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Tag: PS Plus Extra
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My time with PS Plus Extra so far
As a long time PS Plus subscriber, the announcement of PS Plus Extra back in 2022 was quite exciting to me. I already had a backlog of more than enough games from the monthly titles, but as someone who has never been able to use Game Pass from my couch, the idea of a new catalogue did make me feel very enthusiastic.
I try not to read too much into console wars internet chatter, but based on whatever the algorithms feed me, I don’t see a whole lot of love for PS Plus Extra. Underwhelm was the general vibe I was sensing at launch and despite numerous fantastic months of additions, I still don’t see a lot of hype. I find this to be a shame because for me, the service just keeps on giving.
The ability to be able to try out so many games without having to commit to them has been so fantastic. Not enjoying it? No biggie, time to move on to the next one. And trying games I never thought I would always brings me joy. Even if I don’t get along with whatever I am playing, it gives me the opportunity to examine why. Not only that but a lot of the games that had their launch on the service have been games that I particularly wanted to play. Stray and Tchia spring to mind immediatly, so I am especially grateful to have been able to play them much earlier than I would have otherwise.
Below, I have gathered together a full list of the games I have played since PS Plus Extra launched. I am doing the same with Game Pass to see if I find any interesting trends, differences, and mostly to have a visual reminder of how lucky we are to get to try out so many different games.
What I have played since PS Plus Extra launched
Games Tried: 25
Games Completed: 17
Games Abandoned: 6
The first thing that I notice in the chart above is that I haven’t done a lot of experimental content with PS Plus (hence no paused or dropped online games). On one hand that is funny as one of my very first deep dives into content creation were covering the PS Plus games. Whether I liked them or not, we discovered as I went. However, as time has passed and I now have a PC, my PlayStation has swerved into more of a personal machine. My capture card became unreliable so if there is a game that I specifically want to stream I do so with Remote Play, otherwise, it is a little bit of a pain so I tend not to.
Secondly, I notice the variety in games played. While there are a lot of indies, there are plenty of AAA’s in there too. I even dropped 2 of them, where as if I had bought them outright I probably would have forced myself to continue (not that I was ever going to buy Demon’s Souls, I was just curious how I would do 😅). Then even among the indies, some of the titles are instantly recognisable while some you may never have heard of. I really do feel privileged to get to play them as my gaming budget is so limited, I wouldn’t be able to try even half of what I have if they weren’t on the service.
The best part is how many games I still have the opportunity to try. Being the list nerd that I am, of course I am keeping track of what looks interesting to me, and there are a few! (Accurate at the time of writing, games leave the service each month so I won’t get to play them all but new games will be added consistantly too)
Still to play – Offline
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- Carto
- Civilization VI
- Cloudpunk
- Cursed to Golf
- Dead Cells
- Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories
- Empire of Sin
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
- Forager
- Ghost of Tsushima
- I am Dead
- Immortals Fenyx Rising
- Kingdom Heards HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX
- Kingdom: New Lands
- The Last Guardian
- Life is Strange 2
- Rain World
- Returnal
- Rune Factory 4
- Scarlet Nexus
- Sea of Stars
- Skyrim
- Slime Rancher
- Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
- Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
- Two Point Hospital
These are the games that I will try/play for myself without making content (probably).
Total Games: 29
Games started: 5 (Dead Cells, Returnal, Rune Factory 4, Sea of Stars, Skyrim)
Still to play – Online or Offline?
- 11-11 Memories Retold
- A Hat in Time
- Chicken Police – Paint it RED!
- JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time
- Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month
- Last Stop
- Spirit of the North
- The Talos Principle
- Undertale
These are games that I haven’t quite decided whether I should make content for or not.
Total Games: 9
To sum up, PS Plus extremely valuable to me. While I adore the service, I do have a creeping worry about how subscription services might affect game sales. Particularly the indies, and particularly with the recent price hike, eating further into peoples budget. But as a consumer, it allows me to play so much more than I otherwise would have been able. For now, I am going to continue working my way through my list, enjoying and appreciating every second of it.
If you have enjoyed this post keep an eye out as I am working on a similar post about Game Pass soon!
GG App is where I do my tracking. Feel free to follow along here.
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Game Service Roundup – June 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is the closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to online play. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games*. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* Occasionally there will be more or less.
June PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 6th June 2023 – Monday 3rd July 2023
- Jurassic World Evolution 2 (PS5/PS4)
- NBA 2K23 (PS5/PS4)
- Trek to Yomi (PS5/PS4)
July PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 4th July 2023
- Alan Wake Remastered (PS5/PS4)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS5/PS4)
- Endling – Extinction is Forever (PS5/PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
June 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 20th
- Soulstice (PS5)
- Conan Exiles (PS5/PS4)
- DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace (PS5/PS4)
- Elex 2 (PS5/PS4)
- Far Cry 6 (PS5/PS4)
- Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator (PS5/PS4)
- Inscryption (PS5/PS4)
- MX vs ATV Legends (PS5/PS4)
- My Friend Peppa Pig (PS5/PS4)
- PAW Patrol Mighty Pups: Save Adventure Bay!(PS5/PS4)
- Redout 2 (PS5/PS4)
- Rogue Legacy 2 (PS5/PS4)
- The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition (PS5/PS4)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (PS5/PS4)
- A Hat in Time (PS4)
- Carto (PS4)
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PS4)
- Dodgeball Academia (PS4)
- Forager (PS4)
- Killing Floor 2 (PS4)
- Lonely Mountain: Downhill (PS4)
- Tacoma (PS4)
- Thief (PS4)
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York (PS4)
- The Wild at Heart (PS4)
June 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 20th
- Coded Soul (PS5/PS4) (Asia Region)
- Herc’s Adventures (PS5/PS4)
- Killzone: Liberation (PS5/PS4)
- Worms (PS5/PS4)
- Game Trial – WWE2K23
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in June 2023
- 9 Monkeys of Shaolin
- Agents of Mayhem
- Ash of Gods: Redemption
- Black Mirror
- Defense Grid 2
- Descenders
- Fire Pro Wrestling World
- Gods Will Fall
- Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf
- John Wick Hex
- KeyWe
- NSR: No Straight Roads: Encore Edition
- Party Hard
- Redeemed
- Red Faction
- Red Faction II
- Wytchwood
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in July 2023 | Dates may vary
- Bioshock Remastered
- Bioshock 2 Remastered
- Bioshock Infinite
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
- Fluster Cluck
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Raiden V Directors Cut
- Rogue Stormers
- Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
- Stray
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
June 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- The Big Con
- Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
- Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Amnesia: The Bunker
- Rune Factory 4 Special
- Dordogne
- The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales
- Need for Speed Unbound
- Bramble: The Mountain King
- F.I.S.T: Forged in Shadow Torch
- Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
July 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Wednesday 5th July – Sword and Fairy: Together Forever
- Friday 14th July – Exoprimal
Games that left Game Pass for PC in June 2023
- Thursday 1st June – Europa Universalis IV
- Thursday 1st June – Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Thursday 1st June – Fifa 21
- Thursday 1st June – Floppy Knights
- Thursday 1st June – Lawn Mowing Simulator
- Friday 16th June – Bridge Constructor Portal
- Friday 16th June – Chorus
- Friday 16th June – Maneater
- Friday 16th June – Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition
- Friday 16th June – Serious Sam 4
- Friday 16th June – Total War: THREE KINGDOMS
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in July 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Saturday 1st July – DJMAX RESPECT V
- Saturday 1st July – Empire of Sin
- Saturday 1st July – Matchpoint – Tennis Championships
- Saturday 1st July – Olija
- Saturday 1st July – OMORI
- Saturday 1st July – Road 96
- Sunday 16th July – Exo One
- Sunday 16th July – Paw Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls
- Sunday 16th July – Spelunky 2
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | June 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 1st June – Mutation Nation (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 1st June – Sengoku (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 8th June – Over Top (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 8th June – Soccer Brawl (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – SteamWorld Dig 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – The Super Spy (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – Top Hunter (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Autonauts (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Revita (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Once upon a Jester (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Roguebook (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Gems of Destiny: Homeless Dwarf (Legacy Games)
- Bonus game – Beasts of Maravilla Island
- Bonus game – Calico
- Bonus game – DKO: Divine Knockout (Amazon Games)
- Bonus game – Double Kick Heroes
- Bonus game – Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King
- Bonus game – Tandem: A Tale of Shadows (Amazon Games)
- Bonus game – Tiny Robots Recharged
- Bonus game – Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
Additional Prime Day Games
- Wednesday 21st June – Prey (GOG)
- Tuesday 27th June – Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 6th July – Shovel Knight: Showdown
- Monday 10th July – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for July 2023
- Thursday 6th July – Cook, Serve, Delicious 3
- Thursday 13th July – Nairi: Tower of Shirin
- Thursday 20th July – Wytchwood
- Thursday 27th July – Lunar Axe
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | June 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- Midnight Ghost Hunt (June 1st – June 8th)
- Payday 2 (June 8th – June 15th)
- Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (June 15th – June 22nd)
- Guacamelee! 2 (June 15th – June 22nd)
- Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (June 22nd – June 29th)
- theHunter: Call of the Wild (June 22nd – June 29th)
- The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk (June 29th – July 6th)
Free Epic Games | Announced for July 2023*
- GRIME (July 6th – July 13th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month. Most of these will have been and gone already but it is interesting to see what games have been given.
Steam Giveaways | June 2023
- Tell Me Why
- Field of Glory II
GOG Giveaways | June 2023
- Sunblaze
- Sigma Theory: Global Cold War
- Eschalon: Book II
- Hell Division
- Ancient Enemy
- Beholder 2
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Game Service Roundup – May 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ended on May 9th.
May PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 2nd May 2023 – Monday 5th June 2023
- Chivalry 2 (PS5/PS4)
- GRID Legends (PS5/PS4)
- Descenders (PS4)
June PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 6th June 2023
- Jurassic World Evolution 2 (PS5/PS4)
- NBA 2K23 (PS5/PS4)
- Trek to Yomi (PS5/PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
May 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 16th
- Ratchet & clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
- Thymesia (PS5)
- Bus Simulator 21: Next Stop (PS5/PS4)
- Humanity (PS5/PS4)
- Lake (PS5/PS4)
- Soundfall (PS5/PS4)
- Watch Dogs: Legion (PS5/PS4)
- Conan Exiles (PS4)
- Dishonored 2 (PS4)
- Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PS4)
- Rain World (PS4)
- Rune Factory 4 Special (PS4)
- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (PS4)
- Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (PS4)
- The Evil Within 2 (PS4)
- Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PS4)
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood (PS4)
May 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 16th
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered (PS4)
- Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light (PSP)
- Pursuit Force (PSP)
- Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (PSP)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in May 2023
- Balan Wonderland
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham City
- Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
- Chronos: Before the Ashes
- Deadlight: Director’s Cut
- Dreamfall Chapters
- FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
- Graveyard Keeper
- Homefront: The Revolution
- How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition
- Injustice 2
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Kona
- Last Day of June
- Left Alive
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Metro: Last Light Redux
- Mighty No. 9
- MX vs ATV All Out
- NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Pixel Piracy
- Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered
- Relicta
- Resident Evil
- Shenmue III trophies
- Star Ocean: First Departure R
- This War of Mine: The Little Ones
- Tour De France 2021
- TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2
- Virginia
- Windbound
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in June 2023 | Dates may vary
- 9 Monkeys of Shaolin
- Agents of Mayhem
- Ash of Gods: Redemption
- Black Mirror
- Defense Grid 2
- Descenders
- Gods Will Fall
- Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf
- John Wick Hex
- KeyWe
- NSR: No Straight Roads: Encore Edition
- Party Hard
- Redeemed
- Red Faction
- Red Faction II
- Wytchwood
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
May 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Ravenlok
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong – Extended Edition
- Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut
- Shadowrun Returns
- Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
- EA Sports Fifa 2023
- Eastern Exorcist
- Supraland: Six Inches Under
- Planet of Lana
- Railway Empire 2
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Farworld Pioneers
June 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Thursday 1st June – The Big Con
- Thursday 1st June – Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
- Thursday 1st June – Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
- Tuesday 6th June – Hypnospace Outlaw
- Tuesday 6th June – Amnesia: The Bunker
- Thursday 8th June – Rune Factory 4 Special
- Thursday 8th June – Stacking
- Tuesday 13th June – Dordogne
Games that left Game Pass for PC in May 2023
- Monday 1st May – Tetris Effect: Connected
- Monday 1st May – Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Monday 1st May – Destroy All Humans!
- Monday 1st May – Unsouled
- Monday 1st May – Bugsnax
- Tuesday 16th May – Umurangi Generation
- Tuesday 16th May – My Friend Pedro
- Tuesday 16th May – Before We Leave
- Tuesday 16th May – Hearts of Iron IV
- Tuesday 16th May – Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition
- Tuesday 16th May – Her Story
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in June 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Thursday 1st June – Europa Universalis IV
- Thursday 1st June – Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Thursday 1st June – Fifa 21
- Thursday 1st June – Floppy Knights
- Thursday 1st June – Lawn Mowing Simulator
- Friday 16th June – Bridge Constructor Portal
- Friday 16th June – Chorus
- Friday 16th June – Maneater
- Friday 16th June – Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition
- Friday 16th June – Serious Sam 4
- Friday 16th June – Total War: THREE KINGDOMS
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | May 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 4th May – Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 4th May – Super Sidekicks (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 4th May – Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa’s Revenge (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 11th May – Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 11th May – Lake (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 11th May – Robo Army
- Thursday 11th May – Last Resort (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 18th May – Kardboard Kings: Card Shop Simulator (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 18th May – The Almost Gone (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 18th May – 3 Count Bout (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 18th May – Alpha Mission 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 25th May – Lila’s Sky Ark (Legacy Games)
- Thursday 25th May – Agatha Knife (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 25th May – King of the Monsters 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 25th May – Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle (Amazon Games)
- Bonus game – Beasts of Maravilla Island
- Bonus game – Calico
- Bonus game – DKO: Divine Knockout (Amazon Games)
- Bonus game – Double Kick Heroes
- Bonus game – Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King
- Bonus game – Tandem: A Tale of Shadows (Amazon Games)
- Bonus game – Tiny Robots Recharged
- Bonus game – Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for June 2023
- Thursday 1st June – Mutation Nation (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 1st June – Sengoku (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 8th June – Over Top (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 8th June – Soccer Brawl (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – SteamWorld Dig 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – The Super Spy (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 15th June – Top Hunter (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Autonauts (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 22nd June – Revita (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Gems of Destiny: Homeless Dwarf (Legacy Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Once Upon a Jester (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 29th June – Roguebook (Amazon Games)
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | May 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- Breathedge (April 27th – May 4th)
- Poker Club (April 27th – May 4th)
- Against All Odds (May 4th – May 11th)
- Horizon Chase Turbo (May 4th – May 11th)
- Kao the Kangaroo (May 4th – May 11th)
- The Sims 4 Daring Lifestyle Bundle (May 11th – May 18th)
- Death Stranding (May 18th – May 25th)
- Fallout: New Vegas – Ultimate Edition (May 25th – June 1st)
Free Epic Games | Announced for June 2023*
- Midnight Ghost Hunt (June 1st – June 8th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month. Most of these will have been and gone already but it is interesting to see what games have been given.
Steam Giveaways | May 2023
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War
If you have found this helpful please consider sharing on social media or with a friend. You could also check out my other work on the blog, YouTube and Twitch, and/or sign up to get posts delivered into you inbox below. Finally, you could consider becoming a member, where you can financially support me and stay up to date with my work as CtrlAltNoob.
Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!
Game Service Roundup – April 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ends on May 9th. If you have any tier of PS Plus and a PS5 then make sure to add the games to your library before it’s too late. As far as I can see, they have taken all traces of the collection from the PlayStation website already so you may have to manually search for each game. Please do take a look because there are many worthwhile games on there.
