$20 PC Game Now Available on Steam for Free for 24 Hours
A $20 PC game is currently free on Steam for roughly the next 24 hours. It’s not only free to download until September 22, but also free to keep. In other words, if the offer is redeemed before the deadline, the PC game in question, released back in 2019, will be a permanent addition to your library. This offer is available not just to traditional PC users, but to Steam Deck users as well, as the PC game is Steam Deck Verified. This means Valve has tested and confirmed compatibility with the game and its handheld.
As for the free Steam game, it is Nicalis’ 2019 color-matching online combat game, Crystal Crisis. For those unfamiliar with this title, it is apparently pretty decent, or at least this is what its 81% user review score across 135 user reviews signals. This is sufficient to earn the PC game a “Very Positive” rating, the second-highest rating possible on the Valve platform. 135 isn’t the largest sample size, but it’s more than sufficient to paint a picture of reception. And this user review score echoes its score with critics. To this end, Crystal Crisis has a 79 on Metacritic. At least this is the score the Nintendo Switch version of the game has. As you may remember, Crystal Crisis was originally announced as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, though it added a PS4 version before launch. Then, after launch, it came to PC.
A Modern Take on a Capcom Classic
As for the game, it is precisely a head-to-head puzzle battle game where players participate in one-on-one color-matching competitions. Multiplayer includes both local and online matchmaking. That said, its peak concurrent player count in the past 24 hours was only 211. This is enough to find a match, but it’s far from ideal for finding variety. As a result, the game is currently best played locally.
In particular, the game evokes Super Puzzle Fighter 2 from Capcom. In fact, it wears its inspiration on its sleeve. If you liked Super Puzzle Fighter 2, you will like this game. If you don’t like this genre, this is unlikely to convert you.
“Solid Super Puzzle Fighter 2 clone,” reads one user review, for example. “If you’ve played that, then you mostly know what to expect here. I did a quick playthrough of both that game and this title, and I can say that the game designers of Crystal Crisis knew what made Super Puzzle Fighter 2 fun.”
Another user review adds: “It took 23 years, but finally we got a game based on Super Puzzle Fighter II that is better than the original.”
If this free Steam game isn’t to your taste, there is a similar offer now available, also on Steam. More specifically, one of the best RPGs ever made is currently available for just $0.90. This isn’t free, but it’s close.