Freely Downloadable Game Software

Freely downloadable game software applies to computer games that can be legally played and downloaded by users free of charge. It does not necessarily have to be freeware, freely distributable or hosted by sites other than the company that made it, or open source.

Games that are free but suggest a donation or fee, or require purchase for extended play time, new content and other features, are Shareware and merely an example version of a full game, sometimes known as a demo. This list is for freely downloadable, full-version games.

--all games are listed alphabetically--

Contents

List of free, open-source games

The difference between these and other free games is that they are under a license such as the GNU General Public License or other similar licenses and their source code is freely available and can be modified by anyone with the necessary programming skills and a source code editor program such as the freely available Visual C++ Express. These games are all made exclusively with open content. Because the source code is available and modifications can be freely (re)distributed, most of these titles will run on many platforms.

  • Arianne is an open source MMORPG in development and a framework to develop new online games.
  • Armagetron is a multiplayer, 3D Tron lightcycle racing game.
  • Avanor is an open source roguelike game.
  • Battle for Wesnoth is an open source strategy game with RPG elements resembling the Battle Isle series, but in a fantasy setting with elves, dwarves, orcs and mermen [1].
  • Beats of Rage inspiration in the classic Streets of Rage.
  • Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid - A platform game where Bob the Blob must rescue the Blob MIAs. Many stages, intricate gameplay. Not yet complete, but very playable. http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/blobWars.php
  • Boson is an OpenGL real-time strategy game, with the feeling of Command and Conquer or StarCraft. It is designed to run on Unix (Linux) computers, and is built on top of the KDE, Qt and kdegames libraries. [2]
  • Bygfoot is a football management game.
  • BZFlag is a free multiplayer multiplatform 3D tank battle game.
  • Chromium B.S.U. is a fast paced, arcade-style, top-scrolling space shooter
  • Charred Dirt is an open source Scorched Earth clone that represents the original very well. http://www.charreddirt.com/
  • ClanBomber is a free DynaBlaster clone at http://clanbomber.sourceforge.net/
  • CodeRED: Alien Arena, fully functioned free deathmatch shooter that runs on Windows and Linux, and features standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and all out assault, in a funky 50's era sci-fi atmosphere.
  • Crack Attack! is a free OpenGL game based on Tetris Attack at http://aluminumangel.org/attack/
  • Crossfire is an open source MMORPG.
  • Cube is an open source first person shooter at http://www.cubeengine.com/
  • Cuyo is a free Puyo Puyo clone at http://www.karimmi.de/cuyo/ (german).
  • Daimonin is an Isometric MMORPG based on Crossfire in its first Beta.
  • Devet is a multiplatform strategy/puzzle game at http://devet.tuzsuzov.com/
  • Enigma, an Oxyd clone with an unusual premise.
  • Freeciv is a clone of the game Civilization.
  • FreeDoom is an open content Doom game.
  • FreeOrion is a free Master of Orion inspired game at http://www.freeorion.org/
  • Frozen Bubble, can be downloaded at http://www.frozen-bubble.org
  • GGZ Gaming Zone develops game servers and clients and provides online gaming services
  • Glest is an Real-Time Strategy [RTS] game like Warcraft or Command & Conquer. Linux: http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~uxsm/glest/ Windows: http://www.glest.org/
  • Globulation 2 is an innovative Real-Time Strategy [RTS], which minimizes micro-management by automatically assigning tasks to the units.
  • Good vs Bad 2 is a multiplayer fps/rts hybrid.
  • Iter Vehemens ad Necem is a graphical roguelike using SDL
  • Several games are included in KDE, the Kdegames packages; for instance:
    • KAsteroids
    • KAtomic
    • KBounce
    • Kolf
    • KSokoban
  • Lentilwars is a 2D "quasi-isometric" arcade shooter written in Free Pascal.
  • Liquid War is a multiplayer wargame available at http://www.ufoot.org/liquidwar/.
  • NetHack is a popular free RPG available at http://www.nethack.org.
  • Nexuiz is a highly polished multiplayer first person shooter available at http://www.nexuiz.com/
  • Openglad is a port of the DOS Gauntlet-style game Gladiator at http://snowstorm.sf.net.
  • OpenTTD is an open source implementation of the 1990s classic Transport Tycoon. Home at http://www.openttd.com/
  • Pingus, a Lemmings clone with animated penguins.
  • Project: Starfighter - A two-dimensional, non-linear space shooter with an intricate plot. http://www.parallelrealities.co.uk/starfighter.php
  • Raptor is a space shoot-em-up game at http://raptorv2.sf.net
  • Scorched3D, a game based loosely (or actually quite heavily now) on the classic DOS game Scorched Earth. Available for both Microsoft Windows and Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris etc.) operating systems. http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/
  • Smoothris is a tetris game, featuring vector graphics, smooth movements and rotations of the figure, sub-pixel accuracy and motion blur, all done with software rendering. It is written in Free Pascal.
  • Spice Trade is an an open source (LGPL), Java based adventure/rpg game that can be downloaded (with source code) from http://www.spicetrade.org/download.html
  • The Ur-Quan Masters is an open-source free port of Star_Control_II based on the source code and media files of the 3DO version of the game - http://sc2.sourceforge.net/
  • StepMania simulates dance games, mainly Dance Dance Revolution.
  • SuperTux classic 2D jump and run game.
  • Tile World is a clone of Chip's Challenge made by Brian Raiter.
  • Tux Racer, a 3D OpenGL racing game starring the Linux mascot.
  • Tyrant, a graphical Roguelike Java adventure game.
  • UFO: Alien Invasion is a 3D, turn-based strategy game that pits humans against aliens. http://www.ufoai.net/
  • Vega Strike is a 3D space shooter/strategy game. http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/
  • XEvil, a 2D side scroller with an excessive amount of violence. http://www.xevil.com/

