Roguelike dungeon crawler Barony is free to play right now, but not for long

As much as I love Skyrim, it gets harder to revisit Tamriel after my umpteenth playthrough. Bleak Falls Barrow is a brilliant starting dungeon, for example, but once I know the ins and outs of every draugr-filled hall, it loses that sense of surprise that makes fantasy RPGs so special. That's where a game like Barony comes in. A roguelike dungeon crawler you can play in co-op, every single adventure is completely different. With loads of classes, RPG systems, and no handholding, it's the perfect reason to while away the hours. You can play it free for a limited time right now, and then grab it at a big discount if you want to dive back in.

If you know your way around old-school RPGs like Ultima Underworld, The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall, and Arx Fatalis, playing Barony will be just like riding a bike. The voxel dungeon-crawling roguelike clearly takes inspiration from these classics, but it also does an awful lot more with them.

Baron Herx's curse has almost entirely destroyed the town of Hamlet, and as one of the few adventurers left it's your job to venture into his lands and save the day. This means exploring claustrophobic dungeons collecting loot, fighting enemies, finding weapons, avoiding traps, and claiming treasure. You've also got plenty of fantasy classes to pick from like the wizard, rogue, arcanist, and joker. Barony very much feels like old Elder Scrolls, then, where empowering your character to the max is a core part of the experience.

Barony steps it up a notch with its roguelike elements, however. Levels are procedurally generated and permadeath weighs over your head with every move, giving all of your decisions an extra layer of risk. Think of it like Hades or Dead Cells, where the world and your builds vary with every run, but it instead looks like a fantasy RPG.

Luckily, you don't have to take on the ever-shifting challenges alone, as Barony has both splitscreen and online co-op available. To celebrate the game's anniversary, developer Turning Wheel has even introduced proximity voice chat, adding a new layer to how you play with friends. If you do get separated and end up dying at the claws of a goblin, though, that's not the end. When you die you turn into a ghost, and you can use this power to haunt or help your friends by exploring the dungeon and using some special powers.

You can play Barony for free on Steam until Monday June 16, while the game is also 50% off on Valve's store until Thursday June 19, so expect to pay $9.99 / £8.37. Just head here.

We've also got all the best fantasy games and co-op games you can play on PC today, if you want even more.

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