A pretty detailed list of various free games

[MrFlibble]

I've posted this in a number of forums I frequent, thought I'd post this here too. Sorry it this is old news, but anyway. Rather recently I've stumbled upon what turned to be a really huge database of free games of all flavours:
Megazell's Free And Legal PC Games List (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6561677&postcount=1)

The games are split into categories for easier browsing, and although you can't browse by several criteria, the treelike categories go like this: genre -> singleplayer/mulitplayer/both -> 2D/3D, - which is very helpful. There is no overt distinction between freeware (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_freeware_games) and liberated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_games_released_as_freeware) games, but browser-based/flash games are also marked. At any rate, I'd say it's easily the most comprehensive list of all I've encountered so far.

Also, here are some other free gaming websites to check out:
http://libregamewiki.org/Main_Page
http://osgameclones.com/
http://planet.freegamedev.net/
http://www.caiman.us/
http://www.curlysworldoffreeware.com/
http://www.freepcgamers.com/
http://www.reloaded.org/
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ListOfOpenSourcePrograms#Games

[TheChosen]

Wow. This is really a great list. Obviously not perfect (Ancient Domain of Mystery is missing, for example), but definitely worth checking out. Thanks for sharing.

[MrFlibble]

Heh, I'm starting to think that a complete list is an unattainable thing :)

BTW, I've just remembered that some time ago (maybe a couple of years) I read somewhere about a German real-time strategy game that was either in the making or already finishing completion, but I've completely forgotten what it was called. Now I can't even come up with any keywords for a Google search that could help find it again. It was some kind of an isometric 2D sci-fi RTS for all I remember. If anyone knows what it is, feel free to post it right here :)

[RRS]

This (http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,116/) also produces viable results ;)

[MyVitalRemains]

Another good place to find freeware/open-source games would be SourceForge (http://www.sourceforge.net).

[Red Fortress]

BTW, I've just remembered that some time ago (maybe a couple of years) I read somewhere about a German real-time strategy game that was either in the making or already finishing completion, but I've completely forgotten what it was called. Now I can't even come up with any keywords for a Google search that could help find it again. It was some kind of an isometric 2D sci-fi RTS for all I remember. If anyone knows what it is, feel free to post it right here :)

SECHSTA SINN - DIE VERBOTENE WELT

Earth was the arena of a interplanetarian war and became uninhabitable. The planet was quarantined, and all life was evacuated. All? Not all. A
forgotten group of men barricaded in subterranean bunkers. Sickened by the aftermath of the war, a new kind of mankind was bred: the Bunkermenschen. Hundreds of years later, a troup transport of the KPB (Konföderierter Plantenbund, confederate alliance of planets) is on course near planet Earth and encounters technical problems. The ship has to go down on the devastated surface. Not knowing how to deal with each other, the encounter of the two parties ends in a terrible armed conflict. Who will prevail? The technologically highly advanced KPB, or the hard-bitten, steeled Bunkermenschen?
Link: http://www.sechsta-sinn.com/_projekte/_dvw/dvw.htm

Is :) this it?

[MrFlibble]

This (http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,116/) also produces viable results ;)
Nice, thanks for bringing this up, since I actually never bothered to look up stuff like freeware games in the Game Browser :)

Link: http://www.sechsta-sinn.com/_projekte/_dvw/dvw.htm

Is :) this it?
Red Fortress, thanks a lot! However, I'm still unsure because I do remember that title from a YouTube video that I've watched later, some time after reading about the project itself.

The game in question could have actually been Reborn Horizon (http://www.reborn-horizon.com/start.php?l=en).

Sechsta Sinn looks pretty awesome. It's a pity that development is either frozen or extremely slow.

BTW, do you guys know a somewhat weirdo RTS called Onimod Land? It was developed by a solo Russian programmer (well, people had helped him with art and music, but the engine he coded alone), who released it as freeware at some point. You can get the latest version from Demu.org (http://demu.org/resource-details/3182).

