Thursday is upon us once more, meaning another Epic Games Store freebie is here to claim and (ever-mounting backlog allowing) play. And this time, it’s the turn of fantasy survival adventure The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria – which is reportedly the first of 16 free games being given away by Epic over the festive period.
Starting with Epic’s current freebie, though, developer Free Range Games’ The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria launched to a decent reception back in 2023, transplanting familiar survival mechanics – exploration, combat, resource gathering, and crafting – to Middle-earth with atmospheric, if largely unspectacular results.
“This is a game with a lot of soul and a lot of problems, even if I’ve still found myself willingly sinking dozens of hours into exploring the mines”,” Eurogamer contributor Emma Kent wrote in her three star review. “What is unique about Return to Moria is the way it pairs a relatively focused story with survival mechanics… The manner in which the game has been infused with Tolkien’s lore and world-building is impressive, and that it somehow evokes the feeling of a Tolkien journey is remarkable in itself. For fans of Middle-earth this is worth experiencing, particularly if someone else joins you for the adventure.”
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is free to claim right now until Thursday, 19th December. As to what’s next, that – somewhat unusually – is yet to be revealed. However, according to extremely reliable leaker billbil-kun, Epic is poised to embark on another series of daily free game giveaways, just as it’s done over the festive period for the last few years.
In a post on Deallabs, billbil-kun wrote that one new game will be free to claim on the Epic Store every day from 19th December to 2nd January 2025. Each will be claimable for 24 hours, aside from the last, which will be free between 2nd and 9th January.