Originally Posted by Tiyuri

This is going to be a list of free games, most of which I hold in higher regard than most of the commercial crap available at the moment.

Originally Posted by Cave Story

Cave Story



Cave story is a side scrolling, 2D, platform adventure game. Developed as a hobby by a Japanese guy calling himself "Pixel", it quickly became one of the most popular freeware games of all time. Whilst the graphics are decidedly retro, the animation is top notch, the controls are tight and the gameplay is incredible. If you have any interest in old school platformers in the metroid, mario, castlevania vein, this is a must try. A translation patch is available online that completely translates the game into english.

Obtain it here:
http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/page...=CaveStory.zip
English Patch here:
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=cavestory

Originally Posted by Neverball

Neverball



In neverball you control a giant ball, your objective is to collect enough coins to activate the exit, then escape to it within the time limit, all the while trying to not to fall off of the increasingly hazardous worlds.

If you've played Monkey Ball, marble madness or hamster ball you'll have the basic idea, very addictive and very challenging, the game is charmingly presented with simple but effective graphics and great sound.

Obtain it here:
http://www.icculus.org/neverball/

Originally Posted by Sam & Max - Abe Lincoln must die

Sam & Max - Abe Lincoln must die



Sam & Max are back, in commercial, episodic format. This episode has been released for free however, and miss it you should not. Sam & Max is a point and click adventure game, following the adventures of the straight man Sam and his strange white bunny sidekick Max, this episode sees the duo taking on Abe Lincoln in a race for presidency. Aside from its commercial quality graphics, sound, voice acting and polish, Sam & Max really shines due to its humour, pretty much every click of the mouse will make you smile, whilst others will have you clutching your sides in laughter.

Obtain it here:
http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax/lincolnmustdie

Originally Posted by Frets on Fire

Frets on Fire



Frets on fire is a freeware clone of the monstrously popular Guitar Hero, whilst not as flashy as its console counterpart, all the controls and mechanics are intact and the game is just as fun. What's more it's fully modifiable and a large community has sprung up to support it with new themes, songs and content.

And don't worry, you don't have to hold your keyboard like the idiot on the title screen.

Obtain it here:
http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/

Originally Posted by Kyntt

Kyntt & Knytt Stories



Knytt is a platform game created by famed freeware developer Nifflus, creator of "within a deep forest". Knytt focuses on atmosphere rather than finger twisting challenges, and does a great job of it too. It's amazing how much atmosphere he achieves with such simple 2D sprites and clever use of sound, it puts modern technically advanced games to shame.

Knytt stories is the sequal to Knytt, it contains various stories within the Knytt universe, with the ability to download user created content, Knytt stories is a little more challenging than Knytt but retains the atmosphere that made the first an interesting play.

If you're a diehard gamer this probably wouldn't interest you much, but if you're into games as an art form, or just something relaxing and chill, it's worth a shot.

Obtain it here:
http://www.ni2.se/nifflas/

Originally Posted by Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten



Sauerbraten is an old school FPS shooter, with modern technology and a blazingly fast engine, and whilst the game itself is not much more than a generic arena FPS, it's the engine that's the draw here. Map editing in Sauerbraten is extremely simple, so simple infact that you can hit E at any time and instantly begin editing the map you're playing. Hit E again and you're back in the game. This ease of use and extreme editing functionality is so robust in fact that you can bring the game online and build a map in multiplayer!

Obtain it here:
http://www.sauerbraten.org/

Originally Posted by Battle for Wesnoth

Battle for Wesnoth



Battle for Wesnoth is a hexagonal turn based strategy game, whilst the graphics are somewhat dated, the gameplay more than makes up for it. The gameplay system here is so robust it dwarfs most commercial strategy games. The game is still in constant development and has a large community behind it, network multiplayer functionality is complete with lots of options, including coop play and RPG scenarios. The game allows individual units to level up and upgrade, rewarding players that preserve injured troops rather than pumping out as many as possible.

Obtain it here:
http://www.wesnoth.org/

Originally Posted by Narbacular Drop

Narbacular Drop



Narbacular drop is the student project that evolved into the valve game Portal, similar to portal the player has to solve a number of puzzles by firing portals against various surfaces. Whilst the game is short, it's a great bit of freeware history and additional user made levels are available to download from the homepage. Play the game that started it all.

