Freeware Games

Video Games that can be downloaded and distributed for free legally (not that illegality 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 IF games.

There are several websites dedicated to covering and hosting freeware 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.)
 * The Indiegames.com weblog is a regularly updated blog that informs about indie video games. While not all indie games are free, many of them are.
 * 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/. Fair warning: not all of these games run on all operating systems.

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.

Action Games:

 * Abuse
 * Garden Gnome Carnage (initially windows-only made in Game Maker, rereleased as a Flash game, later rereleased for Xbox Live Arcade)

Action Adventure:

 * Cave Story (borderline Metroidvania)
 * Zelda Classic

Adventure Games:

 * Beneath a Steel Sky

Beat 'Em Up:

 * Streets of Rage Remake
 * Team Fortress Arcade

Edutainment Games:

 * WolfQuest

First-Person Shooters:

 * Area 51
 * Cube 2: Sauerbraten
 * Marathon
 * Open Arena

Genre Busting:

 * The Stanley Parable (Half-Life 2 mod)

Genre Roulette:

 * ROM Check Fail

Interactive Fiction:

 * Alabaster
 * Anchorhead
 * The Dreamhold
 * Jigsaw
 * Photopia
 * Pick Up the Phone Booth And Aisle
 * Shade
 * Spider and Web
 * Violet
 * Zork I

Music/Rhythm:

 * Step Mania
 * Osu!
 * Frets on Fire (and various mods)

Platformers:

 * Jed (Windows and Linux only)
 * Mari 0
 * Mega Man X Corrupted
 * Mighty Jill Off
 * My Little Pony Rise of Vicis
 * N
 * Sonic Robo Blast 2 (3D)
 * Super Crate Box (arena)
 * Super Mario War (multiplayer)

Puzzle Games:

 * Deadly Rooms of Death
 * Sub Terra

Racing Games:

 * Super Tux Kart
 * Tux Racer

Real-Time Strategy:

 * Endgame Singularity
 * Globulation (Management/Strategy)
 * Spring
 * UFO Alien Invasion (also turn-based tactical; fan Spiritual Successor to X-COM)
 * Warzone 2100

Roguelikes:

 * Ancient Domains of Mystery
 * Angband
 * Doom the Roguelike
 * Dwarf Fortress (also a city simulator)
 * Dungeon Crawl
 * Meritous (also a Shoot Em Up)
 * Nethack
 * Powder
 * Rogue

Action RPGs

 * Mantra
 * Freedroid RPG
 * Egoboo

Eastern RPGs

 * Diver Down
 * Mother 4
 * Wandering Hamster

Western RPGs

 * Ultima IV

Shoot 'Em Up:

 * Go Beryllium
 * Meritous (also a Roguelike)
 * Tyrian

Simulation Games:

 * Kerbal Space Program (Only the beta versions. Future versions will be commercial.)
 * Sim City

Space Simulators:

 * Naev (Escape Velocity-style game)
 * Vega Strike (in Elite / Privateer series Spiritual Successor, with game mods)
 * Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters (also an RPG)
 * Strange Adventures in Infinite Space (casual adventure)
 * Oolite (Fan Remake of Elite)

Turn-Based Strategy:

 * Advanced Strategic Command (Spiritual Successor of Battle Isles with variety of rulesets)
 * Battle for Wesnoth (with lots of Game Mods, mostly new factions)
 * Conquest of Elysium 2
 * Free Civ (Fan Remake of Civilization series)
 * FreeCol (Fan Remake of Colonization; see differences in the main article)
 * Heroic Armies Marching
 * WinSP:WW2 and WinSP:MBT (Fan Remakes of Steel Panthers II; each covers a different era)

Visual Novels:

 * Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Case 5 Turnabout Substitution
 * Crimsoness
 * D Nd Poisoned
 * Digital a Love Story
 * Don't Take It Personally Babe It Just Aint Your Story
 * Elven Relations
 * The Fantasia Trilogy
 * Frozen Essence
 * Hatoful Boyfriend
 * Kare wa Kanojo
 * Katawa Shoujo
 * Narcissu
 * (P)lanets
 * RE Alistair
 * Ribbon of Green
 * Winter Shard

Miscellaneous:

 * Ao Oni
 * Glider
 * Penumbra - but only the original Tech Demo version (for Windows and Linux)
 * Progress Quest (parody game)
 * Red Baron (first game) (World War One combat flight sim)
 * Synthesia - A guitar-hero-esque rhythm game for learning the piano.
 * Toribash (unique pshysics and turn-based fighter)

Action Adventure:

 * Guardian of Paradise
 * Eternal Daughter (also a Platformer)
 * The Last Resurrection
 * Legend of Princess
 * The Wager

Action Games:

