The Epic Games Store will offer Sker Ritual and Home: A Unique Horror Adventure on PC from October 22 to 29, 2026. Both games can be added to your library during this period to keep them on your account, without any paid subscription.
This weekly offer brings together two very different approaches to horror: cooperative combat against supernatural creatures on one hand, a narrative investigation in pixel art on the other. To help you navigate this rotation, here is the essential information:
- Promotion start: Thursday, October 22 at 5 p.m., Paris time.
- Claim deadline: Thursday, October 29 at 5 p.m., Paris time.
- Platform: Epic Games Store on PC.
- Announced reference price for both titles: a combined value of €29.98.
- After claiming: the games remain linked to your account.
This is a selection particularly suited to the period leading up to Halloween. Sker Ritual favors intense sessions, solo or with friends, while Home invites a slow pace and interpreting clues. We will detail the schedule, the mechanics of each game, and the steps to follow so you don’t miss claiming these games.
Epic Games Store: dates and conditions for free games from October 22 to 29
The new rotation will start on October 22 at 5 p.m., Paris time, and end one week later, on October 29 at 5 p.m. At the opening of the offer, you will be able to claim Sker Ritual and Home directly on the Epic store, from its application or via its website. An Epic Games Store account is required to add them to your library, but no paid subscription is needed.
The time change requires a practical note. On October 22, France is still on daylight saving time, while the switch to standard time occurs during the night of October 24 to 25. Paris time remains set at 5 p.m. for the end of the offer on the 29th, even if the equivalent time in some North American time zones differs after this change. To avoid any confusion, rely on the time displayed on the store page.
Once the games are claimed before the deadline, they remain associated with the account, even if you do not install them immediately. You can start the free download later, provided you log in to the account used at the time of claiming. This arrangement suits both players who want to start on the 22nd and those who prefer to keep the titles for a later session.
| Game | Genre and approach | Announced reference price | Claim period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sker Ritual | Survival FPS, solo or co-op up to four players | $24.99 | From October 22 to 29 |
| Home: A Unique Horror Adventure | Horror adventure and investigation in pixel art | $4.99 | From October 22 to 29 |
The combined announced value for this selection reaches €29.98. Prices shown in the store may depend on region and local conditions; the promotion’s appeal remains simple to understand: you get two games without payment at the time of claiming, then keep them in your library.
To follow previous rotations and spot upcoming opportunities, you can consult this guide dedicated to free games on the Epic Games Store. Here we find the usual principle of the store: a limited period, a quick claiming action, then lasting access from your account.
Sker Ritual: a cooperative survival FPS facing the Quiet Ones
Developed by Wales Interactive and released in April 2024, Sker Ritual reprises the Maid of Sker universe by turning it towards action. The game is organized in successive rounds: players face waves of supernatural enemies, complete objectives, and try to hold out until the next stage. The presence of the Quiet Ones ties this adventure to the horror universe already known to fans of the studio, but the pace here is much more aggressive.
You can play solo or form an online team of up to four people. In co-op, each member can contribute to the group’s survival by covering an area, eliminating approaching foes, or helping accomplish objectives. A four-player game does not automatically become easy: more players also mean a collective experience where coordination and managing assaults matter. For a first session, dividing the areas to watch helps avoid the whole team being caught off guard.
Progression relies on equipment upgrades and weapons with a steampunk aesthetic. As rounds progress, you must adapt your choices to enemy pressure: prioritize weapons suited to groups, conserve resources, or invest in a more effective option against a specific threat. Miracles, abilities associated with Celtic deities, add a customization dimension. They allow evolving your approach rather than repeating exactly the same strategy each game.
This system transforms the horror setting into a battlefield. In a stealth adventure, a threat often leads to hiding or fleeing; in Sker Ritual, the team must regularly hold their position and manage the rising waves. The fun comes as much from the tension as from the progressive equipment upgrades. A tough round can serve as a marker: players spot weaknesses in their organization, then try a different combination in the next game.
For newcomers to the series, the game does not require having completed Maid of Sker to enjoy its action. Familiarity with this universe gives references about the Quiet Ones, but the round and objective structure forms the core of the experience. Wales Interactive had already offered Maid of Sker for free on the Epic Games Store in July 2024; this new offer thus allows a return to the same setting with a much more combat-oriented formula.
If you’re looking for a game to launch with friends during the Halloween week, Sker Ritual offers an easy-to-share structure: you choose a session, learn the mechanics by playing, and can progress together. The tension doesn’t rest only on the creatures, but also on the team’s ability to maintain cohesion as the waves intensify.
Home: A Unique Horror Adventure, a pixel art investigation guided by your choices
Home takes the opposite direction to Sker Ritual. Created by BancyCo, formerly known as Benjamin Rivers Inc., this horror adventure game originally came out in 2012. It does not rely on series of combat but on exploring a disturbing place and reconstructing a criminal case. Its minimal pixel art leaves a lot to the imagination: a few visual details, objects found in the environment, and silence can be enough to instill unease.
