Steam Officially Drops Free 9/10 Turn-Based RPG With Dungeon Crawler Carl Vibes

There are so many free games Steam to play that it’s not always easy to work out which are actually worth your time. After all, in a year with genuinely great games like Toem 2, 007: First Light, Resident Evil Requiem, and the upcoming behemoth that is GTA 6, we have more than enough on our plates long before we turn our attention to the smorgasbord of Steam freebies.

Even so, every now and again, a great Steam freebie comes along that deserves your attention. So put your backlog to one side for a second, because we all know it’s not getting any smaller any time soon regardless. The latest free game to hit Steam is a turn-based RPG that’s getting some really solid reviews, so if you’re looking for something new to play that has a touch of Dungeon Crawler Carl about it, you should check this out.

Outcast Tales is described as a “challenging post-apocalyptic roguelite turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring with complete idiots. Lead a crew of flawed heroes against the consequences of their own terrible decisions. Can you keep your heroes together when everyone thinks they’re in charge?”

The game’s overall look and sense of humor is incredibly similar to Matt Dinniman’s much-loved lit-RPG series, with a light-hearted tone and ridiculous monsters and obstacles to overcome. There are various classes and skills to play around with, and your unique custom character will run into all sorts of situations that will play out very differently depending on the DNA of your team. Your characters can even develop bonds with one another and fall in love.

“Robots, mutants, desert raiders: almost all enemies have something up their sleeve,” says developer Hardlane Studio. “So do your characters: some abilities are most effective in combination with others. Find your opponents’ weaknesses, humiliate them on the battlefield, and never ponder the moral implications of your actions!”

“Combine class and personality types to give each of your characters a unique set of abilities. A Preacher Mercenary and an Antihero Mercenary will behave quite differently. Create a balanced crew, or just try out the wildest combinations to see how they turn out!”

The fact the game is completely free is a genuinely pleasant surprise, given it’s clearly quite ambitious. Reviews so far have been glowing too, with gamers enthusing that they’d have been happy to pay money for this one, and can’t put it down.

“I installed the demo yesterday on a whim and then spent 16 hours playing it,” one Steam user review reads. “Woke up today and straight on with the full version, I am absolutely hooked, called in sick for work the rest of the week. I would’ve happily paid big bucks for this but it’s free!!”

Another asks: “I don’t get it… why is this free? It’s a fun game with good humor. There are no microtransactions or other nonsense… it’s a genuinely decent game I would have been ok paying for.”

Sometimes we should just be happy that occasionally we get a genuinely great game for the low price of nothing at all. As far as I can see, there are no strings attached here: just a great freebie for Steam users.

Brand

Valve

Original Release Date

September 12, 2003