A List Of Actually Free Games

[a_coathanger]

There are a lot of decent free games out there, but finding them can be a chore. Finding a decent one can be a nightmare, and unfortunately a lot of them are games-as-a-service or oddly free shovel-ware/flash games.

 

I Tried to avoid the really old stuff that may not run on modern systems unless it's been updated somewhat recently. I also intentionally left out Doom and its multitude of engines and ports and variations, because it would probably clutter up the list with another 10 or 15 entries.

 

I also tried to keep it mostly freeware or free and open source, but I can't make any guarantees. None of these games should have any way to pay for anything, except maybe donations to the dev or something. There are a few exceptions like Cave Story, Spelunky, and Maldita Castilla, and N which all have a paid version; however, the version that is free more than constitutes a playable game. I will say that some of these games look a little dated and may not be fully finished, but I tried my best to only put finished (or close enough to constitute reasonably playable), or actively and far-into development games.

 

I kept the game PC focused but a good chunk of these games run on linux and about half run on OSX I think. I do have a master spreadsheet with more info like release dates, and whether you need steam or another service to download and use these games. I wanted to avoid steam altogether but its honestly so huge that some really good free games like Zombie Panic Source would be left out, and it might be bias, but that was a teenage favorite mod for me. I can say that only 5 or 6 need steam and only 3 need another service (the command and conquer games (except openRA)).

 

Thanks to BTGBullseye, and Prinny for adding to the list!

 

Genre		Name
Action		OpenClonk
Action		BZFlag
Action		Open Hexagon
Card Game	Magarena
FPS		America's Army: Proving Grounds
FPS		Red Eclipse
FPS		No More Room in Hell
FPS		Zombie Panic: Source
FPS		Warsow
FPS		Xonotic
FPS		OpenArena
FPS		Enemy Territoy: Legacy
FPS		AssaultCube
FPS		OpenSpades
FPS		Urban Terror
FPS		Tremulous
Platformer	Cave Story
Platformer	Gang Garrison 2
Platformer	Hero Core
Platformer	I Wanna Be The Guy (IWBTG)
Platformer	Maldita Castilla
Platformer	Princess Remedy In a World of Hurt
Platformer	Spelunky Classic
Platformer	TeeWorlds
Platformer	The Way Of The Ninja (N)
Platformer	NeverBall
Puzzle		Deflektor X4
Racing		SuperTuxKart
Racing		Stunt Rally
Racing		Speed Dreams
RPG		Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead
RPG		Doom the Rogue Like (DRL)
RPG		Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup
RPG		Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Rythem		osu!
Rythem		StepMania
Rythem		Frets On Fire
Sandbox		Dwarf Fortress
Sandbox		Endless Sky
Sandbox		Terasology
Simulation	OpenTTD
Simulation	Space Station 13
Simulation	FlightGear
Simulation	OpenBVE (Trainsim)
Simulation	Bridge Command
Simulation	SimuTrans
Simulation	LinCity
Simulation	Oolite
Stealth		The Dark Mod
Strategy	Command and Conquer
Strategy	Command And Conquer: Red Alert
Strategy	Command And Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Strategy	GNU Chess
Strategy	MegaGlest
Strategy	The Battle for Wesnoth
Strategy	FreeCiv
Strategy	Unknown Horizons
Strategy	Command and Conquer (OpenRA)
Strategy	0 A.D.
Strategy	Tanks of Freedom
Strategy	HedgeWars
Strategy	WarZone 2100
Strategy	UFO: Alien Invasion
TDS		Red Hot Vengeance
TDS		Tyrian
TDS		Counter Strike 2D (CS2D)
TDS		Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
TDS		Chromium B.S.U.
TDS		AstroMenace
TDS		Garden of Coloured Lights
Visual Novel	Digital: A Love Story
Visual Novel	Occult Crime Police

Edited August 9, 2019 by a_coathanger
Added games that were suggested. (see edit history)

[BTGBullseye]

OpenArena (Quake 3 clone released in 2008, last stable release in 2012)

Chromium B.S.U. (top-scrolling arcade shooter from 2000, last stable update in 2016)

LinCity (SimCity clone released in 1995, still has active updates but last main release was about 10 years ago)

Warzone 2100 (RTS made in 1999, last stable release in 2017, last preview release February 2019)

Zero-K (RTS first released in 2010, last stable release June 2019)

Minetest (Minecraft clone with significantly increased options and customization, last stable release May 2019)

UFO: Alien Invasion (classic X-COM inspired RTS/Turn-based strategy released in 2014)

Stunt Rally (Rally-style racing game with track editor and stunts, released in 2015)

OpenClonk (a cross between Worms, The Settler, Lemmings, and Minecraft, first released in 2010, last stable release in 2018)

Oolite (3d space trading/combat simulator, Elite clone, first release 2004, last stable release 2018)

Enemy Territory: Legacy (Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory clone, still in active development despite having a stable release and active MP servers)

Open Imperium Galactica (4X RTS space game, in active development with latest release in 2018)

Spring: 1944 (WWII RTS, last update July 2019)

FreeOrion (Turn-based strategy 4X, not a Master of Orion clone but heavily inspired by it, first released in 2006, last stable update 2018)

AssaultCube (FPS that takes place in real-world type environments, first release 2006, last stable release 2013)

PlaneShift (MMORPG with very few if any players, first released in 2002, last preview release in 2014, is being ported over to Unity Engine)

MegaGlest (fantasy RTS, first release 2010, latest stable release 2017)

Magarena (Magic The Gathering against a computer, latest stable release 2018)

BZFlag (Battlezone Capture The Flag clone, tank driver simulation, first released 1993, last stable release 2018)

OpenSpades (clone of Ace of Spades, latest update August 2019)

Open Hexagon (clone of Super Hexagon)

Urban Terror (Total conversion of Quake 3 Arena, first release in 1998, last release 2007? Maybe?)

Terasology (Minecraft tech demo clone, latest stable release June 2019)

AstroMenace (3d vertical-scrolling shmup, first released in 2007, latest stable release April 2019)

Tremulous (FPS with base building, first release 2006, latest stable release 2011, latest beta release 2016)

Speed Dreams (racing simulator, TORCS fork, first release in 2008, latest stable release 2016)

Garden of Coloured Lights (vertical-scrolling shmup with unique design)

M.A.R.S. (don't try to Google it, you'll never find it. http://mars-game.sourceforge.net/ Top-down shmup from 2011, not maintained)

Star Ruler 2 (4X RTS in space, also available on Steam and GOG for $25, latest release 2018, have to compile yourself from the sourcecode if you want it free, though it's really easy to build)

FreeGish (platformer, first release 2004, first free release 2010, last update 2017)

Neverball (tilt the floor to roll the ball, first release 2003, latest release 2014)

 

Hope you like the additions...

[Prinny]

I'd like to highlight Occult Crime Police which is short detective game which seems to be little inspired by Ace Attorney series.