This was offered as a limited giveaway on the 20th February this year where it received an 89% approval rating from 19 votes. You can see the 5 comments posted HERE.

Woodle Deluxe

In Brief

Woodle Deluxe is a 3D platformer and third game in the Woodle universe series. I'd score it a decent 8.5 out of 10 for great family fun. You can also play with a family member or friend in a local cooperative mode and it may also be possible to play with a friend online with Steam, but I've not tested that option. When you first boot the game up, a small window appears that indicates that you can play cooperatively, both locally or online.; however, I see no option in the menus that enables this option???

You can see a couple of You Tube videos created by the Steam community members PepperHomie HERE and Throneful HERE

The Game

Woodle Deluxe is a cute and colourful 3D action platformer ideal for children. It includes two modes of play; i.e. single player and a local cooperative mode, where the second player can play as Woodle Beaver. It's a nice relaxing platforming adventure with no time constraints and is ideal for all the family. You can wander around in an open world environment, but don't wander off the edges of the world, otherwise you are transported back to the beginning of the level.

Of the 40 Steam reviews currently available for Woodle Deluxe since its release on the 18th Feb 2021, most are positive; which is a very good sign and bodes well for those receiving a Steam key before the supply is exhausted. Basically it's first come first served with today's limited giveaway, which ends today. As more Steam community members become aware of this offer, the likelihood of getting a key will be reduce significantly because Steam key giveaways are very popular amongst the more than 120 million live Steam accounts. (When I joined Steam back in 2009 there were approximately 4 million users). Once you've completed the four tasks successfully a Steam code will be delivered within minutes to the email you used to enter the giveaway. If you've used one of those throwaway emails, you won't get a key as it will disappear into cyber space.

I'm not big into 3D platformers, but I actually really enjoyed playing this in short bursts of around 40 minutes. I found the game entertaining and very easy to play.

The difficulty level lends itself to the younger player, though older player who aren't your usual platformer aficionados' will also benefit from the simple controls. There are eight distinct worlds to explore from snow covered environments to deserts all floating in the sky. You can zoom out using the mouse wheel to get an idea of how big each level is or zoom right in to be up close and personal. This ability also enables you to see the area's you still have to explore. The game reminded me of that brilliant 3D platform game that was released about 15 years ago called Atmosphir, which sadly died a death due to the way it was funded (you paid a monthly subscription, but got the game for free), but the very playable client is still available online for free HERE, but the servers have gone. Still, you can create your own 3D platform worlds that look as good as this game.

My son loved this game when it was still in development and won an Atmosphir Tee Shirt for winning 'level of the week' . Literally hundreds of levels were submitted by the community at its height as it also includes a level editor.

Sadly Woodle Deluxe does not include a level editor, which in my opinion would make this an even better game..

As you progress through the levels you can unlock various items and clothing to dress your character in. You control your Woodle character using the WASD or the arrow keys for movement and Space to Jump. To swat enemies with the leaf you pick up at the start of the first level (when you enter your home), use the left Mouse button. If enemies hit you with their projectile weapons before you manage to swat them, you will be send you back to the beginning of the level, but you don't lose the berries or the fairy tears you've collected. You have to collect a specific number of berries and fairy tears to progress to the next level. When you get to the end of the level you'll find three white cups, which you have to fill with the fairy tears before being transported back to your home; where you'll find a new world has been unlocked. Just approach this to be transported to the next level.

There are several languages available, which can be selected from the options menu. e.g. English, русский Russian), Español, Italiano, Français, 日本語 (Japanese), Português, Nederland, Deutsch,中文 ( Chinese), Türkçe, Polski, Dansk (Danish), Svenska (Swedish) plus two others one an Arabic language and one a Far East language (couldn't figure them out in the time I had available for this review)

You can change the resolution from 640 x 480 at 75Hz to a maximum of 840 x 2160 at 60 Hz, with six quality settings from Very Low to Ultra. The difference between the lowest and highest quality settings presents itself with shadows and shading, with the lowest setting having no shadows etc. You can play in either a window, borderless or full screen mode. Changing the resolution from the highest to the lowest will reduce the size of the window when in Windowed mode, if in borderless mode the size of the game area will adjust to the resolution you have set the game to and the sides of the game area will appear black; this also depends on what type of monitor you have. With multiple monitor set ups the game will open in your number one monitor.

