The Escapists is free on the Epic Games Store

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I hope you picked up your free copy of Jotun: Valhalla Edition from the Epic Games Store, because it's done and gone—but the good news is that another has stepped up to take its place. The Escapists, a retro-styled top-down strategy game about breaking out of prison by any means necessary, is free for the taking for the next week.

To get the game, hop over to The Escapists page on the Epic Games Store, and take note of how the "Buy Now" button now says "Get" instead. Click it! Now do the same to the "Place Order" button. The big "thank you" that pops up on the screen indicates that the process is complete. (And if it doesn't pop up on the screen, you've screwed up somewhere. Go back and try it again.)

One thing that's a little different about this week's freebie is that there's no indication as to what next week's freebie will be. The link says that "more free games" will be available on December 19, a more secretive approach than in previous weeks that could be taken as a hint that some kind of festive year-end wrap-up is in the offing. Or not. Whatever's going on, the end of the line is almost here: Epic's weekly game giveaways are scheduled to come to an end at the end of the year.

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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.