The story begins when the protagonist wakes up in a dark room he does not recognize. To understand what happened, you explore the premises and examine traces left behind. Each discovery adds an element to the investigation, without necessarily providing a definitive explanation. This progression encourages observing the settings rather than rushing to an exit, as an apparently banal object can change how you interpret the situation.
Decisions made throughout the adventure influence the narrative path and possible endings. You do not simply follow a fixed story: your choices participate in its reading. Two people can pick up different clues or make different decisions, then discuss what they think they understood. This uncertainty is part of the design and distinguishes Home from a horror game that would explain each event explicitly.
The format suits a more intimate session than the long survival games of Sker Ritual. You can advance at your own pace, examine scenes, and pause to think about what the clues suggest. The game can also lend itself to a shared experience in front of a screen: one person holds the controller, while others propose interpretations or debate a choice. In this context, tension often arises from a simple question: should you trust what the protagonist believes to see?
Home should also have its first free period on the Epic Games Store. BancyCo has already featured in the store’s offers with Alone With You, offered in early September 2026, but this previous offer does not concern the same game. The October promotion thus opens an opportunity to discover an older work whose narrative approach remains distinct from contemporary action productions.
The strength of Home lies in its economy of means. Where Sker Ritual focuses on enemy numbers and cooperation, this adventure relies on interpretation, choices, and atmosphere. Players drawn to ambiguous stories will find in this small investigation an experience that continues to raise questions after playing.
Two free horror games for two ways to play on PC
The October 22 selection does not juxtapose two similar titles: it offers rather two complementary experiences. Sker Ritual is aimed at those who appreciate repeated confrontations, weapon upgrades, and cooperation. Home suits more those who prefer to explore, read signs left in a setting, and decide how they understand a story. Choosing one or the other depends less on your general taste for horror than on the gameplay pace sought.
Imagine Camille, who has an evening with three friends. Sker Ritual allows them to form a complete team, divide areas to watch, and try several Miracle setups. The next day, Camille can launch Home solo for a calmer session, or introduce it to a close one while discussing clues. The two titles thus offer different uses of the same offer, rather than competing directly.
The difference is also seen in how tension is built. In Sker Ritual, it increases with waves and pressure on the group; reactions must often be immediate. In Home, it depends on what you know and suppose: exploration may give rise to doubt even before an event occurs. The first mainly requires coordination and reflexes, the second patience and attention.
This variety makes the promotion interesting for households where several player profiles share the same computer. One person may be attracted by online action sessions, while another prefers narrative adventures. Both games are aimed at PC gaming and are claimed separately from the same account. Remember to check system requirements on their pages before installation, especially if your computer is old or storage space is limited.
To discover other ways to play without immediate purchase, you can also consult this page dedicated to free selections on Epic Games. Platform offers vary in duration and conditions; it is thus useful to read details specific to each service, avoiding confusing a game to keep with a temporary trial period.
For Halloween, the pairing works particularly well: a noisy collective experience to start the evening, then a quieter investigation to change atmosphere. The Epic Games Store thus offers an alternative for those who don’t want to spend the whole night with the same type of horror.
How to claim free games and follow the October rotation
The claiming procedure is short, provided it is done before the offer closes. Log in to the Epic Games Store account you want to use, open the page of each game, then validate their claim. Check that Sker Ritual and Home appear in the library: this step confirms they have been linked to the correct account, even if you plan to download them later.
- Log in to the Epic Games Store on PC or in a browser.
- Search for Sker Ritual, then select the option to get it for free.
- Repeat the process for Home: A Unique Horror Adventure.
- Verify their presence in your library before October 29 at 5 p.m., Paris time.
- Install the games whenever you want, keeping in mind the required disk space.
These two games follow Bad Cheese and Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise, available until the switch on October 22. Earlier this month, TerraScape and Out of Sight had occupied the rotation from October 8 to 15. This succession shows an October programming largely marked by horror or uneasy atmospheres, with notably System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster, Out of Sight, and Bad Cheese among the titles mentioned during the month.
The rotation is also a good opportunity to check your account settings before the deadline. If you use multiple accounts, make sure to choose the one on which you want to keep the games. If you cannot install a title immediately, that is not an obstacle: claiming and downloading are two separate steps. The essential point is to perform the first during the planned window.
The store regularly renews its selection of free games, but each period has its own schedules and titles. Setting a reminder in your calendar can prevent missing an offer, especially during the October time change. You can also consult a tracking of free games on the Epic Store to spot recent rotations and organize your downloads.
The slot from October 22 to 29 thus gathers an announced value of €29.98, two clearly differentiated genres, and an approach without paid subscription. By claiming the titles in time, you will be able to choose later between waves of creatures to face and a pixelated investigation to interpret.
