Is Crystal Crisis free on Steam right now?

Yes. Crystal Crisis is 100% off on Steam until 11:59pm on September 21, 2026, as shown on its store page. Its normal price is $19.99. Add it to your library before the deadline and it stays in your account permanently.

Do I keep Crystal Crisis after the Steam giveaway ends?

Yes. This is a free-to-keep promotion, not a free weekend. Once the game is added to your Steam library it remains yours after September 21, and you can download it whenever you like.

Does the free copy of Crystal Crisis drop Steam Trading Cards?

No. Valve's terms for free-to-keep promotions say claimed copies do not drop Steam Trading Cards. Achievements, leaderboards, cloud saves and Family Sharing are unaffected.

Does Crystal Crisis work on Steam Deck?

Yes. Valve rates Crystal Crisis as Steam Deck Verified, meaning it works with the default controller layout and its text is legible on the handheld's screen. It only has a Windows build, but it runs on SteamOS through Valve's compatibility layer.

How big is Crystal Crisis and what PC do I need?

The game needs 2GB of storage. Minimum requirements on Steam are Windows 7 or later, a 2.4GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB of RAM and an OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics card, so almost any PC from the last decade can run it.

Crystal Crisis Free on Steam Until September 21

How to claim Crystal Crisis free on Steam

Open Crystal Crisis in the Steam client or on the Steam website and sign in.
Click the button to add the game to your account. The price reads $0.00, and there is no checkout or payment step.
Check your library. The game appears there straight away, and you can download it now or at any time in the future.

The Steam listing shows the deadline as September 21 at 11:59pm. Valve's small print adds two conditions: the giveaway runs while supplies last, and copies claimed during a free-to-keep promotion do not drop Steam Trading Cards. If you collect cards or badges, that matters; for everyone else it changes nothing.

What kind of game is Crystal Crisis?

It is a head-to-head puzzle battler dressed up as a fighting game. Coloured crystals fall in pairs, and instead of throwing punches you clear them in chains. Big combos charge a Burst gauge that fires special attacks at your opponent's board or shields your own.

The hook is the roster. There are 20 playable characters, including Quote and Curly Brace from Cave Story, Isaac from The Binding of Isaac, Umihara Kawase, and Astro Boy and Black Jack from Tezuka Productions. Each has a stage, a music track and their own attacking and defensive Bursts, 40 across the whole cast.

One mechanic sets it apart from similar falling-block games. Crystal pairs can wrap around the edges of the grid, and you can split a pair so one piece drops on the left side and the other on the right.

Modes, multiplayer and Steam Deck support

Single-player: Story mode with branching paths, Arcade, Survival, Tag Team and Training.
Multiplayer: online PvP plus local split-screen, with Remote Play Together for playing couch co-op over the internet.
Controls: full controller support.
Accessibility: customisable crystal colours, including a colourblind setting.
Steam Deck: rated Verified by Valve, so it runs on the handheld with default controls and legible text.

It also supports Steam Family Sharing, Steam Cloud saves, achievements and leaderboards. The free copy is a normal licence, so those features behave the same as on a paid copy.

Will it run on my PC?

Almost certainly. The minimum requirements listed on Steam are Windows 7 or later, a 2.4GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 3.2. The install needs 2GB of storage. There is no macOS or Linux build listed, although the Verified Deck rating means it works through Valve's compatibility layer on SteamOS.

Is it worth grabbing?

User reviews on Steam sit at Very Positive, with 124 of 153 reviews recommending it, which is about 81%. The review count is small for a game that has been out for seven years, and the online player base is likely to be thin. A free week is the most likely moment you will find a match against strangers, so if online play is why you want it, play it now rather than later.

Crystal Crisis was also released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2019, but this giveaway is for the Steam version only. Nothing has been announced for other storefronts.

If you want more free PC games this month, our roundup of Prime Gaming's free games for September covers the other codes worth claiming. Prefer to play on a phone? Try our picks of the best puzzle games for Android and the best fighting games for Android, or our guide to running PC games on Android with Winlator.