Gorgeous fantasy survival crafter Nightingale is yours for free, if you're fast

It's not too surprising that Nightingale struggled to stand out in 2024, a year absolutely stacked with some of the best survival games in years. From Palworld and Enshrouded to Once Human, The Planet Crafter, Soulmask, and even Sons of the Forest 1.0, there was some serious competiton. It certainly didn't help that, while Inflexion Games built a truly gorgeous world, it felt rather empty and devoid of focus in the early months. Nightingale has come a long way since then, however, introducing a story-driven campaign, ramping up its base-building tools, and opening the gates to its titular city - and now you can grab it for free, thanks to the Epic Games Store.

Nightingale is the headliner of this week's free Epic games offering, and while the open-world survival crafter might ordinarily come with a list of potential caveats, removing the cost of entry makes it an easy recommendation. Its Victorian-influenced 'gaslamp fantasy' aesthetic is absolutely stunning, and as someone who prefers upbeat and beautiful offerings to more grimdark, sinister ones, it's fighting with Valheim at the top of my personal survival games list. That's especially true since the launch of its 'Realms Rebuilt' overhaul, which brought much more structure to proceedings.

Since then, Inflexion has continued to add even more upgrades. Build limits have been improved, as have the construction tools, and there's new functionality such as NPC automation to recruit characters and assign them jobs. It then ramped up the player customization options for better fashion, and expanded buildcrafting with the introduction of Nightingale City, which brought tier-five weapons and gear into the fray. These boast some particularly unique tricks and bonuses, elevating the combat mechanics to rival its visual flair.

In July, the developer introduced the option for dedicated servers, making it even easier to organize a co-op world for you and your friends to share. Now, you can all grab Nightingale as a free PC game, and it's yours to keep as long as you make sure to claim it within the next seven days. With no real barrier to entry, I'd certainly recommend seeing what you think - the once-mixed Steam review average has now risen to 'mostly positive' in the wake of the gradual improvements, so it's a good time to check in.

Nightingale is free to keep via the Epic Games Store between Thursday October 2 and Thursday October 9. Additionally, you can claim a bundle worth $100 for idle-RPG Firestone during the same period. Head here to take advantage of the deal while it lasts.

I love exploring worlds unlike our own, and we've put together a list of the best fantasy games in 2025 that let you do just that. For more adventures you can take with your friends, here are the best co-op games on PC.

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