Feb 24, 2006

Our freshly hand-picked free games selection

This "collage", featuring screenshots from the games I'll soon be leading you to, is a testimony to my total lack of artistic skill. The only thing, that would actually help me persuade DADA revolutionaries to spare my life, is that through this (rather horrid) collage, I, too, am -even without consciously pursuing it- bringing western art closer to its collapse. Such an argument would definitely not help, in the event of encountering any other militant (or not) artist group. The surrealist would shoot me, and so would Andy Warhol.

(Still. You can consider it sabotage comrades! DADA!)

For the rest of you people, who care not for art (or Art), who don't really understand what I'm talking about, things will immediately get a lot simpler: Free Gamezzz! Downloadz! Yeah!!! Al nite !!11!! Kewll! (Free legal game downloads for the literate among you)

All of the games presented here(and obviously linked to), were carefully and lovingly hand picked. They are a 100% biological products and have been intensively tested to guarantee your satisfaction. None are mods, or require any kind of additional software or lubricant. Many of them are adventures and there even are some RPGs and MMORPGs.

Well, without any more rambling, let me present you with the list of these games, a.k.a. The List!

(Oh, for the cheap bastards that feel like digging for more freebies, Liberated Games and Legal Torrents should make a nice starting point)

The List (TM):

Adventures of Fatman: An excellent and well-produced adventure game, in the style of the old Lucasarts ones. Recently released as freeware.

Beneath a Steel Sky: Created by Revolution Software back in 1994 for the Amiga and the PC and based on Dave Gibbons' artistic vision, this is a perfect free download. A cult classic nonetheless.

Room War: A very small first person flyer-shooter, that (in my case at least) proved to be extremely addictive. Decent 3d graphics and a lot of Alienware-advertising textures.

Porrasturvat: Throw people off a stair. A production that is considered an absolute classic, as long as you know what scene, the demoscene is.

Grand Theft Auto: Yes, the same that spawned the GTA: San Andreas smash hit. It is offered for free, along with GTA2 and Wild Metal, by the beautiful, magnificent, generous and over-all good guys of Rockstar!

Cedric and the Revolution: An adventure. Follow the link, read the review and (if interested) download it. Simple as that.

Halo Zero: HALO in 2d? Yes. HALO in 2d. Oldschool gaming with a French contemporary touch...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The best and funniest text adventure ever created, was written by the late and much beloved Douglas Adams, and is offered in an enhanced and free version by the BBC.

The Ur-Quan Masters: This is basically the classic Star Control 2, only enhanced and with much better graphics (and deeper storyline etc). The name-change was due to legal reasons. Of course.

Dofus is a MMO. Almost a MMORPG, but more tactical, thus a MMOTRPG. Still, it looks great, plays better and it's free.

Air Hockey: Obvious. Air Hockey.

Cirque de Zale: A 2d, 3rd person point-and-click adventure. Very good humor, nice graphics and quite easy. Very easy actually. Still a weird, funny little game.

Heroquest: The old (classic some might argue) MB and Games Workshop board game on PC. Quite entertaining and doesn't cost a thing.

FreeCiv: Remember Civilization 4? Well, FreeCiv isn't nearly as good, looks dated and simple, but it's free. And it is Civ (FreeCiv, but still...)

War Rock: Shoot people in the head.

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory: Shoot more people in the head.

Bloom: Be a flower! Or something like that, in a beautiful and innovative game.

Dink Smallwood: The well known freeware, zelda-like RPG. Formerly a commercial game.

Hacker: Be a Hacker in a (I believe, I guess, I don't really know) rather realistic game.

Star Wraith 2: A space shooter created in Dark Basic. Rather basic, but good fun. They actually used to sell this game(!). Apparently a Star Wraith 1 must have existed too.

Apprentice: Already reviewed by me. Read the review. Then enjoy it (the game that is, not the review, which is quite enjoyable too. Anyway. You know what I mean...)

S.W.I.N.E.: I guess most people refer to it as SWINE, and believe it is a very good RTS(for a freeware at least).

Defender of the Crown: The old arcade-strategy-action classic by Cinemaware, is now being brought back to you by Cinemaware. Wow!

Eye of the Kraken: An amazing, strange and funny-at-times 3rd person adventure. It's a full blown former-commercial production.

