Top 100 Awesome Free Games
In these difficult financial times, it can be difficult to justify spending forty to fifty pounds on a videogame. And even the relatively low cost of download services like Xbox Live Arcade and the App Store can soon add up in the long run.
But never fear, the internet is rammed with thousands of games that cost absolutely nothing, and many of them have the quality to rival those you’d pay for.
Especially since some of them used to be full priced retail products when they were first made. Here are our selection of the hundred best… Now all you need is the time to play them all.
100. Dwarf Fortress
PC/MAC
Though as visually basic as videogames can get, Dwarf Fortress is actually one of the deepest and most complicated interactive experiences currently available. Blending the city building and roguelike genres into an entirely original kind of RPG, this continually evolving project demands dedication and rewards it with unique, surprising results.
Play it here.
99. Inspector Gadget’s MAD Dash
iOS
If you’re of an age where you fondly remember the adventures of the not-so-secret agent and his array of gadgets that frequently malfunction to comic effect, you’d do well to check out MAD Dash. Not because the game’s amazing or anything, because it isn’t really – it’s a simple scrolling platformer with slightly wonky physics. Why is it featured here, then? Thank the ten unlockable cartoon episodes. Sure, they’re all basically the same but then that’s sort of the charm…
98. Cave Story
PC/MAC
Now available as premium experiences on Wii, DSi and 3DS in various remade states, Cave Story is a game that both justifies a price tag and obviously appeals to Nintendo gamers. A bold metroidvania type game that transcends its retro appearance with several fresh, original features, it’s a game that first made its name on home computers and is still thrilling new players with its joyful style over six years later.
Play it here.
97. Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden
PC
An unofficial follow-up to Accolade’s so-so 1994 sports game, Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden re-imagines the adventures of the NBA’s Charles Barkley in the style of a 16-bit Japanese role-playing, complete with an Active-Time style battle system. The whole thing is played for laughs, of course, but also proves the brilliance of the freeware system. Would anyone ever commercially release an RPG featuring real basketball players? Stranger things have happened, but not that many times.
Play it here.
96. The Fool’s Errand
Retro
A cult puzzle game from 1987, The Fool’s Errand wowed 16-bit computer owners with its selection of individual puzzles, which actually formed an overarching narrative when solved. The game was so popular with those who played it that a long-demanded sequel, titled The Fool And His Money is still in development nearly 25 years later. If you loved recent narrative based puzzle games like Professor Layton or Nelson Tethers then you could do much worse than try out this early genre example.
Play it here.
95. Pocket Tanks
PC/MAC
Anyone who ever dabbled in the Amiga shareware scene will have fond memories of Scorched Tanks, one of the most playable and fun artillery games on the system. Pocket Tanks is a slightly simplified edition of the game from the same creator and though available in both free and premium flavours, there’s enough tank based multiplayer fun in the free version to keep you occupied for weeks.
Play it here.
94. Super DX Ball
PC/MAC
Another free game from the creator of Pocket Tanks, this Breakout clone dispenses with novelty for a pure arcade experience that grips you with its accessible mouse controls and keeps you coming back thanks to an addictive scoring system based around the clever use of power-ups. Like Pocket Tanks, you can opt to pay for more content in the form of level packs but there’s still tons to play in the free edition.
Play it here.
93. La-Mulana
PC
A metroidvania style platform game with a difference, La-Mulana is also a tribute to Japanese home computer the MSX. Drawn in the easily identifiable graphical style of the system’s second generation hardware, it also features an Indiana Jones type hero who is obsessed with MSX games and collects cartridges for the system throughout his adventure. La-Mulana is currently being remade for WiiWare but with completely new graphics and all the MSX references removed, making the original PC version an almost entirely different proposition.
Play it here.
92. Spelunky
PC
Drawing inspiration from La-Mulana and 1983’s Spelunker, this indie platform game carves its own niche by incorporating elements from the roguelike genre, most notably in its randomly generated levels. Currently being ported to XBLA, this is another indie game of such high quality that it’s hard to believe you can get it for nothing in its original format.
Play it here.
