Free Games! Prison Architect & Godfall: Challenger Edition on Epic Games Store

Mar 14, 2022

Each week, take a look at my latest article for the new hit game or add-on released for free from the Epic Games Store! This week, the free game is Prison Architect, a simulation game where you get to operate and construct a for-profit prison, just like you’ve always wanted to. Fans of any sim game will get a kick out of this, and fans of Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress will feel right at home.

We also get Godfall: Challenger Edition, a new version of the hit action-looter that streamlines play to just the most exciting action-challenge content of the game. Read on for more details.

What is the Epic Games Store?

Epic games Store

The Epic Games Store has been around for a while, the lesser-known alternative to Steam, the nearly ubiquitous platform for game purchases since it launched in 2003. But, where Steam originally existed and launched to promote Valve games, Epic Games Store launched in 2018 and quickly rose to success on the Fortnite franchise. At the time of Epic’s launch, Steam took a dramatic 30% cut from the sales of video games through their platform! This hurt both game designers and users, just wasn’t very nice. But the folks behind Epic realized something excellent: they could take a much lower cut and still have a profitable business. This led them to fast domination of the indie market, as small publishers flocked to the far better terms offered by Epic.

Mega Discounts

Epic Games Store offers some seriously incredible discounts regularly, in addition to all the normal discounts one would expect on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the usual holidays. But the most exciting is their weekly free game or add-on, which simply harpoons all competitors.

When I first heard about this free game, I thought that can’t be real. They must only offer tiny indie games. Not at all, dear reader. Not. At. All. Epic frequently lists unbelievable A-lister games on their weekly deal, as well as sometimes offer two free games instead of one. In addition, just because a studio is smaller doesn’t mean the games it makes aren’t impressive. I’ve picked up some of my favorite new games, for free, from this platform, and most of them have been made by smaller studios (or as side-projects for teams from big studios).

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Prison Architect

Welcome Wardens! Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.

With over four million copies sold, this is definitely a major hit of a game. Why? Because it’s brilliant.

You take on the role of a contractor hired to build a successful for-profit prison, and whatever you say is what goes. All you need to do is keep the prisoners from breaking out, murdering each other, or killing all the guards. How hard could that be?

Prison Architect offers you the chance to build your prison however you want: go for a clean and neat rehabilitation center where even the most hardened criminals can learn peace and love; go the route of the sadistic Prison-Maxx, with armed guards ready to beat and shoot at the slimmest opportunity; build your prison in the shape of the USS Enterprise… the choice is yours.

The dark comedy of the game really makes it, providing huge replay value alongside the powerful construction system that offers a vast array of possibilities really only limited by your imagination and the 2D game factor. If you’ve played games like Rimworld before, you’ll feel right at home with Prison Architect.

Godfall Challenger Edition

Instantly unleash Godfall’s power! Godfall Challenger Edition immediately unlocks a maximum level Valorplate, spoils you with skill points, and equips you with a spread of deadly weapons. Challenge all three end-game modes!

The main Godfall game has been a roaring success since it’s 2020 release. The action-looter RPG has acquired a large playerbase in a really short amount of time, and for good reason: the game is a total blast.

Godfall draws inspiration from fantasy settings like those from Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, and follows a classic model of “fight enemies, get better gear, progress” which, alongside the co-op mode, makes this a great addition to the action-RPG genre.

Not everyone has been a fan of the game, with people loving it initially but growing a bit tired of the repetitive waves of enemies. Which is why the studio behind Godfall, Counterplay Games, has been hard at work producing more content, more dynamic ways to fight and grind, and totally new ways to engage with the base game.

So what’s new in Godfall Challenger Edition?

Challenger Edition strips out all the story content of the game—in fact, it strips out all of the pre-endgame content altogether! Odd choice? Not at all.

This is the ultimate sandbox for Godfall players, a chance to dive into the special game modes that are usually unlocked by playing through the full game. Instead of grinding your way to the best and most powerful slot, you get to dive straight into your favorite mode as a fully powered and leveled-up Knight.

Combined with a backwards-compatible co-op mode that allows players of this version to connect with players of the standard version (who have completed the game already), Godfall Challenger Edition offers an amazing “bang for your buck,” especially when that “buck” is literally $0!

Destiny 2 & Rimworld

Destiny 2

Destiny 2 is exactly the sort of mythic-science fiction action game you need, and with its incredible free-to-play model, there’s no drawback to checking it out. Taking on the role of Guardians, players protect Earth’s last remaining safe city from various alien races and a growing power of Darkness that threatens to cover all the lands in endless night.

Not only is the story fun, but the first-person shooter gameplay is simply unbelievable, with some of the best in the genre. It’s not 3rd-person, like Godfall, but the team working on Godfall is filled with members from the Destiny 2 team, so you know you’re going to get something with a lot of passion behind it.

Rimworld

Rimworld is absolutely the best possible game to buy if you like this sort of top-down builder. While Prison Architect is highly specialized and specific, with great missions, goals, and objectives that help highlight the theme, Rimworld is basically free-form: do what you will and see what happens.

Want to add a mod that allows you to be rough survivors in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by zombies? Go ahead. Build a towering city of the finest wood (and just hope it doesn’t burn down?) You can. Become a trade settlement and travel far and wide with your goods? Rock on, man. The possibilities are unlimited.