July 18, 2026

Three Steam games are free to play through Monday (Super Battle Golf leads at 89% positive), KeepUp Survival ends tomorrow, and The Planet Crafter joins Game Pass Tuesday

Super Battle Golf (89% positive on Steam, 6,500+ reviews, 1-8 player co-op), Empyrion - Galactic Survival (79% positive, 60% off), and the famously divisive MindsEye (53% positive) are free to play on Steam through Monday, July 20 at 10am PT, not to keep. KeepUp Survival's Epic giveaway ends tomorrow at 10am PT, Xbox Free Play Days close Sunday, and The Planet Crafter joins Game Pass Tuesday. Every end date checked.

Steam: three games free to play through Monday

A Steam free-to-play weekend is live and runs through Monday, July 20 at 10am PT (1pm ET, 5pm UTC). These are free to play temporarily, not to keep, so anything you want to try needs to be downloaded and played before the window closes. Discounts run a few days longer if you decide to buy.

• Super Battle Golf is the standout. A cartoonish 1-8 player co-op golf brawler where everyone swings at once, it sits at 89% positive across 6,500+ Steam reviews and is Steam Deck Verified. At roughly 2-7 hours to beat, you can finish it over the weekend. Normally $7.99, currently 30% off on Steam. (Polygon, GG.deals)
• Empyrion - Galactic Survival is the deep pick: a space survival crafting sandbox with base building, co-op, and a roughly 60-hour beat. 79% positive across about 18,000 reviews. Normally $19.99, 60% off to $7.99 on Steam. (GameRant)
• MindsEye is the curiosity pick. Polygon called it "the biggest hot mess of 2025," and its overall Steam rating sits at 53% positive (Mixed), though recent reviews have ticked up to Mostly Positive. A 10-12 hour GTA-style campaign plus a user-content tool called Arcadia. Not discounted on Steam during the weekend (50% off on GOG if you'd rather own it). (Polygon)

This is the second Steam free-to-play weekend this month, after the Against the Storm / ARK: Survival Ascended / Gogh round that closed July 13 (covered here).

Epic: KeepUp Survival ends tomorrow, four other freebies still live

Five free games are claimable on the Epic Games Store right now, and the nearest deadline is tomorrow morning.

• Echo Generation: Midnight Edition (OpenCritic 77, Strong) and Luto (OpenCritic 77, Metacritic 79, GameSpot 8/10) are the weekly pair, free to keep through Thursday, July 23 at 8am PT. Worth about $45 combined. (Polygon)
• KeepUp Survival ($14.99, open-world survival sandbox, Steam Mixed 63% over 670 reviews) is a developer giveaway, free to keep through Sunday, July 19 at 10am PT. That is tomorrow. (GameRant)
• NoRush! Tower Edition ($2.49, casual 3D tower-climbing platformer) is free to keep through Monday, July 20 at 10am UTC. (Epic Games Store)
• Together After Dark ($2.99, 4-player co-op found-footage horror, Steam Mixed around 56%) is free to keep through Monday, July 27. (GameRant)
• Foretales ($19.99, narrative card-adventure, never free before) is officially revealed as Epic's next free game, live July 23 at 8am PT through July 30. It is offered on its own, which breaks the roughly three-month streak of two freebies per week. (GameRant)

Xbox: Free Play Days close Sunday, Planet Crafter lands Tuesday

• Xbox Free Play Days (for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential members) close Sunday, July 19: Crisol: Theater of Idols (Blumhouse Spanish-folklore survival horror, Steam Very Positive around 87), Planet Zoo: Console Edition at a new 90%-off low of $4.99, and Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports at 70% off ($14.99). (Xbox Wire)
• GTA Online is free for all Xbox members on Series X|S, no Game Pass needed, through Tuesday, July 21. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is also free for all Xbox members during the Free Play Days window (no separate hard end date given). (Xbox Wire)
• The Planet Crafter (co-op terraforming sandbox) joins Game Pass day one on Tuesday, July 21 across Ultimate, Premium, and PC. It is now the solo July 21 drop, since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 was pulled from the July lineup over music licensing earlier this week with no new date. (Xbox Wire)
• Still ahead on Game Pass: Shift at Midnight (co-op detective, day one) on July 22, and Halo: Campaign Evolved (day one) on July 28. (Xbox Wire)

Forward calendar

• Steam Train Fest runs July 20-27, a genre spotlight rather than a seasonal sale. No major Steam sale until the Autumn Sale, October 1-8. (Steamworks)
• Prime Gaming next batch drops July 23: In Sound Mind and Mystic Academy. (Amazon Game Studios)
• PlayStation Plus July monthly games (Modern Warfare III, For the King II, CrossCode) remain claimable through August 3. (PlayStation Blog)