[Jironobou]

Wow. This is really a great list. Obviously not perfect (Ancient Domain of Mystery is missing, for example), but definitely worth checking out. Thanks for sharing.
Actually, it's listed under Adventure games for some reason...

[MrFlibble]

Categorizations ain't perfect, my personal "favourite" is Blood & Magic (http://www.mobygames.com/game/blood-magic) becoming an adventure game (http://www.fileplanet.com/66795/0/0/0/1/section/Demos) courtesy to FilePlanet :smile2:

Actually, come to think of it, so many games can be put into the "adventure" category... because most of the games that have a plot (and probably a great deal of those that haven't) involve some kind of adventure ;)

[Eagle of Fire]

Nah. Simply another case of people who don't know what they are talking about.

I skimmed thru the list and of those few games I tried, mention goes to Attack of the Paper Zombies and Transcendance. I also downloaded Enemy Nations 2 but I didn't have time to try it yet.

[RRS]

I've finally added this free game:
http://www.mobygames.com/game/ascii-sector
Meant to do this 3 years ago...

[RRS]

I've added another free game: it's a stand-alone version of that card game from KOTOR, similar to blackjack. Beats Windows Solitaire any day :)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/pure-pazaak

[RRS]

Added some browser games for anybody's tastes:

turn-based strategy
http://www.mobygames.com/game/browser/hex-empire
hack'n'slash RPG
http://www.mobygames.com/game/monsters-den-the-book-of-dread
platformer/shooter
http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/cactus-mccoy-series
strategy/management
http://www.mobygames.com/game/mastermind-world-conqueror
tactical RTS
http://www.mobygames.com/game/mud-and-blood-2


Special highlight: a 3D train simulator (big download, but hey, it's like Trainz!)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/maszyna-eu07-424

[MrFlibble]

There are quite a few cool browser-based games, pity they don't have stand-alone versions (I kinda don't like playing in a browser).

[Eagle of Fire]

Same here unfortunately.

[RRS]

Some developers feature their Flash games as downloads on their websites. Out of the games I just mentioned Hex Empire, Steamlands, Cactus McCoy 1&2 are available this way.

* * *

http://www.mobygames.com/game/battle-of-britain-303-squadron
Rarely we see shooters based on history and with full voice overs! This one even received some prestigeous awards.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/steamlands
Cute action puzzle with steampunk XIXc. tanks!

[MrFlibble]

Here's a few more nice gaming websites (mostly indie but not exclusively) with reviews, links and free/demo downloads:
ManifestoGames (http://www.manifestogames.com/)
Play This Thing! (http://playthisthing.com/)
Rampant Games (http://rampantgames.com/)

[torenopoo]

Great list, thanks for all these!

[MrFlibble]

Free Games Directory (http://www.uziana.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=304&Itemid=46) at Uziana.com, a review site for "rare and alternative" games.

[RRS]

http://www.mobygames.com/game/caravaneer
trade stuff in a post-apocalyptic world (has standalone download version, too!) - I love how you have to watch food and water levels

[RRS]

http://www.mobygames.com/game/grave-shift
isometric puzzle (bits of Knight Lore and Sokoban) with fantasy plot

[MrFlibble]

Thanks for adding those games to the Moby's database, but some screenshots would be nice too :)

[RRS]

I sometimes add them, but I'm lazy :D I've added only over a hundred of new game entries, with over 300 ports total... lazy me.

[leftleavemoon]

great list ,I like games free 2 play ,thanks for sharing~!If hidden object games are your most favorite games, I have some new such games for you. Online HOG Hidden Chronicles (http://www.dotmmo.com/hidden-chronicles-6357.html) and Hidden Haunts (http://www.dotmmo.com/hidden-haunts-6845.html), which were released last year. and in July 2012, there is a new hidden object game lost legacies (http://www.dotmmo.com/lost-legacies-11365.html) by the developer of smeet. Meet new friends and explore the unique world of Lost Legacies with them. Collect trophies and display them for your friends in your trophy room.

