Where to Find Free or Cheap Video Games Online
There are some websites offering free or very affordable pc games online. Most of these are independent games, which can be more enjoyable than the current crop of $50 big publisher games. But some are also older games that are being given a new life and are being made available to download for a very good price.
If you are interested in video games, good deals, and not spending a lot of money, you should definitely find something that interests you in the sites listed below.
And if you’re not interested in video games, I’m sure you know someone who is.
Free Video Games
Game Giveaway of the Day – Game Giveaway of the Day is no longer an accurate name for this site as they only giveaway games on the weekends. It used to be daily but that changed quite some time ago. Most of the games are casual puzzle games but sometimes there are adventure, RPG and FPS games. The game must be downloaded and installed during the 24 hours of the giveaway.
Adventure Game Studio – Adventure Game Studio is software used to make adventure games that are similar in style to the Sierra and LucasArts classics of the the 1990’s. Almost all games created with this software are available to download and play for free. Some are wonderful and some aren’t so good. You can set up a search for the types of games that you are interested in. The best way to get started with this site is to go to the pages for Award Winners and Picks of the Month – these are the best of the best. Currently the site is featuring a remake of Quest for Glory II.
Dosgames.com – If you are feeling really old school this site lists over 500 free and shareware DOS games. Though the graphics can be outdated some DOS games are a lot more fun that newer ones. Due to the limitations of the available technology the story was very important. Getting a DOS game to run, however, can be tricky.
Download Free Games – This site has a section of free games that can be downloaded. It looks like many of them are also available at Adventure Game Studio but this is still a good listing.
Linux Game Tome – If you’re a linux user, this site lists a number of free games for Linux.
Cheap (Affordable) Video Games
Game du Jour – This site sells a game for half price every single day. I’ve found a couple of good ones here. I subscribe to their feed and check it each day.
Good Old Games – Good Old Games sells DRM free, critically acclaimed games for download that are compatible with Windows XP and Vista for very low prices. They are adding to their catalog all the time and seem to run specials every weekend. Since I am a collector I already own boxed versions of the games in which I am interested but this is still a great resource and we need more publishers to get involved.
Big Fish Games – This is a personal favorite although regular priced games aren’t cheap. What is a good deal, however, is the game club membership. You agree to pay $6.99/month and you get the game of your choice for that price. And all other additional games that you want to buy are the same low price. Otherwise games are $19.99. They also send cool gifts to members like magnets, and a stuffed big fish. I really enjoy the hidden object games and this is the best place to get them.
Resources
Dos Box – Dos Box is software that emulates an Intel x86 PC allowing older games, including sound, to be played on new computers. Since it is an emulator, there are Windows, Linux and MAC versions so old games can be played on just about any modern system. DosBox has a bit of a learning curve for non-technical types but I doubt those are the people wanting to play DOS games in the first place. ;-)
Cheap Ass Gamer – This site lists the online and in store deals on new games. Through them you can find out what games are on sale and what stores and get the best deal on the new game.
photo credit: Shrued
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March 25, 2009 at 10:40 am
This is an excellent post Kim! You know how much i appreciate it ;) I am really excited with this gaming week ;)
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March 25, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Hi Stratos – Hope you have time to play!
March 25, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Kim, I need a follow up post on how to play these games at work without getting caught ;)
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March 25, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Hi Manshu – LOL – Do you like to play games? Unfortunately, I’ve never had a job where I could play at work. I would feel too guilty about it anyway.
March 26, 2009 at 12:45 am
Hi Kim,
I need to give DosBox another go. I want to catch up on some of the old school games I missed the first time. I’m dying to play Alone in the Dark again., :-)
I’m going to check out the other sites too.
Thanks!
Jim
March 26, 2009 at 8:45 am
Hi Jim – Some games are easier than others to run in DosBox. Alone in the Dark wouldn’t be my first choice but I know you enjoyed it when you were a kid ;-)
March 26, 2009 at 10:49 am
Awesome Kim. Time to try out some old DOS games.
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March 26, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Hi Madhur – Do you have any old favorites?
March 29, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Yeah, used to play a lot of Doom, Wolfestein, Sky, Dave, Hexen, Heretic
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March 26, 2009 at 10:54 am
Thanks Kim, I don’t play many video games but my husband and kids do.
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March 26, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Hi Tracy – Yay! gog.com just added Ubisoft games for $9.99 – a really good deal.
February 25, 2010 at 1:36 pm
But some are also older games that are being given a new life and are being made available to download for a very good price.
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February 25, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Gog is a great resource! Unfortunately, for me I own all of the older games that I want they offer. Maybe one day they’ll have something that I don’t. (I have a huge game collection).
March 26, 2009 at 2:10 pm
If you’re a fan of the old Nintendo games, you should try Nintendo 8. They have a lot of games you can play for free right on their website. One tip – since you can’t save your progress, you have to be sure to leave the browser open – don’t open another tab over it either, as it will mess up your game.
~ Kristi
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March 26, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Hi Kristi – Thanks! Though not being able to save would be hard …
March 27, 2009 at 9:44 am
I love games, and I used to play online games when I could. I got so involved that I even started my own games site.
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March 27, 2009 at 10:23 am
Hi Sire – What kind of games do you like? I like hidden object, point and click adventure games and some rpg’s.
March 27, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I like RPG’s and was really into the text versions like Zork when it first came out. When I used to have my BBS I was into Lord Of The Red Dragon. Some of the games they have today, graphic wise, are unreal but not so much fun as far as game play goes. I’ve got one game on my site called Bloody Pinguin, feel free to delete the link if you need to, which I tried for ages to beat the high score, to no avail. Perhaps I should give it another go, but a bit busy at the moment.
Sire´s last blog post – An Aspect Of Affiliate Marketing That May Lead To Higher Conversions
March 31, 2009 at 2:13 am
Awesome list Kim. I am not a big gaming fan though I try to build my PC with a gaming configuration (now outdated) sometime ago. I used to enjoy those old and simple DOS games (like tetris) a lot and test drove Hitman bloodmoney sometime back only to test my PC then.
I am sure, somebody like Madhur will relish these links :) Almost all tweets from him is about what he’s playing…
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March 31, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Hi Ajith – Yes, Madhur does seem to like playing games :-)
I like video games too – don’t have much time for them anymore though. That’s why they need to be free or cheap :-)
April 4, 2009 at 1:47 pm
This is a great post, thanks for the useful info! I’m definitely going to have to give Dos Box a try! I’ve been wanting to get some of my old games working, like the original Bard’s Tale games and D&D games!
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April 5, 2009 at 8:05 am
Hi – Sometimes you need patience to get DosBox running but it is definitely worth it. And almost all the old DOS games will run in it without a problem.
May 28, 2009 at 12:53 am
Thank you so much this one is extremely helpful I was looking for some old games and some of the sites mentioned above has a good collection of them. I love it.
May 28, 2009 at 7:14 am
Hi – You’re welcome :-) I hope you find some good ones.
June 11, 2009 at 8:28 am
Wow, impressive and Brilliant collection of Best games….Can you fill me in more?
June 11, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Hi – I don’t really have any more sites for free games. You should be
able to find something on one of these sites.