The Complete List of Free (Quality, Family Friendly) Games

Table of Contents

1. Rules
2. Action / Adventure
3. Arcade
   
4. Mac Classic Games
5. Racing / Simulation
6. Strategy

Rules:

• Legal software only (no abandonware, unless it has been specifically released for free by the company)
• Decent Quality (no little gimicky games; use your judgment)
• No free trials (shareware is okay, as long as it is not too feature limited; Escape velocity is a good example)
• Family friendly please (keep it PG rated or less)
• Please no images (keep the thread clean)
• Please include links and a short summary of the game (at least a sentence would be good).

If you wish to suggest a game, please use the following format:
Game (link to game) - Short description to put in this list
Then, on another line, put more info so I can see what kind of game it is before I try it.

Note: I have not necessarily tested any of these games and will therefore bear no responsibility for any damage of any sort they cause. Try at your own risk.

[Action / Adventure]

• Battle of Yavin (http://www.bruneras.com/fgames_boy.htm) - Star Wars 3D space sim, you play through the battle of Yavin from episode 4 (surprise surprise). Somewhat old-skool, but nice.
• Battle of Endor (http://www.bruneras.com/fgames_boe.htm) - Same as above, except it recreates the battle of Endor from Episode 6.
• Cube 2: Sauerbraten (Cube 2: Sauerbraten) - First person shooter with bot matches, though it is mostly online. Fairly tame (turn off blood for more family friendly gameplay) However, it has an incredible map editor built in (I used to to build a fully fledged, walkthrough replica of a temple (https://sourceforge.net/projects/ezekielstemple/; shameless advertising).
• Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games: Dwarf Fortress)- DOS-based Text-driven adventure game.
• Marble Arena (Marble Arena Home Page - Free 3D Marble Game) - 3D marble maze.
• Sonic Robo Blast 2 (www.srb2.org) - 3D Sonic the Hedgehog Fan game that is actually pretty good, unlike many of the others.
• Super Mario Bros X (Super Mario Bros. X - Super Mario Brothers . org) - A Super Mario fan game for PC. Combines various elements from SMB 1, 2, 3 and Super Mario World.
• Transcendence (Transcendence) - 2D space sim, like Escape Velocity, combat and trading (heavily moddable). Fun, but addictive.

[Arcade]

• Altitude (Altitude Game) - Side-scrolling arcade-type shooter.
• Icy Tower (http://www.icytower.com/) - Platforming game; you have to jump a series of platforms as fast as possible; careful, this one can be very addictive.
• Mono ([ b i n a r y z o o . c o m ]) - Kind of like a simplified version of Asteroids with more freedom of movement, color, etc. Hard to describe, but fun.

[Mac Classic Games] - You need an emulator to run these. Try sheepshaver, SheepShaver [E-Maculation]) running Mac OS 8 or 9, if you happen to have an old OS disk, a (legal) ROM file procured from an old PowerPC and a decently powerful computer.

• Escape Velocity (Escape Velocity | Ambrosia Software, Inc.) - 2D space sim, with combat and trading. This is an open universe game. It is supposedly a free trial, but, other than a nag screen, there are no feature limitations (heavily moddable).
• Escape Velocity: Override (EV Override | Ambrosia Software, Inc.) - Next version of Escape Velocity, with similar game play. It is also a "free trial," meaning that there is a nag screen. However, it has one additional limitation in that, when you get more than a certain amount of credits, a moderate amount will randomly be stolen from you. Still quite usable (also heavily moddable).
• Maelstrom (Maelstrom | Ambrosia Software, Inc.) - Another Mac game (you need an emulator). Free clone of Asteriods with better graphics (and funny sound effects). There is a Star Wars graphics mod as well as a sound mod (also funny).

[Racing / Simulation]

• Flight Gear (www.flightgear.org) - Free flight simulator. Not quite Flight Simulator X caliber, but not bad.
• Navyfield (NAVYFIELD Community Site) - Massively multiplayer WWII-era ship simulation. In-depth and lots of fun, but very tough.
• Rigs of Rods (www.rigsofrods.com) - Physics orientated truck simulation. Very demanding on hardware.
• Trackmania Nations Forever (TrackMania Nations Forever) - Arcade-style racing game, heavy online competitive emphasis. I actually liked it so much that I upgraded to the paid United Forever version.
• YSFlight (Fully Functional Free Flight Simulator - YS FLIGHT SIMULATOR) - Fun, simple flight sim with combat. The graphics are definitely on the simplistic side, but it is still fun.

