2019-05-01+PC+Gamer

The Top 50 Free Games

FEaturE

thESE MOnStErS

O

r really any Strangethink

game, but this feels like a

good introduction to the

developer’s refreshingly

colourful, abstract

environments. Previous games took you

to alien art exhibits, and procedurally

generated galleries, while These

Monsters’ artistically minded world takes

the form of an imposing museum. In each

room there is a TV, or several of them,

showing vaguely sinister warning

messages on a loop. It’s only when you

leave the rooms that you realise you’ve

been taken somewhere new, as its

dizzyingly recursive world displaces the

player every time they pass through a

door. Good luck finding your way around

this brilliantly disjointed museum. TS

bit.ly/thesemonsters

OFF-pEak

A

jazzy explore-’em-up that

captures many of the best parts

of immersive sims. There’s no

fighting or sneaking here, but there are

plenty of NPCs to chat to, and stuff to

interact with. Exploration is only

meaningful if there are worthwhile things

to find, and Off-Peak is crammed to the

rafters with interesting sights. TS

bit.ly/offpeakpc

hauntED cItIES

E

xplore a range of unsettling,

fantastical worlds in Kitty

Horrorshow’s Haunted Cities

series. The environments include

apocalyptic cities and messed-up fantasy

worlds, and look convincingly like 3D

games from the mid-’90s. With no

combat to worry about, it’s a joy just to

explore these ambiguous spaces. TS

bit.ly/hauntedpc

BIrthplacE

OFOSSIan

You can almost feel the

wind on your neck as you

roam the acres of terrain

open to you in Connor

Sherlock’s hilly traversal

game. Traipse from one

ancient monolith site to

another, as gorgeous

synth music imbues the

rugged landscape with

meaning. TS

bit.ly/ossianpc

aMuSEuMOF

DuBIOuSSplEnDOrS

This pairs short passages

from the work of (fictional)

poet Mir UmarHassan with

everyday objects that

hang, giant and unnatural,

in the titular museum. It’s

beautiful and haunting,

and forms part of Studio

Oleomingus’ larger

narrative project,

Somewhere. PS

bit.ly/2UHX3VS

BErnBanD

There’s no combat,

complicated puzzles, or

rich story to discover in

Bernband. Featuring

weird, stylish pixelated

visuals, you explore an

alien city, mingling with

crowds in nightclubs and

soaking in the strange

atmosphere. A difficult

game to pin down, but one

worth sampling. TS

bit.ly/bernbandpc

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