91. Naked War
PC
A multiplayer strategy game from the Pickford Brothers, Naked War shares visual similarities with Nintendo’s Advance Wars but is entirely balanced for multiplayer thanks to a mechanic that allows you to steal points back from your opponent. An asynchronous play-by-email system is the extra innovation that makes this one of the most playable strategy games out there.
Play it here.
90. Katakis
Retro
A side scrolling shooter, originally released for C64 and Amiga. Katakis was such a brilliantly made R-Type clone that it caused problems with Activision who held the home computer rights to R-Type at the time. Factor 5 was developer of the Amiga version and, ironically, was also working on the official R-Type port. Both can now be freely downloaded from Factor 5’s website.
Play it here.
89. BC Kid
Retro
Another freeware release of a Factor 5 Amiga game, BC Kid is a fairly decent port of Hudson’s prehistoric themed PC Engine platformer better known as either Bonk or PC Genjin. Considering that modern ports of Bonk are charged at modern rates, this is a download of extremely high value.
Play it here.
88. Pirate Adventure
Retro
Once upon a time Scott Adams was one of the biggest names in videogames. A master of the text adventure, he quickly faded into obscurity as graphical adventures like Monkey Island and King’s Quest took over and he failed to move with the times. That doesn’t make his original works any less compelling, however, and the best of them all, Pirate Adventure, is available on Adams’ website alongside all his other non-licensed text adventures.
Play it here.
87. The Ur-Quan Masters
PC/MAC
One of the best strategy/adventure games ever made, Star Control II mixed Elite-style trading with branching conversations and relationships to rival those of Mass Effect. A truly brilliant retro game, its best version failed to reach a wide audience because it was unfortunate enough to release on the 3DO. Thankfully, the original creators gave permission for the 3DO game to be made open source and re-developed for modern computers where it now goes by the name of The Ur-Quan Masters.
Play it here.
86. The Silver Lining
PC
One of the great feel-good stories of videogame history, The Silver Lining started out as fan project called King’s Quest IX but fell foul of several legal challenges as the rights to the property moved between Vivendi and Activision. The latter eventually relented, however, allowing the game to be released as an episodic adventure as long as the King’s Quest name wasn’t used. Download it to celebrate a rare case of a publisher doing the right thing by its fans and then enjoy it… It also happens to be a pretty decent adventure game; proved by the fact that many of its creators now work for Telltale.
Play it here.
85. Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter
Browser
Another officially sanctioned Activision tie-in, Sarien.net is a gaming portal that allows you to play the debut episode of several classic Sierra adventures through your browser. Space Quest, a humorous sci-fi adventure chronicling the tale of one Roger Wilco, is arguably the finest series that Sierra ever put out so be sure to give it a try here.
Play it here.
84. King’s Quest: Quest For The Crown
Browser
If you’ve enjoyed the Silver Lining and you’re looking forward to Telltale Games’ upcoming King’s Quest revival then you’d do well to see where this highly influential got its start, all the way back in its 1984 debut. Again, this is available to play through the Sarien web portal, which also happens to have a fully functioning iPad-compatible interface.
Play it here.
83. Ninja Senki
PC
Jonathan Lavigne is a name you might not know but he is one you should be watching. Best known as the designer of Ubisoft’s Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Lavigne has made a career out of pixel-heavy retro-style games in the modern 3D era, and also happens to code his own personal games, which are available for free on his blog. The first of those is Ninja Senki, a charming little NES style platform game. Also be sure to keep an eye out for Wizorb, a Breakout/RPG combo coming later in the year.
Play it here.
82. Alien Breed: Tower Assault
Retro
Though Team 17’s recent Alien Breed reboot was decent enough, it paled in comparison to the series high point, this non-linear Amiga game from 1994. Don’t believe us? Get yourself an Amiga emulator (from amigaforever.com) and give Alien Breed: Tower Assault a go. Note: Though you may find the disk images in several places, Dream17 is the only place with permission to distribute them.
Play it here.
81. Worms: The Director’s Cut
Retro
Though there have been loads of Worms games over the years, many hardcore fans of the series still swear by this version, an Amiga 1200 exclusive that delivered a definitive version of creator Andy Davidson’s original vision. Packed full of great weapons that were never seen in the game again, as well as the ability to import your own level designs from Deluxe Paint, it’s as much a hidden Amiga gem as it is a great Worms game.
