If you’re a PC gamer who is looking for a good laugh, Steam is here to deliver. Valve’s digital platform is making a well-regarded point-and-click game Deponia free to keep for the next week. Here’s why you should care.
The freebie is the award-winning developer’s way of celebrating a Steam event called Daedalic Days, which is set to run from Aug. 13-27. At 9 p.m. CEST on Thursday, Daedalic Entertainment will begin a broadcast offering an exclusive look at some brand-new games, as well as updates on previously announced titles. A handful of the publisher’s titles are on sale right now as well.
Developed by a team often compared by critics to LucasArts, Deponia is a 2012 release with a “mostly positive” user rating on Steam. It’s a post-apocalyptic dieselpunk game where players take control of a low-class citizen called Rufus. Rufus literally lives amid mountains of trash. One day, he encounters a woman who has fallen from the upper echelons of society. Rufus decides to help her, only to realize her husband looks almost identical to him. Much of the game is spent trying to get the protagonist out of his miserable existence and into the world of the elites.
The developers say the game will appeal to fans of franchises like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Futurama, and Discworld. It’s a comedy game that’s full of dialogue as well as puzzles, all of which are presented through some gorgeous, hand-drawn 2D illustrations.
“Deponia was a fun game,” reads the top-voted user review on Steam. “The dialogues are funny, the voice dubs are expressive, and the animations are smooth.”
The reviews mention two other things that will be important to anyone who downloads the comedy game. First, many Steam users insist that Deponia is a game that is best enjoyed while using a guide for the puzzles. Second, a number of recent reviews note that they encountered a game-breaking bug near the start of the adventure — so make sure to save often.
Deponia and its eight-hour completion time looks like a great way to spend a weekend. You can add Deponia to your Steam library and keep it forever from the game’s Steam page. Deponia will be free to keep until Aug. 20.