Those itching to cast spells, hack away at enemies and level up will be happy to learn that co-op action RPG Dungeon Defenders is free on Xbox Live for Gold subscribers through the end of the month, March 31. The Trendy Entertainment-developed tower defense game took the place of Civilization Revolution in this month's Games with Gold program offerings, first launching on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in October 2011 and receiving four DLC packs in the time since.

Microsoft's Phil Spencer recently addressed concerns related to the Games with Gold program and the comparisons to Sony's PlayStation Plus program that it frequently receives. Spencer said the business for Microsoft's two-free-games-per-month service is "fundamentally different" from PS Plus, and stressed that players are able to keep the free games they download after their Xbox Live premium subscriptions run out.

Trendy Entertainment announced a sequel to Dungeon Defenders in March 2013, which is still scheduled to launch this spring, according to the game's website. The developer also revealed cross-platform online shooter Monster Madness Online in December. [Image: Trendy Entertainment]