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Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
This thread is for sharing links to where you can get a game for free. However, it's only for games that used to cost money at some point. I'll also avoid anything with microtransactions. Free re-implementations of games are cool too, as long as they work without needing files from a non-free game. So OpenTTD is cool, CorsixTH isn't.

Here in the OP I'll try to maintain a list of old games that have been re-released for free. Post suggestions, I'll add them here.

I'll also post about offers where you can temporarily grab a game for free. Steam seems to have one about every other weekend

You can start with this:
Origin

Origin has stopped doing their "On the House" rotation of freebies :(

Their Free games is gone too.

Steam

Steam has "Free to Play" category, but it contains both fully free and microtransaction supported games. It may take a while to dig out the good stuff from the mountains of F2P MMO's in there. I did find this list on Reddit that tries to list some 100% free games.

Here's a small list of goon recommendations:


Gog.com

Our favourite DRM-free shop for games old and new. A small selection of free games is available.

Failmid.com

Failmid.com almost constantly has a giveaway going on. Most of them are bad, but what's on offer will change frequently. The deals are sometimes bullshit, I've seen 'em "give away" instructions to install Origin and grab the Origin's freebie, or some in-game items for a f2p game.

IndieGala

IndieGala has a Steam key giveaway every now and then, but the process in order to get it is a bit convoluted. I call this "The IndieGala Dance".

1. Scroll down a bit to find it, it's covered under a thing saying "Like us on Facebook/Follow us on Twitter!", which you need to close first by clicking the X in the top right.
2. Link your steam account to indiegala by signing in to indiegala with your Steam credentials
3. Join the Indiegala group on Steam http://steamcommunity.com/groups/indiegala
4. Make sure your steam profile is set to public
5. Claim the game on the indiegala site
6. Find the Steam key under Library --> Bundles --> Indiegala Giveaways and then add it to Steam.
7. (Optional) Return your Steam profile to Private or Friends Only, unfollow the IndieGala group

Gleam.io

Sometimes there's a giveaway via Gleam.io. Hope you like engaging with brands!

These are the shadiest of the bunch, because they don't even tell you up front what they want from you. Only after you've performed a few tasks, will they show you the rest, the sunk cost fallacy at work :downs: I'll take the bullet for you guys and show you the full list of tasks up front.

You'll be required to join Steam groups (which means setting your profile to public for the duration of the exercise), subscribe to Youtube channels, like things on Facebook, retweet advertisements etc. Oddly, many of their checks will pass you even if they don't completely work. I managed to pass tasks that involved retweeting/following on twitter, despite not having a twitter account.

You can unsubscribe/set back to private/leave/delete whatever once you've received the key.

Archive.org

Archive.org has a whole bunch of old DOS games. You cannot download them, but instead run them directly from your browser. https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games Use Ctrl+F12 to speed up the emulation if you're having issues.

Install them yourself

Some games just have to be installed the old-fashioned way by downloading a .zip, .exe or .iso or .deb
  • Battlezone (1998) FPS/RTS hybrid. Including an update to work on modern systems. http://www.battlezone1.com/
  • The old Command & Conquer games. If you can find a host that still has the files. Start here. Other places to try are Fileplanet, for C&C and Tiberian Sun. There may be some issues getting these to work on modern systems, especially multiplayer. Ahundredbux suggests combining them with OpenRA.
  • OpenTTD: A freeware port of Transport Tycoon Deluxe. For a few years now, it comes with its own graphics and sound files, so you don't need the original game to get this running. It also adds a whole bunch of new stuff to the game. Old SA thread on the game.
  • Renegade-X: http://renegade-x.com/ A re-implementation of Command & Conquer Renegade, multiplayer only.
  • The Spirit Engine 2: http://thespiritengine.com/tse2-download.php 2d sidescrolling RPG via Amppelix. Almost all mirrors have broken, get it while you can!
  • Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters: http://sc2.sourceforge.net/ The full game, made to work on modern systems, including Linux. Hosted on Sourceforge, download at own risk.
  • Tribes: Almost all of them You can download almost all of the games in the Tribes series for free directly from the developers http://www.tribesuniverse.com/

Stick Insect fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Nov 17, 2018

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CowboyAndy
Aug 7, 2012
Great! I've been looking forward to playing consortium.

Wikipedia has a list of commerical to freeware games:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_video_games_released_as_freeware

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Missing from that list is Altitude: http://store.steampowered.com/app/41300/

At some point it was made free, and also finally got widescreen support. It's a fun game for a LAN party with a bunch of different modes. I'm rather fond of the 3 vs 3 football (the soccer one) mode.

Iron Prince
Aug 28, 2005
Buglord
Thanks for the tip on Omikron. Been interested in checking this one out since it was first released.

Edit: Used the America site, just add the promo code in your cart and check out. Asks for name and address, but you can just put whatever down and hit next, doesn't ask for any payment info in the next step and just emails you the key which you can use on Steam.