Obtain it here:
http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com...culardrop.html

Originally Posted by Toribash 3.0

Toribash 3



Toribash is a turn based fighting game, each player has a set amount of time to manipulate the muscles of their rag doll before unleashing it on the other player. Results are often bloody and spectacular, with limbs flying every what way. The game comes complete with online play, amongst other features such as customization, decapitation and so on. If you're the type that likes to intricately plan their violence, this game is for you.

Obtain it here:
http://www.toribash.com/downloads.html

Originally Posted by Trilby - The Art of Theft

Trilby - The Art of Theft



Trilby is a game by Yahtze, of the escapist review fame and sees the player controlling a master criminal, as he attempts a number of daring heists on various locations scattered over the city. As you progress you'll learn more moves to assist you in your art from rolls to clinging to the ceiling. Trilby is a through and through stealth game, imagine a 2D metal gear solid and you're not far off.

Obtain it here:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/cont...zee/artoftheft

Originally Posted by F.E.A.R Combat

F.E.A.R Combat



F.E.A.R Combat is the complete multiplayer component of the commercial game FEAR, completely free and very high quality. Fear is a team based tactical shooter in a horror environment, and whilst there isn't much to be afraid of in the multiplayer game, you'll do plenty of skulking around in the shadows yourself. If you're the kind of person who plays the single player once and continues with the multiplayer for the next couple of months, this will save you a fair bit of money.

Obtain it here:
http://www.joinfear.com/main

Originally Posted by SoulFu

SoulFu



SoulFu is an interesting cell shaded dungeon game, you create a character and proceed to explore a castle, delving further and further into its depths. The game features a fairly large number of classes, each with different skills and abilities, lots of different items and a very large area to explore. One of the more interesting things about the game is the deliberate leaving out of a save system, so you'll have to see how far you can get in one sitting, then start again when you die. Whilst this seems undesirable, there are such a large number of routes and rooms within the game it does end up adding to its re playability and challenge.

Obtain it here:
http://www.aaronbishopgames.com/

Originally Posted by Super Mario War

Super Mario War



Super Mario war is a 2D arena game that takes place in the mario universe, you'll be playing as a popular nintendo character, attempting to jump on your opponents heads, toss hammers, collect stars and kick shells whilst playing one of the many game modes on any of the hundreds of different levels. The game is highly customizable, with a huge number of powerups, characters, levels and game modes, you can design your own maps reasonably easily and netplay is said to be coming soon! A blast if you actually have friends, but this IS the internet so..

Obtain it here:
http://smw.72dpiarmy.com/

Originally Posted by JelloCar

JelloCar



JelloCar is a freeware game by Wallaber, the aim of the game is to drive your jellocar to the end of increasingly complex courses. The twist? The car is made entirely out of a Jello like substance, it can stretch, flatten, expand and mould to its surroundings. With a unique crayon style art direction and a focus on soft body physics based puzzles, this one will keep you trying for a while.

Obtain it here:
[url]http://walaber.com/index.php?action=showitem&id=17[url]

Originally Posted by Mario Paint Composer

Mario Paint Composer



Do you remember the composer in Mario Paint on the snes? Do you remember how fun it was? Well unfungames have developed a PC version, it's free, and it actually features all the notes you need to compose a retro version of pretty much any song. Whilst this isn't a game as such, I'm going to add it anyway because it's cool.


Obtain it here:
http://www.unfungames.com/mariopaint/

Originally Posted by Soldat

Soldat



Soldat is one of the most popular freeware shooters on the internet. The game is entirely 2D but has most of the options and polish of any 3D multiplayer shooter, complete with player ragdolls on death. With a large variety of weapons, turrets, parachutes and jet boots there's quite some depth here. The game has a large community, hundreds of servers to play on and plenty of game modes to try. If you're interested in freeware games at all, this should be a must try and it shows you just how successful a freeware project can be.

Obtain it here:
http://www.soldat.pl/main.php

Originally Posted by Chalk

Chalk



Chalk is a very unique freeware game that sees the player controlling the hero with the keyboard whilst simultaneously drawing chalk patterns on the screen with the mouse to destroy enemies. This game seems as if it would be more at home on the Wii or DS but plays perfectly well here. The graphics are great and commercial quality, the gameplay is very unique and highly addictive, a rating system ensures you'll be trying each level again and again to try and get that top rank. This really is one of the most innovative freeware games in quite some time, give it a go!

