A Guide To Freeware Games That Will Run On Anything
Video games are a more expensive hobby than ever these days. Thanks to tariffs, inflation and a need for perpetual growth, consoles and their associated games are skyrocketing in price. Not to mention that everybody is losing their jobs. What’s a dirt poor person like me to do? Simple: there have been free games made by independent developers as long as there have been computers. So long as you have a Windows computer with a working graphics card (or a Mac with Wine or equivalent solution) the sky is the limit.
This list includes games from across genres: platformers, role-playing games, interactive fiction and fighting games among others. Some of them you may have heard of, others you may have not. Some are ancient, others came out just this year. While this list is restricted to games available in English, keep in mind that you have exponentially more options if you can read another language. I’ll also be suggesting where to look next, in case you do check out one of these games, and want to know what other similar experiences are out there.
Cave Story
Cave Story was developed by one person, Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya, who did all the music and graphics himself. It’s a 2D platformer about a robot lost in a mysterious cave system. When the cave’s denizens, the rabbit-like Mimigas, are threatened by a villainous Doctor, it’s up to you and your new friends to defeat him and then (if you can) escape.
This game is the ur-text from which modern 2D independent games development is derived. There are developers who probably would not be making games today if Cave Story had not shown them the way. That said, it fits uneasily within the movement it inspired. It takes as much inspiration from Mega Man as it does from Super Metroid. The final levels are brutally hard. There are multiple endings, and a story that you are expected to pay close attention to. While Cave Story is now just one in a sea of 2D platformers inspired by the classics, it’s still a great game that’s worth playing today.
Where next? If you’re looking to explore other old-school freeware indie classics, Iji is a memorable combination of platformer and System Shock-style immersive sim.
Sylvie Lime
“What’s going on this time? I’ve become a little green Sylvie Lime.” This is a game in which you, Sylvie, can become a lime and fly across the screen. Hidden around the world are various secrets, including power-ups, data disks and a thoughtful story about the joys and challenges of games development.
As a platformer, Sylvie Lime can be a bit janky. The game’s physics don’t operate as you expect and crucial skills are left for you to puzzle out on your own. This is by design. Give the game the benefit of the doubt, and you’ll find yourself pulling bonkers tricks that Mario could never dream of. Littering levels with houses that serve as insurance checkpoints; zooming across multiple stages as a lime; performing absurd parkour with nothing but a chair that you can conjure from nowhere. It’s a weird and wonderful game that demands your attention but also does not overstay its welcome.
Where next? Sylvie is a prolific developer with a deep back catalogue of hits; her most recent title is Funeral Song for the Elemental Lords.
Eviternity
Doom and Doom II changed the games industry when they launched in 1993 and 1994. But it was really the fans who came afterwards who solidified its cultural legacy. With the help of accessible modding tools, Doom could become anything: internet creepypasta, platformer, glitch art, even a calculator aid.
If you want to get into meat-and-potatoes, run-and-gun Doom wads, though, Eviternity is a great place to start. First released in 2018, it was developed by Joshua “Dragonfly” O’Sullivan to show off Ola “ukiro” Bjorling’s OTEX texture pack. When played on “Hey Not Too Rough” difficulty, Eviternity puts the player through their paces, teaching them how to manage crowds of enemies and defeat nastier foes like arch-viles. Make it to the end of its six episodes, and you’ll be set to wade into the deeper Doom wad pool.
Requirements: For Dooming instructions, turn to the Doom Wiki.
Where next? Once you’re done with Eviternity, check out Eviternity II, which some in the scene swear is an even better game.
Hat World: New Testament
Despite what some might lead you to believe, Japanese RPGs aren’t dead. Instead they’ve been thriving online for the past few decades. Just look at Hat World: New Testament, a remake of a popular title from 2013. Taking inspiration from the SaGa franchise and Touhou, it takes place in a strange world where girls compete to steal each other’s superpowered hats to fulfill their desires.