No-Action Jackson: Another adventure, only not a professional one. It is excellent though. Great cartoon graphics, good dialog, good jokes, Lucasarts style and a plot that has to do with (pen and paper) RPGs.

Anarchy Online: The well known commercial, contemporary MMORPG. Well, part of it is free. Go play with the big boys.

DOOM, the roguelike: Combine ascii graphics, Rogue dungeon-based gameplay and the Doom atmosphere and this is what you get.

T2002: Or, to be more precise, Turrican 2002. Get it? Go get it now!

[Update: Look, here. Oh No! More than 60 extra free games!!]

And if this is not enough, you could read some more (related?) Gnome's Lair articles: Free C64 games, a non-violent Quake mod, Ultima 5:Lazarus mod, a Doom 3 mod, Freeware Board Games, Call of Cthulhu games, Warhammer video games

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76 comments:

  1. Hmmmm, interesting list of games. I remember staying up all night playing Grand Theft Auto 2 back in the day, now after playing the PS2 Trilogy, though, I cant play it for more than thirty minutes without being hopelessly bored! Still, I might try it for nostaligia.

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  2. Amazingly good post!!

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  3. Thanks!!! And ross, I'd recomend you tried another of the games... Forget about GTA for a while :)

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  4. What a great collection! I've bookmarked a lot of them for later download and enjoyment. Thanks much!

    Oh, btw, the No-Action Jackson site isn't there any more...but I googled and the game is available at the Underdogs.

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  5. Yes. You are right... :)
    They bloody snatched the site...
    Thanks for the info and glad you enjoyed the post!
    I'll fix the prob right away.

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  6. if you're interested, I found a site where you can get the original DOS Hitchhikers Guide text adventure for free download.

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  7. Amazing work you did there!

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  8. Thank you for your work compiling this list. It makes it easier for this senior citizen, with a fixed income, to participate.

    Although I'm much older, our interests have simililarities. (Monty Python rocks!) Must be our Greek blood... my father was born in Leonidion during the late 1800's and came to the states in the early 1900's.

    Thanks again.
    Jim

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  9. Amazing!!
    Thank you very much for your comment.
    Glad you enjoyed the post...

    Thanks & cheers!!

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  10. GUNZONLINE.COM!!!

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  11. Starsiege: Tribes is a free first person shooter (best computer game ever) that deserves to be on that list.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege:_Tribes

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  12. This listing has already posted in the Digg last week.
    See here the original listing with screenshots and full descriptions (not as funny as here though)
    http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3148013

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  13. Brilliant job!

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  14. Here are some more:
    Strategy: Glest
    MMORPG: Planeshift
    Flight simulator: GL-117 and Flightgear
    Car race: TORCS, TuxKart
    General Race: PlanetPenguin Racer
    General arcade games: Neverball and Neverputt, SuperTux, Frozen Bubble, Starfighter

    Enjoy :)

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  15. I think you forgot to mention Silkroad Online . It is truly excellent

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  16. I can't believe you missed out Betrayal at Krondor, the best RPG ever!

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  17. Thank you all, and here are some answers:

    1st. The games I missed were the ones I hadn't played..I coudn't just link you to smeplace I've heard. These are hand-picked links...

    2nd. I saw the other digg list (1up actually) and we have less than 10 games in common... Self-evident...

    3rd. Thanks for all the feedback and game suggestions.

    4th. I'm looking for Betrayal at Krondor right now...

    Cheers

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  18. I would also add
    Battle for Wesnoth

    Great list!

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  19. You haven't mentioned Hidden & Dangerous 1, which you can download here.

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  20. One of the best looking free games I've come across.

    Babylon 5: I've Found Her

    http://ifh.firstones.com/

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  21. Thank you all so much...
    Every game proposed will be played and added in the forthcoming list with more free games.

    Thanks again my friends.

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  22. What about Americas Army? Yeah its made by the Army but its still stunning.

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  23. i would add one i've been playing for over a year
    the one at www.mapleglobal.com
    which is MMORPG in 2d (sidescroll)

    there is loooots of people playing there lately..

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  24. Wth, where is Tribes? Tribes is the greatest!

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  25. Terrible list, missing great classics like Little Fighter 2 and Icey Tower.

    Pretty much just a listing of games that have been released as free.

