Free PC Games: ‘Horace’ is your weekly freebie from Epic Games

Now that Epic Games store’s 12 Days of Festive freebies are over, it’s back to business as usual with either one or two free games available every week. Get Horace from 16 until 23 January.

If you haven’t downloaded Epic’s previous free game deal yet, there’s still time, but you have to hurry. Sundered Eldritch Edition will only be available for a few more hours before it’s replaced with the new deal.

Available from Epic Games – 16 to 23 January

Horace

Horace – which was developed by Paul Helman and Sean Scapelhorn, and published by 505 Games back in 2019 – is platforming adventure “which pushes the boundaries of the genre.”

The story is profound: a small robot is searching for life, the universe and Douglas Adams. The heartwarming narrative spans more than 15 hours, and earned the creators a 9 out of 10 from Escapist Magazine.

Make your way through hours of varied gameplay and 2D platforming challenges, mind the unexpected and unique twist and unlock new metroidvania and retro-inspired mini games.

“A frankly gorgeous-looking pixel art platform adventure game. It has a great sense of cinematography for a pixel art platformer, with some really interesting-looking environments to explore. Might very well be the best platformer of 2019.”

Kotaku UK – 9/10

Watch: Horace trailer

PC Gamer describes Horace as a “massive platform with an even bigger heart,” and likens it to Bicentennial Man bumping into Super Meat Boy and Metroid in an 80s sitcom bar.

Of course, the only 80s sitcom bar that came to mind is Cheers, but that’s a tale for another day. PC Gamer’s Dominic Tarason gives Horace a rating of four out of five stars, and explains:

“The levels are cleverly designed too, leveraging all the abilities you’ve hoarded over the course of the game, but never getting away from the basics. From early on until the end, you’ve always got to be careful just how high you jump, as trap-lined ceilings are a regular fixture”. 

Dominic Tarason, PC Gamer, 20 September 2019.

Previous Epic Games deal

Sundered Eldritch Edition

Sundered is a chaotic hand­-drawn metroidvania where you resist or embrace ancient eldritch powers, a challenging and unique take on a classic genre from the creators of Jotun, now with local co-op.

Developedby and published by Thunder Lotus back in 2017, Sundered carries an age restriction of 10+ and best fits in the category of Action, Indie and Metrodvania.

If you’re new to the genre, metroidvania is a subgenre of action-adventure video games, short for Metroid and Castlevania.

Also read – Google Stadia enters battle for cloud gaming market