Play it here.
80. It Came From The Desert
Retro
Cinemaware, as the name suggests, was a developer that specialised in highly cinematic interactive adventures back in the Amiga days. Though the developer is best known for Defender Of The Crown (also available freely) its finest narrative work is the B-movie inspired It Came From The Desert, full of giant ants and 1950s style setting.
Play it here.
79. Wings
Retro
Another underappreciated Cinemaware classic, Wings actually deviates from the cinematic adventure template to provide a more arcadey experience. The finest moments of this World War I game are the 3D dogfight sections, in which bi-plane pilots circle around each other, hoping not to be unlucky enough to suffer a gun jam at the worst moment. But the interstitial scenes, featuring moving diary entries from the protagonist, are also a highlight.
Play it here.
78. Super Mario Crossover
Browser
Fan games are ten-a-penny, but very few actually do anything truly brilliant. Super Mario Crossover is among the elite, however. Taking the original Super Mario Bros, it allows you to play as several favourite NES characters including Link, Mega Man, Samus Aran, Simon Belmont and Bill Rizer – the masterstroke being that they all play in the same way as they would in their own games. Somehow it all works, and works brilliantly. And what’s even more amazing is that neither Nintendo nor Konami has asked the creators to remove the game from circulation.
Play it here.
77. Wind And Water Puzzle Battles
PC
A homebrew game that sits somewhere between Puzzle Quest and Hexic, Wind And Water is a brilliant little genre exercise that also boasts a fun story starring caricatures of the developers themselves. Previously released as a premium game on Dreamcast and GP2X, the PC version is completely free.
Play it here.
76. Robotz DX
PC
A remake of a long forgotten and obscure Atari ST game, Robotz DX works because it takes a game that was only ever average and tweaks the design enough, while retaining the original look and feel, to create the definite version.
Play it here.
75. Space Paranoids
Browser
There have been loads of games based on the Tron movies but what about the fictional game that made the film’s protagonist Kevin Flynn rich? In 2010, Disney made the fictional game a reality, creating a retro-style 3D tank game complete with a “1982 Encom” copyright label to reinforce the illusion. Sadly, it’s not as good as some of the proper Tron games, but it’s still pretty cool.
Play it here.
74. Attack Of The Mutant Camels
Retro
If Jeff Minter’s recent output like Space Giraffe or Minotaur Rescue make you think the lone game designer has a strange love for large furry animals, then take a look at his extensive back catalogue, where you’ll find even more games starring llamas, goats and sheep. One of the greatest is this camel themed C64 game with similarities to Defender, which you’ll find freely available on Minter’s site alongside several more of his forgotten Eighties oddities.
Play it here.
73. Alter Ego
Browser
Multiple choice narratives are all the rage today, but one of the greatest examples was created all the way back in 1986 for the C64. Alter Ego was created by a professional psychologist rather than a traditional game designer and allowed you to play through the entire life of a person, from their moments in the womb right up to old age and death. It’s a truly brilliant game of “what if?” and has thankfully been translated into browser format so that anyone can play it today.
Play it here.
72. Trogdor
Browser
If you played and loved the fake retro games that were built into Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People then you’ll pleased to know that there are tons more such games freely available at the Homestar Runner website. The best of these is a matter of opinion but we’d like to recommend this one, starring Strong Bad’s favourite dragon, Trogdor The Burninator.
Play it here.
71. Soul Brother
Browser
A browser game so good it could easily justify 800 points on Xbox Live, Soul Brother sees you make your way through an atypical platform game in which you’ll often have to kill yourself on purpose so that your departing soul possesses another on-screen creature, granting you new powers or taking you to a previously unreachable area. This one is pure genius.
Play it here.
70. Lose/Lose
PC
There are a lot of games recommended across these pages but it’s genuinely difficult to honestly urge anyone to play Lose/Lose. The reason: every enemy in the game is based on a file from the user’s computer, and killing that enemy will delete the file permanently. If the player ship dies then the application itself will be deleted. Scary stuff.
Play it here.
