I don't think the freebies were region specific. The deal is dead, they all occurred yesterday and it's unlikely they will repeat but GOG frequently gives freebies as part of it's seasonal sales and otherwise. As a consolation, there's an option to get SpaceChem free on Steam later today: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/06/25/were-giving-away-five-million-steam-keys-in-five-weeks-with-bundle-stars/
Not all games work in offline mode. - - - - I don't know. But can I install a game without logging into Steam? I have Steam & GOG games. If I want to install a GOG game I run the installation file I downloaded when I bought the game. GOG notifies me of game updates to download a new installation file to always keep. With Steam installing games is dependent on going online and logging into Steam all the time. I don't like that. What if in the future something happens to my account like a poster said? Or license issues occur for a game and it's no longer online (happened already). I lose everything. No install file to go back to and play. I don't like that. Steam works. Great sales like GOG. But when I think about it I would rather not fully be dependent on Steam to install & play my games in the future. All GOG games have zero DRM. Steam games, DRM. If a game is on GOG & Steam, I'll always wait & buy it on GOG instead of Steam.
In addition to what Karma said, there's a lot of refinement that goes into keeping PC games operational and in several cases GOG modifies games to keep them operational while Steam sells a defunct product (see Commands Behind Enemy Lines). Primarily it's the issue of "ownership," with GOG and DRM free you can entirely keep files but with Steam they could revoke your ability to maintain the game. If things go well often times digital rights management protocols are invisible but GOG takes a stand against the possibility that your favorite game will lose online authentication because the server is taken down (see Games For Windows Live shutdown, it will leave many even high profile games defunct due to abandoned DRM). I also much more prefer games on GOG than Steam when possible; Steam is ok, but especially with their lapsing "green light" program there's not as much quality control and it supports (DRM) business practices contrary to customer interest.
I avoid steam whenever I can and stick primarily with GOG. Of course this goes against my iOS buying habits.
GOG is going to spend all of my money.... They got Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri for $1.49 and the entire Spiderweb RPG collection for $7.01... All on timers no less. It's a brilliant sales tactic.
Just to chime in, gog.com is the way to do digital games. Like others have said - I get to keep my games, back them up, no online dependency and sales galore. I think I have only purchased two or three of twenty some games at full price. Also, I got the original Fallout series, Torchlight (before the Summer sale freebie), and Dungeon Keeper for free. Who does that!?! I'll still but games from the app store on occasion, but otherwise it is gog.com for me
Don't worry, it comes around (for $4.99) almost every day. Keep checking. Also yeah...GOG.com is awesome. I must've spent at least a $100 on this bloody sale. Flash or not.
The greatest equalizer will be when GOG releases their Galaxy platform. The usual DRM-free GOG as we know it, but add on a client to handle your library and downloading/updating plus optional community features.
Nice. I hope that doesn't raise GOG game prices however to upkeep the servers. On a side note - I bought my first Mac (one the newer Macbook pros) 2 weeks ago and all I can say is that this thing is like 1000x better than Windows (Especially W8). So fast and installing things is so awesome. Windows I usually have to run an EXE file, installs crap here and there. On Mac I just drag and drop one file and run and can be run anywhere on any folder, where ever usually. One file. It's crazy. All my games are one file each. Loving it. Mac OSX is powerful yet so much simpler, nicer, more robust, clean, less problems, less worrying about viruses and spyware, quicker - OK Apple you won me over. I'm never going back. GOG needs to give me a Mac version of Rayman Origins and I'll be overly happy.
He's gonna be kicking himself in the head if he doesn't see this within a couple of hours. Dude was seemingly on TouchArcade just over 10 minutes ago!
Love GOG! Bought 2 bundles that I will probably hardly play but didn't mind because they have given me so many freebies
Same here. I've bought a few titles that I already own on Steam, but the GOG versions are worth the extra buck or three; DRM free and usually some extras like soundtracks.
