Free Games
Whether you're in need of some light entertainment or simply bored at work, the Internet never fails to provide a high level of amusement. In this section we review the best free games on the Web, both to download or play online through your Web browser. In fact, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the sheer quality of games here, especially considering they're totally free. The console gaming industry is not the only place where games have become more sophisticated, progress has also been seen on the Internet. In particular, some online Flash-based games can provide hours of fun and with thousands of games to choose from, you'll be spoilt for choice. If you happen to stumble across an outdated link, we'd very much appreciate it if you could report it.
Download Free Games
A well-designed, popular and fun-to-browse Web site, offering a fantastic mixture of freeware, shareware and online games. All the games featured here have been specially selected for their quality and level of fun. You'll find numerous categories, featuring games in different genres, including Arcade, Board, Cards, Chess, Kids, Pool, Racing, Strategy, etc. Every game at this site is completely safe to download.
> Download Free Games has been defeating boredom for many years and now features over 400 games. Once on their site, scroll down to the bottom to find an A-Z round-up of all the available games.
Here is a fantastic and well-designed site providing truckloads of free arcade games to play online. There are over twenty categories here, all jam-packed with classic games like "Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong", "Pong" and of course, the legendry "Zork" series. At Play.vg, you'll also find shooting games, sports games, puzzles, Tetris and some word and gambling games. The most popular games are featured on their home page.
Download Free Mac GamesFind freeware and shareware Mac game downloads in a variety of genres at this simple, but fun-to-browse Mac oriented Web site. You'll find some interesting Mac games to download like chess, pool, Tetris, war games, educational games and more. Tips for each game and "related Mac sites" on most sub-sections are provided. Screenshots of each game are also included.
Desert Operations
"The military strategy browser game". As a player, you are tasked to defend your country against other online players. The aim of the game is to become increasingly influencial by making political decisions, alliances and building-up your military capability - thereby avoiding a hostile takeover. Play free of charge directly in your Web browser.
League of Legends
An award-winning multi-player game where the aim is to compete in teams (either 3 vs 3 or 5 vs 5 players) to destroy opposition forces on a fantasy battlefield. You may select from over 70 characters who have differing abilities and traits. Character upgrades can be obtained by completing various tasks.
Digital: A Love Story Game
A free computer mystery romance game for Windows, Mac and Linux. The game, which is set "5 minutes into the future of 1988", is based around a retro computer interface and takes the form of a story, where the aim is to solve a conspiracy with a virtual online partner. Are you ready to go back in time and solve the mystery?
Eternal Lands
If you enjoy playing 3D fantasy games, be sure to try Eternal Lands. In this free online role playing game, you develop a personalised character and participate in quests within an exciting virtual world. Things to do include harvesting, building, magic powers, collecting items, fighting, and more. Since this is a multi-player game, there's a great community feel, especially when chatting to other players.
Free BBC Doctor Who Adventure Games
Find a selection of free Doctor Who adventure games featuring "The Doctor", his assistant and The TARDIS, plus many famous foes, such as Cybermen and The Darleks. Games available to download include: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada, TARDIS, Blood of the Cybermen, City of the Daleks, and The Gunpowder Plot. The file sizes are quite large, so you require a reliable connection to the Internet. Available on Windows and Mac.
KingsAge
This is a fun to play online multi-player game set in a world of castles, knights and battles. The aim of the game is to increase your influence within the virtual kingdom by expanding from a small settlement to a powerhouse city. Build an army, trade with neighbours, form alliances and make important political decisions.
Neptune’s Pride
A free online multi-player game where the aim is to command a galactic fleet of space ships. Neptune's Pride is very addictive and a favourite amongst bored office workers! Make your move to double-cross other fleets and lay your claim to the galaxy. All complicated graphics have been stripped back so the game very much focuses on strategy and the bare essentials. Despite this, it is always very enjoyable to play and has a simple but easy-to-use interface.
Spelunky World
An exciting and well-made free game, available for Windows and coming soon on Xbox Live Arcade. Spelunky World takes the form of a traditional platform game, where the aim is to negotiate various levels, avoiding enemies and collecting money and items along the way. However, there's an added twist: the game is randomly-generated so a new adventure awaits every time. We're sure you're going to like this one!
Achaea
If you enjoy playing online fantasy games, be sure to check out Achaea from Iron Realms Entertainment. Playable directly in your Web browser, the game follows a similar path as other multi-player real-time games, with personalised characters, thousands of quests, plus freedom to move around the virtual world. Gain experience points by completing tasks and progressing through the game, buy and sell items and conquer the lands.
Mafia Generations
A free Web-based Mafia game, where the aim is to build your organised crime empire and compete against others. The game features detailed statistics, live chat and allows players to buy and sell property, become employed, participate in crime tasks, conduct "turf wars", and more.