[RRS]

I like games free 2 play
...and I have serious issues.

Let's take the innocent free-to-play games first.
Some will say that people won't pay for such simple games today (we're no longer in 1990s). Yet the same titles (or with not many added features) are ported to handhelds/mobile phones, downloadable for $$$! So maybe the problem with such games being unsellable on PCs is not only piracy, but the free, legal, general availability of them? People get spoiled if you give them too much for free...
These games are usually supported by ad revenue. Supposedly I was to make a Flash game next month, how much $ can I expect from this? I've never seen figures regarding this business model, yet so many small developer studios rely on it.

Now, the source of all evil is Freemium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium). After playing a bit few titles and reading about the cold-blooded math behind their creation (psychology of addiction, economy of clicking etc.), I must say I despise this business method just as I hate gambling. Those games are written to be an addictive service requiring endless fees, telling you when, how often, and how long to play (compare to a product you can own and play anytime you want). Remember when there were only monthly subscriptions (to cover server fees etc.) for online games... but today there are all those premium items, craftily calculated so that playing without them is either a chore (endless grinding) or you're a sitting duck on PvP.

Instead of elaborating on the subject, I'll point you to interesting articles:

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KenWilliamson/20120704/173580/Monetization_and_the_Death_of_Games.php
http://insertcredit.com/2011/09/22/who-killed-videogames-a-ghost-story/

[MrFlibble]

I completely agree with you RRS, the freemium (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Freemium) model and allegedly free games (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllegedlyFreeGame) have nothing to do with the real freeware or public domain titles.

I don't play online myself and I generally dislike the idea of having to be connected to the Internet to play, or any such additional limitations. As for the concept of buying something in-game for real money, well, that sounds like outright swindling to me.

Unfortunately, recently I've learned that Blizzard (who created several of my favourite games) slides towards this (which is probably not surprising after the whole WoW stuff), in particular by replacing a regular demo of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty with a Starter Edition version that offers more content but demands that the user stay online while playing.

[Edit] Just read this:
And then there was Diablo 3.

With the release of the second sequel in their wildly successful, and up until now passionately admired action RPG franchise, Blizzard made the unprecedented move of introducing a real money auction house. The RMAH, as it is known, allows players to buy and sell game gold and items for real money, by-passing the grey marketers who have been conducting similar transactions illegally for years. Players can - and do with perplexing regularity - pay up to USD$250 for single game items. Each transaction Blizzard accrues a 15 percent cut. Fair enough, supporters say. Why not take the profit away from the shady gold farmers and put it back into the hands of the game's owners where it arguably belongs?
Eww.

[Eagle of Fire]

While I completely agree, I also don't understand what is the problem here.

Or rather, more precisely, I don't understand why you think it is a problem now that you have it in your face while the industry worked very, very, very hard for well over a decade to push it to you.

It was exactly the same in the past, except that it was not in your face. It was hidden or you could chose not to see it, at your choice. But now that it is here, it should not work or not be done? Like that Diablo III auction house... This is brilliant. They kept flooding us with "gold farmers are illegal", "it deter from normal play", etc... And now they get the fight up to them. What's wrong? If they don't do it, the gold farmers won't go away y'know.

[RRS]

Obviously you haven't read those articles, they explain the dangers of this design attitude.

It's just like with tattoos. They're way older than most people think. Yet the problem is with their popularity, with them being "mainstream" now.

[Eagle of Fire]

Ok, you are right, I did not read the articles before posting the last time.

Now I've done it since you seem to imply they are important.

So... What's interesting in those articles? It is very, very, very, very old news for me.

And left having to say that I have nothing more to say than what I said earlier.


