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URL: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Freewaregames

⇱ Freeware Games - TV Tropes

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Freeware Games

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Video Games that can be downloaded and distributed legally for free.

One genre that tends 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👁 Image
for shorter works generally turns up at least two or three genuinely excellent examples of freeware Interactive Fiction games.

There are several websites dedicated to covering and hosting freeware games:

The Other Wiki keeps a list of available freeware games👁 Image
, as well as lists for commercial games released as freeware👁 Image
and open-source games👁 Image
note Note that not all open-source games are freeware; Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program are open-source but cost money to download.. 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👁 Image
◊ presents some of the best voted on by /v/*(Important note: Bunny Must Die is absolutely not freeware; there was a misconception of people believing the game was free when it was pirated on the Internet and the lack of understanding how most doujin games are released. It was available on Steam and Playism, until mid-2019 when the games were pulled from digital distribution on those stores on PC at the request of the developer, and only available on PlayStation 4 and Vita.). Fair warning: Not all of these games run on all operating systems. A longer list (with descriptions) can be found at their wiki👁 Image
.

If the game advertises itself as free but is only partly free (for instance, by requiring payment to access high-tier abilities or equipment), the game is an Allegedly Free Game. If the game is free to play and distribute but limits gameplay to a certain point, only allowing the full game to be played if you pay up, it's Shareware. If the game's developers have forgotten about it or vanished entirely, but its exact legal standing is still questionable, it may be Abandonware. If it was made after an existing game, it's a Fan Remake or Fan Sequel (not all of them are free games proper, what with game mods using commercial engines). Not to be confused with Freemium, where the game allows one to sign in on a free player account but gates off content for a paid account.

Also see Web Games and Rereleased for Free.

    open/close all folders 
    Multi-Platform 
Action Games
  • Abuse
  • Garden Gnome Carnage (initially Windows-only made in Game Maker, then re-released as a Flash game, and later re-released for Xbox Live Indie Games)
  • Kemono Friends Cellien May Cry (a Kemono Friends stylish action/roguelike fangame; made in Unity)
  • Power Bomberman (originally Windows-only, it later got ported to macOS; made in Game Maker)

Action-Adventure

Adventure Games

Audio Games

Beat 'Em Up

Dating Sim

Edutainment Games

Fighting Games

First-Person Shooters

Horror

Genre Busting

Genre Roulette

Interactive Fiction

Music/Rhythm

  • Frets on Fire (and various mods)
  • osu!
  • Phigros (unusual for a Rhythm Game not based on user-produced content due to the licensing costs typically associated with sourcing songs, and is required to be free as per some song licensing contracts)
  • StepMania

Platformers

Puzzle Platformers

Puzzle Games

Racing Games

Real-Time Strategy

Roguelikes

Role Playing Games

Action RPGs

Eastern RPGs

Western RPGs

Shoot 'em Up

Simulation Games

Space Simulators

Turn-Based Strategy

Visual Novels

Miscellaneous

    Windows-Only 
Action Adventure

Action Games

Adventure Games

Card Games

  • PsyCard (free for PC only. Mobile versions are paid.)

Edutainment Games

Fighting Games

Beat 'em Ups

First-Person Shooters

Horror

Interactive Fiction

Metroidvanias

Music/Rhythm

Platformers
Ordinary Platformers

Puzzle Platformers

Ambient/Exploration Platformers

Elimination Platformer

Puzzle Games

Racing Games

Real-Time Strategy and Tactics

Rhythm Games

Roguelikes

Role Playing Games
Action RPGs

Eastern RPGs

Western RPGs

Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs

Shoot 'em Up

Space Simulators

Sport Games

Stealth Games:

Third-Person Shooters

Turn-Based Strategy

Visual Novels

Wide Open Sandbox

Miscellaneous

Unknown

    Adventure Game Studio Games (Windows and Linux only, though an old OS X runtime exists) 
    SLUDGE Games 
    Other Platforms 
Initially commercial

Always freeware

Alternative Title(s): Freeware Game, Freeware

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