Company of Heroes 3 and Crusader Kings 3 have free weekends on Steam. Also Paradox is having a Publisher sale on most of their games.

blizzard and battlenet have a free week trial of Diablo 4 through the 21st and a 50% off sale


https://gg.deals/freebie/free-diablo...-on-battlenet/

Humble Bundle has a Monster Hunter World and Rise Saga bundle of the base game and DLC's:


https://www.humblebundle.com/games/m...orld-rise-saga

There's a pretty big sale on Crusader Kings 3 which is an incredible game.

free weekend of Killing Floor 2 on Steam this weekend

Endless Legend, a good fantasy 4x game is free to claim on Steam. there is also a game called 100% juice, a board game using the characters from the Orange Juice developers cast of games (of which I know nothing, but hey its a board game)

I think orange juice is the most annoying game i've ever played

based on the trailer for it, I would have to agree. Endless Legend on the other hand is very good

$5 for Monster train on Steam

Hearts of Iron 4 is $15 and Planet Coaster is just over $2 thru the weekend on Steam

Humble bundle has a Talisman bundle available again-have to have the base game, which is free already on Steam. some talisman:origins base game and DLC's too:


https://www.humblebundle.com/games/t...m_medium=email

Capes, a superhero/X-com style combat where the supervillains have already won released on Steam today. I played the demo a bit and it looks like it has some potential to be good.


Save 10% on Capes on Steam

I loved Freedom Force and have been looking forward to this.

Thanks for the heads up, this looks right up my alley! Not sure if I'll buy now or wait for the price to come down in a year or so but this will definitely end up getting played.

Worldwalker Games, the dev company behind Wildermyth, announced this morning on Steam that the game is now completed with no further new content planned.

The company will "go into hibernation" though support & bug fixes will continue though "many team members" will be leaving.

yeah sad about that, but that appeared to be the plan all along to end active work on it. Really enjoy it, so i hope the company emerges from "hibernation" some day when they have something new.

Expect to see a lot of free/on sale with a gay theme/characters this Pride Month. Already availible for free on Steam is Tell me Why. This one is about twins with a supernatural bond who use that to discover their mysterious past.


Save 100% on Tell Me Why on Steam

TopSpin 2K25 free to play this weekend on Steam for all you Tennis game fanatics.

Kingdom Hearts is now available on Steam.


deep rock galactic, GTFO, and Hell Let loose have a free weekend

For fans of games that can give you a heart attack, Humble Bundle has a sale of "Jump Scare' games:


https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p...ore_newsletter

Free weekend of Stellaris on Steam

Shadows:Awakening, a single player isometric RPG with tactical combat is free to claim at GoG.com over the next couple of days

A New CFB game was just released. I am wondering if anyone has picked it up yet? Mostly curious as to how the dynasty plays.

Same developer as Legend Bowl, which I haven't played but maybe someone else has.

I haven't either, but they say it has coach mode! Makes it quite tempting. I wish I had seen this earlier in the weekend.

Bought it, and yes it does have coach mode. Call plays, but no adjustments or audibles pre-snap. I don't have time to get deeper into it, but it looks like you have full rosters. Very 80-90's arcade feel which is probably going to make dealing with rosters and such a bit of a pain. All controller based it seems. They say there are some downloadable mods to give you real college programs. I don't think there is a way to change playoff modes, and what I read it is a 24 team playoff. Still, might be a fun time waster until NCAA 25 comes out next month.

There's a free puzzle/exploration game available on Steam-there is a demo if you want to try it, or you can for a limited time add it your account-that part won't be free long, so may be worth a shot:


Islands of Insight on Steam

Steam Summer Sale is tomorrow afternoon

here are some of the better deals:


429 Too Many Requests

Almost missed seeing this. Dragon's Dogma 2 allows you to play for two hours free-the two hours don't include the character creator, which is pretty extensive. After the two hours you can buy the game and start where you left off with the 2 hour free trial character


You can now start Dragon’s Dogma 2 for free, and it’s on sale, too

I stumbled on to a cool demo today on Steam:Blue Prince. It reminded me of Betrayal at the House of the Hill, a board game where as you explore the manor, you draw a random house tile. This one however is without betrayal or horror.



You play a young boy who has inherited a mansion from his uncle who must make his way through the manor's ever changing rooms to get to a mystical(?) Room 46. You only have a number of steps each day, and must leave the manor at night, where all the rooms reset. There are puzzles to solve to find gems, keys, and items you need to continue onwards and strategy in how you place the rooms so you don't shut your way off.