Here is a list of the games that you need to add to your library before May if you haven’t already –
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
April PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 4th April 2023 – Monday 1st May 2023
- Meet Your Maker (PS5/PS4)
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5/PS4)
- Tails of Iron (PS5/PS4)
May PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 2nd May 2023
- Chivalry 2 (PS5/PS4)
- GRID Legends (PS5/PS4)
- Descenders (PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
April 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 18th
- Bassmaster Fishing (PS5/PS4)
- Doom Eternal (PS5/PS4)
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5/PS4)
- Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS5/PS4)
- Paradise Killer (PS5/PS4)
- Riders Republic (PS5/PS4)
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5/PS4)
- Anodyne (PS4) (4th April)
- The Evil Within (PS4)
- Slay the Spire (PS4)
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4)
April 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 18th
- Doom (PS4)
- Doom II (PS4)
- Doom 64 (PS4)
- Doom 3 (PS4)
- Dishonoured: Definitive Edition (PS4)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in April 2023
- 2Dark
- 428: Shibuya Scramble (EU Only)
- Croixleur Sigma
- Gabbuchi
- Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Steins;Gate Elite (EU Only)
- The Caligula Effect: Overdose
- The Wonderful 101: Remastered
- Zanki Zero: Last Beginning (EU Only)
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in May 2023 | Dates may vary
- Balan Wonderland
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham City
- Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
- Chronos: Before the Ashes
- Deadlight: Director’s Cut
- Dreamfall Chapters
- FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
- Graveyard Keeper
- Homefront: The Revolution
- How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition
- Injustice 2
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Kona
- Last Day of June
- Left Alive
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Metro: Last Light Redux
- Mighty No. 9
- MX vs ATV All Out
- NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Pixel Piracy
- Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered
- Relicta
- Resident Evil
- Shenmue III trophies
- Star Ocean: First Departure R
- This War of Mine: The Little Ones
- Tour De France 2021
- TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2
- Virginia
- Windbound
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
April 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Goat Simulator
- Loop Hero
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Minecraft Legends
- Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly
- Homestead Arcana
- Cassette Beasts
- Quantum Break
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
- The Last Cast of Benedict Fox
- Besiege
- Redfall
- Mass Effect 2 (2010 Edition)
- Mass Effect 3 (2012 Edition)
May 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Thursday 4th May – Ravenlok
- Thursday 11th May – Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
- Thursday 25th May – Railway Empire 2
Games that left Game Pass for PC in April 2023
- Saturday 1st April – Cluster Truck
- Saturday 1st April – Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Saturday 1st April – Kracken Academy
- Saturday 1st April – A Memoir Blue
- Saturday 1st April – Chinatown Detective Agency
- Sunday 16th April – The Riftbreaker
- Sunday 16th April – Panzer Corps 2
- Sunday 16th April – The Long Dark
- Sunday 16th April – Life is Strange: True Colors
- Sunday 16th April – The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
- Sunday 16th April – Moonglow Bay
- Sunday 16th April – Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in May 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Monday 1st May – Tetris Effect: Connected
- Monday 1st May – Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Monday 1st May – Destroy All Humans!
- Monday 1st May – Unsouled
- Monday 1st May – Bugsnax
- Tuesday 16th May – Umurangi Generation
- Tuesday 16th May – My Friend Pedro
- Tuesday 16th May – Before We Leave
- Tuesday 16th May – Hearts of Iron IV
- Tuesday 16th May – Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition
- Tuesday 16th May – Her Story
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | April 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 6th April – Wolfenstein: The New Order (GOG)
- Thursday 6th April – Ninja Commando (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 6th April – Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – The Beast Inside (GOG)
- Thursday 13th April – Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – Crossed Swords (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – Ghost Pilots (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Beholder 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Terraformers (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Metal Slug 4 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Ninja Masters (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Looking for Aliens (Legacy Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Grime (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Sengoku (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Magician Lord (Amazon Games)
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for May 2023
- Thursday 4th May – Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D
- Thursday 4th May – Super Sidekicks
- Thursday 4th May – Samurai Shodown IV
- Thursday 11th May – Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition
- Thursday 11th May – Lake
- Thursday 11th May – Robo Army
- Thursday 11th May – Last Resort
- Thursday 18th May – Kardboard Kings
- Thursday 18th May – The Almost Gone
- Thursday 18th May – 3 Count Bout
- Thursday 18th May – Alpha Mission 2
- Thursday 25th May – Lila’s Sky Ark
- Thursday 25th May – Agatha Knife
- Thursday 25th May – King of the Monsters 2
- Thursday 25th May – Kizuna Encounter
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | April 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- The Silent Age (March 30th – April 6th)
- Shapez (April 6th – April 13th)
- Dying Light Enhanced Edition (April 6th – April 13th)
- Mordhau (April 13th – April 20th)
- Second Extinction (April 13th – April 20th)
- Beyond Blue (April 20th – April 27th)
- Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (April 20th – April 27th)
- Breathedge (April 27th – May 4th)
- Poker Club (April 27th – May 4th)
Free Epic Games | Announced for May 2023*
- Against All Odds (May 4th – May 11th)
- Horizon Chase Turbo (May 4th – May 11th)
- Kao the Kangaroo (May 4th – May 11th)
- The Sims 4 Daring Lifestyle Bundle (May 11th – May 18th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month. Most of these will have been and gone already but it is interesting to see what games have been given.
GOG Giveaways | April 2023
- Under the Moon
Steam Giveaways | April 2023
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
If you have found this helpful please consider sharing on social media or with a friend. You could also check out my other work on the blog, YouTube and Twitch, and/or sign up to get posts delivered into you inbox below. Finally, you could consider becoming a member, where you can financially support me and stay up to date with my work as CtrlAltNoob.
Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!