Freeware games

Freeware refers to software that can be used, downloaded, or distributed free of charge.

It does not refer to games under a Free Software license that allow modifying or redistribution of source code, such as in the list above.

  • 123 Free Solitaire, one of the top stand-alone solitaire downloads on the internet. Yearly editions swap out 4 of the 12 games included. A game option includes being able to change the card-back designs.
  • America's Army, first-person shooter developed and distributed by US Army [3]
  • Angband (another popular RPG in the roguelike family), and its many variants. The most comprehensive resource for Angband is at http://thangorodrim.net. Source code of Angband is also available, but it is not Free software. However, there is an effort ongoing to re-license Angband under the GNU GPL.
  • BVE, free Railroad Simulator created by Mackoy of Japan.
  • Control Monger is a free online first person shooter available at http://www.controlmonger.com
  • CrateMaster is a free Tetris clone/parody by Longbow Digital Arts. It was used to promote the game Tread Marks in a high score contest on the Old Man Murray website. Gameplay consists solely of making a row of three crates, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Crate Review System featured on that site.
  • Dance With Intensity clones dance game Dance Dance Revolution
  • Digital Paintball 2.0 is a fast-paced, team-based, first-person shooter with a variety of game modes and support for up to 4 teams. Modes include Standard CTF, Single-Flag CTF, Siege (Attack/Defend), KOTH (King of the Hill), Elimination, and DM (Free-for-all). It was once a Quake2 mod but is now completely standalone and completely free.
  • DominateGame is an online Risk-like game here.
  • Doukutsu Monogatari a.k.a "Cave story" by Studio Pixel. A Metroid style adventure game. [Http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/] and [4]
  • Eastside Hockey Manager, popular hockey manager game that was so good that it got the creator picked up by SI Games in order to make a commercial sequel.
  • Eternal Daughter, a Castlevania-esque adventure game.
  • GunBound, a free Worms like game at http://www.gunbound.net .
  • Kuma\War is a free online war game that uses cutting-edge game technology to accurately reconstruct real-war events from the news. Kuma\War is a first and third-person squad-based war game. It is the first PC video game to bring the tactical FPS (shooter) into the 21st century by modeling missions on actual real-world events. Each month players get new single player and multiplayer games (missions), to reflect unfolding events around the world. Armed with identical weapons in a realistic re-creation of various locations, you'll experience some of fiercest engagements in the most hostile territories in the world. A vast database of intelligence accompanies Kuma\War online games: satellite photos, political context, event details and the weaponry, tactics and forces involved. You'll also get exclusive video news shows and insight from a decorated team of military veterans.
  • liero is a 2D shooting game where players control worms to defeat either a CPU controlled worm or another player on the same keyboard, the game allows you to create maps and then battle out against your enemy with a selection of your 5 favourite weapons, including miniguns, remote control missile launchers, fans(to deflect bullets) and nukes.
  • liero xtreme is a sequel and fan re-make of liero, it is probably the most prefered liero re-make, featuring online gaming, mods, better maps, and up to 8 players at once.
  • Little Fighter 2 is a side-scrolling fighting game available here.
  • Mindgames is a collection of card, board and miscellaneous games that are primarily puzzle based and varied in objective. http://www.ihsan.biz/
  • N is a classic platformer game.
  • Nethack is a roguelike available at http://www.nethack.org/ for a variety of operating systems.
  • Orbiter, a spaceflight simulator with an emphasis on realistic orbital mechanics [5]
  • PlaneShift is a freely available and Open Source MMORPG in development.
  • Pong Kombat is a freely avalible parody of Pong and Mortal Kombat
  • Progress Quest, a parody of Everquest and the MMORPG genre, focuses on pure character building with no interaction involved.
  • Project Entropia is a massive virtual universe with a real cash economy. It is not, officially, an MMORPG however it has most of the elements of one being in that it is mainly an number ('skills') and special item chasing exercise. You can get paid back real money for actions in the game, however this is mainly from guessing locations for 'minerals in-game and similar to gambling the payback is always much less than you are required to put in (you will not be able to gain any items or do much except explore and talk in the game without putting real money into your game account as 'PEDs' via a credit card). Website: [6]
  • Reality-on-the-norm a bunch of user made adventure games downloadable from [7]
  • Simutrans: a game that focuses on building a transportation network and is similar to Transport Tycoon.
  • Smashing Pumpkins into Small Piles of Putrid Debris (SPISPOPD), a 1993 DOS based top down shooter by Jamul software, jokingly based off a Doom newsgroup thread. (archived link)
  • Soldat, a popular 2D multiplayer online shooter[8]
  • Starsiege: Tribes (usually called Tribes or Tribes 1) is a sci-fi first-person shooter (FPS) computer game, the first of the Tribes video game series. It was developed by Dynamix and published by the company now known as Sierra Entertainment in 1998. Tribes was one of the first online-only games of its kind and sported several multiplayer features that other games have only recently included (32+ player support, 128 players max, troop transport vehicles, several different player classes). Most of the standard maps were outdoors in a variety of climates, from sunshine to snow and hail. In general, bases were scattered throughout the map depending on the gametype. The outdoor environments were and still are relatively huge extending for several Km in any direction, but "jetting" and "skiing" gave Tribes a fast-paced feel.
  • Steel Panthers: World at War [9], plus several other remakes of older strategy games from Matrix Games.
  • SPMBT: Steel Panthers Main Battle Tank [10]
  • SPWW2: Steel Panthers World War 2 [11]
  • SubSpace, a two-dimensional top-down space shooter game with massively multiplayer capabilities.
  • Vega Strike, an open-source space combat/trading simulator inspired by Wing Commander: Privateer and Elite.
  • Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, a standalone multiplayer expansion to Return to Castle Wolfenstein. [12]
  • Wulfram 2 is a hybrid genre massively multiplayer online first-person shooter, massively multiplayer online real-time strategy, and simulation game currently being developed by Bernt Habermeier and published under the name SlurpySoft (Slurpy is the pen-name/callsign of Bernt Habermeier) using an original source code developed by Bolt-Action Software, of which Bernt Habermeier was a co-founder. Wulfram 2 is one of four known games to be developed by Bolt-Action Software, and is the only one still playable. Notable is the fact that Wulfram 2 is free to play, though the administration is accepting donations from the player-base and offering certain non-gameplay related benefits for it.

