Civilization 6 is free on the Epic Games Store

(Image credit: Firaxis)

This week's Epic Games Store freebie is a big one: Sid Meier's Civilization 6. 

You have until 8am PT / 11 am ET / 4pm BST on Thursday, May 28 to claim it, and once you do, you can keep it forever. You'll also need to set up two-factor authentication for your Epic Games Store account to claim the game, but that's a small price to pay for what many consider to be the best Civilization entry. 

As is sometimes the case with Epic Games Store giveaways, only the base game itself is free. Civilization 6 has several DLCs which introduce new scenarios, cultures, leaders, and other elements, but you'll need to purchase those separately. Fortunately, the biggest bunch of content, the Platinum Edition Upgrade which adds six Civilization & Scenario DLC packs as well as the Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions, is half-off on the Epic Games Store until June 11. You can also get the New Frontier Pass for its regular price of $39.99, or pay $8.99 for the Maya & Gran Colombia pack, the first part of the pass which was just released today.

Nearly four years after its release, Civilization 6 is still regularly updated and faithfully played, and with the aforementioned Frontier Pass now spooling up, there's arguably never been a better time to dive into Firaxis' masterwork 4X strategy game. The next Frontier Pass DLC will arrive in July, and four more packs will be spaced out between September 2020 and March 2021. The base game can keep you occupied for hundreds of hours, and if you like what you see, there's plenty more where that came from. 

Here are 10 games like Civilization that are sure to sate your thirst for strategy. 

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.