Due to the fact that gaming can be quite an expensive hobby, many players enjoy turning to the Epic Games Store every week to potentially snag a great experience at no extra cost. While the platform's free games promotion is usually known for shining the spotlight on indie titles such as Floppy Knights, incredible deals such as Dragon Age: Inquisition being given away for free is what helps make the weekly rotation and announcements on the Epic Game Store exciting.
Indeed, there have been many great freebies offered on Epic Games' digital storefront over the years, and July 18 marks yet another intriguing week that may interest quite a number of players. While some selections on the storefront go well together, others offer variety so that way numerous gamers walk away with at least one new thing to play. On Thursday, July 18 at 10 AM CT, the two games offered, Arcade Paradise and Maid of Sker, do just that.
Epic Games Store Free Games Maid of Sker and Arcade Paradise Explained
Maid of Sker Literally Makes Fans Fight Against the Story of Elizabeth Williams
Maid of Sker
- Released
- July 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Brave the nightmares of the Quiet Ones. Do not panic…don’t even breathe!
Maid of Sker is a first-person survival horror, set in a remote hotel with a gory and macabre history from Welsh folklore. Armed with only a defensive sound device, you’ll utilise stealth tactics to avoid death amongst a cult of sound-based AI enemies.
Set in 1898 and inspired by the haunting Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams, this is a story of a family empire driven by torture, slavery, piracy and a supernatural mystery that suffocates the grounds of the hotel.
Created and developed by Wales Interactive with a plot crafted by the writing talent and designers behind the likes of SOMA, Don’t Knock Twice and Battlefield 1
3D sound-based AI system as the core survival mechanic.
Realistic visuals featuring 4k uncapped on PC (1080p 60fps minimum).
A chilling story inspired by Welsh folklore fusing psychological, gothic and British horror.
Re-imagining of famous Welsh hymns Calon Lân (A Pure Heart), Suo-Gân (Welsh Lullaby) and Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night) from the spine-chilling voice of Tia Kalmaru.
- Genre(s)
- Horror
Developed by Welsh studio Wales Interactive, Maid of Sker embraces British folklore from a rather personal perspective to absorb players into a survival horror take on the stories. Fans play as Thomas, partner to a girl named Elizabeth who has been taken to Sker Hotel and forced to sing a song for the dark creatures in the establishment. Noise serves as the means of defense and attack in Maid of Sker, as all the dangers players will face will react to sound for better and for worse. If this doesn't intrigue players, however, Maid of Sker does offer an FPS challenge mode as an alternative.
Fans who have enjoyed this game have considered it to feature immersive graphics that highlight the world and its story, with many of its players considering it an underrated experience. Critics on the other hand are a bit harsher on Maid of Sker - considering it frustrating and not at all genre-breaking - giving it mixed reviews across the board. Still, horror fans looking for something new should still give it a try with a playtime of around four and a half casually, with eight hours for completion, and if they enjoy the gamification of classic folklore, there is a spiritual successor by the same developers known as Sker Ritual they can pick up after.
Build and Live in Nostalgia With Arcade Paradise
Arcade Paradise
- Released
- August 11, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Welcome to Arcade Paradise, the 90’s-fuelled retro arcade adventure. Rather than washing rags for a living, you decide to turn the family laundromat into the ultimate arcade. Play, profit, and purchase new arcade machines, with over 35 to choose from, to build your very own Arcade Paradise!
Take the laundromat business made up of dull chores from washing clothes to throwing out the trash, and turn it into a booming arcade with the coolest games in town raking in all the money!
Over 35 arcade games, each fully realized with its own gameplay, stories, missions, and high scores to set! Inspired by 3 decades of gaming, from early vector games right up to the 32-bit era.
Insert a second coin and play against a friend in a number of co-operative & competitive arcade games with up to 4 players locally.
Prove yourself across each game, set your high scores, make your favourite arcade game more popular and upload to the online leaderboards.
From the individual games to choosing what song to put on the jukebox inspired by some of the great records of the early 90s, the soundtrack captures the heart of a bygone era.
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Fantasy Violence, Lyrics
- Publisher(s)
- Wired Productions
- Engine
- Unity
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 35 hours
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum from Maid of Sker is Arcade Paradise, a title that wraps players up in the days of machines and quarters without taking away any of the downsides to really make gamers feel like they've traveled through time. As university drop-out Ashley, fans get put in charge of the family-owned King Wash laundromat that happens to have a few arcade games, which inspires Ashley to purchase more arcade machines and build a completely different business. Players play tons of mini-games that take mundane business-owning tasks and turn them into something fun, such as washing laundry and scrubbing toilets. As long as fans play their cards right, it won't take them long to create their very own dream arcade.
Arcade Paradise is a great way for veteran gamers to spend time between different titles in their backlog, and for just one week, they can add it to their Epic Games Store collections for free. If players enjoy their time with the game, there are plenty of add-ons and extra machines fans can buy to support the developers afterward, which helps make the promotion worthwhile for every party involved.
A digital video game storefront for Windows PC and macOS created and operated by Epic Games. Originally launched in December 2018, Epic Games Store is both a website as well as a standalone launcher.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info