You are right though. The critical detail is that people are stupid enough to want to dish out incredible amount of money to get something which doesn't exist. That is the problem. Those who make those games are simply creating an intelligent scheme to take profit from it.

[jonh_sabugs]

Well, it was a matter of time until people realized the addiction online gaming caused to some people was a gold mine. The potential today for exploiting people in these media is huge, maybe we will some restriction on this game of gaming in the future, like casinos?

[RRS]

EoF said that if I don't want to play such games, I can freely skip them. True, but that's history now.

Because it used to be Farmville - or the "command my bosom, milord" Evony... yet now it affects a game I was interested in.

I played both first and second Diablo. Maybe I wasn't hooked like the others, but I did complete both parts. I saw the visual design of the 3rd part and I like it even more than that of the 2nd part (about which I complained a lot back when it was released). But Diablo 3 is poisoned by this new design attitude, it was made with that mindset from the ground up (while item selling for 2nd was just a side effect). This makes me steer clear of this game, no matter, even if I got it for free.

Just like with tattoos. They used to be for some troubled weirdos I'd never want to date, so no problem. Today they're so common they affect the girl-next-door, one I might have wanted to hang with.

[Eagle of Fire]

Sorry, but all I can see is a "yes, but not in my backyard" syndrome. Unless there is something deeper you are trying to tell me?

Everything the gaming industry made in the past decade led to what we have right now. You can't keep saying "ok, I disagree completely with this but since it is marginal I'll simply let it go" and expect it will never come back to bother you. In life everything cycle in and out. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

Why do you think I kept saying that the golden age of gaming was in the '90 and that almost everything made since the 2000 is crap? I saw this coming years ago.

[RRS]

No, I'm against it, even if it's "outside my backyard". I'd gladly forbid it if I could (now you'll probably call me a "nazi" or whatever is currently trendy in newspeak). You can only blame me for not forseeing it coming "years ago", perhaps I kept playing the same old games and didn't notice the new trends before they jumped me in my face.

Now, I'd like to hear from you how you tried to stop it from happening, because when I read your words it looks like it was only me sitting ignorant and idle.

[MrFlibble]

I've had very little interest in contemporary mainstream gaming industry for a pretty long time, so I'm not really much concerned with the whole situation. There are, and always have been, not too many really good games. Today, lots of people are trying to make a buck off gaming, and games that aren't very good have become plentiful. In addition to this, there are all sorts of enterprises that shamelessly try to leech money off users. I also suspect that online-only games are popular with the designers also because you don't have to code the AI, just put in the playing mechanics for the players to interact with.

I'm not really put off by what Blizzard did with legalizing the real money trade. That was logical if you take into account what was (and probably still is) happening with WoW. A rather predictable move, actually. However, since I'm not an online player at all, I assume this means I automatically belong to a minority in the gaming community. Luckily, there are still people who are not only willing to play, but also to develop and sometimes even distribute for free the old school games, be it in mechanics only or also in graphical style, that are oriented at the single-player experience.

[Eagle of Fire]

Now, I'd like to hear from you how you tried to stop it from happening, because when I read your words it looks like it was only me sitting ignorant and idle.
You can't stop it from happening. If it was possible we would have turned the industry around years ago. Unfortunately, common sense doesn't dictate how the vast majority of people act or react so...

Why do you think I've been staying around this site so much even though I'm really getting fed up on what is happening in it? Short of having a real answer, preserving games and shoving it to youngsters who care face to make them realize that old games really are better is the only thing I can think would have any impact whatsoever.

I've already been doing for a long time what I think is the only thing to do in this case.

[TotalAnarchy]

People play games because they are fun, not because they are more fun than other games. I have played both Team Fortress 2 and Tribes: Ascend. I had fun with both and didn't pay a dime.

[RRS]

True, most of the people are the "meh, whatever" folk.

People who do care about the subtle differences were always in the minority.

