101 Free Games for 2008

From Angry Boulders to Wormux, 1up and Games for Windows magazine offers a massive list of 101 free games. "While you're waiting around for the next Orange Territory: Biogate Crisis-- Tournament in Conflict to appear, hundreds of little independent and free games piling up unplayed. And believe it or not, saving pennies can put you on the cutting edge, as today's freebies are résumés for tomorrow's gaming greats: The team that created Portal cut its teeth on Narbacular Drop; the PlayStation 3 downloadable hit Everyday Shooter got its start as potential PC freeware--until Sony scooped it up after a gangbusters Game Developers Conference showing. So make a new Year's resolution: Let 2008 be the Year of Freeware."

Wormux not so great

[Sowelu]

I hate to say it, but as a Worms: Armageddon addict, I tried out Wormux hoping for a better alternative to W:A's central network server and required CD... ...and it plays like trash. Worms is the Macintosh of games, the user experience has been finely honed and is absolutely a central part of the product. Wormux has bad animations and controls that feel *wrong*, and lots of irritating graphical glitches. Maybe you can get used to it and enjoy it, but I deleted it after fifteen minutes. Not sure what version I had, but it was current as of a few months ago. And I was all excited, too. :/ If it really does get better as time goes on, call me in a few years--but I have my doubts about its eventual graphics and sound quality. Free games usually fail there, and those are two things Worms is all about.

Shameless Plugs

[Xaroth]

Every time I see one of these lists, I can't help but take a moment to mention the project I'm working on in my spare time, PseudoQuest [pseudoquest.com]. It's a humorous casual RPG, written entirely by just me in PHP/MySQL/JavaScript/AJAX (well, as much as anything can be "written" in AJAX ;) ). Free to play, supported by players buying in-game clothing and other non-game-related stuff. Still in open Beta, so please excuse the mess.

Also, this article is well-timed, since Xfire is putting on a series of chats with a handful of people from the indie game community next week. On the 24th is a freestyle chat to ask the guests anything, and the 25th is a structured debate about the future of indie gaming. More details can be found on the Xfire website [xfire.com]. Guests include Jay Barnson of Rampant Games, Jenova Chen of Fl0w fame, Josiah Pisciotta who helped create Gish, several other big names in the indie scene, as well as yours truly (clearly the odd man out... heh).

Best Free Independant Game for Nerds

[Zutroi_Zatatakowsky]

It is Dwarf Fortress, of course. One of the most complex game ever made, especially with a 2-men team.

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ [bay12games.com]

Misleading Title...

[namayake]

Not all of these games were released in the past year. La Mulana was released in 2005 and Lyle In Cube Sector, 2006. And since this seems to be a compilation of some of the best freeware games released on the Windows platform I'm surprised there's no mention of the epitome of freeware, non-linear adventure/platformers:

Cave Story
http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/ [miraigamer.net]

The game is so popular it has a dedicated modding community and has had official and non-official ports of it made for portable platforms. The non-official port was for the PSP. To the Cave Story community and the Author's horror, some company was actually trying to sell the game as their own work.

La-Mulana

[Wilson_6500]

It's on the list, but let me throw out a good word or two for La-Mulana.

If there are any MSX fans out there, you'll recognize a heavy influence on La-Mulana in the old MSX game "Maze of Galious." For the rest of us (never had an MSX myself) La-Mulana plays a lot like the modern "Metrovania" games: you play a character who platforms his way through a large labyrinth of diverse enemies and environments, searching as you go for items that let you access new areas and give you new abilities. The game's been compared to Cave Story (another excellent Metrovania-like platformer), except that La-Mulana is less linear, emphasizes exploration, and does not have as strong of a plot as Cave Story. Make no mistake that this game is, as it is often described, both hard and unforgiving. Attacking certain parts of the environment, for instance, in a random search for hidden passages or puzzle solutions may well result in your character being struck by lightning for lots of damage. There are many traps in the ruins you're exploring--some will seal off approaches to areas, some will lock you out of weapon upgrades. You can, however, solve just about every puzzle in the game by careful note-taking of the warnings provided by the many monuments in the game, as well as by carefully mapping the ruins. The developers were tired of games that you could finish just by "trying everything" without having to really think. La-Mulana wants you to think like an archaeologist--coincidentally, you play one--and to try to determine what might happen as a result of your actions, rather than just assuming you'll solve the puzzle if you hit all the switches in the room in the right order.

The game's not for everyone. For one, it's very long--probably something like 10-20 hours depending on if you struggle through yourself or have a prior playthrough to think back to. You can expect to spend time backtracking, although the areas aren't all that large and you can get from one to the other very quickly thanks to the handy teleportation system. It's really a game that emphasizes exploration, puzzle-solving, and careful thought. There are, however, a number of video walkthroughs where people throw themselves at the game and break upon its rocky shores (some are downright hilarious). The "Let's Play La Mulana" series on Youtube is the one I know of, and it's worthwhile to watch the last twelve or so videos even if you never intend to play the game--they consist of the commentator/player running through the game's hidden challenge area, and those of you who can indulge in schadenfreude will get a kick out of seeing the guy's reward for actually finishing the challenge.

Anyhow, the link is given in the article, but you can find La Mulana here as well. It comes highly recommended.