As far as strategy games go, "Master of Magic" is an old classic, up there with "Civilization" and "Master of Orion." Released in 1994, the game gives you settlements and scouts in the traditional way, but instead of the boring Abraham Lincoln You can also become a wizard. By studying different types of magic, one could summon different armies or invoke different spells from the hundreds available. Master of Magic Classic is available to play for free right now on GOG (opens in a new tab).

Master of Magic was originally released by Microprose, but was rescued from its ill-fated days by Slitherine after moving to Atari. Slitherine is also publishing a modern remake of Master of Magic by MuHa Games, the Polish studio behind the Thea series, and has announced a December 13 release date.

GOG is currently celebrating its 14th anniversary, and in addition to distributing Master of Magic Classic, they have finally brought Skyrim to their store. Yes, this is really what everyone has been asking for, and the request thread on GOG's community wish list forum (open in new tab) has over 15,000 affirmative votes. Here are some of the highlights.

Master of Magic Classic (opens in new tab) is available for free until Sunday, October 2 at 3pm PST/11pm BST. The remake designers explain what's new in their version in a series of developer diaries (opens in new tab), mentioning why they made changes to spells like web and flying fortress, increased unit movement, gave magic ranged attacks more ammunition, and reduced the number of Hydra heads from nine in the original The reasons for reducing the number of hydra heads from nine in the original to three are mentioned. The remake will be available on GOG (open in new tab), Steam (open in new tab), and the Epic Games Store (open in new tab).