Two Steam Games Are Free to Keep, but Hexologic Window Closes Tonight

Hexologic takes the satisfaction of Sudoku and rebuilds it on hexagonal grids. Numbers must add up along the directions that radiate from each hexagon, so a single row of reasoning runs in several directions at once. The game holds more than 90 levels across six worlds, each with its own mechanics, plus extra challenges for players who want harder boards. Coverage describes a calm, short puzzle game: one quoted player review puts full completion at about five hours, including hard mode.

The practical case for claiming it is the combination of price and portability. At $4.99 the game was already cheap, and at free it costs nothing to keep for short sessions. Steam Deck Verified status means it is an easy fit for handheld play. The only real risk is timing: the Steam page states the offer ends October 31 at 10:00 a.m., and after that the game returns to its regular price.

Asleep is a psychological horror adventure set in the Brazilian Northeast of the 1990s, and its look is the first thing players notice: detailed pixel art mixed with fluid animation, in a world that shifts between a familiar place and a darker version of it. The player follows Ana Lucia, a lonely girl lost in her nightmares, through a story told in chapters. Act 1 is the first episode of that story, and it is built around a flashlight: creatures react differently to light, so survival depends on when to shine it, when to hide it, and when to run.

The game released on May 9, 2024, from developer Black Hole Games and publisher CriticalLeap, and it carries 25 Steam achievements. Its 92% positive rating puts it in Steam second-highest rating tier, and the horror framing fits the weekend: play Asleep on Halloween night itself, and keep Hexologic for the mornings after. One caution applies to both the rating and the length: Act 1 is only the opening episode, so players who finish it will need the separately sold Act 2 to continue, and the final act has not been released yet.

The order is set by the deadlines, not by taste. Hexologic ends first, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time on October 31, so it should be claimed before anything else today. Asleep runs until 10:00 a.m. Pacific time on November 2, which leaves the whole Halloween weekend to claim it. Players in Beijing should read the deadlines as November 1 at 1:00 a.m. for Hexologic and November 3 at 2:00 a.m. for Asleep, since the Pacific clock falls back one hour on November 1.

Claiming is the same for both: sign in to Steam, open the game page, and add the game to the account. No download is needed to lock in the free copy, and no subscription is involved. After the deadlines pass, Hexologic returns to $4.99 and Asleep: Act 1 returns to $9.99, and the free window does not reopen on its own. Players who already own either game gain nothing by claiming again.

Free-to-keep promotions on Steam are common, but the pairing here is unusually tidy: a calm puzzle game and a horror adventure, one ending tonight and one ending after the weekend. Neither game is a live-service title asking for further spending to function, and neither offer hides a trial clock behind the word free. The honest limit is scope: Hexologic is a short game by design, and Asleep: Act 1 is one episode of a longer story.

The one mistake to avoid is treating the two deadlines as the same day. A player who waits until Sunday night to claim both will find Hexologic already back at full price. Claim Hexologic today, claim Asleep before Monday night in Beijing time, and the pair costs nothing at all.