Next week's lineup of free games on Epic Games Store has been revealed, and it's great news for fans of the real-time strategy genre. Offworld Trading Company from Stardock would be free from March 6 to 13 - this is a sci-fi themed RTS that focused on economic warfare, a theme that's rarely used in video games. The player would be put in control of one out of four "off-world trading companies" landing on the surface of a planet. They would then have to establish a base and extract the resources on the map while preventing opponents from doing the same thing.
The combat of this game is unlike the usual RTS in which you often send your armies at the opponent's base. It is the battle between companies, which leads to more technical actions like buying cheap then resell or rack up prices by withholding sales. By dealing with the black market, you can hire sabotage methods to mess with your opponents more directly - however, that could be turned against you.
The end goal of the game is to get enough money to purchase a majority stake in every company in the game. The same thing can be done to you, however, as you will also be subjected to a hostile takeover and getting a game over if your enemy managed to buy your own stake. Overall, Offworld trading company is a great snapshot into corporate culture - the game is definitely worth trying out if you are a fan of real-time strategy titles.
The other free game would be Gonner, a sidescrolling roguelike with a particularly distinct "blobby" art style. The game made up for its lack in-depth by looking pretty good - suitable for occasional five minutes runs.
Interested in more of our articles related to video games? Please check out this post for the top 10 best strategy games ever made.
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