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  26. Rereleased rather, and I might add that liberated games(.org) and even wikipedia have better listings that aren't dependent on adventure games to fluff them out.

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  27. Alien Arena 2006 should be on the list. Its an AWESOME freeware FPS based on heavily modified id source. http://red.planetarena.org for details. Tournaments are getting hot and heavy in online play, too.

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  28. Well, the list consists only of games I have actually played and enjoyed... Not everyone has to love it you know...

    Cheers anyway

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  29. Dude where is Subspace?

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  30. Thanx for the excellent list. Seeing "Defender of the Crown" defenitely made my day. A great game!!

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  31. Invade Earth is a Risk/Risk 2210 clone, free java network play.

    http://www.smileygames.net/wiki/index.php?title=Invade_Earth

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  32. Trackmania Nations, google for it. One of the best racing games around, huge solo, lan and online modes.

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  33. Yeah Trackmania Nations is the best racing gaming around, with single/Lan/Online mode...best one ever. Its totally free

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  34. Hooray for STUNTS! _O_

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  35. Trackmania is okayish. I'd rather see more (even more) good adventures... beneath a steel sky and fatman are great!!!

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  36. Every time you don't list Nethack, a chaotic God kills Rex.

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  37. You are absolutely right. I can't undertand how I forgot this gem. Nethack will definitely be included in the next List(tm)

    Cheers

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  38. You crazy person. Nexuiz - http://www.nexuiz.com is the best free game available, period.

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  39. You do a nice job with your blog Gnome... The collage is awesome! good job putting it together. :-)

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  40. Where's Cave Story?

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  41. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  42. I am one of those 'cheap bastards' you refer to, but only because I support my family and myself on a disability pension and just cannot afford to buy games. However, thank you for the free games and believe me, your hard work is very much appreciated!

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  43. Sergio and others: Cave Story and the rest, as long I enjoy them, will be included in the next free game feature, soon to appear on Gnome's Lair.

    Scotty: I'm a cheap bastard too... :)

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  44. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  45. Here is a free online multiplayer I found. http://www.ruletheseas.com/index.php?r=251

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  46. Thanks a ton Jon. I'll definitely try it out...

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  47. Wow, that is a great list of freeware. Thanks for all of the recommendations. Come check out my
    GamingInstinct blog

    for a recommendation on my del.icio.us bookmarks

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  48. If you want some oldschool MMORPG action, try a MUD-style game. Most if not all are free, and there's some amazing worlds to explore. It's like the neverending story, and you can be whatever you want. My fav is Realms of the Dragon, its a massive world with great PvP and some real quality compared to most games out there. Very addictive too! http://www.rod.org is their website. As far as free games go, MUD's are still the best long-term addiction.

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  49. Excellent game. Thanks!

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  50. very nice blog,
    to know about casino games and history of casino.check at

    http://aboutcasino.blogspot.com/

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  51. I love Halo in 2d. This list is awesome. I'm proud to say I've played almost all the titles here.

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  52. at article.I love some of this games.

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  53. Here is a list of over a 100 free open source games.

    http://fossgamer.110mb.com/index.html

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  54. Why don't you put in the list dinner dash. I think that is a small games in sizes but cool feature. You will think fast to overcome level to level. It is so addicted .

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  55. Cool site mate,keep up the good work..

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  56. Thank you kind traveler!

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  57. funny game, if u got 5 minutes to lose at : http://crevouille77.labrute.fr

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  58. Halo, GTA and Hacker are broken links.

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  59. Wow! Some real classics here.
    Some of them brings back memories of my wasted youth spending countless hours playing games like these.
    I'm gonna check out some of these over the next while and waste a few more hours. ;) Thanks for sharing!

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  60. nice one like a GTA concept !!

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  61. This is a wonderful blog where we are getting more information. Keep posting on this blog and sharing such valuable information with us

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  62. Trackmania Nations, google for it. One of the best racing games around, huge solo, lan and online modes.

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  63. I really liked your article.

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  64. Great list, (I'm making my own too)
    Starwraith is amazing!
    You can also try Transcendence a very good 2D space exploration, trading and combat game (Very polished game)
    http://neurohack.com/transcendence/

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    Replies
    1. You are too kind sir! Also, love the work you are doing AND Transcendence is a seemingly great game I had missed.

      Delete
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