PlayStation Plus Shadowdrops Surprise Freebies, 2026 RPG Is Yours to Try

PlayStation Plus has quietly added two new free offerings to its priciest premium tier.

If you subscribe to PlayStation Plus’ premium tier, you’ll benefit from access to the service’s retro game catalogue as well as an array of free game trials.

These are essentially glorified demos, typically running for several hours rather than the usual 30 minutes or so.

Should a “free game trial” be locked behind the priciest tier of a subscription service? Personally, I don’t think so, but we’re not here to discuss that.

Premium Subscribers Can Sample Two New 2026 Games

What we are here to talk about is the arrival of two brand new free game trials, both pertaining to 2026 releases.

Let’s begin with Pathologic 3. Thanks to PlayStation Lifestyle for spotting these additions.

If you’re not familiar with Pathologic 3, it’s a bit of a confusing sell.

Essentially, Pathologic is a survival RPG developed by Ice-Pick Lodge that first landed in 2005 where players stepped into the shoes of one of three healers.

There’s The Bachelor, Haruspex, and The Devotress.

Well, in recent years, devs have taken to remaking the title one route or path at a time.

In 2019, Pathologic 2 arrived, a remake that focused on the Haruspex route.

If you want to see more from GAMINGbible, make us a preferred source on Google.

This latest instalment, Pathologic 3, is based upon The Bachelor route.

It’s with that in mind that you can play Pathologic 3 without playing any of the other instalments; so do just ignore the ‘3’ in its name.

The PlayStation Plus free game trial runs for a very generous four hours.

Is Pathlogic 3 Not Your Cup of Tea?

No worries! You may want to try this freebie - Escape From Ever After, developed by Sleepy Castle Studio and Wing-It! Creative.

This one’s a satirical adventure RPG with somewhat of a Nintendo feel about it.

Escape From Ever After, Credit / HypeTrain Digital

“When a greedy megacorp from the real world starts taking over fairytales for their cheap labour, a newly-hired storybook hero must climb the corporate ladder, rally together other disgruntled employees, and fight back,” the synopsis reads.

Over on Steam, the title boasts ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ reviews, so that always bodes well.

Escape From Ever After wonderfully combines 3D and 2D animation making for a game that looks and feels unique.

Again, this one also arrived last month so it’s brand new.

The free game trial on offer here is not quite as generous, running for around one hour. Still, that should be more than enough time to decide whether it’s your cup of tea.

All in all, it’s not a bad way to kick off the year. If these free game trials are to be locked behind a paywall, I’m at least glad to see them pertain to recent releases.