Prison Architect is free until Saturday in GOG's Winter Sale

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Prison Architect is a game about building and running your own personal penitentiary, and while that may sound like a rather unpleasant prospect, it's actually a very good game: Chris called it "a complex, challenging, and grimly satisfying simulator" in his 87% review from 2015. (He also learned some valuable lessons about the complexities of the human condition and the fine, occasionally bloody line between contentment and happiness.)

If you haven't tried it yet, now's your opportunity to give it a go without spending a penny, as GOG is now giving it away to kick off its 2020 Winter Sale. Just go here, click the necessary green buttons, and like magic it'll be added to your library.

The Prison Architect freebie will be valid until 9 am ET/2 pm UTC on December 19, but the GOG Winter Sale itself runs until January 4, and has some pretty good deals on a range of new and older games. As someone who dearly misses the days of digging into the bargain bins at EB, I always hit up the highest discounts section first: It's not packed with the newest or most popular games, but you'll find a ton of good stuff that costs less than a small bag of chips, like Outlast: Whiteblower ($1), Tooth and Tail ($2), Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut ($2.50), We Are the Dwarves ($2), and a personal favorite, Shadowgrounds (yes, it's old, but it's very good) for $1.

The "newer stuff" section includes Control and The Outer Worlds, both 50 percent off, Wasteland 3 at 33 percent off, Disco Elysium at a 40 percent discount, Iron Harvest at 30 percent, and Serious Sam 4 Deluxe Edition for 20 percent off.

One game you won't see in the sale, or anywhere else on GOG, is the excellent indie horror game Devotion. It was removed from Steam in early 2019 after a mild in-game zing of Chinese president Xi Jinping came to light; GOG announced earlier today that it would finally be returned to sale via its storefront on December 18, but very quickly reversed that decision. According to GOG, the reversal came about "after receiving many messages from gamers." It has not elaborated.

Earlier today, it was announced that the game Devotion is coming to GOG. After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store.December 16, 2020

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.