69. The Wicked Father
Retro
If the name sounds sinister then consider the story. This homebrew game for the Atari 2600 sees you play a man who has locked his family in the basement of his house and then flooded it in pursuit of a huge insure payout. Disturbing story aside, it’s actually a clever little retro platformer in which you have to outrun the rising water levels and escape the house. Appropriately enough the developer describes it as a “Swimming bastard simulator”.
Play it here.
68. Lure Of The Temptress
Retro
Revolution Software’s debut is notable for pioneering a number of since-standardised adventure elements – including time-specific encounters and objectives that could only be completed with NPC support – blending point-and-click conventions with action sequences.
Play it here.
67. Bible Adventures
Browser
This triple-pack of unofficial NES platformers based (very loosely) on Old Testament stories secured Wisdom Tree’s place in videogames mythology, but failed to capture any of the fire-and-brimstone magic of the original text. Its freeplay browser version is an interesting curio, though it suffers from some rather offputting screen flicker.
Play it here.
66. Flight Of The Amazon Queen
Retro
An Indiana Jones-esque slice of pulp-inspired point-and-click magic, Flight Of The Amazon Queen crash-landed in 1995 and immediately embedded itself as a valiant impersonation of a genre classic. Clearly inspired by the zaniest of LucasArts’ early-Nineties output, it’s a globetrotting mystery involving a tribe of Amazon women, a Golden Age leading lady and an evil lederhosen company.
Play it here.
65. Narbacular Drop
PC
The student project that led to Portal, Nuclear Monkey’s Narbacular Drop is a dizzying blend of switch puzzles and physics that, although dated graphically and painfully brief, still packs a punch. Without it, there would be no GLaDOS, and the Orange Box would be half-full.
Play it here.
64. Host Master And The Conquest of Humour
Browser
Tim Schafer, one of the founding fathers of the adventure game, appears as a character in the genre he helped create. Pointing and clicking him around backstage at the Games Developers Conference, you’re tasked simply with helping him find enough jokes, cunningly secreted within the pockets of fine Italian jackets or inside cereal boxes, to make his speech go with a bang.
Play it here.
63. Grand Theft Auto
PC
A game that should require little introduction, DMA’s original top-down vehicular heist is now available absolutely gratis straight from Rockstar. Still as effective a game as it is a museum piece, GTA’s timeless humour and miniaturised carnage remind you how much Rockstar still owes to those lads from Edinburgh.
Play it here.
62. Elite
Retro
Another piece of history that’s aged much better than you’d expect, David Braben and Ian Bell’s seminal space trading game is still worth a punt, its primitive wireframe graphics masking a deceptively huge universe. Eight galaxies of 256 planets apiece are crammed into just a few K of memory, and with all the smuggling, pirate battling and even a chance to join the Galactic Navy, that still feels quite astounding.
Play it here.
61. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Browser
Designed and written by Douglas Adams himself, with assistance from Infocom’s Steve Meretzky, this is a text adventure that’s stood the test of time due to being in possession of a sense of humour typical of its author’s other works. The version on the BBC website is decidedly more user friendly than days of old, with visualisations of each environment and even an on-screen graphical inventory.
Play it here.
60. Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
PC/Mac
Sumo Digital’s Who adventure games may have varied in quality, but are an unarguably generous and ambitious effort to widen its multimedia output. Produced by genre veteran Charles Cecil, the Adventures, particularly third instalment, Tardis, are respectably structured adventures with occasional flashes of brilliance.
Play it here.
59. Treasure Island Dizzy
Retro
One of Codemaster’s finer Dizzy adventures, this second outing sees the bouncing egg boy marooned on a desert island, enacting an escape the only way he knows how; by picking up three things at once and trying to put them in the relevant places. With only one life, it’s one of the toughest Dizzy games to crack.
Play it here.
58. The Great Gatsby
Browser
Quaintly presented as a ‘real’ NES game discovered at a yard sale, Charlie Hoey’s recreation of the classic novel is a cheeky nod to all those hideously contrived movie tie-in platformers of days gone by. It’s also a surprisingly pacey and well-designed platform game in its own right.
Play it here.