Team Fortress 2
An action-packed game that's billed as "the most highly-rated free game of all time". Available for Windows and Mac, Team Fortress 2 is an impressive "first person" shooter game with excellent graphics and gameplay. To get the most out of the game, play in multi-player mode with friends.
Play4Free
The Play4Free site from Electronic Arts offers high quality and completely free games to download. Select from "Battlefield", "Lord Of Ultima", "Need For Speed World", "FIFA Online", "Battle Forge", "Tiger Woods PGA Tour", plus others. Each game is particularly impressive with excellent graphics and gameplay. You are required to quickly register before downloading. Enjoy!
15 Minutes
A short but enthralling free game that's based on the popular hit TV series, 24. However, this time you'll be playing as "weathered special agent", Jake Brewer. The mission is to save the world from disaster by guiding your character through the various scenarios that develop. Excellent sketch-style graphics are used throughout the story-line. Functions on Microsoft Windows.
World of Tanks
An action-packed and free browser-based game. As Commander of an armoured tank division, the aim of World of Tanks is to team up with other players to defeat the opposition in epic tank battles. A variety of vehicles and weapons are at your disposal, plus numerous maps to pit your wits against the opponent. The graphics and game-play are both very impressive.
World’s Biggest Pac-Man
Fans of Namco's 80s video game "Pac-Man" are sure to find this site immensely entertaining. The World's Biggest Pac-Man includes over 1350 mazes to test your skill on and features music and sound effects from the original game. Watch out for those ghosts!
Free Grand Theft Auto Games
At the official Rockstar Games site, you can download two classic games (Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2), completely free of charge. These two titles spawned a loyal following of the GTA series which continues to this today. Please note: on rare occasions the download link to the server cannot be established. If this occurs, simply try again a few minutes later.
Fetchfido Free Online Games
This site offers an extensive and addictive collection of the latest free online games. No registration is required at Fetchfido (you can begin playing their games straight away), and the site features Shockwave, Java and also Flash-based games. As well as this, Fetchfido includes file sizes for their games so you can judge how long each will take to load.
Angry Birds
A popular and highly addictive mobile game for Android devices. The aim of the game is to fight back against an army of greedy pigs. Launch attacks against the pigs' strongholds with your flock of angry birds. The Physics-based gameplay ranges from basic to advanced, with 240 levels of difficulty. Other games in the series include: "Angry Birds Rio" and "Angry Birds Seasons".
DarkOrbit
A multi-player, browser-based game set in space, where the objective is to explore new worlds and destroy enemy ships. If you love space shooters, this should certainly keep you entertained! Every month, a £10,000 prize is up for grabs.
Candystand
Candystand.com (formally owned by Wrigley) is one of the best free Shockwave gaming sites on the Internet. In fact, their virtual pool game, which you can play directly in your Web browser, is one of the most addictive we've seen. With more than 30 games available, being bored will never be an excuse again! Categories include: Arcade, Racing, Puzzles, Cards, Multiplayer, etc.
> Although the Candystand site has changed beyond recognition over the years, they continue to provide some of the best online games on the Internet. Their selection of games may have expanded but quality has not been compromised. We are particularly impressed with the "Sports" section, which includes virtual table tennis, surfing, ten pin bowling, golf and more. Other categories include: Arcade, Card Games, Puzzles, Multiplayer and Trophy Games.
WAR2 Glory
A popular wartime strategy game where you have the opportunity to pit yourself against players around the world. As the Commander, your mission is to direct a military campaign via land, sea and air. There's plenty opportunity to outwit opponents even if they have the numerical advantage, so tactics can certainly pay off in this game. The "realistic combat system" adds an element of authenticity to gameplay.
Deepolis
A free browser-based game where you take the helm of a submarine. The aim of the game is to undertake tasks whilst surviving in a hostile underwater world. An addictive multi-player game offering all the usual bells and whistles one would expect, including chat. Available in over 20 languages.
Aeria Games
A small but quality collection of free multi-player games can be found at this site. The graphical imagery used is truly breathtaking and gameplay addictive - the way it should be. Aeria includes games to download and play online. You can select from "Grand Fantasia", "Metal Assault", "Kingdom Heroes", "Shaiya", and others.
Evony
An exciting "empire building" game, which you can play free of charge through your Web browser. Over 18 million people play Evony - a testament to how immersing and addictive the game is. Build your cities, create alliances with other players, compete for resources, and ultimately conquer. Evony is visually impressive but be prepared to invest quite some time to really progress.
Free Doctor Who Computer Games
Available for UK residents and a "must download" for fans of Doctor Who. Three games are currently available from the BBC: "City of the Daleks", "Blood of the Cybermen" and "TARDIS". Functions on both Windows and Mac. Each game is approximately 330MB, so you'll need to give the files time to download, depending on your connection speed. (UK Only)
Battlefield Heroes
A popular, free and fun Web game based around a cartoon battlefield. Battlefield Heroes, developed by Electronic Arts, has over 4 million users and involves the player undertaking a variety of missions, using soldiers, vehicles and aircraft. Recommended to anyone who enjoys this type of game, but beware: it's addictive!
