Quick answer: Mindcop and Shogun Showdown are the two active U.S. Epic Games Store PC base-game giveaways this week. [1] Epic’s live catalog lists both at $0 for a seven-day claim window; Epic says a free game claimed during its free period remains in the account after the offer ends. [2]
The $29.98 figure is simple arithmetic from Epic’s current U.S. original prices—$14.99 plus $14.99—not a promise of resale value, playtime, or personal enjoyment. [1]
Mindcop
A nonlinear murder mystery built around five in-game days, interviews, exploration, and real-time match-3 MindSurf sequences. [4]
Best for: players who enjoy deduction, hand-drawn worlds, compact investigations, and choices that consume limited time.
Shogun Showdown
A turn-based combat game about positioning, timing, upgrading attack tiles, building combinations, and improving across repeated runs. [8]
Best for: players who enjoy readable tactical puzzles, deck-building decisions, pixel art, and run-based progression.
Mindcop: investigate a murder before time runs out
Developer: Andre Gareis · Publisher: Dear Villagers · Original release: November 14, 2024 [4] [5] · Epic price this week: $0, normally $14.99 in the U.S. [1]
Epic’s active catalog entry identifies Mindcop as a BASE_GAME with offer ID 8a20c6c8d5b5417e800c687e9d72013e, namespace f20a4eda0f2d486ea73cab8af1224e31, a $14.99 original U.S. price, and a zero promotional price. [1] The Epic-store arrival is not the game’s original debut: the publisher-maintained PC listing dates the original release to November 14, 2024. [5]
Premise and play style
The official site describes a nonlinear whodunit in Merrilyn Crater Camp. [4] The Mindcop has five days to identify a killer, and investigative actions consume time. [4] That makes the route through conversations and locations part of the puzzle: chasing every available lead is not automatically the best plan.
Its standout mechanic is MindSurf, a real-time match-3 sequence that opens a suspect’s “Sea of Thoughts.” [4] Success reveals clues and conversation topics rather than functioning as a detached arcade diversion. [4] The official description also promises two endings, so the five-day structure is built for consequence and replay rather than one exhaustive, consequence-free sweep. [4]
Reasons to claim it
- The investigation asks you to prioritize leads instead of simply clearing icons.
- The match-3 layer has a narrative job: entering thoughts and uncovering useful material.
- A two-ending structure gives decisions a concrete reason to matter.
- The 2 GB storage figure makes this a comparatively light library addition. [5]
Cautions before downloading
- Time-consuming actions mean completionists may need to accept missed leads or replay.
- The real-time puzzle sequences may not suit players who want a purely conversational detective game.
- No sufficiently specific first-party accessibility inventory was found; do not assume remapping, color-vision options, screen-reader support, or difficulty assists. [4] [5]
- Full controller support appears in publisher-supplied Steam metadata, not an Epic-specific controller field. [5]
Windows requirements
Phone readers: swipe the table left to compare minimum and recommended specifications.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 7/8/10+ | Windows 7/8/10+ |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GPU with at least 256 MB VRAM | GPU with at least 512 MB VRAM |
| Storage | 2 GB available space | 2 GB available space |
The publisher-maintained PC listing supplies the minimum and recommended rows shown above. [5] It does not publish a processor row in the current captured metadata. Package size and behavior can still differ between storefronts, so treat 2 GB as a planning figure rather than a byte-for-byte Epic guarantee.
Controller, languages, and accessibility
The publisher-maintained Steam listing marks full controller support. [5] It lists English audio and text in English, French, German, Spanish from Spain, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. [5] Language and controller fields are not a complete accessibility certification, and no more detailed official accessibility statement was located during this check. [4] [5]
Official launch trailer
The official game site embeds this video. [4] YouTube oEmbed identifies its uploader as Dear Villagers with the title “MINDCOP – Launch trailer.” [6]
Shogun Showdown: make every move, tile, and attack count
Developer: Roboatino · Publishers: Goblinz Publishing and Gamirror Games [8] [9] · Full release: September 5, 2024 [9] · Epic price this week: $0, normally $14.99 in the U.S. [1]
Epic’s active catalog entry identifies Shogun Showdown as a BASE_GAME with offer ID b9ff3f98367a45cdac289dff6683a2bc, namespace 59ff4d481277487d8c073166ba7612d3, a $14.99 original U.S. price, and a zero promotional price. [1] The publisher’s official page and publisher-maintained PC listing date the full release to September 5, 2024. [8] [9]
Premise and play style
Goblinz describes the game as turn-based combat with roguelike and deck-building elements. [8] Each encounter asks you to position your fighter, time attacks, upgrade and combine attack tiles, acquire skills, and shape a deck before facing the Shogun. [8] Additional characters, attacks, and skills unlock across runs. [8]
The useful distinction is that this is not a conventional card game wearing a samurai theme. Position and timing happen on the battlefield, while the tile/deck layer determines which attacks are available and how they combine. That blend makes short tactical decisions carry forward into a larger run.
