The argument against PC gaming often boils down to: It’s cheaper and easier to deal with a video game console than to set up a powerful gaming rig. But many console jockeys paying full price for new games may not be aware of a simple PC gaming fact: You can get lots and lots of the best PC games of recent years for free, no strings attached, and mitigate your system cost. Building out your PC game library requires patience and persistence. For instance, Epic offers two or three free games per week, but only for a limited time. Once that time expires, the games are no longer free, but if you grabbed them while they’re available, they’re yours to keep forever. (Or whatever passes for “forever” in the era of digital licensing.) You just have to remember to keep coming back to grab games you want during that window, set up a free account, and have their game launcher app installed. It should follow that games given away for nothing should be the subpar dregs of the industry. But that hasn’t been the case with games on some of these services. In my Epic Games library alone, I’ve accumulated 160 titles, most of them freebies. Among them: Control, Alien: Isolation, Bioshock Infinite: The Complete Edition, Borderlands 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration, NBA 2K21, Inside, Star Wars: Squadrons, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, SUPERHOT, Just Cause 4, and XCOM 2. That’s enough high-quality gaming to keep me busy for years to come; and yes, I’m aware that I’ll probably never have time to play them all. GOG.com’s giveaways are usually posted for a limited time on their homepage and get added to your library. You don’t need to download and install an app launcher to grab them. Some free games GOG has offered include Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition, Flashback, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, and the classic Harlan Ellison game I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. If you’re inclined to break from free and spend a little money, The Humble Bundle storefront has lots of excellent gaming packages with money going to charity and prices set at pay-what-you-wish. You can sometimes land a huge collection of titles, such as the Jackbox collection, for much less than you’d pay for the games individually. Cheap Ass Gamer has been leading the charge on bargain gaming news since 2003 and is a great resource for getting good deals on top titles. Keep an eye on their discussion area and homepage for good deals. If patience is one of your top virtues, you can get some fantastic deals on PC games by waiting for Steam’s multiple sales per year (its Winter Sale 2022 runs from December 22 to January 5, 2023) and Epic’s Mega Sale scheduled for May 2023. Retailers including Best Buy and GameStop sometimes offer good deals on PC games if you’re willing to wait a while after their release. And of course, those retailers offer trade-ins, so if you’ve given up game-console life for good, you can get some credit for your old hardware and games.
