden deaths, too many re-offending parolees, and too many wrongful executions. Overall, Prison Architect has great reviews on its content, averaging in the mid-80s on most platforms on Metacritic.
Epic Games Store users get a couple of free games every week.