 * All of Our Friends Are Dead
 * Banana Nababa
 * Castlevania Fighter (hectic Boss Rush with characters, weapons and bosses from the Metroidvania games)
 * Distorted Travesty (also a Platformer)
 * Flywrench
 * Gang Garrison 2 - A Team Fortress 2 demake.
 * Halo Zero
 * I'm OK - A Murder Simulator (satire)
 * Iji (also a borderline Metroidvania) (made in Game Maker)
 * Rework the Dead Evil
 * TAGAP
 * Windom XP (Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2 only)
 * Psi Ops the Mindgate Conspiracy - an ad-supported version

Adventure Games:

 * Cult
 * Eternally Us
 * Ib (Horror, made in RPG Maker)
 * Notrium (survival)
 * Octodad
 * Out of Order
 * Pleurghburg Dark Ages
 * The Silver Lining
 * Sunset Over Imdahl (made in RPG Maker)
 * Swim Ikachan
 * The White Chamber
 * Wraith (made in RPG Maker)
 * Yume Nikki (surreal horror) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Yume 2kki (surreal horror) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Amnesia (made in RPG Maker)
 * .flow (surreal horror) (made in RPG Maker)
 * LCDDEM (made in RPG Maker)
 * The episode "Abe Lincoln Must Die!" of Sam and Max Freelance Police
 * Which (surreal horror)

Fighting Games:

 * MUGEN
 * Capcom Fighting All-Stars
 * Card Sagas Wars
 * The Black Heart
 * Saturday Mornin Mayhem
 * Project G
 * Super Cosplay War Ultra
 * Timeslaughter
 * Super Smash Land
 * Vanguard Princess

First-Person Shooters:

 * Gravity Bone
 * Harmony (ZDoom-based)
 * Mondo Agency (also a Puzzle Game)

Horror:

 * Eyes Without a Face
 * Yume Nikki (also an Adventure Game of sorts) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Yume 2kki (also an Adventure Game of sorts) (made in RPG Maker)
 * .flow (also an Adventure Game of sorts) (made in RPG Maker)

Interactive Fiction:

 * The PK Girl

Metroidvanias:

 * L Abbaye Des Morts (borderline example)
 * Escape From the Underworld
 * Gun Girl 2
 * Lyle in Cube Sector
 * Iji (borderline example; also has heavy Action Game elements) (made in Game Maker)
 * Poacher
 * Treasure Adventure Game
 * An Untitled Story (made in Game Maker)
 * Hasslevania: The Quest For Shuteye (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * Hero Core (also a Shoot Em Up)
 * Holdover
 * Jabless Adventure
 * La-Mulana

Music/Rhythm:

 * Audition Online
 * Osu

Ordinary Platformers

 * Assassin Blue (action platformer) (made in Game Maker)
 * Bonesaw
 * Distorted Travesty (action platformer) (made in Game Maker)
 * Eternal Daughter (action platformer; heavy Action Adventure elements) (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * A Game With a Kitty
 * Hard Hat
 * Icy Tower
 * Indiana Rodent
 * I Wanna Be the Guy
 * IWBTG Fangames
 * I Wanna Be the Fangame
 * Pickory
 * Jumper (made in Game Maker)
 * Final Vision (also an Action RPG)
 * Mushroom Kingdom Fusion
 * Nezumi Man
 * Nikujin
 * Noitu Love (action platformer; only the first episode is free)
 * Psycho Waluigi (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * Purple (made in Game Maker)
 * Run Man Race Around the World (made in Game Maker)
 * SHPDMBGWL 4
 * Sint Nicolaas
 * Sonic Axiom
 * Sonic Before the Sequel (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * Sonic Web Access (made in Game Maker)
 * Super Marisa Land
 * Thingio

Puzzle Platformers

 * Eversion
 * Karoshi (only the first episodes are freeware)
 * Spelunky (also has heavy Roguelike elements)
 * Sutef
 * Tower of Heaven
 * Within a Deep Forest

Ambient/Exploration Platformers

 * Cat Planet (made in Game Maker)
 * Knytt
 * Knytt Stories (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * Seiklus (made in Game Maker)
 * The Project This and That Series (made in Game Maker 8 Pro)

Puzzle Games:

 * Ai to Yuuki To Kashiwa Mochi
 * Boppin'
 * Irisu Syndrome
 * Mondo Agency (also a First Person Shooter)
 * Mondo Medicals

Racing Games:

 * Death Rally
 * Nitronic Rush
 * Track Mania Nations

Real-Time Strategy and Tactics:

 * Allegiance
 * Battleships Forever (Tactics)
 * Ground Control (Tactics)
 * The Planetoid

Roguelikes:

 * Elona (graphical)
 * Liberal Crime Squad (also a Strategy Game)
 * Castle of the Winds (graphical)

Action RPGs

 * Avarice (made in RPG Maker)
 * Dink Smallwood
 * Final Vision (also a Platformer)
 * Quintessence (story-focused RPG with Action RPG-like battles) (made in RPG Maker)