57. Runescape
Browser
Jagex’s early boarding of the MMO bandwagon has seen the British company sustain a large, active userbase for its Java-based fantasy roleplayer for ten years. In that time, it’s received several massive overhauls, both visually and gameplay-led, but throughout it all has maintained an offering of top quality community content without a paid account.
Play it here.
56. Angry Birds
Android
Free, you say? Why yes, for Android users who don’t mind ad banners. Rovio’s fowl-hurling revolution should need no particular introduction, and though there are a wealth of Flash-based games that share its physics-based destruction gameplay, Angry Birds’ humour and bitesize formula has made it ubiquitous with good reason.
Play it here.
55. Doritos Crash Course
Xbox Live Arcade
Winner of a Doritos-sponsored XBLA games design contest, this fast-paced interpretation of TV shows like Wipeout and Ninja Warrior is a surprisingly moreish slice of scrolling obstacle course mayhem. The real pull, of course, is the Trials HD-like ferocity with which the friend leaderboards are observed.
Play it here.
54. Alien Hominid
Browser
The game that made The Behemoth big, spawning its own console version and paving the way for Castle Crashers, still lingers in free flavour. Unforgivingly, unashamedly hardcore, it’s a platform shooter which only the most dextrous should even dream of completing.
Play it here.
53. Tasha’s Game
Browser
A slice of whimsy from the creator of Double Fine’s Costume Quest, Tasha’s Game tasks the player with traversing environments by collecting and placing their own platforms. Well constructed, and with genuinely amusing dialogue.
Play it here.
52. Epic Saga – Extreme Fighter
Browser
Tackling the eternal questions such as, who would win if a Barbarian took on a Horny Witch? It doesn’t answer them, because it’s a button-mashing, cripplingly low-tech monstrosity of a fighter. And that, clearly, is the point of Double Fine’s throwaway beat ‘em up. Worth it for the brilliantly funny ending alone.
Play it here.
51. Bible Fight
Browser
Could Eve have Mary? Who exactly would win in a fight between Jesus and Satan? Find out in this surprisingly accomplished apocryphal fighter, complete with a full compliment of special moves for each character, including Jesus’ Cross Smash and Noah’s Two of Everything Stampede.
Play it here.
50. Canabalt
Browser
The king of the one-button free-running scroller, Canabalt’s pacy, procedural environments and grim, apocalyptic setting give it a stylistic edge way ahead of its competitors, and it just so happens that the quality of the gameplay matches its look. You’ll never once blame the game for your own inept timing.
Play it here.
49. Freedoom
PC
The legacy of id Software’s open source release of the Doom source code continues. Though it requires a modern Doom source port such as PrBoom or Risen3D in order to run, after that Freedoom is a community-built complete Doom game, not only offering its own set of brand new levels, but allowing all your old WADs from years ago to run through its streamlined system.
Play it here.
48. Death Rally
PC
Remedy’s first high profile release, this 1996 top-down race fighter is still a peppy Micro Machines substitute. With 3D Realms on publishing duties, it also includes Duke Nukem in a cameo as one of the racers, so you can feel on-trend with that particular recent resurgence.
Play it here.
47. Mechwarrior 4: Mercs
PC
Giant robots are always approved of here, and there are few finer than those of the BattleTech universe-based Mechwarrior series. It’s jolly nice of everybody involved to offer this classic for free, and its multiplayer extensions, in particular, are still worth going back to time and time again.
Play it here.
46. Quake Live
PC
A sparkingly repurposed bit of old id Software tech, this is basically Quake III Arena, but playable through a browser-based menu and downloadable game engine extension.
Play it here.
45. Façade
PC
While many games, the recent Dinner Date among them, have tried to present human drama as interactive fiction, Façade remains among the best. A couple’s relationship teeters on the brink, and you show up for dinner at their flat. Through what you say and do, you can try to mediate their quarrels, or simply drive them over the edge into mutual hatred.
Play it here.
44. Hydorah
PC
A scrolling shooter in the grand retro tradition of R-Type or Axelay, Hydorah takes no prisoners in its imitation of the standards of difficulty laid down by games of that vintage. It supports game saves, but that’s it’s only concession to modernity.
Play it here.