Game Service Roundup – March 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ends in May. If you have any tier of PS Plus and a PS5 then make sure to add the games to your library before it’s too late. As far as I can see, they have taken all traces of the collection from the PlayStation website already so you may have to manually search for each game. Please do take a look because there are many worthwhile games on there.
Here is a list of the games that you need to add to your library before May if you haven’t already –
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
March PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 7th March 2023 – Monday 3rd April 2023
- Battlefield 2042 (PS5/PS4)
- Code Vein (PS4)
- Minecraft Dungeons (PS4)
April PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 4th April 2023
- Meet Your Maker (PS5/PS4)
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5/PS4)
- Tails of Iron (PS5/PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
March 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 21st
- Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PS5)
- Haven (PS5/PS4)
- Immortals: Fenyx Rising (PS5/PS4)
- Life is Strange: True Colors (PS5/PS4)
- Tchia (PS5/PS4)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction (PS5/PS4)
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4)
- Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4)
- Life is Strange 2 (PS4)
- NEO: The World Ends With Us (PS4)
- RAGE 2 (PS4)
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition (PS4)
- Untitled Goose Game (PS4)
March 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 21st
- Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1)
- Ape Escape 2 (PSP)
- Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PSP)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in March 2023
- WWE 2K22
- Danger Zone
- Dungeons
- Ghost of a Tale
- Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5
- Override 2: Super Mech League
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
- Velocibox
- Victor Vran Overkill Edition
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in April 2023 | Dates Vary
- 2Dark
- 428: Shibuya Scramble (EU Only)
- Croixleur Sigma
- Gabbuchi
- Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Steins;Gate Elite (EU Only)
- The Caligula Effect: Overdose
- The Wonderful 101: Remastered
- Zanki Zero: Last Beginning (EU Only)
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
March 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – The Prince’s Edition
- Infinite Guitars
April 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Tuesday 4th April – Goat Simulator
- Tuesday 4th April – Loop Hero
- Wednesday 12th April – Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Tuesday 18th April – Minecraft Legends
- Thursday 20th April – Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly
Games that left Game Pass for PC in March 2023
- Wednesday 1st March – Alien: Isolation
- Wednesday 1st March – Crown Trick
- Wednesday 1st March – Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Wednesday 1st March – FAR: Changing Tides
- Wednesday 1st March – Lightning Returns: FFXIII
- Wednesday 1st March – Madden NFL 21
- Wednesday 1st March – Octopath Traveler
- Thursday 16th March – Goat Simulator
- Thursday 16th March – Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Thursday 16th March – Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Thursday 16th March – Paradise Killer
- Thursday 16th March – Undertale
- Thursday 16th March – Young Souls
- Thursday 16th March – Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in April 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Saturday 1st April – Cluster Truck
- Saturday 1st April – Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Saturday 1st April – Kracken Academy
- Saturday 1st April – A Memoir Blue
- Saturday 1st April – Chinatown Detective Agency
- Sunday 16th April – The Riftbreaker
- Sunday 16th April – Panzer Corps 2
- Sunday 16th April – The Long Dark
- Sunday 16th April – Life is Strange: True Colors
- Sunday 16th April – The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
- Sunday 16th April – Moonglow Bay
- Sunday 16th April – Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | March 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 2nd March – Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 9th March – Adios (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 9th March – I Am Fish (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 16th March – Faraway 3: Arctic Escape (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 23rd March – Book of Demons (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 23rd March – Peaky Blinders: Mastermind (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 30th March – City Legends: Trapped in Mirror – Collector’s Edition (Legacy Games)
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for April 2023
- Thursday 6th April – Wolfenstein: The New Order
- Thursday 6th April – Ninja Commando
- Thursday 6th April – Art of Fighting 3
- Thursday 13th April – The Beast Inside
- Thursday 13th April – Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
- Thursday 13th April – Crossed Swords
- Thursday 13th April – Ghost Pilots
- Thursday 20th April – Beholder 2
- Thursday 20th April – Terraformers
- Thursday 20th April – Metal Slug 4
- Thursday 20th April – Ninja Masters
- Thursday 27th April – Looking for Aliens
- Thursday 27th April – Grime
- Thursday 27th April – Sengoku
- Thursday 27th April – Magician Lord
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | March 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- Duskers (February 23rd – March 2nd)
- Rise of Industry (March 2nd – March 9th)
- Call of the Sea (March 9th – March 16th)
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War (March 16th – March 23rd)
- Chess Ultra (March 23rd – March 30th)
- World of Warships – Starter Pack: Ishizuchi (March 23rh – March 30th)
- Tunche (March 30th – April 6th)
- The Silent Age (March 30th – April 6th)
Free Epic Games | Announced for April 2023*
- Blazing Sails (April 6th – April 13th)
- Dying Light Enhanced Edition (April 6th – April 13th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month. Most of these will have been and gone already but it is interesting to see what games have been given.
GOG Giveaways | March 2023
- Lorelai
- Neurodeck: Psychological Deckbuilder
- Deep Sky Derelicts
Steam Giveaways | March 2023
- Figment
If you have found this helpful please consider sharing on social media or with a friend. You could also check out my other work on the blog, YouTube and Twitch, and/or sign up to get posts delivered into you inbox below. Finally, you could consider becoming a member, where you can financially support me and stay up to date with my work as CtrlAltNoob.
Sign up now to stay up to date with the latest posts!
Game Service Roundup – February 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ends in May. If you have any tier of PS Plus and a PS5 then make sure to add the games to your library before it’s too late. As far as I can see, they have taken all traces of the collection from the PlayStation website already so you may have to manually search for each game. Please do take a look because there are many worthwhile games on there.
