A big welcome back to all Loot Happens subscribers. Loot Happens is a weekly newsletter that is emailed and also gets posted on LootHappens.com.
It's important to note that for premium subscribers, game offerings, and in-game content, every week is different. Sometimes it's in-game codes, Steam keys, and giveaways, but premium members will always get something special every mailing. We also occasionally get mind-blowing early access or premium games that pay for an entire year's subscription.
Each newsletter is generally structured as Premium Loot > Free Sub Giveaways > Game Feature > Game discounts.
Key Giveaway For Premium Subscribers: Distrust: Polar Survival
In Distrust: Polar Survival, you guide a group of explorers stranded near a desolate Arctic research station after a harrowing helicopter crash. Facing extreme cold, relentless hunger, and a never-ending polar night, survival is a constant battle. But the true terror begins when they sleep - a mysterious force drains their life, pushing them to the brink of madness.
As you explore a randomly generated station, you'll uncover dark secrets and face otherworldly anomalies. With 15 unique survivors to choose from, each offering different skills and abilities, every decision could be the difference between life and death. Play solo or team up in co-op mode, but remember, in this frozen wasteland, reality itself is your enemy, and trust is a luxury you can't afford.
Rats in a Cage: Key Giveaway For Free Subscribers
Rats in a Cage is a brand new biting corporate satire wrapped in a clever puzzle game. As a corporate rat, you'll navigate a series of single-room puzzles by manipulating your coworkers with coffee, gossip, and backstabbing to climb the corporate ladder. Guided by a snarky AI determined to sabotage your progress, you'll take credit for others' work, dodge deadlines, and endure endless meetings - all while losing your last shred of dignity.
With gameplay that breaks the fourth wall and a world steeped in absurd corporate culture, Rats in a Cage is a hilarious and challenging critique of office life. This game does not come out until September 20th, but we have an early key available.
If you would like to be in the running for a key, hit reply and just put 'rats'. We will pick a winner and send over the key in 48 hours
Hellbreach: Vegas: Key Giveaway For Free Subscribers
Hellbreach: Vegas is an intense wave-based shooter where the neon-lit streets of Las Vegas become a battleground against demonic forces. Created by Ash of Infinity Ape Studios, this game lets you fight solo or team up with up to four players to take on relentless waves of demons. With 19 weapons and a mix of modern and futuristic firearms, you'll slaughter demons in style while earning cash to upgrade your arsenal.
Try your luck with various slot machines to win weapons, power-ups, and cosmetics. Whether you're surviving endless rounds or testing your marksmanship in one of the five unique game modes, Hellbreach offers non-stop, adrenaline-fueled action in a city where what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
If you would like to be in the running for a key, hit reply and just put 'vegas'. We will pick a winner and send over the key in 48 hours
Historically Low Prices
This Loot Happens section on our website keeps a record of past discounts on games, as well as current ones available in the gaming industry. Our web crawlers work tirelessly daily to find the best deals across the gaming landscape.
These games are not just any games, but titles we truly love and highly respect. You can purchase them at prices we have never seen before!
Gran Turismo 7 [PS5 & PS4]
Gran Turismo 7 brings together the very best features of the Real Driving Simulator.$69.99 $39.89
Supermarket Manager 2024 [Nintendo Switch]
Step into the shoes of a supermarket owner in Supermarket Manager 2024.$11.99 $4.99
The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie [Nintendo Switch]
What destinies await these three fateful figures?$59.99 $35.99
Featured Game Review: Dustborn
Dustborn might seem like a quirky mash-up of genres and melodramatic characters at first glance, but it quickly reveals its depth as you dive into its world. As Pax, a con artist with a sharp tongue and a knack for trouble, you’re tasked with transporting secret cargo across an alternate America where JFK never died, and Lady Justice is none other than Marilyn Monroe. Joined by a crew of superpowered misfits disguised as a punk band, your road trip to Nova Scotia is filled with more than just music gigs and baseball bat brawls.
This game is a wild blend of comic book aesthetics, Telltale-inspired storytelling, and rhythm-based gameplay that somehow all works together beautifully. From using your voice to manipulate minds to swinging a boomerang bat at enemies, Dustborn delivers a fresh take on action-adventure games. Despite its slow start and angst-filled dialogues, the game’s emotional payoff and unique characters—like robots in bunny hats and heartbroken biker queens—make the journey unforgettable. So, pack your bags, tune your guitar, and get ready to rock out across a truly bizarre America.
Alternative America, but it's supernatural
Dustborn introduces players to an America reimagined under the strange premise that JFK survived his assassination attempt and subsequently led the country into an eerily familiar authoritarian regime. The game’s setting, rife with book burnings and totalitarianism, is bold but lacks the depth it aims for. It touches on heavy themes without fully committing to exploring them, leaving the alternate history more like window dressing than a fully realized world. The jumble of ideas—from apocalyptic threats to robotic companions—feels underdeveloped, with none getting the attention they deserve, making the game’s political commentary more superficial than impactful.
Where Dustborn falters most is in its blending of real-world issues with supernatural elements. Serious problems like disinformation are turned into literal viruses, and while this might sound intriguing, it risks trivializing the very issues it seeks to highlight. The game’s diverse cast, while initially promising, also falls short of delivering meaningful representation. Despite featuring characters from various minority backgrounds, the story sidesteps any real engagement with their identities, making their diversity feel more like a checkbox than a deliberate narrative choice. This lack of depth is especially jarring in a game that tries so hard to be socially conscious.
Dustborn shines when it focuses on its characters and their journeys. The heartfelt conversations and evolving relationships between the crew members are where the game truly finds its footing. These moments of connection, often shared around a campfire after a mission, provide an emotional core that contrasts with the chaotic mix of ideas elsewhere in the game. Though it struggles with balancing its many themes, Dustborn ultimately offers a unique experience that’s most enjoyable when it leans into its quirky, supernatural elements and lets its characters take center stage.
Bottom Line
Dustborn may not immediately grab you with its unconventional mix of genres and its somewhat heavy-handed approach to social commentary, but it has a way of drawing you in as you journey deeper into its alternate America. What starts as a quirky road trip with a band of oddballs soon becomes a captivating adventure where the connections you form with your crew outweigh the game’s narrative inconsistencies. By the end, I found myself unexpectedly invested in this ragtag group of misfits, rooting for them through every melodramatic conversation, bizarre encounter, and electrifying gig. It’s a game that may stumble in its ambitions but ultimately succeeds in delivering a memorable and heartfelt experience
Next Week
Lots to look forward to in every newsletter and we are in active communication with several developers and studios. More to come next week!
The Eighth Inc. c/o LootHappens.com
46 Plains Road
Essex, CT 06426
©2024 Loot Happens | hi@loothappens.com | Privacy Policy | Terms
