Havendock and Hyper Echelon are free this week on the Epic Games Store

It feels a little weird to lay off a thousand people and then continue to give away games for free, but the Epic Games Store is apparently immune to cognitive dissonance so they’re giving away Havendock and Hyper Echelon for free this week.

• Havendock
  • Release Date: April 22, 2025
  • Game Type: Simulator, city builder, cozy, Casual
  • POV: 3rd person
  • Party: Single Player
  • DLC: The Wizard Island DLC adds a new island, buildings, wizards, and the Wisp helper NPC.

Havendock is a very cute, cozy colony management sim. You can do things like farm to sustain the town you’ve built, as well as invent and produce goods. Because you’re on the ocean, you can also explore using boats. It’s a great little timekiller game.

• Hyper Echelon
  • Release Date: November 11, 2021
  • Game Type: shooter, arcade, retro
  • POV: 3rd person, top-down
  • Party: Single Player
  • DLC: None.

It’s a week for brain off, just vibes. Hyper Echelon is one of those old school shooters that owes a ton to Galaga, where you play as a little spaceship shooting other spaceships, while dodging bullets and obstacles. There are a bunch of different game modes to choose from, but it’s really just old school arcade shooter goodness at its core. In an era where games are systems on systems, a game where you can just load in and start shooting is a fun pastime.