Top-down blasters Ruiner and Nuclear Throne are this week's Epic Games Store freebies
Free as in Vlambeer
If you like your violence from the perspective of a duck, or of a child who held onto their kite during a gale, then the two free games on Epic Games Store this week are very much for you. Both Ruiner and Nuclear Throne are top-down shooters, given freely as long as you grab them before next Thursday. Then the cycle of free stuff begins anew.
Ruiner is an impressively splashy brawler and shooter. It has a lot going on, and does it with the glow of a cyberpunk fridge that's been left open at night. It's so intense that you have to use slow-down buffs as you fight, or the pixels in your monitor might go on strike. But why use words when I can gif? OBSERVE!
Nuclear Throne is what’s known in the common tongue as a “banger”. Vlambeer’s silly, endlessly replayable roguelike is a lot more lo-fi than Ruiner, but no less intense. It's a game driven by unique weapons and quick deaths. It can sap five minutes or several days of your time. It's somehow six-years-old and has been sold far and wide. If you’ve managed to not own it, then you can rectify that here.
You don’t just get the challenge that the proc-gen throws your way, but you can pick up all kinds of mods. We highlighted a full fan expansion just this week, one that added new areas, baddies, bigger baddies, weapons and parrots.
And a week from now, retro-styled platform game The Messenger is up for free.