# Free PC game and free weekend notification thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [November 13, 2014, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513 "2014-11-13T08:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1345 "2022-04-22T12:23:47Z")
I’ve been getting emails from GOG for years so it’s just a free game to me. Or, you know, just unsubscribe afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1346 "2022-04-22T12:38:25Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > lol you have read the fine print , to get postal 2 free you have to agree to get the usually twice-weekly emails when you hit the “go-to giveaway” it reloads the sale page and the link and adds "you agree to receive email from gog and sp zoo at the email address on your gog account to get postal 2 " > > It’s a neatly legit phishing attempt⁢ I’m not seeing any such fine print on the page where I clicked “Go to Giveaway.” It’s been a couple days, so I’ll wait and see if they send me any new spam. Also phishing means that someone other than the person you wanted gets your information, so I don’t think that’s the right word here. It’s not like some company called G0G (with a zero) got my info. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1347 "2022-04-22T12:41:40Z")
its on the second link when the page reloads, ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1348 "2022-04-22T16:40:55Z")
The “Second Page” is actually GOG’s main store page. I only linked to the Postal 2 game page for anyone who didn’t know what Postal 2 was and because you have to scroll down on the main page to find it – so it wouldn’t be obvious when the free offer ended (and the box just disappeared) versus going to the game page and seeing it for $9.99 Nothing shady there. People have the right to say “I don’t want to sign up for your newsletter”, of course, but they’re pretty clear about the offer. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1349 "2022-04-24T21:39:58Z")
Not to mention that they’ve always required a sign up for their newsletter to get a free game. They’ve never made this a secret, and seriously, a free game for a newsletter that gives you discounts, new games announcements, and other similar things is not a bad deal at all. I still regularly read the mailings they send me. And as mentioned, you can literally unsubscribe at any time. In fact, you can regularly resubscribe to get the free games and then unsubscribe again. Or, just stay on the newsletter and you get the games for free anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1350 "2022-04-25T16:34:55Z")
I stay on the newsletter just so I get informed when free games are made available. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1351 "2022-04-26T18:59:56Z")
Bethesda has made several old classic games free on Steam: [Elder Scrolls: Arena](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812290/The_Elder_Scrolls_Arena/) [Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812390/The_Elder_Scrolls_II_Daggerfall/) [Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1873030/Wolfenstein_Enemy_Territory/) Believe there’s no time limit on the “free” – they’re just giving them away at this point. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1352 "2022-04-26T19:08:46Z")
That’s cool, I don’t think I ever played Arena. Microsoft of course bought Bethesda and now we get free games and they are getting rid of the Bethesda launcher. So far so good. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1353 "2022-04-28T09:46:15Z")
thats cool back in the day i didn’t have a PC that could run them and the reviews of elder scrolls games on PC were usually "great story ideas and graphics but an unpolished buggy mess that will take several patches if ever to fix ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1354 "2022-04-28T10:15:19Z")
There’s no real reason to play Arena or Daggerfall. They’re incredibly dated and even when they were new they were pretty broken. Morrowind might be worth a replay but it’s a much more complete and interesting game than either of the first two. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1355 "2022-04-28T11:57:47Z")
I would agree that Morrowind was the big moment things got better, though I have often wondered if there is a map marker for quests like the one in Skyrim. One to tell you where to go. I’ve never had a lot of success with Morrowind other than randomly wandering, which you can do for many hours and have quite a bit of fun. I can legit say I have zero clue what the story of Morrowind is or where it goes. Compared to any Elder Scrolls, I just went my own path and never returned to its story for even a moment. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1356 "2022-04-28T12:16:58Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > The “Second Page” is actually GOG’s main store page. I only linked to the Postal 2 game page for anyone who didn’t know what Postal 2 was and because you have to scroll down on the main page to find it – so it wouldn’t be obvious when the free offer ended (and the box just disappeared) versus going to the game page and seeing it for $9.99 I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming them for the page you linked not letting you just get it outright, instead of taking you to the front page of the site and putting the option well below the fold, so I had to scroll through a bunch of games. I’ve never encountered that with any other storefront. > [@](#): > > Nothing shady there. People have the right to say “I don’t want to sign up for your newsletter”, of course, but they’re pretty clear about the offer.⁢ I don’t agree, because I didn’t see it. I was already in skimming mode trying to find the offer, because the button that said “take me to the offer” (or similar) didn’t actually took me to the offer, but instead an unexpected page. I actually thought maybe the offer had expired, and that’s why it was taking me to the front page. I don’t remember the usual huge letters, let alone a checkbox that I had to check before the button would let me click through, like on most sites that require you to sign up something to get something free. It very much seems like GOG is using antipaterns here. And that’s not what I experienced with the other free games I got on the service, nor how I’ve seen it work with any other game store. It seems to me that they deliberately were making people have to put in more mental effort to find the offer, so they’d wind up looking at ads for all those other games. And perhaps not notice the fine print that says that you’d be signing up to be spammed. At least, that was the result for me. Ads exist to try and get customers to spend money. I don’t have a lot of money, and I realized long ago that you are happier not being told about things you won’t be able to buy. And that ads use psychological tricks to make you want things you’d have been perfectly happy without. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1357 "2022-04-28T13:31:59Z")
We’ll just have to disagree that this is remotely hidden, deceptive or even “fine print” [![](https://i.imgur.com/NsfLue9.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/NsfLue9.png) Half the banner and probably 80% of the text is about how you’re signing up for the newsletter. Obviously they can’t make people actually read it but it’s not trying to slide one past anybody. That said, all of GOG’s free game offers tend to be the same format so you might want to just skip them from now on if it bothers you. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1358 "2022-04-28T16:35:10Z")
To get back on topic, this weeks Epic free games are: [Just die already](https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/just-die-already) and [Paradigm](https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/paradigm-875c5c) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1359 "2022-04-29T19:43:55Z")
[Mido & Di](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1691560/Mido_and_Di/) is free on Steam until May 2nd ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1360 "2022-05-03T21:21:02Z")
If you have Amazon Prime, Dead Space 2 is free this month. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1361 "2022-05-04T08:13:29Z")
Excellent, also Curse of Monkey Island, Shattered - Tale of the forgotten king, Out of line, Cat Quest and Mail Mole and Express Deliveries are on their own app. I can’t tell if the Curse of Monkey Island is some sort of reboot or the original cga dos based game without downloading the app and installing the game. I thought they’d done a remaster with good graphics like MI2 but not really sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1362 "2022-05-04T11:17:29Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I can’t tell if the Curse of Monkey Island is some sort of reboot or the original cga dos based game without downloading the app and installing the game. Curse of Monkey Island is Monkey Island 3 from 1997. Great game, some even consider it the best of the original Monkey Island games. No remaster ever made, it was fully voiced and quite beautiful [Here is a clip of what it looked(and looks) like.](https://youtu.be/zfAo3O2qZR0?t=969) ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1363 "2022-05-04T11:24:31Z")
Ah I was thinking of Secret of Monkey Island, the first one. And looking at my steam account I have Secret already, but not Curse, and see there’s also an Escape which I’m reasonably sure I bought at the time but it was pre steam. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513/1364 "2022-05-04T11:30:16Z")
I also had Escape on disc. Monkey Island series goes: 1. Secret of Monkey Island 2. Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge 3. Curse of Monkey Island 4. Escape from Monkey Island 5. Tales from Monkey Island 6. Return to Monkey Island - new game, coming out this year! Yes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-pc-game-and-free-weekend-notification-thread/704513.md?page=69)