This week’s free game on the Epic Games Store is Them’s Fightin Herds

We will always adore a great pun, and the free game on the Epic Games Store this week really deserves its laurels on the strength of the pun in its name alone.

• Them’s Fightin Herds
  • Release Date: April 30, 2020
  • Game Type: Fighting, Beat ‘Em Up
  • POV: 2D Sidescroller
  • Party: Single player
  • DLC: Several, from individual characters to a Season 1 pass.

While our general stance is always “free is free,” the development trajectory of this legally distinct My Little Pony fighting game isn’t super positive. The versus fighting section is fun, but development has been halted. Season 1 is the only season Them’s Fightin Herds will have, and there will not be a story mode. Just be aware of this going in, just in case you happen to fall in love with this game there isn’t going to be any more, so DLC accordingly.

In general this is a fun little fighting game. While it doesn’t quite have the depth of a Smash Bros or Street Fighter title, it’s still mechanically excellent. Its ties to the My Little Pony franchise and art are either a huge plus, or huge minus, depending on your personal aesthetic. If my daughter were still 8, this would be on the docket for late night sleepovers. Unfortunately, she is now a teen, and therefore smashing together cute ponies while braying for the blood of her classmates is way too cringe these days. This defines the two subsets of people who will be interested in playing this game to a T — fans of MLP who can put up with the fighting aspect, or fighting gamers who can look past the MLP of it all.