Hat World is a big game. There are six characters with their own unique storylines, and a secret seventh character tying them all together. You can build them however you want with countless weapons, skills and abilities. You can also take on levels and boss fights in any order you choose. Each expands your capabilities in battle and opens up crucial features like detailed enemy information and a turn meter. It’s shocking that a game this full-featured is free. But that’s the RPG Maker scene for you.
Where next? If you’re hungering for a cruel and mysterious RPG, Demon King Chronicle is a strange metafictional adventure with countless secrets.
Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo
Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo starts with two young girls being given powers by a cat-like creature so that they can fight monsters. So far, so Sailor Moon. But these monsters are terrifying, and your cadre of heroes soon expands to over two dozen unique characters deployed on the field at once. Can our heroine Chiyoko and her friends overcome an alien invasion without breaking under the strain?
The game’s developer, TS, has been making free strategy RPGs for over a decade. Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo remakes an earlier game of theirs, adding new characters and revising the visuals. The game still has its quirks; the magical girls all wear skin-tight uniforms, which is the kind of thing you’d expect to see in a hentai game rather than a magical girl story. But Chiyoko’s tale of overcoming adversity through friendship is sincere, and the battles do a great job of giving each character a niche while ratcheting up the stress (and monster count) of each fight.
Where next? While Japan has tons of freeware strategy RPGs, there has yet to be a corresponding boom in the English language scene. You could try, though, the Fire Emblem fan game community, which has undergone a renaissance over the past few years.
I Wanna Lockpick
The I Wanna Be the Guy fangame scene is best known for brutally hard and abstract platformers, but it has a burgeoning movement of puzzle games as well. One of the best of these is Lucas Watson’s I Wanna Lockpick. The start is simple: all you do is put keys into locks. But what happens when there are more locks than there are keys? Layers of multi-colored locks? The game quickly scales up in difficulty, and there’s a lot of it, so expect to be thoroughly puzzled by the time that you reach the end.
I have a tough time when it comes to puzzle games, since I don’t always have the attention span to stop, focus, and work my way to a solution. The nice thing about I Wanna Lockpick is that the puzzle mechanism is simple. There’s also a narrator who kindly and patiently explains to you how the game works. One day I’ll go back and make more headway in I Wanna Lockpick, although I fear just how many more nasty puzzles lie ahead.
Where next? There’s an endless number of free and excellent puzzle games developed in Puzzlescript. ENIGMASH, a sokoban title where you push blocks between 2D and 3D planes, is a particular highlight.
Counterfeit Monkey
Since their commercial heyday in the 1980s, the interactive fiction scene has since grown to become one of the most exciting spaces in independent development. Look no further than Counterfeit Monkey, developed in 2012 by the prolific Emily Short. The game takes place on an island where any object may be transformed by adding and removing letters. Now you, the player, must escape. This will require engaging in such shenanigans as transforming a “mourning dress” into a “morning dress,” among other magic tricks.
Counterfeit Monkey is an exemplary example of puzzle-based interactive fiction. It offers you plenty of room to experiment while offering just enough guidance that you aren’t overwhelmed by the number of possibilities. The writing isn’t ostentatious but is as good as it needs to be. The game is also packed with accessibility features for folks scared of interactive fiction. Don’t know what to ask an NPC? Counterfeit Monkey provides suggestions. Don’t want to draw your own map? Counterfeit Monkey includes one as part of the interface. If you’re looking for a gateway into the wilder and woolier side of interactive fiction that comes with optional handrails, this is as good as it gets.
Download: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl
Where next? If Counterfeit Monkey is too puzzly for you, try the wild but heartfelt Twine game SPY INTRIGUE. Alternatively, if you want something nastier, Spider and Web is an influential (but brutal) classic.
Ib
Developers have been using the RPG Maker engine to make survival horror games since (at least) the first release of Corpse Party in 1996 for the PC-9801. It’s these, rather than role-playing games themselves, that made the largest impact in the independent space. There are so many great examples it’s tough to know which to pick as a representative. I’d play it safe, though, and recommend Ib to anyone who wants to see what the engine is capable of.
