Free Games & Deals Daily

July 23, 2026

Epic's free game today is Foretales, free to keep through July 30

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Foretales, a narrative card game that's never been free before (Metacritic 74, Steam Very Positive), goes live solo on the Epic Games Store today, July 23 at 8am PT, ending Epic's nearly three-month run of two freebies a week. Hell is Us (Metacritic 77) joins Game Pass today, Prime drops In Sound Mind (Metacritic 75) plus a wizard-school escape room, Xbox Free Play Days brings Metal Gear Solid and Tides of Tomorrow, and Sir Brante's free-to-keep window closes this morning. Every end date checked.

Epic: Foretales goes free today, solo, through July 30

Foretales, from Alkemi, is a story-driven card game that blends choose-your-own-adventure branching with turn-based "decksploration": you play a thief trying to save (or doom) a cursed world across multiple endings. It launched in September 2022, carries a Metacritic 74 (Mixed or Average, 14 critic reviews), and is Very Positive on Steam across 757 reviews (86% positive). Critics praised the inventive card-narrative mashup and replayability; the common knock is repetition and a cryptic meta-structure that can send you back to the start of a timeline without telling you why.

It normally costs $19.99 and has never been given away before. It goes free today, July 23, at 8am PT and stays claimable through July 30 at 8am PT, then it's yours to keep. Notably, it's being offered on its own, breaking the streak of at least two freebies per week that Epic ran since April 30 (Gamerant, GG.deals). Another freebie could still be added, but as of today Foretales is solo.

Two deadlines hit at the same 8am PT moment: Echo Generation: Midnight Edition and Luto (last week's pair, OpenCritic 77 each) end their free run as Foretales takes their place, so if you haven't claimed those, this morning is the cutoff. Still live separately: the found-footage co-op horror Together After Dark ($2.99, Steam Mixed ~56%) remains free through July 27 via a standalone publisher promo, not the weekly rotation.

Game Pass: Hell is Us (Metacritic 77) joins today

Hell is Us, from Rogue Factor and Nacon, joins Xbox Game Pass today, July 23, on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC). It's a 2025 third-person action-adventure set in a civil-war-torn, supernaturally cursed nation, built around no maps and no quest markers: the pitch is true exploration and brutal melee combat. It carries a Metacritic 77 (Generally Favorable, 60 critic reviews) with an OpenCritic 79%; the consistent criticism is thin enemy and combat variety, but the exploration hook landed well. It's a catalog addition (the game released last year), so no end date, just free with your sub.

This is part of Xbox's July Wave 2, which already brought Shift at Midnight (July 22) and still has Halo: Campaign Evolved (July 28), Mistfall Hunter (July 30), Corsair Cove (July 31), and Game Freak's Beast of Reincarnation plus the Heretic and Hexen classics on August 4.

Prime Gaming: In Sound Mind (Metacritic 75) and Mystic Academy drop today

Prime Gaming's July 23 batch lands today, and both games are yours to keep permanently with an Amazon Prime membership. The headliner is In Sound Mind, a 2021 first-person psychological horror game from the creators of the Nightmare House 2 mod, claiming via the Amazon Games App. It holds a Metacritic 75 (Generally Favorable, 18 critic reviews) with an 8.0 user score; reviewers praised its atmosphere, puzzles, and soundtrack while flagging thin combat.

Joining it is Mystic Academy: Escape Room, a Harry-Potter-flavored wizard-school escape room from mc2games (the same studio behind the Regular Factory drop earlier this month), claimed via GOG. It's Mostly Positive on Steam (76% of 215 reviews) with a 3.5/5 from TheXboxHub: well-designed puzzles but light on charm and story. The final Prime batch follows July 30 with Zoria: Age of Shattering and Weakless, both on GOG (Amazon Game Studios).

Xbox Free Play Days: Metal Gear Solid and Tides of Tomorrow, through July 27

This week's Xbox Free Play Days round opens today and runs through late July 27, per Pure Xbox. The lineup is a stealth-classic and a recent narrative adventure:

Both are free trials, not free to keep. The official Xbox Wire Free Play Days post typically goes live Thursday morning; check the Xbox Wire Free Play Days tag for the confirmed lineup.

Deadline: Sir Brante's free-to-keep window closes this morning

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, the 89%-positive Steam narrative RPG (Metacritic 82, normally $19.99), ends its free-to-keep run on Steam today, July 23, at 10am PT. That's roughly two hours after this issue lands, so if you haven't added it to your library, this is the last window. Once claimed it's yours permanently, timed to the launch of its sequel The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian (owners get a launch discount). The free first-two-chapter sampler is also available on GOG (GameRant).

Still free and worth knowing

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