Life is about the simple things. Sunshine. The smell of freshly cut grass. Fluffy animals. It’s a trend we’ve seen take over videogames, too: Powerwash Sim, American Truck Sim, hell, there’s even A Game About Digging a Hole, and yes, that is its name. While Expedition 33’s spectacular world and hard-as-nails combat has its allure, as do the vast plains of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, sometimes you just want to sit down and chill out. One of this week’s Epic Games Store free offerings, Boxes: Lost Fragments is perfect for doing just that, and while boxes and videogames already go somewhat hand-in-hand (Snake?!), Big Loop Studios’ puzzle game oozes style.
The premise is simple: you’re a legendary thief, and there are a slew of complex boxes just begging you to crack them open. From the same team as the equally perplexing Doors: Paradox, Boxes: Lost Fragments tasks you with completing various puzzles, slowly unearthing the secrets of the eerie mansion you’ve chosen to rob. What appears on the surface to simply be a game about opening boxes goes a lot deeper, with Big Loop promising “a harrowing struggle for freedom and answers.”
One of the things that originally attracted me to Boxes is its Art Deco-esque style. Inspired by pocketwatch-like intricacy and opulence, there’s plenty of gold shimmer, deep blues and violets, and creations that are reminiscent of everything from cathedrals to long-forgotten pirate-style treasure troves. It really is absolutely beautiful, so if nothing else, it’s worth downloading for the vibes alone.
It’s also accrued an average Steam score of 91% over the past couple of years, with Epic itself ranking it at a 4.5. Not too bad for a game with a seemingly mundane premise, if I do say so myself.
Joining Boxes is the radically different My Night Job, an arcade-style zombie beat-’em-up set in an abandoned mansion. With over 60 weapons and various different undead creatures to whack over the head, it’s less chill, more thrill.
You can get Boxes: Lost Fragments and My Night Job for free on the Epic Games Store until Thursday, March 5 at 8am PST / 11am EST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CEST. Just click the link here to add them to your library.
While I didn’t expect my Thursday afternoon to be spent getting excited over boxes, I know for a fact that I’ll be playing Big Loop’s puzzler as soon as I clock off this evening. Sure, Marathon’s opening up access for the weekend, and it has equally immaculate vibes, but will I rage quit when I die and lose everything? Probably, and that’s exactly where Boxes will come in.
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