Like many of these games, Ib is the story of a little girl thrown into a horrible situation. In this case, she is trapped in an art gallery full of puzzles, illusions and horrible creatures that wish her ill. She also encounters a handful of NPCs to befriend and/or escape from. Unlike other survival horror games like Resident Evil that trade in gory thrills and chills, Ib is a comfy hangout game about a found family struggling to survive a creepy otherworld. That, coupled with its mysteries and multiple endings, might be why the game has stuck around for so long since its release in 2012. There’s also a paid remake, although the free version still has plenty to recommend it.
Where next? While not scary per se, Yume Nikki is a dreamy, unnerving experience that has inspired a generation of fans and developers.
Spring Gothic
While the commercial visual novel scene has long been on life support in Japan, independent developers there and abroad have kept the medium alive. Spring Gothic, a recent title by the developer circle Prof. Lily, is a great example. It tells the story of two young women, Nica and Chun, in a long-distance relationship. They meet for the first time in London and go on a date together. While this should be a dream come true, the two of them cannot help but feel uneasy. Could their easy going relationship online be a recipe for disaster in the physical world?
Spring Gothic splits Nica and Chun off into their own separate perspectives. As the player reads through one and then the other, they get a sense of just how easy it is to misread somebody when you’re used to communicating in a different medium. If you’ve ever had an online long distance relationship yourself (or even a friendship) I figure you’ll find something in this game relatable. Spring Gothic is also valuable for representing a particular time and place in visual novel fandom: the lead writer Kastel packs the script with many of their favorite books and topics, while the composer Noelle Amelie Aman is a prominent video essayist on YouTube.
Where next? Be brave and take a step into the furry visual novel scene with the ambitious horror games Echo and Arches.
Tunnels of Vextro
The Vextro community, which includes indie developers like John Thyer (Facets) and sraëka-lillian (Cataphract OI), has spent the past several years developing weird and funny games in sequence. Their most recent collection is Tunnels of Vextro, a chain game about worms. Each game is a loose response to the previous; many will challenge your expectations of what games are and how they can or should be designed.
Tunnels of Vextro spans multiple game engines, including RPG Maker, Twine and the comparatively ancient ZZT. Of the titles collected here, I’d particularly like to shout out The Ballad of Swishy. First, because it uses the rules and logic of role-playing games to mess with your head. Second, because it takes place in a bizarre world in which foul-mouthed paramilitary fish do battle with worms. Third, because it comes with an extensive guide written by the developers that provides commentary on choices made while serving up a steaming platter of fish puns.
Where next? Go back in time in search of Gardens of Vextro, a 2022 anthology that includes Pangea’s Error, one of my favourite games.
Ultimate Fight Da ! Kyanta 2
Fighting games have a long tradition of players beating the crap out of each other for cheap. Yet there may be no more bombastic example than Ultimate Fight Da ! Kyanta 2, which you can to this day download for free on Steam. It’s tough for me to express the sheer chaos of this game, except that one of the characters is an alligator with a gun, and another is a mushroom who makes rocks fall from the sky that deal huge damage to anybody unlucky enough to be hit.
Ultimate Fight Da ! Kyanta 2 is a great game to play with a friend and just gawk at how much bonkers stuff is happening on screen. But it’s also a real fighting game with a community of players that take it quite seriously. Nobody knows better than fighting game fans that their chosen genre is absurd, so why not embrace that? Ultimate Fight Da ! Kyanta 2 just happens to be honest about it.
Where next? Go seek out somebody in real life with a copy of Melty Blood and challenge them to a duel in a public bathroom, as is tradition.
Distorted Travesty 3
Distorted Travesty 3 is a nightmare. It’s a sixty-hour platformer with an interminable story made using graphics ripped from many other video games. The game is also extremely difficult, enough so that even the first few levels will pose a challenge to an ordinary person. Many players won’t make it past the opening text crawl. Those who love uncompromising experiences, though, will be rewarded with a no-holds-barred passion project that combines systems from every platformer ever made into a video game turducken. Distorted Travesty 3 is the kind of experience that could only ever be made and released on the internet for free, and that’s why a certain kind of player may very well consider it to be a masterpiece.
Where next? If you can survive everything this thing throws at you, might as well get really into needle games or something.
