Three Warhammer games are free to keep as part of this year’s Warhammer Skulls event

Warhammer Skulls, the annual celebration of Warhammer videogames, brings plenty of good news for aficionados of all things grim and perilous. There’s a Dawn of War remaster in the works, and a Space Marine remaster too. Owclat’s making another CRPG, this time based on the Inquisition, called Dark Heresy. And the space dwarfs of the Leagues of Votann will be making their videogame debut in Mechanicus 2.

But that’s all upcoming stuff. If you want things you can play right now and your budget is zero dollars, you’re in luck. Turn-based strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War is free on Steam until May 29. It’s basically Civilization only all that cultural victory guff has been replaced with eternal war, and it’s celebrating the release of its latest DLC, the Onslaught Pack, which adds eight new units.

If you want something even more old school, 1999’s Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War is free on GOG this week. It’s a rare 40K game that lets you play as the eldar, complete with jetbikes and a summonable embodiment of the god of murder. It was made in the Panzer General 2 engine, so expect a lot of tactical depth and a degree of fiddliness.

On the brand-new side of things, Auroch Digital is hyping its upcoming retro shooter Boltgun 2 by turning the first Boltgun into a Typing of the Dead clone. Boltgun – Words of Vengeance is free on Steam, and will give you three levels of typing-shooting that tests your ability to hammer out thematically appropriate phrases like PURGE THE UNCLEAN and NULN OIL SPILLAGE on the keyboard as you mow down the forces of Chaos. It’s great.

Those are all games you can claim and keep forever, but you can also play turn-based tactics game Mechanicus for free on Steam for the next three days. GOG has a Warhammer Skulls 2025 digital goodies bag with some wallpapers and discounts you can use at Cubicle 7 and Warhammer Art, and if you log into Blood Bowl 3’s in-game store, you can claim a coach for the Khorne team for free too. Free stuff for the free stuff god.