Reasons to claim it
- Turn-based pacing gives you room to read enemy intent and plan combinations.
- Upgradable attack tiles connect deck-building choices to spatial combat.
- Unlockable characters, attacks, and skills support experimentation across runs.
- The publisher-linked 500 MB storage listing makes it an unusually small modern PC download. [9]
Cautions before downloading
- Roguelike progression expects failed or incomplete runs; repetition is part of the structure.
- Players looking for real-time action may find the deliberate turn sequence too methodical.
- The 500 MB figure comes from the publisher-maintained Steam listing and may not equal the final Epic package. [9]
- Full controller support appears in publisher-supplied Steam metadata, not an Epic-specific controller field; no detailed first-party accessibility inventory was found. [8] [9]
Windows requirements
Phone readers: swipe the table left to compare the listed specifications.
| Component | Published minimum |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 7/8/10 |
| Processor | 1.7+ GHz or better |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better |
| Storage | 500 MB available space |
The publisher-maintained PC listing supplies the minimum rows shown above and does not publish a separate recommended block. [9] Treat the 500 MB figure as planning guidance, not a byte-for-byte guarantee for Epic’s package.
Controller, languages, and accessibility
The publisher-maintained Steam listing marks full controller support and lists English, French, German, Spanish from Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. [9] Those PC storefront fields are not an Epic-specific controller guarantee or a complete accessibility certification. No reviewed first-party page supplied a detailed accessibility inventory, so this guide does not claim support for remapping, color-vision filters, screen readers, difficulty assists, or other specific accommodations. [8] [9]
Official release-date trailer
The publisher’s official game page embeds this video. [8] YouTube oEmbed identifies its uploader as Goblinz Publishing with the title “Shogun Showdown – Release Date Trailer.” [10]
Watch the Shogun Showdown release-date trailer directly on YouTube.
Which free game should you try first?
Start with Mindcop if you want character-driven investigation, limited-time choices, and a story you can discuss after the credits. Start with Shogun Showdown if you prefer systems-first play: readable enemy intent, positioning, attack sequencing, and the satisfaction of improving a build over several runs. The practical answer is still to claim both while they are $0. Claiming costs no storage; downloading does.
Choose Mindcop first if…
- You like taking notes, testing alibis, and deciding which lead deserves scarce time.
- You want a compact single-player mystery rather than an open-ended progression loop.
- You are comfortable with a puzzle mechanic interrupting investigation and dialogue.
- You may replay to see how different priorities affect the two-ending structure reported by the official site. [4]
Choose Shogun Showdown first if…
- You prefer tactical rules that are easy to read but can combine in difficult ways.
- You enjoy refining a plan after a failed run instead of following one fixed campaign path.
- You want the smaller stated storage footprint; the publisher-maintained listing says 500 MB, with the Epic-package caveat already noted. [9]
- You would rather solve movement and attack-order problems than interrogate characters.
Claim now, download deliberately
There are three separate actions in this kind of promotion, and confusing them is how people miss a giveaway. Wishlisting saves a product for later but does not add the license. Claiming means completing Epic’s $0 order while the promotion is active. Installing transfers game files to a PC and may happen after the claim window. Epic’s official free-games surface is the program context for this distinction, while the catalog feed supplies this week’s exact offer records and timestamps. [2] [1]
That separation matters on a small SSD. You can secure both licenses now, then install only the title you plan to play. Based on the published planning figures, Mindcop asks for 2 GB and Shogun Showdown asks for 500 MB through the publisher-maintained listings. [5] [9] Actual installed size can grow with launcher overhead, patches, caches, and platform packaging, so leave extra free space instead of treating either figure as an exact disk allocation.
Practical compatibility notes before installing
Both games publish modest Windows requirements, but those rows are planning guidance rather than performance guarantees for every PC. [5] [9] The most useful checks are available storage, a working graphics driver, controller expectations, and whether the game’s play style fits the person using the machine.
