Thursday is here once again, which means another Epic Games Store freebie is here to claim and (the ever-growing backlog allows) to play. And this time, it's the turn of fantasy survival adventure The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, which is reportedly the first of 16 free games Epic will be giving away over the festive period.
Starting with Epic's current freebie, however, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria from developer Free Range Games launched to a decent reception in 2023, transplanting familiar survival mechanics (exploration, combat, resource gathering, and crafting) to Middle Earth. with atmospheric, if largely unspectacular, results.
“This is a game with a lot of soul and a lot of problems, even if I've still found myself willingly investing dozens of hours exploring the mines,” Eurogamer contributor Emma Kent wrote in her three-star review. “What is it? The unique thing about Return to Moria is the way it combines a relatively focused story with survival mechanics… The way the game has been infused with Tolkien's story and world-building is impressive, and somehow evokes the feeling of a Tolkien journey is remarkable in itself. For fans of Middle-earth, this is worth experiencing, especially if someone else joins the adventure.”
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is free to claim from now until Thursday, December 19. As for what's next, that, somewhat unusually, has yet to be revealed. However, according to extremely reliable leaker billbil-kun, Epic is set to embark on another series of daily free game giveaways, just as it has done over the festive period in recent years.
In a post on Deallabs, billbil-kun wrote that a new game will be claimable for free on the Epic Store every day from December 19 to January 2, 2025. Each will be claimable for 24 hours, except for the last, which will be free. between January 2 and 9.