Obtain it here:
http://www.konjak.org/chalk.htm

Originally Posted by N

N



N is a game made by Metanet Software and has become so popular a commercial NDS and 360 version are in the works. N sees the player control a small athletic ragdoll ninja, leaping around the level, dodging enemies, evading rockets and collecting gold dots as he attempts to reach the exit. Being originally a flash game N sports extremely simple but stylish graphics, amusing ragdoll death effects and great agile animation.

Obtain it here:
http://www.harveycartel.org/metanet/n.html

Originally Posted by Gridwars

Gridwars



Gridwars is a PC clone of the retro console game Geometry Wars, it sees the player controlling a ship in a psychedelic grid based arena, fending off enemies for as long as possible whilst closing blackholes and collecting powerups. The console iteration has become insanely popular and the PC clone is pretty much exactly the same. You'll have to pick this up from a third party site as it seems Microsoft has requested it be removed from the home page.

Obtain it here:
http://www.download.com/Grid-Wars/30...-10532890.html

Originally Posted by Uniball

Uniball



Uniball is a team based, multiplayer only sports style freeware game. Each player controls a space ship capable of carrying, shooting and passing the game ball and the game proceeds to play out like an intergalactic version of hockey. Whilst simple to play there's a huge amount of depth here, various tricks that can be performed with a good eye and a huge amount of potential teamwork. If you can get your friends together for this one, you'll have a blast.

Obtain it here:
http://www.uniball-central.net/

Originally Posted by OpenTTD

OpenTTD



OpenTTD is a freeware clone of Open Transport Tycoon deluxe, a classic transport management/sim for the PC. It comes with a ridiculous number of features and depth to allow for the tiniest of micro management, as well as multiplayer to allow players to go head to head as rival companies, or team up to try and make their business a success. Whilst the game starts slow, once things are up and running it's a joy to steal your competitors profits for the year.

Obtain it here:
http://www.openttd.org/

Originally Posted by Within a Deep Forest

Within a Deep Forest



Within a deep forest is another game by Nifflas, slightly more challenging than Knytt or Knytt stories, in deep forest you take control of a ball, this ball can obtain different properties in order to advance through various levels, including the ability to grow very heavy, very light, become glass, etc. Like Nifflas' other games, deep forest has a large focus on atmosphere and exploration, but this offering also contains a fairly difficult challenge. A great, curious game.

Obtain it here:
http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?main..._a_Deep_Forest

Originally Posted by SuperTux

SuperTux



SuperTux follows the exploits of Tux the Linux penguin as he jumps and runs through various different worlds in this mario clone. The controls are tight and the graphics are polished, it follows the addictive and challenging mario formula to a T. Windows and Linux versions are available.

Obtain it here:
http://supertux.lethargik.org

Originally Posted by Return to Blockland

Return to Blockland



Like Lego? Then maybe return to blockland is for you. Blockland is a FPS with a difference.. much less destruction and much more construction, all of the Lego variety. It comes with a huge number of different blocks to use, of all shapes, sizes and colours. You can even take the game online and play with some lego with your friends. It's a well made game on the old commercial tribes engine.


Obtain it here:
http://returntoblockland.com/

Originally Posted by Battleships Forever

Battleships Forever



Battleships forever is an RTS game in the style of the very popular Warning forever. You'll be leading various ships into battle through the story mode until you have your very own fleet, the hook here is that each ship is built to be completely destructible, you can break off a wing here, or a turret there, winning the tougher battles is often a task of manoeuvring your ship to protect it's most important assets, erecting shields and avoiding incoming missiles.

Obtain it here:
http://www.wyrdysm.com/games.php

Originally Posted by Pingus

Pingus



Pingus is a freeware remake of the classic game lemmings. In this freeware clone you have to guide as many pingus as possible to the exit whilst keeping them safe from harm, to do this you assign various jobs to your pingus, there are plenty available, from block to digger and puzzles become more and more complex as you progress.

Obtain it here:
http://pingus.seul.org/welcome.html

Originally Posted by Scorched 3D

Scorched 3D



Scorched 3D is a remake of the old 2D classic Scorched Earth, the new iteration brings the game into the 3rd dimension whilst retaining much of the same gameplay present in the original. Players take turns at shooting various artillery at one another on a completely destructible terrain, earning money to spend on bigger and better artillery for the next round, soon things get out of hand with players tossing nukes all over the landscape.

