Indie hits Moonlighter and This War of Mine will be free on the Epic Games Store next week, from July 25 to August 1. The This War of Mine and Moonlighter Epic Games Store freebies mark the first time Epic has offered two free games at once. Until these games are available on July 25, Epic Games Store users can download Playdead’s indie classic Limbo for free.
Moonlighter, the first of next week’s free Epic Games Store games, is a rogue-lite action RPG from 11 Bit Studios and Digital Sun Games. It puts players in the role of Will, a shopkeeper in a fantasy world who “moonlights” as a dungeon-delving adventurer. The game’s unique concept, detailed pixel art graphics and colorful aesthetic earned it a lot of buzz before release, though the game received mixed-to-favorable reviews when it first launched last year.
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This War of Mine, also an 11 Bit Studios title, is quite the stark contrast to Moonlighter. It tasks players with surviving a war in a fictional Eastern European city, not as a battle-hardened soldier but as an average citizen. This War of Mine depicts a less fantastical version of war than what’s seen in most modern warfare games, showing the struggles people go through to survive every day in war-torn areas. It’s a solemn game with a clear message: War is terrible. This War of Mine was one of 2014’s most beloved indie games, earning favorable scores when it launched in November of that year, and 11 Bit Studios announced earlier this year that This War of Mine sales surpassed 4.5 million units.
When the Epic Games Store launched in December 2018, Epic began offering free games every two weeks. In May 2019, Epic announced it would continue offering free games on a weekly basis for the rest of 2019 following the Epic Mega Sale. As with any free games Epic offers, players who “purchase” a game from the Epic Games Store during the game’s week-long free period are able to to keep that game indefinitely.