[Strategy]

• Battle for Wesnoth (Battle for Wesnoth) - Really deep Strategy RPG. Tons of units, too many campaigns. Its online and offline.
• Freeciv (The Freeciv Wiki - Mods, coding, art, and more) - Open source civilization type game. Nuff said.
• Pingus (Pingus - Welcome) - Lemmings-like game, with penguins.
• Ur-Quan Masters (The Ur-Quan Masters - News) - Free version of star control. Apparently a space strategy game.

Let's hear some more.

 

Your Battle of X links need cleaning up.

Are we counting Abandonware? If so, this is where I used to go: http://www.abandonia.com/en (I remember it being easier to navigate? LOTS of good games there)

And here: http://xtcabandonware.com/index.php (Again, lots of good games, but crappy navigation unless you already know what game you're looking for)

I don't remember all the best ones, but I know you can get Master of Orion (original flavor) and Master of Magic for free, both great strategy games. Also, System Shock is available.

And of course there's the Spring engine games.

Excellent thread idea.

 

there was a huge list of free games in this very forum

 

True, here it is:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=426128

 

Drat!

That is what I get for not searching.

Oh well.

 

But those are all MMORPGers!

Well, most of them.

So change the name of this thread to "The Complete List of Free (Quality) Single-Player Games" and we're good!

 

The links below do not work, for me anyway

EDIT : VERY STRANGE THE LINKS BELOW DO WORK, BUT NOT THE ONES IN POST 1, ALL I DID WAS COPY THEM.

EDIT 2 : IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS THE BRACKETS ON THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE LINK THAT IS STOPPING THEM WORKING

 

Dwarf Fortress. Probably the most complex tactical game ever.

 

Since the legality of Abandonware is not well established, lets stick to freeware (and shareware, if it has a decent amount of functionality; no "free trials" please).

Number 2, lets stick to "family friendly" games (no horribly violent games, please). There are plenty of great games that are family friendly.


Yeah, lets make this a "single player" thread. How do you rename a thread?

 

NICE ONE!!

I've been playing trackmania since reading this thread this afternoon.....hooked

 

You make me feel like I just introduced you to coffee.

Here is another game:

Icy Tower ( http://www.icytower.com/): Platforming game; you have to jump a series of platforms as fast as possible; careful, this one can be very addictive.

 

lol...i love the game, i still love coffee better though

 

I don't like icytower, seems like more of a game you would play on your phone.

 

Yeah, it gets more than a little repetitive.

However, it is actually pretty challenging until you get the hang of it.

 

Do you have a link for that? If you do, I will add it to the list.

Try to format suggestions in a similar manner to mine, (to give me less to do )

 

Just read MYST Online has been brought back from the Neverafter.

http://mystonline.com/en/play/

 

Dwarf Fortress is a crazy console (DOS) text-driven game. Not for everyone, but for the people it is for, it is really great. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/index.html

 

I added this to the gaming sticky for now. There are already lots of stickies and lots of threads that could/should be stickied as well. Also, I changed the title to "The Complete List of Free (Quality) Single Player Games

As you guys probably know, there is another Free Games thread that has been around for a while. If somebody wants to step up and create/maintain a thread that combines the games from both of the threads so there is just one, send me a PM.

Thanks for understanding.

 

It looks good. The only problem is that it doesn't have a significant single player component.

 

There have been companies that have released games as abandonware to the public. Those are perfectly legal.

 

In those cases, that would be fine. But never just "assume."

 

Escape Velocity series! space exploration RPG.

 

*Facepalm* How could I forget. I loved that series. Too bad the first two games were mac classic only.

The only sticky point is the fact that they are shareware. However, other than a nag screen, the original game ran fine forever. Override randomly stole your credits. Nova, however, ended the story lines at a certain point, and had an invincible, overpowered Cap'n Hector blow you to smithereens after 30 days.

Just as a note, you can run the first two in an emulator (sheepshaver) running OS 8 or 9 (assuming you own a copy; I was able to use an old backup disk for a PowerPC I no longer use).

I will add the first and second games, since they are functionally freeware (with a limitation).

The third game is more of a free trial, and will not be added.

 

Transcendence is like EV but made by ONE guy and totally freeware, and highly moddable. Google it (I'm @ work, cant hit a game site)

Super addictive, like Diablo + Elite + Star control mixed. speaking of which, There is a free version of Star Control, The Ur-Quan Masters, that is really nice.