43. Cat Astro Phi
Browser
It’s a pretty lame title, but this faux Gameboy game plays spectacularly, somewhere between Zelda and Alien Syndrome in its exploration, collection and rescue dynamic. The gorgeous greenscreen cat-based visuals are a joy to behold.
Play it here.
42. Ninjump
iOS
It’s a bit like vertical Canabalt, but with two surfaces to jump between, and an emphasis on chaining kills together in chains of three similar enemies in order to warp forward several metres. Fast paced, silly and more addictive than it probably should be.
41. Beneath A Steel Sky
Retro
One of the few games that has been freely released for use with ScummVM, Revolution’s second release remains arguably its best offering outside of the original Broken Sword. With thousands of retro imitators out there, it’s almost refreshing to go back to the real deal and see that it still has the same ability to captivate that it always did.
Play it here.
40. Robot Unicorn Attack
Browser
‘Always I wanna be with you and make believe with you and live in harmony, harmony, oh love’ sings Andy Bell for the entirety of your short-lived trio of unicorn lives. Yes, it’s another Canabalt clone but anyone that doesn’t fall in love with this ultimately futile plight for survival while chasing high scores doesn’t deserve to call themselves human.
Play it here.
39. Words With Friends
iOS
A play-by-email Scrabble clone, Words With Friends is one of the few must-have titles on the App Store. Cheating might be rife but if you play with those you know as the title suggest, you’ve at least got the option to rile your mates for their unsporting use of dictionaries and anagram solvers should they play dirty.
38. Samorost
Browser
With natural design that manages to evoke Button Moon and Pikmin, Amanita’s debut is a glorious trip through surrealism and one that toys with point-and-click conventions brilliantly. With no dialogue or inventory system to speak of, the world itself is your plaything as you try to avert the destruction of your amusingly tiny home planet. Simply stunning.
Play it here.
37. flOw
Browser
Without the ambient big screen effects or motion control of the PS3 version, this is both a less flashy and a more Flashy version of the evolve-’em-up that made thatgamecompany a household name. Still, it’s free and not everyone has a PS3 – those that don’t can get an idea of what they’re missing out on with the link below.
Play it here.
36. Trackmania Nations Forever
PC
With more creation options than most people will know what to do with and a thriving community of race fans, a free version of Trackmania will serve as a welcome addition to any PC hard drive. The option to upgrade to a paid version unlocks a ton of new content, should the mania really set in, though there’s plenty to do with the basic version too.
Play it here.
35. Wild Metal Country
PC
It’s hardly the company’s finest hour but Rockstar fanatics can sample a slice of the firm’s past with this, a vehicular combat game from the archives. Sure, it’s no Smugglers Run but it’s still worth a blast, if only for nostalgia value.
Play it here.
34. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
Retro
What better way to fill the void leading up to Skyrim than with a really old PC game whose scale puts most every other open world RPG to shame? Simple geometry and a lot of randomly generated terrain means the game’s map covers almost 500,000km2 – that’s over 1,000 times bigger than Oblivion. Wow.
Play it here.
33. Full Spectrum Warrior
PC
THQ’s clever and involving squad-based shooter has been available as ad-supported freeware for some time now and while it might not have aged as well as many games from the same period, its ideas at least still stand up. A fitting way to remember Pandemic at its peak.
Play it here.
32. Octodad
PC
You won’t often hear us celebrating a poor control scheme. But in a game which is trying to mimic the difficulties of an octopus passing itself off as a human, you’d be a fool to expect things to be simple. Totally original and rammed with both intentional and incidental comedy, Octodad is a joy from start to finish and we guarantee you’ll never play anything even vaguely similar.
Play it here.
31. Don’t Shit Your Pants
Browser
A text-based survival horror that deals not with zombies or spooks but with man’s ongoing struggle not to soil himself. Puerile and crude, this one-room adventure won’t keep you glued to your screen for long but those out for a cheap giggle, there’s more potential in this amusing spiritual successor to How To Be A Complete Bastard.
Play it here.
30. Zuma Blitz
Facebook
You know it, you love it and now you can play it between bursts of stalking colleagues, commenting on dumb videos or telling the world how upset/angry/delighted you are with something trivial. Curiously, this free version almost feels to have more content and longevity than its paid counterpart – as good a reason as any to get on Facebook.