Obtain it here:
http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/

Originally Posted by Stepmania

Stepmania



Stepmania is a freeware dance dance revolution clone, you can add your own songs, theme, background, 3d dancers, sound effects and customize pretty much every aspect of the game. Whilst the game itself comes with only a couple of songs, there are packs available containing hundreds of songs, many from the original dance dance revolution games. It has support for dance mats and control pads, but you can just use the keyboard if you don't feel like going the whole 9 yards. Everything here is ridiculously polished, to the level of the original game.

Obtain here:
http://www.stepmania.com/

Originally Posted by Mugen

Mugen



Mugen is a fighting game engine. What does that mean? Well it means it comes with pretty much no content, however it allows you to plug in hundreds of thousands of user made characters, backgrounds, screen packs, life bars, stages, soundtracks and so on. Ever wanted to see a character from street fighter fight a character from guilty gear? You can do that here! How about Homer Simpson vs Popeye? Mario vs Sonic?

The community is very much dedicated to expertly recreating characters from pretty much any fighting game you can imagine and allowing them to be slotted into Mugen, on top of that there are hundreds and hundreds of original characters to try. You can pretty much build your own game, a single game with 1000 different characters? Possible if you spend the time doing it, there are various game modes available, survival, arcade, vs, and the ridiculous 2v2 mode.

Obtain it here:
http://winmugen.jpn.org/
Content is available here, check the releases forum:
http://mugenguild.com/forumx/index.php#20

Originally Posted by Hidden & Dangerous

Hidden & Dangerous



Hidden & Dangerous is an old commercial game, now gone free, and boy is it good. It's a tactical 3rd/1st person WW2 shooter, extremely difficult and massively complex, you can zoom out to the map and give squad commands, it has a ridiculous number of drivable vehicles, weapons and items. The best part? Everything can be done in coop multiplayer, this game is very hard and very unforgiving, you'll spend hours trying to work out how to conquer one level, but you'll keep coming back for more!

Obtain it here:
http://www.gamershell.com/download_3644.shtml

Originally Posted by Mubbly Tower

Mubbly Tower



Mubbly Tower is a tower defense game, working on the basic premise of purchasing defenses to hold off invaders for as long as possible. However, in Mubbly Tower, you're actually defending a tower, complete with realistic physics. You must keep your tower at a certain height or it's game over, can you stop the invaders from knocking it down?

Obtain it here:
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=373660

Originally Posted by shru

Not sure if you might like the game, but might as well stick this out here for others aswell.
Atlantica online is a f2p MMORPG using a turn based system similair to that seen in the later final fantasy series.
The game has beautiful graphics, the gameplay is tight and simplistic, yet deep enough to keep you thoroughly entertained, and the beta community is large and friendly. There are strong PvP, guild and crafting systems in the game that all reinforce cooperation among players.

The one drawback is the currently implemented stamnia system, which limits your battles to 100 a day, severely hindering some of the games higher points. Now the game is still in beta, so the devs will probably find a way to change this more to the community's likings as it is it makes later parts of the game a drag. Most testers had a fit when this system was implemented and I don't blame them.

here is some gamplay footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFuY1...eature=related

and here is the official site:
http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/center/default.asp

I strongly recommend checking the game out, its got amazing potential and realy stands out from the sea of dime-a-dozen f2ps out there.

Originally Posted by payne

www.acornsbigadventure.com

wahay

Originally Posted by The Ultronomicon

Star Control II, the sequel to the original Star Control, is a space adventure game that features role-playing elements alongside a robust 2D combat system. It was a milestone for non-linear gaming and an undeniable influence on modern space travel games such as Homeworld; many consider it one of the best computer games of all time. The player assumes the role of the captain of a single starship wandering a detailed environment of solar systems, gradually gathering information and resources in order to defeat a mysterious and implacable enemy; the plot contains numerous mysteries and other half-explained elements that contribute to the beauty of the game, along with a rare sense of humor that manifests numerous times, inevitably having the player rolling on the floor laughing.

It is difficult to pin SC2 down to a single genre; it contains elements of exploration, scavenging, diplomacy, role-playing, and combat, blended together seamlessly. Intense, real-time, ship-to-ship melee is sprinkled throughout your interstellar travels. The Flagship can be outfitted with various modules to change and improve how it functions, as well as bolstering its effectiveness in battle. The meat of the game, however, is information gathering and the acquiring of unique inventory items through conversation and exploration to unravel the numerous mysteries of space.

Originally Posted by Snograt

"Welcome to Acorn's Big Adventure game. Try out the first level of Acorn's adventure. I'm working to complete the game for Christmas 2006. Thanks, and enjoy the game! "

Guess he never did, then...