Blue Prince on Steam


Here's a video (he has a second one up now) of him playing the demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz0s1qlrKc8

Gog.com has a free game for the next couple of days;


The First Templar-you play as a French Templar and as a noble lady who has been deemed a heretic-discover the mysteries behind the Templars, a conspiracy, and a secret of the Holy Grail

i've always loved Templar games heh. There was an old dos windows game called Knights Chase by Infogrames, the makers of the alone in the dark series

There have been some pretty good sales on Hogwarts Legacy recently, 60% or more including a Star deal at Fanatical for 66% for not much longer-get the regular edition for $20 or Deluxe Edition with a mount and Dark Arts clothing for about $23. Finally bit the bullet on this one.

No Man's Sky out with its biggest update yet-more graphical updates of planets and biomes new creatures to find (and attack) and much more:


x.com

There is a demo out now for a game on Steam called "Hollywood Animal". Hollywood Animal on Steam


It's a sim game that starts in the late 20's as Hollywood is entering the golden age, with you taking the role of owning a studio. I played the demo for about 2.5 hours last night and was totally sucked in. The full game is listed as releasing in 2024 so it might be something to keep an eye on for those that like those sort of games.

Highly recommend Emberward, which is a very addictive mix of Deckbuilder, Tower Defense, and Tetris.

This looks really interesting.

Agreed. I think my kids would have liked it, but since the trailer mentions jerking off and has an f-bomb, I think we'll pass.

There is another game that is out in early access called "Movie Tycoon." Getting mixed reviews so far.

I'm watching a video of "Hollywood Animal" and it does look way better. This looks like a non-text based version of "Movie Mogul."

Has anyone played Old World? Although a couple of years old I’ve only just found it, and see it was from people involved in Civ4 so sounds promising

I purchased Old World a year or so ago with the intent of playing on my Steam Deck. It runs fine, and seems like an interesting game, however the text is so small on the Deck that my old eyes just couldn't handle it.

I didn't watch the trailer but there are definitely adult themes. The actors/staff can be alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts, racists, etc. I haven't seen anything too outrageous in the demo, and as an adult I find it mostly kind of interesting/hilarious, but yeah it's probably not a kids game.

I haven't played it, but remember asking a friend who's played a ton of civ about it. His response: "I liked it a lot. Less eras you get orders to move units so you can use 3 on one troop to move them far but that might mean you can't move all your units. That was interesting. That coupled with cities had to happen at specific spots made the ai better than civ."

Looks like I own it, played it for 4 hours, and never played it again. It is a part of a collection of Civ-like games that I buy, play once for a little while, mean to go back to, then never play again.

A reminder. Don't forget to sell your 2024 event steam cards before they expire (or you can convert them into gems too)

I highly recommend watching some videos to see if its for you.

It was,I'm almost certain, watching Vormithrax play this extensively that kept my money in my pocket. The randomness of combat movement that occurs off-screen so you never know whether the game is simply outright just cheating to win (simplified explanation), it was just too much for me. Literally turns most of the ultimate outcomes into RNG (at best) and no amount of skill overcomes that if the AI decides "oh, your last enemy had another 20 units juuuuuust off screen ... they're know on your border"

Currently addicted to SOVL, which is basically a Warhammer-tabletop clone with some roguelike (paths, minimal unlocks) elements ported to PC. The base game is free, and you can pay $4.99 per race to unlock other races (they're available as opponents, only if you want to play as them in the campaign).

Currently running as the Elves and the Chaos (yeah, having a couple units with 2+ saves is op, you can just drag combats outforever.

Thanks for the reco. Currently checking this out. It's surprisingly addictive. For me, it hits a great balance between simplicity and depth.

Thanks - that was really useful. I was in two minds, as there were a few nagging doubts, and that reinforced those doubts (and added a couple more!)

I’ll pass for now but follow in case of major update/sequel.

Dola, I did pick up Journey of Wrestling though, which after playing around with a couple of trial runs I think I like the dynamics of enough to give it a proper go.

