Free Games

This lens is primarily concerned with free games. If you are at all interested in completely free downloadable or online games - read on.

Planet Freeplay

The Planet Freeplay RSS Feed - a site that features both freeware games and free online games.

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Freeware Gaming Archives

Some of the better freeware gaming resources available on the web.

Acid-Play: One of the best freeware gaming sites around - it doesn't quite have the numbers the Gamehippo and Caiman have (yet) but it is extremely reliable (they host almost all of their listed games and have fast download) and contains many decent, if somewhat short reviews.
Caiman: Probably the largest known freeware gaming archive on the web, with a massive listing of over 2,000 games. A lot of below par and average titles but also some absolute gems if you are prepared to do some digging. The reviews are somewhat disjointed but they host almost all of the games that they list and are very reliable and fast for download.
Gamehippo: Most people involved in the freeware gaming scene already know about Gamehippo. They were the pioneering freeware archive site and have gained much popularity and loyalty over the years with a listing of over 1,200 games. They don't host all of the games they list. Instead they link to the developer's site for each new game.
Abandonia Reloaded: Certainly not the largest database of freeware games. However this site focuses only on quality releases with quality reviews and some of the best web design you will ever see.
Liberated Games: A website that catalogues 'liberated' freeware game releases, those being releases that were formerly commercial games but have now been liberated to freeware.
Home of the Underdogs (Freeware Games' Section): Most people know Home of the Underdogs as the most notable Abandonware site on the web. What a lot of people don't realise is that it also contains a huge section dedicated specifically to freeware games with many rare titles listed.

Some lesser known Freeware Gaming websites

The large freeware gaming directories are not the only websites that exist on the topic of freeware games. Listed below are some of the smaller, lesser known freeware gaming websites.

Ytanium: For a freeware games' site as little known as this one, it has a fairly large selection of freeware games. The site design is half decent if a little odd but the content itself is of decent quality.
The Freehare: Another new freeware gaming site. It's name and theme do not do it any favours, however design and content-wise it looks promising.
Freewar Zone: One of the newer freeware gaming websites and it shows some promise with some decent web design, reviews and selection of games.
Run Time Entertainment: A relatively new website that focuses on quality freeware game releases with reviews and screenshots.

The Game Maker Community (GM)

A sector of the freeware gaming community

There are many development tools that people use to create their games. Game Maker is one of the more popular ones and has a rather large community with some dedicated showcasing sites and developers.

Game Maker Showcase and Development sites

Here are the most well known Game Maker showcase and development websites on the web.

YoYo Games: The official showcase site for Game Maker games. Lovely web design with a solid selection available so far.
Game Maker Games: Huge database of Game Maker games with many quality titles listed and a strong community to go with it.
64 Digits: Yet another Game Maker community site with a decent listing of freeware games and encouragement to submit work.
EO Game Development Community: Another Game Maker site, focusing on only the cream of the crop game releases. Only a select few developers are invited to participate with this community to keep the quality of the games high.

Game Maker Developers

Here are some of the more popular dedicated Game Maker developers.

Darthlupi Games: A one man team, responsible for the development of various freeware games, including the classic remake of Legend of Shadow.
Cactus: A developer, responsible for the popular shmup Clean Asia!, among other unique and experimental games.
Pug Fugly Games: A popular developer, responsible for the classic remake The Pyramid, along with other solid games.
clysm: Developer of possibly the most popular Game Maker game of all time, Seiklus.

The Multimedia Fusion Community (MMF)

The MMF community may not be quite as thriving as the Game Maker Community in recent times but this does not mean that the community is small or lacks quality developers.

Multimedia Fusion Showcase and Development sites

Here are the most well known MMF showcase and development websites on the web.

The Daily Click: A huge community of MMF developers with a large selection of freeware games.
Total Klik: Another MMF community page with lots of the latest news on releases along with interviews and user reviews.

Multimedia Fusion Developers

Here are some of the more popular dedicated MMF developers.

Jonny Smeby: A freeware development guy, responsible for developing various freeware games, including the experimental Jonny RPG.
Cobrasoft: A freeware development team, who came to popularity with the release of Cloud Kingdoms 3 (3rd time lucky), which was a polished platformer starring a small ninja.
Bogo47: Developer of the popular and influential platformer, Lyle In Cube Sector.
Hayo Van Reek: Somewhat responsible for development of the popular well respected Bernard & Hank series of games.

Other Communities

Here are some websites devoted to various communities that take part in the freeware gaming community.