Free Command & Conquer Game DownloadsFans of the legendary "Command & Conquer" series of strategy games will be pleased to know Red Alert, Tiberian Sun (with Firestorm expansion), and Tiberian Dawn is now available for download - free of charge. Scroll down the page and click "FREE DOWNLOAD" to obtain the game of your choice. Happy gaming!
WorDictThis simple site houses an addictive word game: WorDict. If you're into puzzles and like a challenge, be sure to give this a go. The aim of the game is to make words out of an "ever increasing" pile of letter tiles.
IgneousAn interesting free game where the aim is to escape from a raging volcano filled with lot lava. It functions on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.
GamesCounty.comA fun site offering a great selection of online games in a variety of categories, including Arcade, Shooting, Sports, Racing, Puzzles and Cards, etc. With hundreds of games ready to play in an instant, you'll never be bored again.
Planet DefenseAn interesting free game that should excite fans of such classics as Asteroids or Missile Command. Here, the objective is to defend the planet by launching a series of rocket attacks against incoming asteroids. We were impressed with the quality of this game, despite its simplicity.
Trash Killer 2A simple but fun space-based game where you have to shoot your way through asteroids with a laser-mounted cannon. It is surprisingly addictive and at 1.5MB in size, you can take it anywhere.
HabboAn exciting and highly addictive community chat game. Habbo is playable online and based around a virtual world, where you create your own personal avatar (or "character") and explore the cyberspace, meeting others in the game, collecting points and taking part in challenges.
QUAKE LiveRemember QUAKE, the blockbuster first-person shooter game? Well now you can play it entirely online and completely free of charge. No downloads are required. You can select from over 40 arenas and 5 different game modes, either against "the computer" or human opponents. Have fun!
ContinuumDo you like space games? If you do, you might want to check out Continuum. This multi-player, space-based "shoot em up" game brings together players from all over the world and has received positive reviews from numerous sites. It functions on all modern versions of Windows and is only 4.7MB in size.
Friv.comA highly amusing and fun site, offering over 200 free games to play online in your Web browser. This is no ordinary games site, however. Friv.com is a simplistic masterpiece with effortless navigation and a round-up of "only the best online games" to be found anywhere on the Net. You'll never be bored again!
TravianA free online browser game where players establish a village settlement in a world filled with thousands of other players. As you grow your village, you can make alliances with others, conduct diplomatic relations, attack other settlements, and perform many other actions. This is a great game if you have the time and patience to play it.
RunescapeHere's an exciting and immensely popular 3D Java game, which you can play online either with friends or as a single player. Runescape is set in a fantasy Medieval realm and involves quests, fighting monsters and exploration. To play, you create and customise a character, then gain tools and upgrades as you progress through the game, gathering money and establishing your character in the virtual world.
Arcade TownArcade Town is a bright and colourful site, offering lots of addictive online games to play, in various categories: shooting games, arcade games, board games, puzzle games, sport and skills games, etc. New games are added regularly and the site also counts the highest scores. Note: many of the games here require a Java plug-in to function correctly.
Free Flash GamesA superb site, featuring over 200 free Flash-based games, all with screenshots included. Free Flash Games provides a neat and slick navigation system, and organises all games into a number of different categories, some of which are: "Arcade Games", "Card Games", "Strategy Games", "Word Games", etc. To receive updates, you can also subscribe to their e-mail newsletter.
Little Fighter 2This addictive "Street Fighter" type game is one of the best freeware programs of its kind. Little Fighter for Windows allows you to select from a number of characters, which you must defeat by punching and kicking in order to be victorious. Multiplayer options are also available. A DOS version (created back in 1997) is still available to download. The Windows game is 12.7MB.
Gobs of GamesA quality free games portal featuring over 1000 online games to play, including Battle Ships, Ice Hockey, Street Fighter, Office Paintball and more. This site is updated weekly with new games to play and organises games into the following categories: Action, Sports, Puzzles, Arcade Classics, Miscellaneous and "Entertain Me", for cool sites, cartoons and Flash movies.
MindgamesThis site offers "an eclectic collection of games to pass the time and challenge the mind." The Mindgames site includes over 40 freeware games to play, which are sectioned into categories. Card games, board games, word games, along with some miscellaneous applications can be found here. Each game has a detailed description and screenshot accompanying it.
ClickomaniaHere's a really cool program for the young and old alike. It is a simple game where you try to remove as many stones as possible with the same colour block. Clickomania has many options where you can increase the speed, the difficulty and the view. Runs under Windows 95 (or higher) and NT systems. Multiple language support is provided. The file size is 0.4 Megabytes.