Rayman Origins is currently free on PC

If you're in the market for a thoroughly delightful distraction to help occupy those cold winter nights over the festive period (and who wouldn't be?), you might like to point your face in the direction of Ubisoft Connect, where the excellent Rayman Oranges is currently free on PC.

It's yet another offering in Ubisoft's 35th anniversary celebrations, which have previously seen the publisher tucking into its pockets of yore and slinging the likes of the Assassin's Creed Chronicles trilogy, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Anno 1404: History Edition at PC players.

Rayman Oranges, which celebrates its own milestone this year in the form of its 10th anniversary, is a bit of a treat - a side-scrolling platformer that immediately revitalised Ubisoft's ageing mascot with some wonderfully inventive level design and a gorgeous hand-painted 2D aesthetic when it released back in 2011. That follow-up Rayman Legends managed to better it two years later is high praise indeed.

"In its finest moments, Rayman Oranges goes toe-to-toe with the 2D platform game greats," Eurogamer contributor Simon Parkin wrote in his 2011 review, "combining tight, responsive controls with assured level design, a clutch of varied tools and, of course, some of the finest HD animated art yet seen in the medium."

Rayman Oranges is free to download now via Ubisoft Connect on PC and will remain so until 9pm next Wednesday, 22nd December.

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