Allegro.cc: Another popular tool that is used for freeware game development. This site contains a large database of games that were made with the help of this tool.
Adventure Game Studio: Another tool that is usually used to create (usually freeware) original or fanmade 2D point'n'click adventure games. A decent selection of freeware adventure games can be found here.
Retro Remakes: The largest remaking community on the web and the best thing about the site is that they focus on freeware remakes.
Experimental Gameplay Project: What started out as a university project to develop freeware games with innovative gameplay elements (within a seven day period) eventually expanded to include user submitted entries. There are some fantastic games here, including Tower of Goo and The Swarm.

The best Freeware Games

There are literally thousands upon thousands of freeware games out there of all shapes and sizes. I'm notoriously bad at coming up with top ten lists (there are so many great ones to choose from). Listed below are some of my favourite freeware games.

Neverball: Not so much inspired by Marble Madness as Super Monkey Ball, this twists the old 'roll the ball to the exit' formula by changing how the ball is controlled. Instead of simply rolling the ball around with the mouse, you tilt the floor with the mouse and the ball moves accordingly.
Super Human Cannonball: A sequel to the little known 'Human Cannonball', Super Human Cannonball improves on its predecessor in every aspect. More devious stunts to try and complete, more levels, better graphics and tweaked gameplay. If you hadn't guessed already, you have to shoot a human out of a cannon (with the correct power and trajectory) to complete each stunt correctly.
Kiki the Nanobot: A very solid 3D puzzle game, in which you take control of a 'Nanobot.' Your task in each level is quite simply to make it to the exit. Fortunately the puzzles in each of your cramped 3D rooms are challenging - it is unlikely anyone will get through this in a hurry.
Street Bike Fury: One of the best 2D side-scrolling action games bar none - ride a motorcycle (fast), blow the bad guys away, do stunts and cause general mayhem on the streets. In true Shaun Noel style, this one is both adrenaline-charged and amusing at the same time with a heavy pumping soundtrack.

Sadly not long after its release, Shaun took his own life. He is remembered as an influential game developer not only for Street Bike Fury but for many of his other releases (just have a good look around his homepage).
Truck Dismount: What 'best freeware games' list would be complete without Truck Dismount? A superior sequel to the equally well known Stair Dismount, Truck Dismount improves on the old formula by throwing a truck into the 'hurt the dummy' formula and it works brilliantly - the possibilities are almost endless, the gameplay is more addictive and the results are probably even more hilarious than its predecessor. This might seem like a 'mini-game' but trust me - before you know it, hours of your time will have vanished.
T2002: An authentic clone of the Turrican series of games that seemed to be most popular on the Amiga or Atari ST. The levels are large and invite exploration, the power-ups are plentiful and the enemies come thick and fast - what more could you ask from a clone?
Cave Story: A lovingly created platform game that harks back to the games of yesteryear. It mixes elements of adventure, RPG and shoot 'em up to boot and even has a storyline to follow. Every aspect of this game oozes style and class. Put this in the 'must play' category.
Super Mario Blue Twilight: While most people would probably list Mario Forever in their freeware gaming toplists, I have opted to list Blue Twilight. This clone isn't quite as recognised as Mario Forever, however it is just as stylishly made and just as much fun to play. Not only does it manage to provide an authentic Super Mario experience but it even throws in its own splashes of originality. Fans should not be dissapointed.

Freeware Game Videos

Here are some videos of some of the more popular freeware games for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

The Underside Gameplay Test 1: by ThePodunkian | video info

78 ratings | 29,892 views

curated content from YouTube

Interviews with Freeware developers

Want the lowdown on how a specific game was made? The following section contains links to various interviews with some of the more popular freeware game developers. Some are lightweight, while others are more in depth.

Interviews conducted by Planet Freeplay: Various interviews with freeware developers of varying popularity.
Interviews conducted by Abandonia Reloaded: Various interviews with freeware developers, ranging from the obscure to the popular. Interesting reading.
Interview with Pixel, developer of Cave Story: A solid interview with the mysterious Pixel, who created the ever popular Cave Story.
Interview with Thompsonsoft, developers of I'm O.K.: A tongue-in-cheek interview with Thompsonsoft, who developed the somewhat controversial I'm O.K. You might just get a laugh out of this.
Interview with Derek Yu, developer of Eternal Daughter: A nice chat with the multi-talented Derek Yu, who developed the classic Eternal Daughter.
Interview with Kenta Cho, developer of rRootage and Parsec 47: Decent interview with the popular SCHMUP developer Kenta Cho, who developed such games as rRootage and Parsec 47.

Freeware Game related Blogs

There are a good deal of blogs that feature news and reviews, regarding quality freeware game releases. This section tries to focus on the most active ones.

