You can nab Yooka-Laylee and Void Bastards for free from the Epic Games Store if you need ’em

Two games today, and Automachef next week

I like helping you all get as many free games as I can, and so here we are again, back for another Eꦦpic Games Store nudge. and are up for grabs until August 26, at which point the next free title in the rotation, , will tag in.

Look at that! I got you in and out in the first paragraph. But I can’t stop there.

We surely all know about Yooka-Laylee by now, right? And if not, the screenshots are a sufficient vibe check. If you’re cool with an attempt to recapture some of Rare’s N64 platformer magic in a modern-day Kickstarted context, and your expectations are adjusted to fit that reality, you can have a good time with this game. If you were never really that into Banjo-Kazooie (an all-time great!), you’d probably best sit this one out.

Void Bastards is the stand-out selection this week, in part because far fewer of us have played it, and it’s arguably underrated. At least, I don’t see it come up that often.

This is a roguelike FPS with development ties to System Shock 2 and a very cool, easy-to-read graphic-novel aesthetic. You play as prisoners (…in space!) who are jumping from one ship to the next, each with their own potential traits and quirks. It’s worth a real look.

As for next week’s freebie Automachef, I’m sure I’ll be back with more to say in the next PSA article, but I reviewed it here and I liked it, just not enough to become head-over-heels obsessed with achieving the “perfect” assembly lines. The food theme is novel enough that it’s worth dabbling in, for sure. If your brain is wired for automation, it’s fun.