As if your Epic Games Store library wasn't already swollen enough with freebies you might, finally, one day, find time to play, two more are now clamouring for permission to join the teetering pile, this time the form of Metro: Last Light Redux and For the King.

Metro: Last Light Redux, released in 2014, is the second game in developer 4A Games' acclaimed FPS series set in the post-apocalyptic Russia of author Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels. Or, more specifically, it's 4A Games' second attempt at that sequel, thoroughly remastering the studio's original 2013 effort with a range of welcome visual and gameplay refinements.

For the King, meanwhile, is a thoroughly enjoyable, optionally co-operative rogue-like adventure that successfully combines a raft of familiar RPG stables - dungeon crawling, questing, turn-based exploration and combat, loot acquisition, and more - with the luck-mitigation design of board games like Arkham Horror.

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For the King was a game that I enjoyed immensely when it released back in 2018, and now developer IronOak Games has revealed it'll be bringing the table-top-style fantasy adventure's very first paid expansion, Lost Civilization, to PC on 10th February.

For the King received a generous helping of free DLC updates following its launch on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch, adding the likes of new nautical adventures, journeys to icebound climes, and even a special "uncooperative mode".

Lost Civilization, however, will be For the King's first paid expansion - or Adventure Pack, as IronOak is calling it - and introduces a brand-new jungle region, arena battles, wands and dual wielding, two new playable characters, and "tons of" new enemies and loot.

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Microsoft has announced a fresh batch of titles coming to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service this month, on both Xbox One and PC, including the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition.

Working in chronological order, 17th July sees the arrival of intriguing "non-linear, narrative-driven noire investigation" mystery Night Call on PC. A day later, on 18th July, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain comes to Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One, and The Banner Saga 3 - the final entry in Stoic Games' critically acclaimed Viking series - arrives for Xbox One and PC.

Rounding off the month, on 25th July, are Shinji Mikami's survival horror classic Resident Evil 4 (Xbox One), superb tabletop RPG rogue-like For The King (PC), and Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition - which includes all 26 characters from Seasons 1-3 - for both Xbox One and PC.

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Developer IronOak Games has announced that its wonderful board-game-esque RPG rogue-like For the King is getting another free content update, this time focussing on the seas of Fahrul, and it'll arrive on PC on November 21st.

Following on from the recent "(un)cooperative" Gold Rush expansion, For the Kings' next DLC update is called Into the Deep and brings a whole heap of nautically-themed additions, including, says IronOak, "incredible sea battles, fearsome enemies, awesome boats".

Into the Deep pits players against the nefarious Fishfolk, who intend to summon the mighty Kraken God into the world. To halt this impending apocalypse, adventurers must explore the ocean and its islands, finding and destroying powerful artefacts hidden within Water Temples.

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IronOak Games has announced that For the King, its brilliant tabletop-inspired rogue-like RPG, is getting a brand-new multiplayer challenge tomorrow, 26th October, in the form of the "uncooperative" Gold Rush mode.

While For the King's hugely enjoyable main adventure encourages cooperation, tasking up to four adventurers with working together to survive the gorgeous but perilous kingdom of Fahrul, Gold Rush mode seeks to stretch those friendships to breaking point.

In Gold Rush mode, adventurers are encouraged to find devious new ways to usurp their companions as they battle to be the first to collect 100 gold coins and return them to Lucky's Vault. Players aren't permitted to attack one another, however, so creativity is key.

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Bold and bright, stuffed with charm and whimsy, For the King is gorgeous.

And its beguiling world is all a little misleading. Yes, the animations bring this oh-so-cute board game to life, and no, the game doesn't take itself too seriously. But beneath that day-glo veneer For the King is brutal, unflinchingly unfair in the way only a roguelike game can be. Right at the heart of it lies the stone-cold heart of a savage RPG... and pretty or not, this is not a game for the faint-hearted.

The story's one you've likely heard before; a cherished leader is dead, chaos is unleashed across the kingdom, and it's up to you - yes, you, mysterious stranger - to put things right again. Only in this instance, Chaos is a malevolent force of the same name that's intensified by too many lurking baddies, the sad demise of your squadmates, and even so much as a hint of dilly-dallying.

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Update, 11/4/18: Developer IronOak Games has announced that its wonderful tabletop-RPG-meets-digital-board-game For The King will be leaving Steam early access next week, on April 19th.

Previously, IronOak had teased that For the King would receive an "all-new adventure" when Version 1.0 launched, and the developer has now revealed that this will take the form of the Frozen Expanse - a chilly new area which gets a good airing in the trailer below.

This previously unseen part of the world consists of three new realms: the Shivering Woods, the Frozen Expanse itself, and the Frigid Sea. It also brings two vast new dungeons, new traps, more than 20 new enemies and encounters, two new Scourges, new weapons, armour and loot, plus a brand-new playable character. There are also ten additional Steam achievements.

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Developer IronOak Games has announced that its delightful tabletop-RPG-meets-digital-board-game For The King will be leaving Steam early access in "early April", with an Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Switch release planned for 2019.

I stumbled across For The King on Steam early last year, and it's a game I keep coming back to. It features a bunch of familiar, if streamlined, RPG systems - dungeon crawling, questing, turn-based exploration and combat, loot acquisition, and so on - and fashions them into a tough, roguelike experience that plays out a lot like the RNG-heavy, luck-mitigation designs of so-called Ameritrash board games, such as Arkham Horror.

For The King's story isn't exactly a complicated one: the king is dead and your plucky band of three adventurers, picked from a pool of distinct classes, must scour the hex-based kingdom in search of his killer. However, it's got a real, swashbuckling sense of anything-can-happen adventure, thanks to the myriad mini-events that can pop onto the procedurally assembled map any time as you roam the world.

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