The Free Site: Free Games

The Web's Best FREE Games

Sometimes, I wonder how computer game companies stay in business. There are so many great free games out there on the Net, that one could spend a lifetime and not play all of them.
In this section, we offer a roundup of the Web's best freeware games, demos and free online games. Everything we list here is well worth the download time.

Super Bowl Games - Get in the spirit of Super Bowl Week with the fun, free online games at ShockRave. Titles here include Super Bowl Dash, Pass Attack and Football Jigsaw. These arcade games are easy to learn and addictive. (Requires the Shockwave plugin and a reasonably speedy (28.8 or better) connection).
Free Solitaire - A cutting-edge collection of eight solitaire games that features large, realistic card graphics. If you're tired of squinting at the tiny cards in other solitaire games, then this free game is for you. You can even use any image you'd like as a card back. Games included are Forty Thieves, Free Cell, Indian Patience, Klondike, Montana, Pyramid, Sea Towers and Spider. 1.16 megabytes. Pentium required. (For Windows 95/98/NT).
TournamentGames.Com - Do you enjoy playing the solitaire game that came with your computer? Looking for a better challenge, as well as the chance to compete with others online and win prizes? TournamentGames.Com offers a free, fun online solitaire game with weekly $50 prizes. Features nice graphics and sound. (For Windows 95/98).
BingoMania - Play bingo online and win prizes at this free, fun new site. Just download the free bingo client (For Windows) and start playing. While you play, you can chat with other players & the staff and also keep tabs on the standings. BingoMania offers prizes ranging from $25 to $1,000.
NASCAR Racing 2 offer - Normally, we don't list offers that cost anything. But this is a great deal. For only $1, you get a free copy of the full commercial version of the critically acclaimed driving game, "NASCAR Racing 2," plus a no-obligation 3-month membership to Netmarket, a discount Web retailer. There's no obligation to continue your membership after the trial period. Requires a credit card. (U.S. only).
Gametown Emulation - Sure, today's cutting-edge multimedia games are fun. But there's something special about the classics of yesteryear, like PacMan and Space Invaders. (Perhaps the fact that they're still so addictive). This site specializes in the golden oldies of gaming. Using the "emulators" linked here, you can play these original arcade titles on your computer, for free. Be sure to read their disclaimer. (For PCs and Macs).
MyAdventures.com - Looking for some quick, free gaming fun? MyAdventures.com is a good place to go for Web-based gaming. Here, you'll find such blasts from the past as Asteroids, Pacman, Centipede, Breakout, Pong and Blackjack, as well as newer games. There's plenty of other original, entertaining titles here as well.
Caribbean Sands - A flashy, freeware casino program that lets you either gamble online for real or offline, just for fun. It offers 3D rendered graphics & animation and digital sound and voice. Full context sensitive help. There are 17 games now offered, including blackjack, roulette, Caribbean poker, video poker, sports betting, baccarat, craps, and four slot machines. (For Win 95/98/NT). Note: the Sands now offers a "comp" program, where you can earn a free four-day package trip for two to Las Vegas, Orlando or Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.
123 Free Solitaire - Here's an excellent freeware card game program that features good layout, speedy game play, sounds, extensive options, and a nice help feature. SolSuite includes five solitaire games (Fourteen Out, FreeCell, Golf, Klondike and Pyramid). 1.8 megabytes. (For Windows 95, 98 and NT).
Xena Breakout - In this addictive, freeware game, you play Xena, the conquering heroine, and bounce a ball to destroy a variety of structures and opponents. Your foes here include the Romans, Vampires and Caesar himself. A must for Xena fans. Gameplay is similar to the old arcade classic, Breakout. Here's a screen shot. 1.5 megabytes. (For Windows 98/95).
Hookworm II - You know, Tetris isn't the only addictive, classic game to emerge from Russia. Take this fun, free arcade title, for example, in which you play the role of a battling worm. Features nice graphics and dynamics, a "DeathMatch" mode in which you can compete against others, and a global statistic system. Offered in English and Russian versions. 415 kilobytes. (For Windows 98/95).
Bingo Blitz - Here's a free online game in which you can win cash prizes by playing bingo. This game works just like your standard bingo: just mark off the numbers as they're "called" and if you can complete the shape they're looking for (sometimes it's an X, sometimes a Z, etc.) then click the "Bingo" button and you've won. You'll need to register to play (registering is also free).
Free kids' games from Microsoft - Here's a roundup of free educational, fun games for children from Microsoft. Titles include "The Magic School Bus," "Escaping Monkey," "Skeleton Puzzle" and "Meteor Meltdown." (For Windows 98/95).
MSN Gaming Zone - Looking for some real, live competition in free online gaming? If so, this site is hard to beat. Microsoft's gaming center is the biggest resource of its type on the Web, with over 2 million registered users. Membership is free. The Zone supports up to 16,000 online players simultaneously at peak times. Free games here include backgammon, bridge, checkers, chess, cribbage, go, hearts, Mind Aerobics, reversi, spades and Bingo Blitz.
