In a move that has left us wondering where 2021 went, Amazon has announced the ‘free’ PC games that’ll be coming to Prime subscribers when December kicks off in eight days’ time. Once again, it’s a strong selection, with an average Metacritic score of 74% for the nine titles offered, and a selection of EA games.
The most exciting game for most readers will likely be the highly rated strategy title Frostpunk, where players have to oversee a community trying to survive in a world plunged into icy cold. It’s rated 84% on Metacritic, and has proved popular enough to justify a sequel that’s currently in development.
A slightly higher average score of 85% is granted to EA's Football Manager 2021, but it’s undoubtedly an acquired taste, requiring a love and knowledge of both soccer and spreadsheets. An updated version for 2022 has just been released, but it’s still a great freebie for those that don’t need the most up-to-date rosters.
Next up is Journey to the Savage Planet (76%) is a quirky first-person adventure game where players have to catalogue alien flora and fauna on a strange alien world. And speaking of adventure games, players are also treated to the complete Tales of Monkey Island — an episodic reboot of the classic Lucasarts point-and-click adventure titles from Telltale Games. While not regarded as a classic in the same way the pirate-based originals are, the five episodes do still get an average rating of around 80% between them.
There are also a couple of remasters. The more successful of these is Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (75%), but there’s also the more divisive Stubbs the Zombie (58%) for those that missed the 2005 original, which puts you in the shoes of the undead for once.
Rounding off the list are Morkredd (a physics-based co-op puzzle game — 74%), Spellcaster University (a wizard college management game — 71%) and YouTuber’s Life (where you roleplay the carefree life of a streamer — 63%).
Alongside these games, Prime members can get access to additional content for EA's Apex Legends and Battlefield 2042.
All these games arrive in December, which means you still have just over a week to claim November’s games. If you haven’t already grabbed Control Ultimate Edition and Dragon Age Inquisition, you should correct that right away.
What is Amazon Prime Gaming?
Amazon Prime Gaming is a perk of being subscribed to Amazon Prime, the retailer’s $119 per year membership package that grants free delivery and other perks like access to Prime Video.
The gaming segment was added last year as a belated consequence of Amazon’s 2014 purchase of Twitch. Essentially, each month members are granted a bunch of free PC games to claim via Good Old Games, EA Origin or Amazon’s own Games App. On top of this, there are usually a bunch of free cosmetic in-game items to claim for other titles, too.
All in all, it’s a nice extra which helps justify the annual cost of Amazon Prime, assuming your PC is suitably powerful enough to run the more desirable titles.