Like a simplified TEW (or a more developed and streamlined version of another game I played years ago call Extreme Wrestling Revolution or similar - it might have even been the precursor to TEW IIRC)

I really liked it as a Civ/CK cross where you stay in a cool time period instead of pretty quickly skipping past it and racing to more modern units and tech, but like Civ and CK it also bogs down as you get later in the game and you've built up enough "orders" you either don't use them all many turns or you can do those blitz attacks "from off screen" under the fog of war. Looks like it's had a lot of DLC released, I wouldn't expect any major updates, but maybe just wait for a real sale - I think I got it under $20 pre or at release on Epic idk why the base game price is so sticky on Steam. Even if you just treat it kind of as a Civ scenario there's enough different and pretty cool mechanics it's worth a few starts and run throughs... not like I ever finish my Civ games anyways, the fun is the start and exploration. I thought this one did a really good job with the RPG elements and making family decisions or choosing which place to expand to in the early game/which houses to support feel like real choices that mattered, if I cared enough to look there might even be a Mod available that limits the orders later and keeps that tension.

BTW, speaking of TEW, TEW IX (they've dropped the year and just went with the release number)

Yeah, we don't do a new wrestling game every year (they are like presidential elections and every 4 years - 2016, 2020, 2024), so using the year made it seem like people were using an out-dated version a few years in.

Adam has been doing a Dev diary with all the changes if people are interested:
https://forum.greydogsoftware.com/to...opers-journal/

Play Fallout 4 not in New Vegas, but London-a totally modded version of Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition is out today and free if you own that version already. The link will take you to GOG.com where you claim it.


IMPORTANT: There are instructions on this page to take you to instructions for what to do if you have the game on Steam. Please look at the section labelled A Polite Disclaimer where it tells you about what this mod will do to your base game, so probably not what you want to deal with if you have a Fallout 4 game ongoing,


RATING / ESRB / A

Dead by Daylight has a free weekend on Steam

After playing a lot this week, I’ve worked out the simplicity of JoW is also it’s downfall - it’s very addictive, fun to play, but ultimately too easy to get on a roll. If the game gets a tiny bit more depth without losing what makes it fun ATM it will be absolute gold!

Has whetted my appetite though, and very handy that TEW drops soon!

For a limited time get Jackbox Games, Drawful 2 for free on Steam

Free weekend of Myth of Empires, a multiplayer war sandbox game mixing survival, crafting, and leading troops into battle on Steam

Humble Bundle out with a new digital tabletop bundle out with some pretty good games for $18 if you want the full bundle-Wingspan, Dune Imperium,, Sagrada, Terraforming Mars (and 2 DLC), Root, Everdell, Munchkin, Quilts and cats of Calico, Scythe

TEW IX has been released, you guys can check it out here if you are interested:

Home - Grey Dog Software

The Star Trek version of Stellaris, Star Trek:Infinite is 50% off or $15 on steam

Such a screwy clusterfuck that turned out to be. Released and abandoned a mere five months afterwards. How they managed to botch it so badly feels like a heck of a headscratcher.

This version really does feel like it's taken a big step forward by introducing ideas and concepts that work better in a game than maybe they would in real life. It has taken a big step forward as a GAME in my opinion.

And really after playing this series for 25 years I've done all the fantasy booking I could ever want to do. At this point I just want to be entertained, and this is doing a MUCH better job than 2020 did in that regard.

yeah you would have thought Star Trek added would have been an near instant hit.

I have watch some people play this on Youtube, and it does seem to have amazing depth. If I weren't just bored to death of text sims it would be tempting.

I actually really enjoyed his World of MMA games, but could never get past determining the outcomes of the matches in TEW, I wanted to be surprised by the results, not surprised by the crowd reaction to my predetermined outcomes (I need a kayfabe simulation). If the new version is more 'gamey' maybe I'll like it more...I'll check out the demo.

you can always set no victor/loser note, and let the road agent determines who wins..

I just don't think I can deal with the convoluted reworking of angles. That's got to be one of the most ill conceived constructions I've ever seen in a game of any kind.

Good to know.

Meh, I get it. I’m one of the ones that would book 2 angles in a row to accomplish what I wanted. This fixes it. I’m using it. I wish there was a way to cut down clicks but I understand the change.

All the different roles though, yea, I honestly don’t know what he was going with there especially since the help file says almost all of them are the same thing and it’s mostly cosmetic.

It doesn’t work the way you want it to work though. The road agent will basically always pick the guy that has a higher perception in the company. If it’s the same the higher overness is the winner. Not exactly nail biting results like in WMMA.

And with the exception of maybe a turn or two, I'm not sure I've ever once booked 2 angles in a row for anything.

