Video Games that can be downloaded and distributed legally for free (
not that piracy stops some people).
One genre that tend to have a lot of freeware games is the
Interactive Fiction genre as since the 1990s, the genre hasn't been as commercially viable. An
annual contest
for shorter works generally turns up at least two or three genuinely excellent examples of freeware Interactive-Fiction games.
There are several websites dedicated to covering and hosting freeware games:
- FreeIndieGam.es features freeware games as well as web games.
- liberatedgames.com is a site for formerly commercial games that are now available for free. (Technically, not all of them are distributable; some may be downloaded for free, but only from the original company.)
- Indiegames.com: The Weblog is a regularly updated blog that informs about indie video games. While not all indie games are free, many of them are.
- The Independent Gaming Source is a website dedicated to indie games. Like the above one, not all the games are free but many are featured.
- Indie Statik is another indie game dedicated blogger who also does (somewhat) weekly Top 5 of free indie games. You can also check out the Facebook page here.
- Play This Thing! also has quite a few listed, with the option of filtering the list for free games only.
- FreeGamer is devoted exclusively to Free and Open Source Software.
- RMN focuses primarily on freeware RPGs oftentimes made using the RPG Maker series.
- Freem! focuses primarily on freeware doujin games.
The Other Wiki keeps a list of available
freeware games, as well as lists for
commercial games released as freeware and
open-source games. Linux users have a lot of these available and updated via software repositories.
For those of you who have no idea what games to choose,
this guide◊ presents some of the best voted on by
/v/* (Important note: Bunny Must Die is absolutely not freeware; there was a misconception of people believing the game was free when it was pirated on the internet and the lack of understanding how most doujin games are released. The game's page can point you to where you can find the English version of the game localized by Rockin' Android legitimately). Fair warning: Not all of these games run on all operating systems. A longer list (with descriptions) can be found at
their wiki.
If the game advertises itself as free but is only partly free, the game is an
Allegedly Free Game. If the game's developers have forgotten about it or vanished entirely, but its exact legal standing is still questionable, it may be
Abandon Ware. If it was made after an existing game, it's
Fan Remake or
Fan Sequel (not all of them are free games proper, what with
game mods using commercial engines).
Also see
Web Games.
open/close all folders
Multi-Platform
Action Games:
- Abuse
- Garden Gnome Carnage (initially Windows-only made in Game Maker, then re-released as a Flash game, and later re-released for Xbox Live Indie Games)
Action-Adventure:
Adventure Games:
Beat 'Em Up:
Edutainment Games:
Fighting Games:
First-Person Shooters:
Horror:
Genre Busting:
Genre Roulette:
Interactive Fiction:
Music/Rhythm:
Platformers:
Puzzle Games:
Racing Games:
Real-Time Strategy:
Roguelikes:
Role Playing Games:
Action RPGs
Eastern RPGs
Western RPGs
Shoot 'em Up:
Simulation Games:
Space Simulators:
Turn-Based Strategy:
Visual Novels:
Miscellaneous:
Windows-Only
Action Adventure:
Action Games:
Adventure Games:
Fighting Games:
Beat 'em Ups:
First-Person Shooters:
Horror:
Interactive Fiction:
Metroidvanias:
Music/Rhythm:
Platformers:
Ordinary Platformers
Puzzle Platformers
Ambient/Exploration Platformers
Puzzle Games:
Racing Games:
Real-Time Strategy and Tactics:
Roguelikes:
Role Playing Games: Action RPGs
Eastern RPGs
Western RPGs
Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs
Shoot 'em Up:
Space Simulators:
Sport Games:
Stealth Games:
Third-Person Shooters:
Turn-Based Strategy
Visual Novels:
Wide Open Sandbox:
Miscellaneous:
Unknown:
Adventure Game Studio Games (Windows and Linux only, though an old OS X runtime exists)
Other Platforms
Initially commercial
Always freeware
◊ presents some of the best voted on by /v/* . Fair warning: Not all of these games run on all operating systems. A longer list (with descriptions) can be found at their wiki