Here is a list of the games that you need to add to your library before May if you haven’t already –
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
February PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 7th February 2023 – Monday March 6th 2023
- Evil Dead: The Game (PS5/PS4)
- OlliOlliWorld (PS5/PS4)
- Destiny 2: Beyond Light (PS5/PS4)
- Mafia: The Definitive Edition (PS4)
March PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 7th March 2023
- Battlefield 2042 (PS5/PS4)
- Code Vein (PS4)
- Minecraft Dungeons (PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
February 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 21st
- Borderlands 3 (PS5/PS4)
- The Forgotten City (PS5/PS4)
- Horizon Forbidden West (PS5/PS4)
- Outriders (PS5/PS4)
- The Quarry (PS5/PS4)
- Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PS5/PS4)
- Scarlet Nexus (PS5/PS4)
- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PS4)
- Earth Defense Force 5 (PS4)
- I Am Setsuna (PS4)
- Lost Sphear (PS4)
- Oninaki (PS4)
- Tekken 7 (PS4)
February 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 21st
- Destroy All Humans (PS4)
- Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PS1)
- The Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
- Wild Arms 2 (PS1)
March 2023 Announced PS Plus Extra/Premium Additions | Available from various dates
- Tuesday 21st March – Tchia (PS5/PS4)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5/PS4)
- Rainbow Six Extraction (PS5/PS4)
- Ghostwire Tokyo (PS5)
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PS5)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in February 2023
- Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders
- The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition
- Metro: Exodus
- Pure Farming 2018
- Rad Rogers
- Saints Row: The Third Remastered
- Sine Mora EX
- SkyDrift Infinity
- Sparkle Unleashed
- The Turing Test
- Whispering Willows
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in March 2023 | Dates Vary
- WWE 2K22 (March 13th)
- Danger Zone
- Dungeons
- Ghost of a Tale
- Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5
- Override 2: Super Mech League
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
- Velocibox
- Victor Vran Overkill Edition
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
February 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Darkest Dungeon
- HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED – Game of the Year Edition
- SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE
- Madden NFL 23
- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
- Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition
- Atomic Heart
- Merge & Blade
- Soul Hackers 2
- F1 22
March 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Friday 3rd March – Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- Tuesday 7th March – Guilty Gear -Strive-
Games that left Game Pass for PC in February 2023
- Wednesday 1st February – Donut County
- Wednesday 1st February – Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master!
- Wednesday 1st February – Telling Lies
- Wednesday 1st February – Worms W.M.D
- Thursday 16th February – Besiege
- Thursday 16th February – Infernax
- Thursday 16th February – The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom
- Thursday 16th February – Recompile
- Thursday 16th February – Skul: The Hero Slayer
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in March 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Wednesday 1st March – Alien: Isolation
- Wednesday 1st March – Crown Trick
- Wednesday 1st March – Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Wednesday 1st March – FAR: Changing Tides
- Wednesday 1st March – Lightning Returns: FFXIII
- Wednesday 1st March – Madden NFL 21
- Wednesday 1st March – Octopath Traveler
- Thursday 16th March – Goat Simulator
- Thursday 16th March – Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Thursday 16th March – Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Thursday 16th March – Paradise Killer
- Thursday 16th March – Undertale
- Thursday 16th March – Young Souls
- Thursday 16th March – Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | February 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 2nd February – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition (GOG)
- Thursday 2nd February – Onsen Master (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 9th February – Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 9th February – Divine Knockout (Epic Games)
- Thursday 16th February – One Hand Clapping (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 16th February – BATS: Bloodsucker Anti-Terror Squad (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 23rd February – Space Crew: Legendary Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 23rd February – Tunche (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 23rd February – Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator (Amazon Games)
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for February 2023
- Thursday 2nd March – Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 9th March – Adios
- Thursday 9th March – I Am Fish
- Thursday 16th March – Faraway 3: Arctic Escape
- Thursday 23rd March – Book of Demons
- Thursday 23rd March – Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
- Thursday 30th March – City Legends: Trapped in Mirror – Collector’s Edition
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | February 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- City of Gangsters (February 2nd – February 9th)
- Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider (February 2nd – February 9th)
- Recipe for Disaster (February 9th – February 16th)
- Warpips (February 16th – February 23rd)
- Duskers (February 23rd – March 2nd)
Free Epic Games | Announced for March 2023*
- Rise of Industry (March 2nd – March 9th)
- Call of the Sea (March 9th – March 16th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month.
GOG Giveaways | February 2023
- Alien Breed Trilogy
- Biing!: Sex, Intrigue and Scalpels
Steam Giveaways | March 2023
- Figment (Claim by Thursday March 9th)
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Game Service Roundup – January 2023
Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ Due to the first Tuesday of the month falling on the 7th, the announcement wasn’t made until February 1st.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ends in May. If you have any tier of PS Plus and a PS5 then make sure to add the games to your library before it’s too late. As far as I can see, they have taken all traces of the collection from the PlayStation website already so you may have to manually search for each game. Please do take a look because there are many worthwhile games on there.
