100 Free Games (pt. 2)

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving. To troll retailers hoping to profit from Black Friday, here are another 25 free games.

74. Alien Swarm – If you have a Steam account, then you already have this free game. A top-down cooperative shooter based off an unreal mod, Alien Swarm is reminiscent of classics like Smash TV, but with modern twists inspired by Valve’s Left 4 Dead.

73. Desktop Tower Defense – An open-source take on the casual tower-defense genre, this a simplified RTS built for quick-play.

72. Nethack – A timeless classic from the early 80s, this open-source dungeon hack has been alive forever and is still widely supported.

71. Secret Maryo Chronicles – This is a shameless rip-off off of Super Mario World, but a good shameless rip-off. Very fun physics and 2D platforming inspired by the best.

70. Zelda Classic – A fan-project to add levels and remake the original NES Zelda as a ROM.

68. fl0w – Jenova Chen’s ambient Flash game is an alternative piece that really cannot be understood without experiencing it. As the precursor to fl0wer, creative gameplay revolves around developing a creature by navigating around an ambient environment

67. I Wanna be the Guy – Allegedly developed during a drunk flame-war, this 2D platformer is a sarcastic tribute towards incredibly difficult 8-bit action games. Considered by many to be the hardest game ever made, this is an indie classic.

66. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory – Another freeware classic, this objective based shooter might suffer from long-load times, but its legendary heritage makes it worth consideration. Its influence in Quake Wars is apparent.

65. Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden – this is a sarcastic parody of classic action-based JRPGs and is a pretty decent RPG itself. Excellent writing and a wonderful sense of humor makes this awesome.

64. Doom – The single most influential PC game ever made, Doom has an expansive variety of WAD files and mod support.

63. Penumbra: Overture – Although Frictional is more well known for their recent Amnesia: The Dark Descent, their first survival-horror game, Penumbra, is widely considered to be one of the most disturbing games ever made.

62. Marathon Trilogy – the precursor to the Halo franchise, Marathon is a 1990s shooter in the vein of works like Doom.

61. Battlechess – I remember playing this gem at three years old on my dad’s 1990 mac. This abandonware chess-sim features awesome hand-drawn sprite graphics.

60. Fallout – The classic post-apocalyptic RPG was free on Gametap last year, but has since been pulled. Keep your eyes peeled to see if this game returns to the free-section.

59. Silkroad Online – This Asian-themed MMORPG provides the same addictive play as other MMOs with an emphasis on trade.

58. A.P.B. – The commercial failure of this hybrid shooter-MMORPG forced realtime worlds to sell APB to make it a free-to-play title.

57. Need for Speed: World – EA’s second free-to-play microtransaction-based game is part of the veritable NFS franchise, which had since dipped since Carbon, this MMO-racer features great online play and graphics.

56. Vindictus – Yet another Nexon MMO, Vindictus is far more refined than one would expect from Nexon. The graphics look incredible based off Valve’s source engine, with gameplay based off Monster Hunter and brutal action, this game has incredibly high system-requirements.

55. Portal: The Flash Version – Portal was a true classic that displayed more creative ideas than the last two years of FPS gaming combined. This indie Flash tribute replicates the incredible concept on a 2D plane.

54. Fortress Forever – Fans of Team Fortress 2 might be interested in this Half Life 2 mod, remaking the original Team Fortress in the new Source engine.

53 Goldeneye: Source – Even with the incredible Wii remake stealing its thunder, Goldeneye: Source is a more authentic recreation of the classic multiplayer shooter and its N64 aesthetic.

52. Beneath a Steel Sky – This is an abandonware classic adventure game working on ScummVM, an open-source emulator project working off of LucasArts games.

51. One Button Bob- An obscure Newgrounds classic, this is a puzzle-platformer featuring innovative and creative one-button gameplay.

50. The Spirit Engine –This is an extremely polished amateur indie RPG, a sequel, sold for profit, is available for $10. Cheap enough to support some talented developers with an ambitious vision.