Iron Prince fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Jan 17, 2016

Endorph
Jul 22, 2009
every mmo made in the past 5 years

CowboyAndy
Aug 7, 2012

Endorph posted:

every mmo

Also, here's You Have to WIn the Game: a fun, metroid-ish game.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/286100/

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Soulbringer, Steam

Go here, give them an e-mail: https://www.indiegala.com/free2play

It's quite aggressive about having you like them on FB or link steam account and join their steam group, but I managed to get this to work without doing that. I already had an account with IndieGala but I think you'll have to register one if you don't.

After logging in, go to "My Account", "My Libraries", "IndieGala Giveaways", "Soulbringer" and then you can view the key and add it to Steam.

Amppelix
Aug 6, 2010

The Spirit Engine 2: http://thespiritengine.com/tse2-download.php

The first game as well, but that was always free, and also it's just not very good.

Also I just checked and all except one of those mirrors is dead. Get it while it still exists!

Ahundredbux
Oct 25, 2007

The right to bear arms
Jade Empire should still be free, you need an origin account to download and play it though.

https://www.origin.com/store/free-games/on-the-house

habituallyred
Feb 6, 2015
Seconding the Spirit Engine 2 recommendation. I remember that it was on my "to buy someday" list back in college. Then it came out for free and I missed a small test playing it. If the official mirrors ever fail I will dig up new links.

Up Circle
Apr 3, 2008
Remember when far cry 1 was sponsored by MCdonalds? Good times.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
The Deer, an educational game for kids. Currently half price on Steam, but 100% off if you get it here: http://failmid.com/

I dunno how long the offer will last. You get a Steam code.

X-Blades, an action game featuring an anime in her underwear. You get a Steam key. This one requires an "unlimited Steam profile" meaning you must have made at least one paid purchase with it.

http://blog.bundlestars.com/post/137558928164/free-steam-key-xblades
This one requires you to set your profile to public and sign up for a bunch of promotional materials.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

Origin has a rotating free game. I've gotten Peggle, one of the classic C&C games, and a few others from it. You have to install and use Origin, but hey, free games :v:

drunkill
Sep 25, 2007

me @ ur posting
Fallen Rib
C&C, C&C Red Alert, C&C Tiberian Sun (and expansions for all three) are freeware, you can find .iso' online, on some EA website unless they've hidden them. I don't think they're on the westwood FTP but I haven't searched it in a few years. ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Those C&C files may be tricky to get, many of the old hosts have been taken down.

I found a few on Fileplanet:

C&C http://www.fileplanet.com/107766/0/section/Game-Clients/
C&C Tiberian Sun: http://www.fileplanet.com/210105/download/Command-&-Conquer:-Tiberian-Sun-%28Full-Game%29

There may be some issues getting these to work on modern systems, especially multiplayer.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Street Racing Syndicate, Steam Key, via https://www.indiegala.com/trades#giveaway

Process is the same as with Soulbringer a few days ago.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Monster Truck Destruction https://www.hrkgame.com/giveaway/get-free-game/

Not available in my region, so I couldn't test this one.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Sven Co-op is a mod that turns Half Life 1 into a co-operative multiplayer experience. It's just been put on Steam for free, and it includes all the necessary files from HL1, so you don't need to buy that. If you somehow didn't own it already.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/225840/

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
The Internet/computer relics thread occasionally delivers an old game that's gone free.

I remember playing Battlezone 1 (RTS/FPS hybrid) when I was younger, and it's been updated to work on modern systems. http://www.battlezone1.com/

Ahundredbux
Oct 25, 2007

The right to bear arms

drunkill posted:

C&C, C&C Red Alert, C&C Tiberian Sun (and expansions for all three) are freeware, you can find .iso' online, on some EA website unless they've hidden them. I don't think they're on the westwood FTP but I haven't searched it in a few years. ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/

Consider combining these with OpenRA

program666
Aug 22, 2013

A giant carnivorous dinosaur
I guess you could add Open TTD to the list

Good soup!
Nov 2, 2010

I enter "omikron" in the code box at checkout but it just tells me "This code is invalid for those products." :what:

Dark_Swordmaster
Oct 31, 2011
Promotion may be over at this point.

Are you willing to update OP constantly? It's a lot of work but a one stop shop for all the things seems neat.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
A curated list might be worth it for stuff that's permanently free like C&C and TTD. Everything else is of a very temporary nature so there seems little point. Subscribe for updates, grab 'em while you can

Edit: Updated OP.

Stick Insect fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Jan 31, 2016

ColoradoCleric
Dec 26, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Don't forget about Renegade X, a remake of CnC Renegade on a modern engine: http://renegade-x.com/

Coolguye
Jul 6, 2011

Required by his programming!
That doesn't include the campaign, does it?

Damn Dirty Ape
Jan 23, 2015

I love you Dr. Zaius



Star Control 2 (retitled 'The Ur-Quan Masters' for the free release)

http://sc2.sourceforge.net/

Just one of my favorite games of all time, so I thought it should be on the list.

