As Free as it Gets

There has never been a time in gaming that can be compared to what is happening right now. If you want to spend hundreds of dollars on one game, you can. Want to spend the normal $59.99 for a new game? That’s available too. What about games on sale? Covered. But what is unprecedented in video game history is the sheer amount of games that you can play for free. Yes, F-R-E-E. This means that you don’t have to spend a penny. In some cases, all that is required is a few minutes of time to sign up for a free account with a game client or subscribe to a newsletter.

In the menu above, you will find a variety of different links that you can search out to find free games to play. Some are free to keep. Others are free to play, meaning that you have a choice as to whether indulge in micro-transactions or not. Remember, micro-transactions are a choice. Even though the option is there, it doesn’t mean you are obligated to purchase anything. Ultimately, if you need to move on from a game that is becoming impossible to play due to its money grabbing tactics, you can. There are many other fish in the sea when it comes to the enormous amount of games available to play.

It is wise to consider that many free-to-play games are hosted on a server and when the server shuts down, so does the game. Keep this in mind any time you play an online-only game. Then there are free trials where you can play a game at no cost but in a limited way. Either you’re playing just one part of a complete game or you have access to the complete game for a limited amount of time. Though these options give you a taste of the game for a temporary period of time, the point is that it is still free within that length of time.

Take advantage of these fantastic opportunities to save money. When I was growing up, every game cost something. If you couldn’t pay for it, you didn’t have it. To get many of the games I wanted, I would save up my allowance and lunch money. I didn’t start seeing demo discs until the release of the original Playstation and even then, there was no such thing as a free-to-play game on a video game console. Nowadays, as long as you have the system/platform, you have a variety of games that can be played without charge. Most video game platforms today have free games that you can download and play. That alone is why this is the golden era of gaming.

Since I have started looking into available free games back last winter, I have downloaded and installed more than 100 free games up through the time of this post. All of the games are from legitimate sources. Here is a sampling of what I’ve been able to add to my collection:

Other Highlights
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (GOG)
Hitman Absolution (GOG)
Shadow Warrior Classic Complete (GOG)
Assassin’s Creed II (uPlay)
Tower of Time (GOG)
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4)
Child of Light (uPlay)
Rayman Legends (uPlay)
PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 (Steam)
Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game (Steam)
Renegade-X
Project Reality 1.6
Counter Strike: Global Offensive (Steam)
Team Fortress 2 (Steam)

Those are just the free games that have been given away over the past several months by the major gaming platforms. This does not even account for other free games that are out there from websites like IndieGala, Itch.io, MMOGames and others that you will find in the “Free Games” link section above. Then there’s platforms like M.U.G.E.N. (fighting game engine) and OpenBOR (beat-em Streets of Rage engine) that have hundreds of games that you can download and play for free. While most of my listings are for PC, do not hesitate to see what you can play for free on your PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch by visiting their respective game stores. It is simply ridiculous how much free content is out there. And the links above will help you to take advantage of that.

Overall, there is an abundance of stuff for you to check out. Epic Games gives away at least one free game a week, as well as IndieGala. Sometimes new free games will pop up on Steam and GOG as well. Due to the success of Fortnite, the free-to-play model is very popular and many companies know that they can potentially make a lot more money on the back end of games versus the front end. You as a gamer can take advantage of this and you should.

I get my information on free games primarily from the Game Deals Reddit, which is an excellent resource on free game announcements and game deals. CLICK HERE to go to that page, bookmark it and at least check it two to three times a week. Also remember that all of these links are included in the link menus above.

So now that you know get to downloading and as always, have fun gaming.

-TVGA