Overall this is a very laid back platformer that is simple to play. Some of the obstacles can be a little tricky because you cannot change the camera viewing angle (it would improve the game play experience greatly if the developer added this to the control mechanics; usually the middle mouse button held down allows for changing the viewpoint in some games); however, once you've mastered the movement, it is a very minor issue. It took me several attempts to ascend the waterfall area in level one to the highest levels, where you complete the first level. With eight different environments, this should give you easily a good three or four hours or more of game play, unless you want to speed run it. For someone who is looking for a laid back experience, or one they can share with their young children, this is an ideal starter game. I'm not usually into platformers, but Woodle Deluxe was a pleasure to play as there was little in the way of any stressful game experiences (apart from when I overshot some platforms and fell into nothingness before reappearing a the beginning of the level.

Other free games worth adding to your game library
Today is your last chance to grab the excellent Alien: Isolation, A first person psychological/survival horror game based on the Alien movie franchise and set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. It was previously given away on the 21st December last year. This is an opportunity for those who missed it the first time to grab it now. I bought Alien: Isolation when it was first released on Steam back in October 2014 as I love the Alien movie franchise and have purchased all of the games related to the franchise. My favorite game in the series is Aliens versus Predator Classic 2000 that was originally released 21 years ago, and which always gave me the same adrenaline fuelled rush I got when I first watched the original franchise. It was later re released on Steam and is now only £3.99. The re imagined version Aliens vs. Predator released in 2010 looks better visually, but IMO does not have the same scary moments when Aliens suddenly pop up in front of you coming down dark corridors. Even today the original scares me and I get the same feelings I used to get as a child when hiding behind the sofa trying to watch Dr Who.

We also get Hand of Fate 2, an RPG roguelike deck builder card game; Master a living board game of infinitely re-playable quests - unlock new cards, build your adventure, then defeat your foes in brutal third person real-time combat! (combined cost of both games is over £50/$70/€58).

From later today i.e. 4pm UK time, the game changes to Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms with add-ons. All players who log into Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms through the Epic Games Store between Thursday 29/4/2021 at 11AM Eastern and Thursday 6/5/2021 at 11AM Eastern will receive the Epic Champions of Renown add-on worth over $100.

Please see Delenn's threads for other Steam and Non Steam freebies HERE and HERE respectively. There won't be new freebies added every week from these sections apart from the Epic games, but it is worth checking them regularly for details of any games going for free. Delenn usually posts details when a game is being offered free for a temporary period. These include games from Good Old Games (all DRM free), Ubisoft's uPlay client, Valves Steam client, EA Games Origin client and other indie developers.

You'll find hundreds of freeware games of all arcade and indie genres on Itch.io and Caimans Games as well as other sources. Please do check out the game discussion forums for older posts HERE (the sticky section is useful). Many of the earlier posts may be out of date with respect to the links I and others have provided to the free games; however, you only need to know the name of the game to find most of them via other sources. Many of those games from 2008 to around 2017 were posted as part of a project to supplement the lack of weekday games when the game giveaway went to weekend only games around Easter 2008 (mainly instigated due to the financial crisis of 2008) until November 2018 when Falcoware stepped into the weekday slot; however, from around 2015 onwards we did start to get the occasional Steam key for various games offered as limited giveaways, with a restriction on the number of keys available (anywhere from 25 to 2000+). These included over 60 decent AAA games and indie arcade games ; for example some of the better AAA games included , lucky Warhammer: Vermintide 1 & 2 plus DLC for version 2; Dreadlands, Mount & Blade: Warband, Immortal Unchained and Conan Exiles.

I've not posted details of any Indie Gala freebies since my older computer went on the Fritz back in October last year. Since then Indie Gala have added quite a few more free games, some of which are definitely worth downloading. You can find the latest freebies HERE and their showcase list, which includes all the freebies still current; (many of which have been included for a couple of years now) HERE.

It’s worth adding these links to your favorites and checking regularly for available freebies. Most are only free for a specific time. If you miss the deadline you’ll miss out. Once added to your account, they are yours to keep. :)