Here is a list of the games that you need to add to your library before May if you haven’t already –
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
January PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 3rd January 2023 – Monday 6th February 2023
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS5/PS4)
- Axiom Verge 2 (PS5/PS4)
- Fallout 76 (PS4)
February PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 7th February 2022
- Evil Dead: The Game (PS5/PS4)
- OlliOlliWorld (PS5/PS4)
- Destiny 2: Beyond Light (PS5/PS4)
- Mafia: The Definitive Edition (PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
January 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 17th
- Back 4 Blood (PS4/PS5)
- Jett: The Far Shore (PS4/PS5)
- Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition (PS5)
- Dragon Ball FighterZ (PS4)
- Devil May Cry 5 (PS4)
- Erica (PS4)
- Just Cause 4: Reloaded (PS4)
- Life is Strange (PS4)
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm (PS4)
- Omno (PS4)
January 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 17th
- Hot Shots Golf 2 (PS1)
- Star Wars Demolition (PS1)
- Syphon Filter 3 (PS1)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in January 2023
- Bound By Flame
- The Council – Complete Season
- Electronic Super Joy
- Enigmatis: The Ghost of Maple Creek
- Jumpjet Rex
- The Last Tinker: City of Colors
- Leo’s Fortune – HD Edition
- Masters of Anima
- Seasons After Fall
- Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom
- Space Hulk: Tactics
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in February 2023 | Dates Vary
- Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders (Tuesday February 21st)
- The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (Tuesday February 21st)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition (Tuesday February 21st)
- Pure Farming 2018 (Tuesday February 21st)
- Sine Mora EX (Tuesday February 21st)
- SkyDrift Infinity (Tuesday February 21st)
- Sparkle Unleashed (Tuesday February 21st)
- The Turing Test (Tuesday February 21st)
- Whispering Willows (Tuesday February 21st)
- Metro: Exodus
- Rad Rodgers
- Saints Row: The Third Remastered
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
January 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Stranded Deep
- Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
- Persona 3 Portable
- Persona 4 Golden
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Hi-Fi Rush
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R
- Inkulinati
February 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Darkest Dungeon (Thursday 2nd February)
- HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED – Game of the Year Edition (Tuesday 7th February)
- Atomic Heart (Tuesday 21st February)
Games that left Game Pass for PC in January 2023
- Iron Harvest
- Immortal Realms Vampire Wars
- Tropico 6
- Scarlet Nexus
- Secret Neighbor
- Outer Wilds
- Gorogoa
- The Pedestrian
- Embr
- The Anacrusis
- Trigger
- Nobody Saves the World
- Pupperazzi
- Windjammers 2
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in February 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Donut County (Wednesday 1st)
- Worms W.M.D (Wednesday 1st)
- Telling Lies (Wednesday 1st)
- Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! (Wednesday 1st)
- Recompile (Thursday 16th)
- Skul: The Hero Slayer (Thursday 16th)
- The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom (Thursday 16th)
- Besiege (Thursday 16th)
- Infernax (Thursday 16th)
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free monthly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
⚠ Prime Games are being made available on a weekly basis from February 2nd rather than the usual bundle at the start of the month. They have renamed the tab on the website ‘Weekly Games’ so I presume this is their new model going forward.
Amazon Prime Games | January 2023
- Faraway 2: Jungle Escape (Amazon Games)
- The Evil Within 2 (GOG)
- Beat Cop (GOG)
- Chickon Police – Paint it RED! (Amazon Games)
- Lawn Mowing Simulator (Amazon Games)
- Breathedge (Amazon Games)
- Dishonored 2 (GOG)
- SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (Amazon Games)
- The King of Fighters 2003 (Amazon Games)
- Twinkle Star Sprites (Amazon Games)
- The Last Blade (Amazon Games)
- The Last Blade 2 (Amazon Games)
- Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers (Amazon Games)
- Metal Slug (Amazon Games)
- Metal Slug 3 (Amazon Games)
- Metal Slug X (Amazon Games)
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for February 2023
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition (GOG) (February 2)
- Onsen Master (Amazon Games) (February 2)
- Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (February 9)
- Divine Knockout (February 9)
- One Hand Clapping (February 16)
- BATS: Bloodsucker Anti-Terror Squad (February 16)
- Space Crew: Legendary Edition (February 23)
- Tunche (February 23)
- Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator (February 23)
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | January 2023
- Dishonoured – Definitive Edition
- Eximius: Sieze the Frontline
- Kerbal Space Program
- Shadow Tactics – Aiko’s Choice
- Divine Knockout
- First Class Trouble
- Gamedec – Definitive Edition
- Epistory – Typing Chronicals
- Adios
- Hell is Others
Free Epic Games | Announced for February 2023*
- City of Gangsters (February 2nd – February 9th)
- Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider (February 2nd – February 9th)
- Recipe for Disaster (February 9th – February 16th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month.
GOG Giveaways | January 2023
- Haven Park
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A Noob’s Review – Moonlighter
Moonlighter is a game in which you hunt for treasures by night, and sell them by day. Both of these jobs create two different modes which construct the daily flow of the game. The dungeons you pillage are randomized in a rogue-like fashion. The further you get into a dungeon, the more valuable loot you will find. Kill the main boss to complete the dungeon and unlock the next one, with a new biome and new loot. Throughout the journey you will be fighting creatures, finding notes and organizing your bag in order to maximize your haul. What is the catch here you may be wondering? Well.. If you die you lose the majority of the loot that you have collected that night. It becomes a game of deciding whether you dare go into the next room. There may be enemies that could kill you, but there also may be a healing pool or something worth everything you have already collected combined. Do you want to risk it all? Or are you satisfied to come back another day.