Play it here.
29. One Single Life
iOS
Canabalt clones are hardly a rarity, but this unique take on the format sits head and shoulders above its peers. A gauntlet of ten jumps awaits, the pressure here not born from scores or leaderboards but from the fact that failure leads to permanent death that prevents you from every playing the app again. Overwhelming and stressful, we defy anyone not to feel the pressure should they reach the last few leaps…
28. Contract Killer
iOS
Take on the role of a sniper to rid the underworld of its least desirable denizens in this surprisingly robust yet basic shooter. It uses elements of time management to stretch out the game (and to prey on the impatient) but with a little play every day, it won’t be long before you’re staring down the sights of the most powerful rifle in the game. Maybe.
27. Flood-It! 2
iOS
Puzzle games don’t come any more basic than this but don’t let that fool you – this little beauty is capable of turning a five minute bus ride into a frantic rush back to the stop you missed ten minutes ago. Tap the screen to fill areas with colour, the idea being to paint the screen a single colour in as few steps as possible.
26. The Polyphonic Spree: The Quest For The Rest
Browser
Another Amanita distraction, Quest For The Rest tasks you with hunting down the missing members of impractically overstaffed pop choir The Polyphonic Spree in a brief yet hugely agreeable jaunt into surrealism. It might be a glorified advert for the band but still, it’s impossible not to crack a smile when Amanita’s magic is in full effect.
Play it here.
25. Pokémon TCG Online
Browser
Newly upgraded to a full open beta, this online version of the evergreen Pokémon Trading Card Game lets you pick an upgradeable starter deck with which to wail on both AI and human opposition. You can even chuck in the codes from your real world theme decks or select boosters to build up a virtual collection and eventually piece together your own unstoppable deck.
Play it here.
24. Dragonica
PC
Free MMOs are commonplace these days but this side-scrolling variant almost feels more like an endless arcade scrolling fighter than a traditional RPG. Cute anime visuals conspire with the usual loot grind to make Dragonica a simple yet addictive title that proves incredibly hard to put down.
Play it here.
23. Savage 2
PC
Combining real time strategy mechanics with shooter sensibilities is a concept that has been tried and tried again, but it’s unexpected to see a free-to-play game get it so right. Either play in an action-oriented way or take control of your troops from the skies as a commander – it’s almost two games in one, even without upgrading to the premium version.
Play it here.
22. Tinkerbox
iOS
Cut from the same cloth as classics like The Incredible Machine, this gadget-filled puzzle game will put your brain to work with a series of devious tasks that employ everyday objects in not-so-everyday roles. It even has a toybox-esque mode where you can muck about with contraptions of your own design. Nifty.
21. Battlefield: Play 4 Free
PC
Cleverly dodging the grammatical wrongbomb that is ‘for free’ by dropping in a number, EA’s latest attempt to steal players away from the Call Of Duty machine offers a slimline version of Battlefield’s wonderful multiplayer to try and win over a squad of new players in time for the stunning looking Battlefield 3.
Play it here.
20. One Chance
Browser
Permadeath is a concept indie games have more freedom to experiment with than their commercial brethren, so it’s not surprising to stumble upon things like One Chance – a retro-style morality test that forces impossible choices on the player and makes them live with the (often horrific) consequences.
Play it here.
19. Boss Rush
Browser
An inspired little shooter where rather than playing the lone pilot tasked with destroying an armada of enemies, you take on the role of the huge boss. Multiple bosses (each with their own attack patterns to employ) and even a multiplayer mode add a surprising amount of longevity to this Flash gem, so hurry up and get your Bookmark on.
Play it here.
18. Back To The Future: Episode 1
PC
The first in a series of five episodes from Telltale Games, the Back To The Future point-and-click conveys the same playful charm and indelible humour that has given the license generational appeal, all the while crafting a new time-jumping story to die for.
Play it here.
17. Marathon
Mac
From Bungie Software, pre-Halo fame, Marathon made its way to the Mac in 1994. The Halo roots are there for all to see; the hulking protagonist (not too unlike a certain Master Chief), an unknown alien race and futuristic space battles.
Play it here.
