The best free games in 2024 that you can start playing today
Here’s one trick Sony and Microsoft don’t want you to know: You don’t have to spend $70 to play a good game. These days, courtesy of in-app payments and the ease of offering both a sample of a title alongside its full-fat version, there are actually plenty of great games to play that won’t cost you a dime. And quality has never been higher across mobile, PC and consoles, so regardless of which platform or device you prefer, you’ll find a number of great free games to choose from.
Of course, there’s always a catch. Many free-to-play games are engineered to empty out your wallet as efficiently as possible, so throughout this guide we’ll call out what exactly you get for free, and where the game will try to upsell you. To get started, though, we wanted to highlight some ways to play games for free that don’t involve microtransactions, skins and countless upsells.
Open-source classics
If you’re a gamer of a certain age, chances are you have some favorites. Chances are, other people far more talented than you have the same favorites, and have worked in some way to preserve and modernize those games. Take Civilization II, a classic turn-based strategy game that’s due (yet another) sequel very soon — that has a number of open-source ports, including the remarkably faithful Civ2clone, which with a little work can be up-and-running on your PC or Mac in minutes. If you have an old favorite, it’s likely someone has figured out how to get it working on your machine of choice.
Mods
Mods have made many a game relevant for long after its natural lifespan. Doom II is perhaps the most famous example, with thousands of add-ons created over the years. MyHouse.WAD made headlines and some game-of-the-year lists last year; it’s a House of Leaves-inspired mess of a game. It’s also free! While not every mod can be MyHouse.WAD, there are several games with big modding communities, and sites that organize those communities and help you find the best experiences. Search around on Google or Reddit and you’ll find some things you love. Recently I’ve been playing The Immortal Lock, a very modern-feeling epic map built on Quake, which you can pick up on Slipseer.
itch.io
itch.io is a giant depository of indie gems. It’s a place where independent developers sell their games, but it’s also filled to the brim with demos, prototypes, game jam games and other free titles ready to be downloaded or played on-site. Some of my favorite games ever, like Doki Doki Literature Club, are just sitting there waiting to be played, with many developers opting for a “name your price” method, where the game is free but they encourage you to pay if you have the means. If you’re ever stuck on what to play, don’t look at the latest Steam or PlayStation sale, look at itch.io.
Best free games for kids
We’ve all heard stories about kids blowing their parents’ life savings on Fortnite skins and, while adequate parenting should prevent that, many free-to-play games have elements of gambling and advertising in them that you may not want to expose your child to. Mobile and PC app stores are full of titles promising to be kid-friendly, but it’s best to do your own research before setting your toddler wild on them.
There are some useful resources out there, like Common Sense Media, which has a set of reviewers who are mostly focused on determining whether a game, show or movie is suitable for children, and also offers information on privacy, such as whether personal information is passed onto advertisers. Common Sense Media is a non-profit and allows you to read a few reviews free of charge each month, but you can upgrade to read every review on the site for a month for $4. If you’re not down for spending money (which, given this is a free games guide…), many games have ESRB ratings to help out, which you can find in their listings on both iOS and Android.
With that said, we do have a few recommendations for kids to get you started:
PBS Kids
Supported platforms: Android, iOS, web
For really young kids, it’s tough to go wrong with PBS Kids. The venerable broadcaster has a website packed to the gills with games based on popular shows like Sesame Street, Arthur and Clifford. Everything is family friendly, and there are no ads or upsells — except maybe on some printer ink for their print-at-home coloring sheets. If you don’t like the idea of letting your kid use a web browser, PBS has an app for just its games on both Android and iOS.
Duolingo ABC
Supported platforms: Android, iOS
At some point, your child will realize you’re tricking them into learning, but until they reach that level of critical thinking, Duolingo ABC is a great shout. It’s a fun and educational app that’s very much structured like a game, but is designed to improve reading comprehension, fluency and vocabulary for preschool and K-2 kids. On loading up the app, you’ll be able to quickly establish the “difficulty” of the games and help your kid to slowly work their way up through the levels to reading nirvana. Just like PBS Kids, Duolingo ABC is completely free, with no in-app purchases or upsells.
Lego Tower
Supported platforms: Android, iOS
This is a Lego-fied take on the old Tiny Tower formula, where you can build upward and upward to customize a little town in the sky. Being a Lego product, you can be sure it’s kid-friendly, though the game itself is better suited for kids between 2nd and 6th grade.
Lego Tower is playable without spending money, but many of the typical free-to-play upsells are there, such as paid upgrades for customization and speeding up how fast new floors are built. The game is also effectively one big ad for Lego, so even if you can’t buy a set from within the app, there’s a non-zero chance your child will be asking you to swipe at a Lego Store sometime soon.
Spaceteam
Supported platforms: Android, iOS
Spaceteam is a multiplayer game that’s fun for kids and adults alike. It requires multiple devices, and for all players to be in the same physical space, but otherwise is entirely playable for free.
Each player will see a control board with a different selection of nonsensical dials and buttons on their screen. Then, the game will send random instructions out to players — the instruction on your screen will relate to someone else’s control board, so you’ll have to physically shout out “set the Spectrobolt to 3!” in order to progress. It’s good for all ages, but the made-up scientific-sounding terms will require a good level of reading comprehension.
Free games for kids on Xbox or PlayStation
If you have a console at home, there are many different options available. Some of the games in our main list above are a good fit. Trackmania has an ESRB rating of E (for “everyone”), and has lots of free activities inside. If you’re happy setting a kid loose on a first-person shooter, Overwatch 2 and Valorant allow you to customize the level of interaction you have with others. For example, voice and text chat can be disabled entirely, which would stop them from interacting with adults unsupervised.
There are also some kid-friendly free-to-play takes on popular genres. Lego Fortnite, for example, is a sanitized take on Fortnite that’s a better fit for younger children. Rocket League is an online game that’s basically soccer with cars, though you may want to turn off text and voice chat for young children. Both contain in-app purchases, but only for cosmetic items, and they’re fairly light on pushing them.
Free games for kids on Nintendo Switch
Nintendo has free-to-play, kid-friendly spins on a number of popular genres. Want a sanitized take on Diablo? Try Pokémon Quest. It’s a free-to-play game with a few microtransactions mostly intended as shortcuts to speed up progression. Want an all-action brawler? Try Super Kirby Clash. Its main campaign is totally free, though you can buy extra currency to speed up progression.
Outside of those titles, many of the games included in this guide are available on Switch. Lego Fortnite, Overwatch 2 and Apex Legends are all present, and you can set boundaries for online play and communication to fit your needs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-free-games-163045609.html?src=rss
