Use code GGWP67 at checkout to redeem this offer before code expires again.
Get 67% Off GAMES+ Subscription
A free game worth your weekend
Picture this: a trash-covered post-apocalyptic world, a hapless protagonist with goggles and delusions of grandeur, and a comedy that draws comparisons to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Futurama. That's Deponia, and right now it costs absolutely nothing to add to your Steam library.
Daedalic Entertainment is running a Steam event called Daedalic Days from August 13 through August 27, and to kick things off, the studio made its 2012 dieselpunk point-and-click adventure free to keep until August 20. That's a hard deadline, so the clock is already ticking.
What Deponia actually is
Deponia puts you in control of Rufus, a low-class citizen who literally lives on a mountain of trash at the bottom of a stratified society. The setup sounds bleak, but the game plays it entirely for laughs. When a woman from the upper class falls into Rufus's world, he decides to help her get home, only to discover her husband looks almost identical to him. The story spirals from there in exactly the kind of absurdist direction you'd expect.
The whole thing is presented through hand-drawn 2D art that still holds up well, and the voice acting has been consistently praised by players over the years. The top-voted Steam review sums it up plainly: "The dialogues are funny, the voice dubs are expressive, and the animations are smooth."
With around 3,000 positive user reviews and over 8 hours to complete, it's a proper weekend game.
The Daedalic Days event and what else is on offer
The free Deponia giveaway is the headline act for Daedalic Days, but the event runs wider than just one free game. Daedalic is holding a broadcast on August 13 featuring exclusive looks at new titles and updates on previously announced projects. A number of the publisher's back catalog titles are also discounted for the duration of the event.
Here's the thing: Daedalic has a catalog that fans of classic point-and-click adventures tend to sleep on. If Deponia clicks with you, there's a full trilogy to work through, and the sale pricing makes that a reasonable next step.
A few things to know before you play
The player community around Deponia has a few consistent pieces of advice worth knowing upfront:
- The puzzles can be obtuse. Many long-time fans recommend keeping a puzzle guide nearby. This isn't a knock on the game; it's just how classic point-and-click design works, and Deponia leans hard into that tradition.
- Save early, save often. The reported bug near the game's opening can softlock your run if you haven't kept a backup save.
- The comedy is the point. Deponia isn't trying to be a tight puzzle box. The dialogue, the characters, and the absurd situations are the real draw.
For fans of action games looking for something completely different this weekend, a slow-burn comedy adventure with hand-drawn art is about as far from the usual as it gets.
Grab it before August 20
Deponia is free to keep on Steam through August 20. After that date, the giveaway ends and the game returns to its regular price. The Daedalic Days event itself continues through August 27, so there's still time to browse the broader sale even after the freebie window closes.
If you want more to read while you wait for the download, the gaming guides hub has plenty to keep you busy across all kinds of genres and platforms.
