• Celeste is available for free today.
• Epic Games Store is giving platformer away as part of a 12-day giveaway.
• Pick it up before 11 am ET tomorrow.

Today, Celeste is available for free as part of the Epic Games Store 12-day festive giveaway bonanza . The whole affair is designed to lure players in with free games, but who’s complaining? Celeste is one heck of a game to pay zero dollars for regardless of the intent.

Download Celeste for Free Right Now

Celeste asks players to climb the eponymous Celeste mountain as a wayward young girl, Madeline, who’s struggling with her share of inner demons.

The rather cliche metaphor of climbing a mountain both figuratively and literally aside, the game weaves a sweet tale of self-discovery that doesn’t shy away from the bleaker concoctions our good old noggins can conjure up at times.

Allied to a good story and a cast of endearingly oddball characters, Celeste boasts some of the slickest platforming segments in the genre.

The controls are basic; you jump, you climb, and a little later, you learn the invaluable air-dash move that helps a whole lot. Yet, those three simple moves belie a tough challenge.

We’re talking devilishly unforgiving, but fair. You’ll die a lot playing Celeste. But, you’ll get frustrated, learn, and finally succeed, punching the air in sheer glee at having navigated a particularly tortuous passage.

Thankfully, death doesn’t result in a lengthy re-spawn time-sink and is almost instantaneous. It’s a no-nonsense way of giving you an immediate chance to correct your past mistakes.

Developer Matt Makes Games added in a cop-out for those too impatient to learn the game known as Assist Mode. You can slow the game speed, become invincible, or blag yourself infinite air-dashes.

Oh, and the music is pretty lovely too.

Perfect for the Holidays

If you need a quiet moment away from the family or something to keep your mind off your self-inflicted gluttonous indigestion, then there are worse things you can do than load up Celeste. A festive pick me up, so to speak.

Rather aptly, Celeste is all snow-covered peaks and winter coats throughout, which should further the holiday cheer.

In our opinion, Celeste stands as the best of the bunch of Epic’s holiday giveaway to date. You can pick it up right now until Christmas day at 8 am PT, 11 am ET, or 4 pm GMT.