16. World’s Biggest Pac-Man
Browser
Developed by Soap Creative in conjunction with Microsoft and Namco, the World’s Biggest Pac-Man is an attempt at merging the iconic yellow ghost-muncher with one of the newest videogame conventions, user-generated content. Each maze is joined to the next in a long line of arcade nostalgia.
Play it here.
15. Flick Kick Football Free
iOS
It might be one of the simplest games on our list, but Flick Kick Football is also one of the most addictive, requiring nothing more than a ‘flick’ of the football in the centre of the screen to lob, curve and power shots into the goal.
14. Dropship
iOS
From ngmoco, Dropship tasks you with piloting a spaceship in retro-themed 3D environments to save humans from utter peril. The classic shooter elements are all there, as well as 18 missions to complete in Campaign mode and a Free Play mode.
13. Dr Awesome Plus+
iOS
After importing the names of your most beloved friends, Dr Awesome is a pared-down Trauma Center for touch controls. You’ll be a rookie doctor in no time, cutting out cancerous cells and picking debris from wounds all against the clock.
12. Cube Runner
iOS
Although it now has a paid sequel, the original Cube Runner is easy to pick up and instantly gratifying. Simply put, tilt controls allow you to manoeuvre the arrow icons around a course of cubes. Simple, but oh-so-good.
11. Trace
iOS
With backgrounds taking the form of pre-school sketches, Trace uses extremely pulled back platforming mechanics (left, right, jump) with the ability to draw lines to create platforms in the world in order to make it to the end point.
10. PicoPicoGames
iOS
In homage to classic 8-bit retro games, Pico Pico Games is a collection of four adventures, from RPG to shoot-em-up and racer. The RPGs are the best inclusions, with dungeons to trawl, dragons to slay and a damsel in distress to rescue.
9. Lord Of The Rings Online
PC
Starting out as a subscription-based MMO, LOTRO has now gone free-to-play and re-imagines the high fantasy lore of Tolkien’s Middle Earth in a fully featured online world of elves, dwarves, hobbits and orcs. Really, Lord Of The Rings Online is a perfect fit for the MMORPG formula.
Play it here.
8. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
PC
Released as freeware by EA in 2009, the original Red Alert is classed as one of the best real-time strategy games of all time, mixing science fiction design with an alternate reality story grounded in WWII and a conflict between the Soviets and Europe/American forces.
Play it here.
7. Allods Online
PC
The third game in the Rage Of Mages series, Allods Online is an MMO with more compelling features than many others in the current market. Notably, you can sail the vast space known as “Astral” in player built ships and engage in ship-versus-ship combat.
Play it here.
6. Canaan Online
Browser
Available without the need for download, Canaan Online is a surprisingly robust MMO that includes the ability to join guilds, customise a character from one of any four classes, explore unforgiving dungeons and engage in PvP combat.
Play it here.
5. Mythos
PC
Though Mythos was originally in development by Flagship Studios (comprised of a few ex-employees of Blizzard), the game is now under Korean dev Hanbitsoft. This MMO has action-RPG roots from the likes of Diablo, a game that some of the initial team worked on.
Play it here.
4. FIFA Superstars
Facebook
It might have the weight of the FIFA license behind it, but Superstars has a stronger likeness to Football Manager than its console counterpart. Developed by EA-owned Playfish, the social game has users manage and run their own football team to compete against friends.
Play it here.
3. Runes Of Magic
PC
Runes Of Magic has now been running over two years. In that time, over 6.6 million characters have been created, now freely roaming the world of Taborea. It’s the dual-class system that is the most unique aspect of Runewaker’s MMORPG, allowing players to carry and bring together otherwise disparate skills.
Play it here.
2. Champions Online
PC
Giving players the opportunity to fulfil their childhood dreams of becoming a spandex-clad, cape-wearing superhero (only us?), Champions Online allows you to create a hero with a unique look and flashy fighting style, whether ice-based, fire-based or psychically enhanced.
Play it here.
1. APB: Reloaded
PC
Though APB was disappointing as a full price product, it’s a whole different proposition now that it’s been reinvented as a free-to-play game. Make your cops-and-robbers dream a reality in the open beta, which should be active right now.
Play it here.