Eastern RPGs

 * A Blurred Line (made in RPG Maker)
 * Aetherion (made in RPG Maker)
 * A Home Far Away (made in RPG Maker)
 * Alter AILA (made in RPG Maker)
 * Ara Fell (made in RPG Maker)
 * Dhux's Scar (made in RPG Maker)
 * Balmung Cycle (made in RPG Maker)
 * Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden (made in Game Maker)
 * Dubloon (made in Game Maker)
 * Embric of Wulfhammers Castle (also a Visual Novel) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Exit Fate (made in RPG Maker)
 * Forevers End (made in RPG Maker)
 * Heros Realm (made in RPG Maker)
 * Iron Gaia (made in RPG Maker)
 * Jays Journey (parody) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Last Scenario (made in RPG Maker)
 * Laxius Power I to III; the subsequence Laxius Force games are sharewares. (made in RPG Maker)
 * Leo and Leah (also has Action Adventure elements) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Love and War (made in RPG Maker)
 * Master of the Wind (made in RPG Maker)
 * ONYX (made in RPG Maker)
 * OFF (made in RPG Maker)
 * Oracle of Tao (made in RPG Maker)
 * Star Stealing Prince (made in RPG Maker)
 * Tales of Itzkeria (made in RPG Maker)
 * Tales of the Drunken Paladin (made in RPG Maker)
 * The Reconstruction (made in RPG Maker)
 * I Miss the Sunrise (made in RPG Maker)
 * Space Funeral (made in RPG Maker)
 * The Spirit Engine 2 (made in Multimedia Fusion)
 * The Sword and The Fish (made in RPG Maker)
 * The Tiamat Sacrament (made in RPG Maker)
 * Vacant Sky (made in RPG Maker)
 * Visions & Voices (made in RPG Maker)
 * The Way (made in RPG Maker)

Western RPGs

 * Warrior Cats Untold Tales (made in Game Maker) (fan-made game about the Warrior Cats series)
 * Desktop Dungeons (casual)

Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs

 * The Endless Forest

Shoot 'Em Up:

 * Burn the Trash
 * Clean Asia (made in Game Maker)
 * Genetos
 * Hydorah (made in Game Maker)
 * Medicalat
 * Reflection (A "beta" of SITER SKAIN's Refle X by Ysuer)
 * Warning Forever
 * XOP and XOP Black
 * Hyper Princess Pitch (made in Game Maker)

Space Simulators:

 * Ad Astra
 * Orbiter
 * Transcendence (2D, with roguelike elements).

Sport Games:

 * Ski Free

Stealth Games:

 * Merry Gear Solid (parody)
 * Stealth Bastard

Third-Person Shooters:

 * Alien Swarm (top-down shooter)
 * Fraxy (top-down shooter)
 * Subvein (multiplayer top-down shooter)
 * S 4 League (multiplayer)
 * Survival Crisis Z (also a Role Playing Game)
 * Vector Vendetta (made in Adventure Game Studio)

Turn-Based Strategy

 * Conflict Middle East Political Simulator (Fan Remake only)
 * Ten Minute Space Strategy

Visual Novels:

 * Brass Restoration
 * Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel Maboroshi no Shoujo
 * True Remembrance

Wide Open Sandbox:

 * Grand Theft Auto Classic
 * Grand Theft Auto II
 * Neftelia (made in RPG Maker)

Miscellaneous:

 * Facade
 * Heartache 101 Sour Into Sweet (Dating Sim) (made in RPG Maker)
 * Let's Go Find El Dorado
 * Mech Warrior 4 + Mercenaries (mech sim)
 * Revenge of the Sunfish

Unknown:

 * Ahriman's Prophecy (made in RPG Maker)
 * The Longing Ribbon (made in RPG Maker)
 * Last Stand V 2

Adventure Game Studio Games (Windows and Linux only, though an old OS X runtime exists)

 * A Second Face
 * A Tale of Two Kingdoms
 * Twelve Thirteen (side-view action/adventure)
 * Ben Jordan Paranormal Investigator
 * Ben There Dan That
 * Chzo Mythos
 * The Art of Theft, a Spin Off of a completely different genre.
 * Jimmy Jam
 * Nelly Cootalot
 * PD
 * Quasar
 * The Marionette
 * Reactor 09
 * Technobabylon
 * Warthogs
 * Quest for Yrolg
 * Meta

Initially commercial

 * Three in Three (Mac OS Classic) (Puzzle)
 * The Elder Scrolls Arena (Wide Open Sandbox RPG) (MS-DOS)
 * The Elder Scrolls II Daggerfall
 * Iron Seed (MS-DOS) (RPG and space exploration)
 * One Must Fall 2097 (MS-DOS) (Fighting game)
 * Traffic Department 2192 (MS-DOS) (story-heavy top-down shooter)
 * Lose Lose (Mac OS X) (Space Invaders that deletes your files. Don't play it. )
 * ZZT was made freeware years ago, but because the source code being lost, ordering information and copyright warnings are still in the game itself.
 * Command and Conquer (Real Time Strategy) (MS-DOS)
 * Command and Conquer Red Alert (its prequel/"it's complicated", also MS-DOS)

Always freeware

 * Magical Cannon Wars (Vertical Scrolling Shooter for Android phones.)