TIGSource: Short for The Independent Game Source, this blog reports on all manner of topics concerning independent gaming. This includes some freeware and free online releases.
Independant Gaming: Excellent blog, which reports on the indepedent gaming scene, including a lot of freeware games. Reviews are short and to the point but they come thick and fast.

Articles regarding Freeware Games

This section contains various articles regarding recommendations for freeware games.

1up: 101 Free Games: While this 'Top 100' is not purely concerned with free gaming, it still contains a good deal of very solid recommendations. Well worth a read.
Ten Free Games Worth Downloading: Another article that focuses on ten free games to download. Having to flip through all the pages is somewhat annoying but a decent read nonetheless.
Eurogamer's Summer of PC Plenty: Not sure what the title means but this article claims to feature 20 freeware games. They don't all happen to be freeware but they do all happen to be free (the Home of the Underdogs suggestion isn't exactly on the ball either).
The Adventures Never End: An article focusing on some of the free fanmade adventure games that have been released after the original franchises have ended.

Free Online Gaming Sites

There are a fast growing number of free online games circulating the web. Here are some of the better places to find them.

One More Level: Unlike so many of the other online gaming sites, this one contains a nice, clean layout and lets you play a decent selection of free games without much hassle.
That Videogame Site: A decently designed site with a very large, solid selection of free online games.
Newgrounds: The highly respected Newgrounds. Not specifically an online gaming site. However, there is a section dedicated to flash games with a very decent selection of free online games here as well as comments and reviews. Quality varies from game to game and not all of them are guaranteed to be completely free to play.
Andkon: A large, solid list of online games, presented in a neat, easy to navigate layout with very few ads and no pop-ups.
The Games List: Another neatly designed website that showcases a lot of decent online games. Nice to look at, easy to browse and navigate.
Millions of Games: A website that lets people tag their favourite casual games with over 8,000 games listed. Bear in mind that not all of them are completely free to play and there are numerous repeats.

Quality Flash Game Developers

There are literally thousands upon thousands of free flash game developers spread among the web. Most aim to gain some sort of popularity and respect for their craft. Here are some of the better quality flash game developers that exist today.

Orisinal: A website full of quality flash games, developed by Ferry Halim. All of them have a very distinct look and style.
Teagames: Another website full of fun and challenging flash games. A lot of time and effort has gone into these games and it shows.
Nitrome: Nitrome are a quality flash game production team that push the boundaries of flash development. Their games are currently featured on Miniclip.
Tonypa: A flash game developer with an interesting collection of stylish and innovative games. Many are quite addictive.
jmtb02 Studios: A flash game developer with a large collection of polished flash games under his belt. More often than not, you will find them featured on Armor Games.

The best Free Online Games

This section focuses on some of the best free online games I have come across in my travels.

Nanaca Crash: An oddball game, in which you must slam into someone with a bike (choose your angle and power), sending them flying through the air. The object is to send the person as far as you can and this is precisely what makes the game so addictive.
Kitten Cannon: Shoot a kitten out of a cannon and make it fly as far as possible (with the help or hindrance of various randomly placed objects such as TNT or spikes). Addictive and amusing, this one can keep you glued to the screen for hours.
Divine Intervention: An amusing (and extremely well animated) shoot 'em up, in which murder possessed children and altar boys (among other people) must be killed in the name of the lord. Difficult but quite addictive with that 'just one more turn' element.
Bowman: A simplistic but utterly addictive arcade game, in which you must simply try to kill your opponent (computer or human, whichever you prefer) with a bow and arrows by measuring your power and trajectory.
Wheels of Salvation: A puzzle game of sorts in which you must get to the top of each level (above ground) by slinging yourself from one rotating wheel to another. The gameplay is addictive and the learning curve is just right but don't be fooled - it doesn't take long for the levels to become deviously challenging.
Stick Arena: A brilliant, top down 'deathmatch' game, in which you control a stick figure and must simply try to kill the other stick figures with whatever weapons you manage to find. Stylish and addictive.
Hapland: A stylish little puzzle game, in which you try to control the actions of a few little men. There is no immediate aim to the game aside from figuring out various puzzles and completing them in the right order (if you don't the game becomes impossible to complete). A joy to play as much as it can be frustrating, having to start over again so many times (in a good way).
Madness Interactive: This could be filed under either freeware or online (both communities have taken to it). An insanely hard (and violent) 2d side scrolling shoot 'em up / beat 'em up, complete with bullet time. The controls are hard to get used to (they are similar to first person shooter controls) because of its 2d environment but nonetheless, there is no denying the unique style of Madness Interactive.

Free Online Game Videos

Here are some videos of some of the more popular free flash games on the internet. Enjoy!

Flash Element TD - Lvl 39 Annihilation: by jacksonville22 | video info

7 ratings | 11,194 views