Wizard with a Gun adds 4 player co-op to its action crafting mix, and it's free to try for the weekend

There are plenty of survival crafting action sandbox games, but only one of them is purely focused on the concept of being a wizard with a gun*. That's the aptly-named Wizard with a Gun, which got an upgrade to four-player co-op this past week in its new Better Together update and so I guess they'll have to rename it to Wizard with a Gun and Several More Friends.

To celebrate it's free to try on Steam this weekend, and 50% off until May 23 if you'd like to buy.

The Better Together update also added more stuff to the game: New difficulty levels let you experience it easier or harder, and customized difficulties let you tweak how it feels to play. There are also new libraries for your wizard's tower, a proper upgrade to just regular bookshelves. And, apparently, a new ending or boss or something nasty lurking in the void at the end of time.

Wizard With a Gun is a cool pitch, giving you five minute jaunts into the collapsing apocalyptic world outside before you're forced to return to your grubby little wizard's tower to rearm, restock, and rewind the clock to before the apocalypse. Over time you collect stuff to upgrade your tower, your guns, and your magic clock that stops the world from ending. Personal opinion here, but that seems like an important clock.

"A lean roguelite that never feels like it's wasting your time, even if it's got some rough edges," said critic Nova Smith in the 80% PC Gamer review of Wizard with a Gun.

"While there's some obvious similarity to Don't Starve, Wizard with a Gun really feels like it's expanding on the groundwork laid by Enter the Gungeon. Even if I failed to grab the gears or didn't make it back with quite as many resources as I hoped, I never felt like my time was being wasted—a feeling that often pervades even the best of roguelites," they said.

You can find Wizard with a Gun on Steam for $25, though it's 50% off until May 23 and it's free for the weekend.

*There are probably others.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.