So you could argue it was always the same. Games were already mass entertainment back in 1980s, with market flooded with poor Space Invaders clones. One could say that only the style fluctuates, and my complaints are only thanks to me being old-fashioned and unwilling to change.

But there's more than that. Certain dangerous trends are in the works, for years. Dangerous to quality. Increased development costs (due to rich visuals) multiplying risk of publication and thus hampering creativity. Monetization, freemium etc. Simplification and shortened gameplay time. Flood of crappy free Flash/mobile games, which makes any other title drown in their sheer numbers (read: expensive ad campaign is needed to stand out).

All of the above killed certain genres.
Please find today a serious business simulation game where you manage an airline (or car factory), which isn't cartoony and uses real planes (cars) - I can easily find such titles from 1990s.
Who will risk today to make another The Last Express (http://www.mobygames.com/game/last-express) and will go to the lengths of researching actual train cabs from 1912? Or recreate a palace like Cryo did for Versailles 1685 (http://www.mobygames.com/game/versailles-1685)? Where's the Harpoon (http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/harpoon-series) of today? (4th was cancelled, 3rd is just repackaged 2nd)

We could compare the situation to the movies. I'm not saying I only watch art films (you know, silent and black&white story about gay Pakistani goat herder with references to Kieślowski). The fact that I'm picky doesn't mean I can't enjoy popular titles, yes: mass entertainment. But provided they meet the quality standards. While "Indiana Jones" was just silly fun, this silly fun displayed very good craftsmanship (photography, editing, music etc.). That's why no "Tomb Raider" or "National Treasure" of today can't compare with it.

That's the problem. We used to get products for the mass market that had better quality standards. Today in order to find a game I like I'm forced to look among the small indie developers because big studios long abandoned the design ideas I still stand by. Or I need to dig up and old game...

[MrFlibble]

Certain dangerous trends are in the works, for years. Dangerous to quality. Increased development costs (due to rich visuals) multiplying risk of publication and thus hampering creativity. Monetization, freemium etc. Simplification and shortened gameplay time. Flood of crappy free Flash/mobile games, which makes any other title drown in their sheer numbers (read: expensive ad campaign is needed to stand out).

All of the above killed certain genres.
That is very true. But once again, it is also quite unsurprising.

That's the problem. We used to get products for the mass market that had better quality standards. Today in order to find a game I like I'm forced to look among the small indie developers because big studios long abandoned the design ideas I still stand by. Or I need to dig up and old game...
I'd say we're pretty lucky there are still people who work creatively. Mainstream gaming industry has become something very weird to me, with the focus on things that actually have peripheral value.

I also agree that it's somewhat of a problem that one has to plough through thousands of rubbish titles, be it commercial mainstream games or just some free or quick buck shareware stuff, in order to find something decent.

Creativity certainly suffers because it is much safer to follow the already well known scheme of gameplay and plot, rather than risk putting off a considerable part of the audience (and hence losing revenue) as a result of introducing something new.

[BranjoHello]

Thanks, MrFlibble!
Found so really good stuff from the links you provided.

[MrFlibble]

Here's a neat site dedicated to free gaming alternatives:
Free alternative games (http://freealternativegames.blogspot.com/)

[MrFlibble]

I think I haven't mentioned these two yet (although I fancy they are pretty well known):
Retro Remakes (http://retroremakes.com/nostalgia/category/retro-remakes/)
Freeware Database - Retro Remakes (http://freeware.remakes.org/)

[jamebond081]

another free gaming website is
Download Free PC Games Full Version
[BEEEP]

[pzict]

another free gaming website is
Download Free PC Games Full Version
(snip)

i think its a warez :hello:

[The Fifth Horseman]

And advertising warez in his sig too. Does nobody read the bloody rules?

[Eagle of Fire]

It was obvious to me that's a bot doing.

Maybe the account got hacked. There is one post which look legit in the 3 of this user. The other thread which he just created simply don't make any kind of sense whatsoever.