Multi-Award Winning 2012 Video Game Available for Free Download Right Now
The genre-defining indie Dear Esther has been made available for free on . The Chinese Room, a British studio, is offering the game, which truly pioneered walking sims, for free for a short time to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
The Chinese Room was able to create Amnesia, A Machine for Pigs as well as Everybody’s Gone To the Rapture. The game features a minimalist gameplay with the sole objective of exploring an island in Scotland’s Hebrides. It’s not quiet, though. The player can listen to a disturbed man read out letters to his wife.
Dear Esther is a fantastic game. After being initially made as a mod to Half Life 2, it was widely acclaimed upon its release. It was nominated five times for BAFTA awards including Best Debut Game (Best British Game), Artistic Achievement and Best British Game. It was nominated for the Originality Award and Best Visual Design at The Independent Game Developers Association (TIGA), Games Industry Awards in 2012. The Independent Games Festival also awarded it the Excellence in Visual Arts Award.
It’s a short, but sweet, adventure that can be completed in just over an hour. HowLongToBeat states that you can easily complete the entire thing in one sitting. Even if you don’t plan on Valentine’s Day, this will help break up your evening between the scheduled comfort food and the screaming into the void. This is just an idea.
“It was a joy to work on Dear Esther alongside such a creative and talented group of developers and we’ve been humbled by how warm the gaming community has been over the past ten years,” stated Dan Pinchbeck (creative director of The Chinese Room). We are delighted to offer Dear Esther a new generation to celebrate its tenth year. I personally look forward to hearing from players who have been able to visit Dear Esther today.
The Landmark Edition version of the game is available for download at Steam until February 16th, 2013. It’s a great game, and there is no reason to not add it to your collection. Grab it while you can.