My head canon abstracted the angles stuff by & large. They never really ever meant anything to me other than a way to boost a show rating for a high Entertainment/Low ring skill guy.

And Will largely plays only Japanese (or J-styled) promotions any more in order to avoid having to deal with them at all. (and he's reached the decade mark with at least a couple of companies, so he plays way more than me anymore)

Anything that makes it feel more like a game and/or makes it more difficult I’m all for. The new angle system lets you stop cheating the angle system for artificially high ratings, if you want, in a way the old system couldn’t do. If you choose not to it doesn’t seem like it would be too different to me. You can do one part, change nothing on the left side. Choose who you want in it and just set them to whatever, we can go with cutting a promo or hype the crowd for the people on screen and off screen for everyone else and you are good to go. It’s functionally the same angle system at that point.

That is also good to know.

Intravenous-a top-down stealth action fighter is free to claim at GoG.com over the next couple of days

Titanfall2 is 90% off or $4 on Steam, most (all?) of the Dragon Age games are 90% off too

Always appreciate your work, Thomkal.

Thanks!

Humble Bundle out with a new RPG bundle featuring RPG's from Owlcat and Beamdog including their latest Warhammer 40,000:Rogue Trader, various Pathfinder games and season passes, and Balder's Gate 1 and 2, and Icewind Dale:


https://www.humblebundle.com/games/b...masters_bundle

Steam with free weekend of Hunt: Showdown 1896

Ok, I bit. I have been playing this for the last week, and I just can't get enough. I don't know crap about wrestling, yet I can't stop thinking about the this game and strategies and things I want to try. I really, really, really wish they could make the interface better. Other then that though it is shocking me how much fun I'm having with this.

free weekends of Core Keeper and HellCard on Steam


Edit:Another free weekend of Diablo 4 too

And with all the talk of Civ 7, another classic has entered early access on Steam:Heroes of Might and Magic:Olden Era


After ten long years, we’re finally getting a new Might and Magic game

Gog.com has a freebie to claim in the next 72 hours-Tropico 4

Oh that is fantastic. Hope it doesn't bomb.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is free to play this weekend and 90% off if you like it on Steam


Hogwarts Legacy now at 70% off which seems a bit crazy for such a popular game

Once Upon a Jester is now free to claim at GoG.com for the next 46 hours

Anyone play the new Star Wars game? I see comparisons to Red Dead and I’m tempted but then I see people talk about how bad it runs (especially on PC where Ray Tracing cannot be turned off) and it makes me think I should just wait until it’s fixed and had a few discounts.

SomeOrdinaryGamers on YT said gameplay is bland and it'd be best to hold off until a discount

https://youtu.be/MGI26JTm5M0?si=jD7FU3ur9wRlDdlI

Sony is removing the game Concord, which just came out, from its servers and offering a refund for anyone who bought it. A major miss for a major company:


403

The competition for hero shooters is crazy right now with Apex, Overwatch, and Valorant plus Valve has a new one in beta right now. These games require a large player base to have any success and the bar is incredibly high to pull players from established games.

The writing is also on the wall for Firewalk Studios. Got bought by Sony last year and their first game shuts down and gets refunded less than 2 weeks after release.

I read somewhere that Concord was in development for 7 years. In that time its competition has just been improving itself with updates. It should have launched 5 years ago and benefitted from 5 years of updates between then and now. These companies really need to get a handle on dev times and dev costs before they all put themselves out of business.

I’m actually wrong. It was in development for 8 years. Apex Legends was developed in a little over 2 and has been updated consistently since then. This one really was DOA long before it was released.

Some estimates put the cost at $100,000,000.

Crazy.

Yeah Valve can get away with that and a few other developers could as well. Your studios first game? No chance.

Everyone wants to release these games that are huge and epic on day 1. Even for single player games it seems like it would be better to release a solid, polished experience you can build off of with regular updates and/or expansions rather than a mediocre and empty complete game on day 1.

If anyone is following Avowed, from Obsidian, they realized early on that competing directly with Skyrim wasn't something that made sense for them. Instead, Avowed will be a smaller, but more dense experience with potential expansions coming after release.

The Crew 2 is almost free-$1 on steam/Epic/most consoles for a limited time;


Save 98% on The Crewâ„¢ 2 on Steam


Also on sale on Steam for a $1-Black Desert Online

Vampire game, V Rising is free to play this weekend

There are 5 Sega old games you can get for free even though they are not on a store page. follow the instructions here to see what they are and install them:


429 Too Many Requests