Thank you for the links. I guess I'm just undecided on whether to get it now or hope it might be free down the road.

What I should probably do is focus on my backlog.

There is this thread for recommending freeware games.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/free_games_and_3rd_party_mods_the_updated_list/
As well as this thread that lives up to the site's name as it is specifically for games that run on older PCs. Great free games that might not run on Windows 11 but will work on older versions of Windows are encouraged to be posted here, especially if it's something that has been reclassified as freeware.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/free_games_and_potato_pcs/

So posting in the above threads would have been very on-topic.

I've seen that tactic used a few times with ShareWare, although in this age of digital downloads even mainstream companies are sometimes using ShareWare or something akin to it where you download a demo that includes the full game and you just need to pay a fee to unlock it.

Either it's a trial but they don't bother telling you it's a trial until after it expires and basically says "pay us to keep using the program" (usually with utility programs rather than games), or you download a game that doesn't mention that it's ShareWare until after you complete the first level. Then it says "Congratulations, you've completed the demo. If you'd like to keep playing, enter your credit card to unlock the full version."
I'm afraid I deleted the game because the surprise ShareWare fees left a sour note on me and now I'm drawing a blank on what game it was, but it's happened to me twice.

I already have that and the delisted preview copy for the 2nd one on Steam, so i didn't need it. it was the GOG copy which I don't have. I'm rather surprised at this, with the short amount of time it was up and I didn't get advance notice until I looked at the thread.

I was gonna post about that though, but I see I had been beaten to the punch this time as well.

Well that sucks. Just realized that a bunch of freebies on Fanatical that I've claimed over months needed me to click them AGAIN to redeem on steam. So the keys expired and I didn't get them. Fortunately none of them were any big loss... probably would have never played them, but still. Did learn my lesson? I guess time will tell.

I’ve done that many times unfortunately. I rarely redeem the keys I get free or in super cheap bundles. They’re just there for a rainy day, or mostly not I guess.

well free is free. GOG is best but on steam is better than not.
It's a great game. You'll enjoy playing it!

Can someone explain the lego games to me? What are they about?

I see them sometimes offered in giveaways and the like, and I don't really understand their theme. Are they just trying to make money off popular movies? Are they just turning movies into games? Does the lego brand imply the games are for children, or have been watered down so they're "family friendly"?

Are the games simply set in the movie land and you have freedom to explore, or are you locked on a railroad course of replaying the movie? There seem to be quite a few lego games so they must be popular. What is the appeal, what does it "mean" to be a lego game? Anything I should know to look for or avoid?

Well, "Lego games" fits into several categories.
There are a couple of games where you're building things with Legos, although most are called "Lego simulators" instead. It's basically virtual Lego building sets.

Others are like the Lego movies, which were a genre where they initially made movies with stop-gap animation using Legos. More modern movies are done with CGI based on Lego building sets. The subject varied, including tie-ins to other movies or comics, such as the D.C. Comics Lego movies.

The various Lego games of the second type vary, but generally have characters and world that look like they are made of Legos. I can't be more specific unless you talk about a specific game.

"Lego Games" is just too broad to categorize.

* * *

Replying to this to stop a derail:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/massive_giveaways_blog/post5511 At least clearly label it a demo and have the stores provide a way to filter OUT the demos.
If that were the case, most of my objections would evaporate, since I DO occasionally find demos of games I might be considering to purchase useful, but only if I know I'm getting a demo.
If I'm looking at the free games section, show me free games without having to spend time and effort determining if it's just a demo or not.
If I want a demo, let me look at the demo section.
Then most of this rant would be invalidated since I'd only see that nonsense when I'm looking at the demo section to see if there's a demo for a game I might want to buy.

It's getting harder and harder to distinguish between demos/prologues and full games.

Arguably most games released these days are demos of the experience you can have with the complete edition including all DLCs and bugfixes.

And some games released as early access or pre-early access demos have gameplay experiences better than a lot of games.

Most such games are fortunately called, unsurprisingly, "Demo". Devs that want to be fancy about it, call them "Prologue", so that's your new "demo". If you're looking in the free games section, unless you know it's a full standalone freeware game, forget about it. Even the majority of the free games on GOG are demos, so I wouldn't bother looking there.

The point I was speaking about was because someone got duped into thinking a free game was part of a giveaway (as it was in the giveaway thread), when the game in question itself was not, due to clearly being excluded from the giveaway feature, but they hadn't figured it out at the time.

Since it's in the free games section and not a giveaway, it would clearly be a clue that it wasn't a giveaway, or even at least a full game at that. You're only looking for games that belong in that section - games that are freeware.

Thanks, I wasn't aware there were so many. What I've seen has been like "star wars lego" and "LOTR lego" and "indiana jones lego". I was just curious how much interactivity and "new" stuff there was versus just watching the movies. Hence, my curiousity about the appeal.

In my view, a demo would be a part of the game (even if possibly not exactly in the form it'll be in the final release of the actual game, since it may be based on a pre-release build), while a prologue should be something not included in the full game, so would also serve a purpose to play in itself.

Some clearly get a bit pedantic when it comes to what constitutes a demo or not. We are never going to change their view, so time to move on. Similar on what constitutes a Giveaway.

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I wonder if Epic are going to have 12 days of free games like they have for previous Xmases?

My recollection, is it was the 12 days leading up to Xmas Day. But of course the official 12 days of Xmas is from Xmas Day onward. Epic have clearly missed that first window now, as they are still giving away free games weekly.

Last year they gave away games from December 20 to January 4. Not sure why they started on a wednesday. In 2022 they started on Dec 15 and ended on Dec 29.
If they continue the tradition this year, they'll probably start on Dec 19 and end on Jan 2.
Will be interesting to see if they'll continue with the giveaways next year. Heard rumors that they won't, but also heard similar rumors previous years. The store hadn't turned a profit yet last year though, not sure about this year. Guess we'll know when they release the 'Epic Games Store 2024 Year in Review'