Amazon's Prime Day typically means great deals for those who are part of its special little free-postage club called Amazon Prime. Alongside the access to Kindle libraries, audiobooks, and video, those signed up to the service get a bunch of exclusive deals which make signing up for a free trial worth it just for them. However, thanks to Amazon's ownership of the Twitch streaming platform, this year Amazon is also giving away a bunch of free games to Twitch Prime subscribers. Incidentally, if you have Amazon Prime, you also have Twitch Prime.
There are a lot of them too. 21 in total – far too many for most people to enjoy without a serious time investment, so if you're a Amazon Prime or Twitch Prime subscriber, it's important to know where to focus your efforts. With that in mind, these are the best games you should make sure to grab (for free) during the Prime Day celebrations.
Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition
You'll need to act fast to grab this one, as it's only available for the next 24 hours, but Pillars of Eternity is a fantastic isometric RPG from Obsidian Entertainment. A spiritual successor to the beloved Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series, it features real-time, party-based combat with a pause function for increased tactical play. It features Dungeons and Dragons-mechanics that will be familiar to anyone who's played the tabletop RPG, but also most RPG gamers from recent years. It is beloved by almost all who played it and is considered one of the best RPGs of recent years.
Metal Slug 3
A retro, side-scrolling run and gun title from the days of the Neo Geo arcade platform, the Metal Slug series made its way to modern platforms and the third entry in it is arguably its best. Filled with crazy monsters, endless enemies, multiple routes, power-ups and vehicles, Metal Slug 3 is an action-fest that works in both single and cooperative multiplayer and is always a fun blast. Pick it up as part of the SNK bundle before August 2.
Brutal Legend
Think a heavy-metal version of Shadow of Mordor, and you'll have a basic idea of what Brutal Legend is like. With a protagonist voiced by Jack Black and a tonne of cameos from great heavy-metal musicians from the past forty years, Brutal Legend was Double Fine's swan song before it began working on much smaller, indie games. It's got some surprisingly good strategic and RPG combat elements to it too. Well worth grabbing when it's free after July 14.
The Observer
Mix up your Prime Day gaming with The Observer, a very different kind of game with a heavy cyberpunk horror theme. You play Bladerunner's Rutger Hauer – as a character, not the actor – who's job is to delve into the minds of people stuck in virtual reality. It's a dangerous and terrifying place depending on the mind you enter and what you find there may not be pleasant. Typically, it isn't. The Observer is free between July 11 and 17.
The Red Strings Club
If you like your cyberpunk futures, but prefer them pixellated, check out The Red Strings Club instead. Blending everyday tasks with an expansive narrative about corporate espionage and social engineering, it's a game that looks as good as it plays and will keep you guessing throughout. Pick it up for free on July 15 through 21.
Tacoma
Rewind history aboard a deserted space station to find out what happened to everyone and why the AI isn't berhaving the way it should. Created by Gone Home developer, Fullbright, Tacoma is a slow, evolving narrative like the company is best known for and will leave you with a lasting impression when it's over. It goes up for free on July 12.
The rest
These aren't the only games you can get during Prime Day though. If none of the above strike your fancy, there's always: The Last Blade, Twinkle Star Sprites, Q.U.B.E. 2, Battle Chef Brigade, Manual Samuel, Gonner, Next Up Hero, Uurnog Uurnlimited, Hue, Deponia Doomsday, The Bridge, Tyranny, Broken Age, The Framed Collection, and Serial Cleaner, all of which will be free at some point during July.