This was the week of the so-called 'Blue Monday'. The saddest day of the year. Of course, it isn't actually the saddest day of the year - it was made up through pseudoscientific nonsense as part of an advertising campaign for a travel company back in the noughties. Even so, I hope you're doing alright with the January blues, which I'm convinced are a real thing in the real world.
That's right, it's a blue month, not just a blue day.
What better way to cheer you up than free games, then? It's just what you need: more games to toss onto your backlog and enjoy when you should probably be carrying on with that knitting hobby you said you'd start for the new year.
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So, here are my free games this week that can be picked up on subscription services - some real gems this time around!
Rainbow Six And Extraction
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular competitive games right now, and it seems like there's no better time than the present to give it a go. It rewards high-level gameplay and extreme mechanical skill too, making it a hugely popular esport along with its playability with a group of friends. Even Manchester United's Jesse Lingard is in on it, with his ownership of a Siege team showing just how mainstream the gaming world is becoming.
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So, if you haven't had the chance to get some friends together to play it, Rainbow Six Siege is free on PC Game Pass right now!
Why don't I sweeten the deal a little bit more, too?
What if I told you that there's a new Rainbow Six that's only just come out?
That's right, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is here, and you can play it for free if you have the right subscriptions. It's available on PC and Xbox Game Pass and offers cooperative multiplayer gameplay in which you fend off parasite-like aliens in a squad of up to three players.
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Julian described it as Siege's "mutant co-op cousin" in his preview.
"It looks like it has the bones of a great night in with friends" according to Julian, which has me sold. Maybe it'll replace Warzone as the squad's go-to!
Free Puzzles With Relicta
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Relicta is something a tad different from what you might be used to, especially if the prospect of Extraction had you salivating. It's a 2020 first-person puzzle game made by developer Mighty Polygon and offers some fascinating physics mechanics with gravity-bending and weird magnetism coming into play.
It's a really interesting-looking game and is free on the Epic Games Store if you're interested in getting stranded on a moon base and uncovering its deepest secrets. There's political intrigue and speculation of the future, a really striking visual style, and a unique set of powers at your disposal. It could just be a new favourite.
A New Kind Of Adventure
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In a surprise launch this week, we saw Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition make it onto PC and Xbox Game Pass. What a treat, both for fans of the series and those of us new to it.
Originally released back in 2010 on the PSP and later ported to mobile devices, the Danganronpa series skyrocketed in popularity after the release of this game, revolutionising the visual novel genre.
The game puts you in the shoes of a high school student who finds himself fighting for his life in a battle royale. That happens all the time, to be fair. Keep your head down at break time.
A bizarre evil teddy bear forces the students into killing each other by offering them the chance to escape by committing murder and not getting caught.
Fans of the Ace Attorney series (like me) will be keen to give this game a shot, with it offering the combination of life at school and investigating the crimes and the 'class trials', forcing you into action and finding the killer.
It's a wild concept, and I love a good murder mystery. Definitely something to pick up.
The WHOLE Hitman Trilogy
Wait, seriously? The entire Hitman reboot trilogy is available on PC and Xbox Game Pass? You read that right.
My favourite game in any given year when they come out, the Hitman trilogy started in 2016, creating a fantastic sandbox for would-be assassins. With a massive variety of hilariously-conspicuous death traps dotted around each map, great locations like racing car tracks, fashion shows, and stately homes, as well as the tongue-in-cheek tone the trilogy takes, you will be a happy camper if you haven't tried these games before.
Agent 47 is in perfect form. Seriously. He comes out with bangers such as, when he's serving poison to someone, he'll say "try the sushi. It's to die for" in the smuggest way possible. I reckon he gets home and chuckles to himself about his one-liners after each job, and plans new ones in anticipation of the day ahead.
If you haven't played Hitman, Hitman 2, or Hitman 3, what are you waiting for? If you somehow still need convincing, Julian absolutely adored it too. It's not just me, I promise.
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Game Pass continues to be a joy to behold. Absolutely wild what they keep pulling. But it's not the only place to snag a swag deal. Humble Bundle is giving away the excellent Mafia Definitive Edition until the end of the month. What a time to be alive.
I hope some of these games are to your fancy, and that you enjoy them with all your heart! The January blues can easily be counteracted by shooting rich Illuminati members as a bald barcoded man. It's true science, I read about it.
Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next time.
Featured Image Credit: Ubisoft / Square EnixTopics: Free Games