The second half of this game is managing your shop. Almost everything that you find is sellable. Your job is to figure out the optimal price to sell these items. Price them too low and you are missing out on valuable cash, but price them too high and they will not sell or customer demand for said item will plummet. The game kindly provides you with a book that updates automatically to allow you to focus on pricing up the new goods while quickly selling old ones. Another catch? A lot of what you find are also materials that you will need to upgrade your equipment, so you have to make some decisions – managing money vs benefit when it comes to what you sell. My advice? Prioritize upgrading every time. It makes a huge difference as you can spend longer in the dungeons, allowing you to bring even more valuable loot home. And thus, the loop continues.
+ A Good Podcast Game
My favourite thing about this game is that it is a great podcast game. By which I mean, once you are used to the mechanics and know what you are doing, you can easily put on your favourite podcast and listen away.
– The Combat
I am so hit and miss with combat that anyone would be forgiven for taking my opinion with a grain of salt. However, I found the combat to feel really clunky. Hitboxes were strange, it didn’t feel super responsive and I never really got the hang of it. The first thing that I did was rebound the controls (excellent feature I am always happy to see) to feel more familiar which helped some, but the further I got it never felt better. The only thing that helped me make progress was upgrading my equipment. Of course, that is to be expected, but I never felt like I was improving as a player. I was still feeling as frustrated by the end as I was at the beginning. By the fourth dungeon I ended up turning down the difficulty because I just wasn’t having fun with it. Granted, I am used to playing The Binding of Isaac where you can attack in a different direction than you are facing. You can’t do that here and I felt it a lot. It resulted in lots of running into enemies while trying to face them, taking damage in the process.
+/- The Progression
This being a pro or a con really depends on how much you enjoy the core loop. I did enjoy the loop, but I was excited to see how it was going to progress as I unlocked new areas and facilities in the town. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t enjoy the direction it took. The best way that I can describe it is – more of the same but with a few added annoyances. The dungeons and your gear upgrades all follow the same patterns with a couple of changes here and there. That was fine. It was the shop progression that I had a bit of an issue with. As an example, the larger your shop grows, new mechanics are introduced. One of them is a bird flying into your shop. You have to chase it around and catch it by pressing X. It startles the customers and everyone freezes until you catch it. The first time this happened was fine, but it happened around the same time every single day, with the bird flying in the same predictable pattern. It wasn’t a challenge or a delight. It was just a thing that happened to give you something to do and it didn’t add anything. In fact the opposite, it developed to be quite annoying. I do enjoy how the variety of customers grows as your shop does, but I hoped for more in the shop itself.
+ The Ease of Use Features
Simple mechanics such as moving everything to and from chests, easily being able to pick up individual items or stacks, sorting via price, getting rid of items mid dungeon, automatically updating my price book, being able to see my price book easily mid looting, and having a wish list option that highlights crafting materials you need as you find them, were all very gratefully received by me. Often when I thought ‘I wish I could do this’ my thought was cut short because the game had already given me a way to do it.
– Valuing items becomes finicky
To create more challenge and variety, your book doesn’t store item price data if the item is in high demand when it is sold. That means that you can charge more than normal for profit, but the number doesn’t get saved. I wish there was a separate section for recording this data. In addition, it doesn’t save the price for certain customers. This can result in an attempt to figure out the best price of a particular item thwarted because some rich or interested dude bought it. This then gets frustrating becasue you not only have to remember the item and price range that you were working with, but find it again and try another day where it is just as likely to happen again. By the third dungeon I would say around 95% of my prices were not getting recorded and it was really frustrating because figuring out the price boundaries was my favourite part of the game. I loved testing the boundaries, slowly testing the maximum I could get without being too cheeky. This aspect was completely taken away due to the progression of the mechanics and instead turned into annoying robbers and just trying to sell everything as fast as I could. It improved slightly in the fourth dungeon but by then I felt defeated. It had me questioning whether my game was bugged, a question I still don’t know the answer to.
– Some Minor Technical Issues
Every time I pressed X – from entering a dungeon to reading a note – the game would switch my weapons. Which would mean I would run up to punch an enemy only to slowly shoot an arrow in their face because I didn’t realise it had switched. This isn’t game ruining at all, but it was an annoyance that added onto previous ones. I also had some chugging and framerate drops occasionally which felt a little strange in a 2D top down game like this.
+ The Familiars
You can happen upon eggs in the dungeons that after a few days hatch into little friends that aid you during your dungeoneering. I loved this addition. They were cute and had some legitimately interesting perks.
– The Notes
There are notes you can find throughout the dungeons and every time I found one I felt excited. They are there to give the player some hints and add some flavour. I just wish they were a bit more interesting. It didn’t take long at all for them to start repeating and I found them to be quite generic. Occasionally it would be a hint for something that I figured out 2 dungeons ago, and it just ended up feeling very disappointing.
Ultimately, the first couple of hours of was my favourite part of the time that I spent with this game. Where I thought it was going based on those first hours and where it actually went turned out to be a little different, which was unfortunate for me. My favourite part of the game was gradually made worse by strange mechanics rather than staying the same or improving, to the point that I pretty much gave up on it. I started my first few hours wanting to craft every weapon to the highest level, but by the end I was just trying to finish the game. It could be that it is just not for me, but what I really think happened is the niggles that I mentioned above wore me down. The later the game, the more niggly mechanics were added which added to the wear down. I think it is a fantastic, fun core concept for a game that was brought down by a few small things. That all being said, if you go in with the expectations set by everything written above then it is a nice game to keep your hands busy while you listen to podcasts.
+ A Good Podcast Game
– The Combat
+/- The Progression
+ The ease of use features
– Valuing items becomes finicky
– Some minor technical issues
+ The Familiars
– The Notes
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CtrlAltNoob 