Steam makes 9/10 game free to download for just 5 days

If you're in the mood to give one of the greatest strategy games of all time a go, completely free of charge, then I have some great news for you.

Europa Universalis IV, a 2013 strategy game from developers Paradox Development Studios, is currently free to play on Steam for the next five days. The game is sitting at a "Very Positive" score on Steam too, with over 87,000 total user reviews.

Critics were equally happy with the game when it first released too, as the title is sitting at a score of 87/100 on Metacritic. PC Gamer's Len Hager referred to it as "an Enlightened balance of depth and accessibility that brings grand strategy into a new era" in their 91/100 review. The game was also nominated for the Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year award at the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

If strategy games are your thing, keep an eye on Civilization VII as it gears up to launch.

Europa Universalis IV also still regularly receives official updates and expansions. The latest expansion, Europa Universalis IV: Winds of Change, came out in May of this year. When I said this game came out in 2013 that wasn't a typo. Europa Universalis IV has been receiving content updates for over 11 years at this point.

But what if you try Europa Universalis IV and decide you love it after the free trial is up? Wouldn't that be a massive tease, getting a taste of how great a game is only to have it wrenched away from you after a measly five days playing it?

Well don't fret, because Europa Universalis IV will also be on sale for the duration of its free trial. It's currently down to £4.54, following its 87% decrease in price.

Be warned however, that in itself is a trap. There are 33 separate pieces of DLC for Europa Universalis IV, which means that the initial low cost of £4.54 could easily balloon into a total purchase of up to £250 (if you become so obsessed with the game that you simply HAVE to purchase all of its extra content).