You can now play the best Zelda spinoff for free while you count down the minutes to Tears of the Kingdom

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer is free to play for a limited time, giving Switch Online subscribers something better to do than counting down the minutes to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. 

In case you haven't played it, Cadence of Hyrule is an absolutely sublime rhythm-based roguelike Zelda spinoff that launched on Switch to rave reviews back in 2019. There's been a free demo for years that you can still get today, and now the whole game is available to download and play for free through Sunday, May 7 as part of Nintendo's Game Trials. 

This is the perfect free trial for this particular game, as a single run should only take you a few hours, and from there you can figure out if you find it replayable enough to justify the full purchase price.

If you do decide to give it a go, we have a bunch of guides that are still very relevant today, including Cadence of Hyrule tips, where to find the Cadence of Hyrule Flippers, how to beat the Cadence of Hyrule Lost Woods, and whether to choose Cadence of Hyrule Link or Zelda at the start. These should help you clear the game as quickly as possible to ensure you get through at least one run during the free trial.

Finally, Nintendo and developer Brace Yourself Games are sweetening the deal for those who do want to keep the beat going after the trial. Not only will your save file carry over to the full game, but there's also a 50% discount going for Cadence of Hyrule and its season pass on the Switch eShop. That should be more than enough to keep you busy until Tears of the Kingdom arrives and steals all of our free time.

Speaking of the Breath of the Wild sequel, it's officially Tears of the Kingdom leak season, so tread carefully in the short time until launch.