For Mindcop, the publisher-maintained record steps from 4 GB to 8 GB of RAM and from 256 MB to 512 MB of VRAM, while keeping the storage figure at 2 GB. [5] Its more meaningful compatibility question may be input preference: the same metadata marks full controller support, but that is not an Epic-specific guarantee. If controller use is essential, verify the live Epic product page rather than assuming storefront parity.
For Shogun Showdown, the publisher-maintained record exposes one minimum block rather than a separate recommended tier. [9] If a PC is near the Intel HD Graphics 3000 floor, update the graphics driver from the computer or GPU manufacturer and keep expectations conservative. The article does not link third-party driver tools or executable mirrors.
How to claim the games
- Open each official Epic product page from the buttons above and sign in to the Epic account that should own the license.
- Confirm the page shows a $0 price for the base game in the U.S. region. Editions, bundles, DLC, and similarly named products are not substitutes.
- Select Get, continue to checkout, and verify the order total remains $0 before placing the order.
- Complete the order. Wishlist is not ownership. [2] An email receipt or the game appearing in your Epic library is better evidence that the claim finished.
- Install now or later through the Epic Games Launcher. The license claim must finish before the deadline; the download does not.
What is announced next?
At this reporting cutoff, Epic’s live feed contains upcoming zero-promotion windows for Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles and Mechabellum, both scheduled from September 24 at 15:00 UTC to October 1 at 15:00 UTC. [1] The same current feed snapshot still shows nonzero live prices—$12.49 for Astrea and $14.99 for Mechabellum—because those future giveaway windows have not begun. [1] Treat next week’s lineup as provisional until the offers activate and checkout prices become $0; do not rely on rumor pages or early catalog objects as completed claims.
Frequently asked questions
Are Mindcop and Shogun Showdown free forever?
The claim window is temporary, but Epic’s weekly free-game program adds successfully claimed licenses to the account. Complete each $0 checkout by September 24 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. [2]
Do I need to install them before the deadline?
No. Finish the $0 account claim before the deadline; installation can happen later. Wishlisting, bookmarking, or leaving a checkout unfinished is not a claim. [2]
Are these demos, DLC, or temporary free-play events?
No. Epic’s U.S. feed identifies both retained offers as active BASE_GAME records with positive original prices and zero promotional prices. DLC, bundles, demos, mobile-only offers, free weekends, subscriptions, permanently free-to-play games, and nonzero discounts were excluded from the count. [1]
Why are some requirements attributed to Steam?
The publisher-maintained listings provide the storage, controller, language, and requirements rows used above. [5] [9] Those details are labeled as publisher-supplied PC metadata and are not presented as proof that Epic’s package is byte-for-byte identical.
Does either game have verified accessibility features?
No detailed first-party accessibility inventory was found in the pages reviewed for this article. [4] [5] [8] [9] Language and controller fields are reported only where the source exposes them; absence of a listed feature is not proof that the feature does not exist.
Is The IT Guys affiliated with Epic or the game publishers?
No. The IT Guys is not affiliated with Epic Games, Andre Gareis, Dear Villagers, Roboatino, Goblinz Publishing, Gamirror Games, or the other rights holders. Store and publisher names are used for factual identification.
Sources and verification
- Epic Games Store U.S. free-games promotions feed — live catalog identity, offer type, prices, mappings, key images, and UTC promotion windows.
- Epic Games Store Free Games — official weekly giveaway and claim context.
- Mindcop on Epic Games Store — canonical Epic product page.
- Official Mindcop site — premise, five-day structure, MindSurf mechanic, creator credit, and official trailer context.
- Publisher-maintained Mindcop Steam listing — original release date, controller, languages, and PC requirements.
- MINDCOP – Launch trailer — official-site embedded video; YouTube oEmbed uploader: Dear Villagers.
- Shogun Showdown on Epic Games Store — canonical Epic product page.
- Goblinz official Shogun Showdown page — gameplay, developer, full-release wording, and official trailer context.
- Publisher-maintained Shogun Showdown Steam listing — full-release date, controller, languages, and PC requirements.
- Shogun Showdown – Release Date Trailer — publisher-site embedded video; YouTube oEmbed uploader: Goblinz Publishing.
Checked: September 17, 2026 at 12:02 p.m. EDT (16:02 UTC), with a required fresh feed recheck immediately before publication and during final stabilization. Region: United States; currency: USD; platform scope: Epic Games Store PC. Prices, regional availability, catalog metadata, and future offers can change. Official Epic/publisher media was used as research evidence; the article hero is original editorial art. Official hosting establishes provenance, not a blanket reuse license. This report is independent and contains no affiliate links.