BlueKingBar
Jan 25, 2016

Hey guys let's just literally never talk to me again maybe that'll fix things

Stick Insect posted:

I remember playing Battlezone 1 (RTS/FPS hybrid) when I was younger, and it's been updated to work on modern systems. http://www.battlezone1.com/

Seriously, if you like RTS games and you haven't played this, please do. It's the poo poo. Also its single player campaign is really loving hard.

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.
Origin's freebie of the month is now Need for Speed: Most Wanted

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house

MeatloafCat
Apr 10, 2007
I can't think of anything to put here.
Archive.org has a pretty good collection of old DOS games, although you can't download them and have to play them in-browser. Some of the games don't run very well, but pressing Ctrl+F12 a bunch of times to speed up DOSbox does work. I was very excited to see that they have Seal Team and Stunt Island as those have been very hard to find anywhere else. There are some silly things though, like to get Stunt Island to work you have to quit the game and run the crack program (unless you have a copy of the manual) and because it's in browser you have to do that every time you want to play it.

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games

overeager overeater
Oct 16, 2011

"The cosmonauts were transfixed with wonderment as the sun set - over the Earth - there lucklessly, untethered Comrade Todd on fire."



Hi-Rez Studios made all the Tribes games available for free a while back:

http://www.tribesuniverse.com/

Stick Insect
Oct 24, 2010

My enemies are many.

My equals are none.

MeatloafCat posted:

Archive.org has a pretty good collection of old DOS games, although you can't download them and have to play them in-browser. Some of the games don't run very well, but pressing Ctrl+F12 a bunch of times to speed up DOSbox does work. I was very excited to see that they have Seal Team and Stunt Island as those have been very hard to find anywhere else. There are some silly things though, like to get Stunt Island to work you have to quit the game and run the crack program (unless you have a copy of the manual) and because it's in browser you have to do that every time you want to play it.

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games

This is such an obvious one, how could I have missed it! Thanks for the suggestion.

Dark_Swordmaster
Oct 31, 2011
Consortium is back to being free for the next 40 hours or so on GoG!


It's actually a loving awesome game and this is an attempt to drum up interest in their sequel Kickstarter that's sadly not doing so hot.

Watrick
Mar 15, 2007

C:enter:###

Dark_Swordmaster posted:

Consortium is back to being free for the next 40 hours or so on GoG!


It's actually a loving awesome game and this is an attempt to drum up interest in their sequel Kickstarter that's sadly not doing so hot.

Thank you for posting this. I wanted this and free is a great price.

Dark_Swordmaster
Oct 31, 2011
Steam's having a handful of games for free from this love-not-war poo poo!

I had absolutely no idea about any of this until today when spotting that PCGamer article that I linked to (the links to the games themselves are in it) and it's a weird thing.

Apparently everyone gets Jet Set Radio and Golden Axe and Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit for free. On February 18th you can get Streets of Rage 2, Binary Domain, and Condemned: Criminal Origins.


The prize pack can also be found on the promotion page which I literally cannot find ANY description of the promotion on. I had no idea this was a thing. Weird. What the gently caress is going on?

Dark_Swordmaster
Oct 31, 2011
The second set of Sega's free games from this War Not Love thing is now available. That's Streets of Rage 3, Binary Domain, and Condemned: Criminal Origins.

The first is a Sega Genesis beat'emup, the second is a very enjoyable third person shooter that's kind of silly (a robot that talks with a French accent), and the third is a first person horror game where you investigate why the city's entire hobo population has developed a HUGE murderboner. All three games are great.


The process is different and you now pop onto the promotion's official website and enter in your email to get Steam keys that way.


There looks like there's going to be a third stage with Gunstar Heroes, Renegade Ops, and Vikings. I'll make a post then too.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
When they ask you to allow up to 24 hours for a response on the second batch of keys, they're not kidding.

Buller
Nov 6, 2010
http://soldat.pl/en/

Just got an update.

Pneub
Mar 12, 2007

I'M THE DEVIL, AND I WILL WASH OVER THE EARTH AND THE SEAS WILL RUN RED WITH THE BLOOD OF ALL THE SINNERS

I AM REBORN
The Marathon series has been freeware for about 10 years :

https://alephone.lhowon.org/

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Dark_Swordmaster
Oct 31, 2011
Finally the third stage of Sega's War Not Love promotion is available.


This includes Gunstar Heroes, a classic sidescrolling Genesis game that actually was one of my favorites, Renegade Ops which is a twin-stick shooter that has a billion explosions and up to four player co-op and it's actually a very fun title (multiple vehicles and weapons, actually kind of challenging, EXPLOSIONS), and Viking: Battle for Asgard which I know absolutely nothing about but looking at the Steam page it looks like it's "What if you controlled one super warrior in a Total War game?"

Like the rest of this promotion these are free for a limited time so if you don't get them within the next day or two you missed out.

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