Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is one of the best-known videogame bombs of recent years. Despite pre-release hype and the presence of tantric sex guy Sting, its launch was "a disaster," according to lead developer Johnnemann Nordhagen, who said that it sold fewer copies than he had Twitter followers—"and I don't have a lot of Twitter followers."
Reviews were spotty too, although it has a "very positive" user rating on Steam—and also, according to Steam Charts, peak concurrent player counts that are almost exclusively in the low double digits, so you can see the problem. Starting today, though, it may have a second shot at life (or at least a chance to become one of those "overlooked cult classics"), as it's now free for the week on the Epic Games Store.
The giveaway isn't going to undo the launch flop, but resurgent interest could help spur future sales, or at the very least put to rest Nordhagen's doubts about whether "games like this one can continue to be made in the current market." (Or, I suppose, reinforce them, if things go badly. But come on, now—it's free.)
Also up for grabs this week is Railway Empire, a "mostly satisfying" management sim released in 2018 that challenges players to build and expand a railroad network across the US in the mid-1800s. Both games are free for the taking until September 17. For more freebies, be sure to keep tabs on our running list of all the free games you can grab right now.