 

I have added some more games.

If anyone has any ideas about how to better organize the lists, let me know.

 

Savage 2: http://www.s2games.com/savage/

 

Transcendence is freeware because it is still beta, it barely has any content. The gimped freeware version of EV is lightyears better than Trancendence. It might be prettier, but everything else is better in EV, imo.

 

Battle for Wesnoth - Really deep Strategy RPG. Tons of units, too many campaigns. Its online and offline.

Soldat - Fun 2d side scrolling action game. Best way to describe it, its a real time worms game where you control one soldier. Features online and offline with bots.

 

Nice to see this thread back. I played ur-quan masters, it was fun.

Speaking of Soldat, I believe that game is similar to Liero, another free "worms-like" game you can play offline with bots.

 

I definitely agree. EV and EVO are classics.

That reminds me, there are a few other AmbrosiaSW Mac games that are shareware, but usable. I will see about adding them.

Um, about that cover image..., definitely not PG. (Sorry, I tend to be a bit picky. I would like to keep this as family friendly as possible).

Battle for Wesnoth looks pretty good. {{Adding}}

Soldat is a bit on the violent side, though (PG-13, I'd say).

It reminds me a bit of those stick figure games with the blood (I still do not understand the idea behind this ).

 

3D Realms released full versions of some of their older titles as freeware a while back, might be worth looking at:

http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html

"The freeware titles released to date are: Adventure Fun Pack, Alien Carnage/Halloween Harry, Arctic Adventure, Beyond the Titanic, Bio Menace, Caves of Thor, Dark Ages, Kroz, Major Stryker, Monuments of Mars, Pharaoh's Tomb, Puzzle Fun Pack, Stargunner, Supernova, Wolfenstein 3D Super Upgrade Pack, Word Whiz, Trivia Whiz, & Xenophage."

 

Go ahead and list any of the likely ones according to the format I gave.

 

Wow, it's been quiet around here. Any more suggestions? There have to be more games out there.

 

here are some great classic style shooters: http://www.katzforums.com/showthread.php?t=299450

 

Go ahead and post any good ones according to the format I gave in the first post.

Are these freeware games?

 

http://www.commandandconquer.com/classic

Classic command & conquer games are officially available for free. Notably tiberian sun.

 

I'll quote myself...

May I also refer you to The New Gamehippo

 

ICY TOWER FTW!!!
well not really but it's fun, with the theme song being (I am the man of constant sorrow) lol

 

Okay, I have added a few of the games.

I will add some more after I check them out.

Thanks for the good suggestions.

 

Actually that appears to be a warez site. Definitely commercial games in that link.

 

My addictive favorite is the trial version of Rise of nations. Fairly easy download and installation, no worries about video card. Tried the A of E trio but this gives a better variety and is a better game for the money[free].

 

Allegiance - FreeAllegiance - Home Page
It was made quite a long time ago, but still looks decent. Basically a space RTS mixed with space combat. It's hard to describe and is quite unique. It even won gamespot's award for "the best game no one played" that year. Still has a strong community and vs. world games are amazing to watch, 40 (human) pilots on each side = win.

WARNING: Steep learning curve. You're going to get podded alot and yelled at by others for quite a while until you get used to the game.

 

Sorry, but this thread is (at the moment) only for single player games. I think there is another thread for multiplayer games.

Edit: I have added a poll to see how others feel about listing multiplayer games.

 

Should check out Retro Remakes: Classic Gaming For The Next Generation remakes of old Atari, C64 and Amiga games. Games like Empire Strikes Back Arcade, Bruce Lee, Ghostbusters, Aztec Challenge, Raid Over Moscow and Joust.

 

Really nice work!!!!, thanks a lot for this

 

Okay, I have edited the first post to reflect my request to have this thread changed to include both single- and multiplayer games. It is pending Mod approval.

 

Title has been changed and the sticky is updated.

 

Did anyone mention mono yet?
[ b i n a r y z o o . c o m ]

It's a lot of fun and has some great music, or you can select your own music to play.

 

Okay, I have been adding a few of the games slowly, but I know I missed some. Reposts are okay if I have passed over yours for, say, a week, but please don't abuse this privilege.

Also, please adhere to the following formatting:
Game name (link to site) - short description to put in OP.
Then add more info after that line.

Thanks.

 

Super Mario Bros X - A Super Mario fan game for PC. Combines various elements from SMB 1, 2, 3 and Super Mario World.