Commercial games released as freeware

  • UberWG Software Department - Arkanoid3D.NET
  • Abuse, a 1995 side-scrolling action game by Crack dot Com, released as freeware.
  • Akalabeth a.k.a "Ultima 0" by Lord British.
  • Beneath a Steel Sky by Revolution Software. [14]
  • Castle of the Winds a tile based RPG for Windows 3.x, written by SaadaSoft.
  • Castle Infinity, 1996 release by Starwave.
  • Civil War Strategy Game is a turn-based strategic level wargame based around the American Civil War by W.R. Hutsell.
  • Civil War Battleset is a turn-based tactical level wargame based around the American Civil War by W.R. Hutsell.
  • Decisive Battle of WWII: The Ardennes Offensive, released as freeware by SSG. [15]
  • Derek Smart's infamous Battlecruiser 3000AD. [16]
  • Dink Smallwood, 1997 RPG by RTsoft released as freeware on 17 October 1999. [17]
  • Elite and Elite Plus. [18]
  • Flight of the Amazon Queen by Interactive Binary Illusions. [19]
  • Frederik Pohl's Gateway part 1, adventure game, based on book by same author.
  • GroundControl
  • Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe, a 1999 game by Illusion Softworks. [20]
  • Ken's Labyrinth by Ken Silverman [21]
  • MegaZeux is a game creation system available here.
  • One Must Fall: 2097, (1994) classic fighting game by Diversions Entertaintment.
  • Ports Of Call. [22]
  • Rise of the Dragon, 1990 release by Dynamix.
  • Star Control II, the classic space adventure by Toys for Bob was GPL'ed and renamed as The Ur-Quan Masters. [23]
  • Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 were released as freeware May 2004.[24]
  • The Elder Scrolls: Arena, 1994 game that was released as freeware in 2004.[25]
  • Lord British's Ultima IV
  • Wars of Napoleon is a turn-based strategic and tactical level wargame of the Napoleonic Wars.
  • Wild Metal - [26]
  • World War II in Western Europe is a turn-based strategic level wargame of World War II in Western Europe by W.R. Hutsell.

Games which used to be freeware but can no longer be distributed

Several commercial games which were distributed for free download years ago are no longer allowed to be distributed or are longer legal to download [26].

B-17 Flying Fortress
Betrayal at Krondor
Caesar
The Zork series

See also

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