Free 10/10 Steam game lands as gorgeous pixel art screams Game Boy nostalgia

A brand new free game has landed on Steam, sporting gorgeous pixel art and huge amounts of nostalgia.

One of the main benefits of glancing through Steam’s free offerings is it’s great for when your budget for new games has hit too low.

There’s almost always something that looks pretty decent when you look at the new free games coming to Steam each week, and this new retro-style game from developer Red Studio looks to be the case here.

Titled Avoidvania, this new free game on Steam is described as a “top-down runner” and metroidvania played from a 2D perspective.

Taking place in a world that is a mix of medieval and fantasy, Avoidvania has you play as a small cat who walks into a forest and smells an “irresistible aroma coming from the tower of a large castle”.

Following the smell, you become trapped inside a maze of corridors and rooms which are laden with traps, as well as hostile creatures out to get you.

As a cat, you’re unable to fight with your small body, but you do have the advantage of being able to outrun them very quickly. You can also get help from other travellers who have made it to this strange place.

Read More: Hysterical Steam freebie goes viral with 97% positive rating, perfect for weekend co-op

Avoidvania was previously a paid game released in 2021, but is now available for all players to play for free

Previously a paid game released in 2021, Avoidvania has now been made permanently free this week in a recent update. It has also clarified that refunds are available if the game was purchased recently.

“Avoidvania is going permanently free on Steam by the end of July,” reads a statement by Red Studio.

“The validation process with Steam is underway, we'll confirm as soon as it's live. The game will remain as it is: unfortunately, funding didn't come through. If you purchased it recently, Steam refunds are still available. Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you on future projects!”

Although it only has 11 user reviews on Steam, every review posted for the game has been recommended so far which has led to a 100% positive review score.

One user review reads: “Avoidvania has a ton of places to explore and the achievements are really tough to get. I'm impressed.”

Meanwhile, another positive review states “It's not very long and a different style of Metroidvania games. Overall I enjoyed playing the game. Trying to avoid enemies traps and other hazards is simplistic but still offers some challenge.”

Altogether, it seems like a pretty interesting game to get to grips with. The fact that it’s free and has low system requirements is a plus as well, as there isn’t much stopping you from checking it out except for time.

You can download Avoidvania to play now from Steam.

Read More: Steam free taster is Silent Hill meets Twin Peaks and the best metroidvania we've played all year