- MSN Gaming Zone now offers a much-improved interface, which features a real-time display of the number of people playing different games. This feature makes it easier to locate opponents to compete against.
- Among MSN Gaming Zone's more helpful new features is its free ranking system, which shows you how you stack up versus the competition.
Arkanoid For Win32 - Remember the classic, addictive game, Breakout? Arkanoid is a new freeware version that updates the ball-and-paddle game of yesteryear. Steer your spaceship to destroy the blocks, collecting power-ups to improve your ship as you move through increasing levels of difficulty. This newly released version includes new features, levels and effects. (For Windows 95/98. 614 kilobytes).
Nali City - If you own a copy of Epic's amazing commercial first-person shooter game, "Unreal," then stop by this site, which is perhaps the Web's top resource for free Unreal add-ons. Nali City features over 400 free maps and 100 free mods for use with Unreal. Each map is rated and reviewed and features a screenshot. Unfortunately, there is no free demo yet available for Unreal, although one is promised soon.
Tomb Raider III - The baddest cyber-babe around, Lara Croft, returns in this much-anticipated sequel. There's a number of changes to the package this time around. There's an all-new game engine, new effects and the game world is much less linear and more open than before. Besides this free, fully playable demo, this site also offers free wallpaper, so you can pay homage to Lara on your desktop. For Windows 95/98.
Riven demo CD-ROM - Send in your request for a free CD-ROM, featuring an interactive demo of Riven, which offers "a glimpse of Riven's mysterious, richly-detailed, stunning world." This demo features an interactive journal, as well as a section where you can explore and uncover clues in one of the richly-detailed worlds of Riven. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. (U.S. only).
Trivia Blitz - Trivia Blitz is an addictive, Java-based game consisting of ever-changing multiple-choice questions. If you score 1,500 points or more in a 7-question round, you become eligible to win $25. Click here to play Trivia Blitz.
Heretic II - This fun title is a combination of a first-person shooter (like Quake) and a third-person adventure game (like Tomb Raider). Features rich graphics, innovative gameplay, awesome weapons and terrifying monsters. This free, fully playable demo offers loads of action, as well as network play. 35.6 megabytes. (For Windows 95/98). Note: site is busy and can be difficult to access at times.
Free children's games - The excellent children's Web site, Nick Jr., offers a new, free educational game for preschoolers every week. (For Windows and Macs).
HEAT.net - This impressive site gives you a way to play over 50 top games like Quake II and Total Annihilation again live competition over the Net. This service uses proprietary game launch software called Katalyst that'll let you play games online. (It's a five megabyte program for Windows 95/98). HEAT.net also offers free games for download. If you participate in HEAT.net's special event and tournaments, you can earn "Degrees," which you can redeem for games and merchandise. Note that while this service is free, in many cases, you must own the commercial games themselves to participate.
Free Full Fantasy Football - It's still not too late to sign up for Yahoo! Sports fantasy football game. This game "hands you the reins of your own franchise of gridiron pros" and lets you trade, waive, bench or play your own pro athletes. It offers head-to-head competition with opponents from your office or worldwide.
Madden NFL 99 - This cutting-edge, eye-popping sports title is probably the best football computer game ever made. This free demo offers a fine taste of the game's stunning high-resolution polygon graphics, absorbing gameplay, as well as a new Play Editor and Custom Playbook. Note: this site is inaccessible at times. 15.5 megabytes. (For Windows 95/98). Pentium 133 or better required.
Grim Fandango - Here's a fantastic adventure game that is heavily influenced by film noir and Mexican folklore. One of the main characters is none other than the Grim Reaper (in fact the whole "cast" is composed entirely of the dead). This free, fully-playable demo features spooky 3D polygonal graphics and lots of puzzle-solving fun. (For Windows 95/98).
Acrophobia - This is one of the Web's best free online games (when it is working properly). In Acrophobia, you must come up with witty phrases to match acronyms, while competing and chatting with players across the Web. Cash prizes, ranging from $100 to $1,000, are regularly awarded. To play, you need to download the free client, which will take 20 minutes at 28.8 modem speed. (Requires Windows; Acrophobia has abandoned an attempt to bring the game to the Mac platform). Acrophobia is doing a server upgrade; players have experienced outages and other problems recently.
Populous III - The first installment of this popular British strategy game series invented the whole "god" genre in computer gaming a few years back and was an enormous commercial and critical success. Populous III looks set to be another classic. Once you've downloaded this free demo, go here for free multi-player action. (18.3 megabytes. For Windows 95/98.)
Wall Street Sports - Here's a free "fantasy" sports league with a twist: you buy and sell "shares" of your favorite athletes. These securities can be traded, just like stocks. Manage your portfolio successfully and you can win cash prizes (which are awarded monthly). Other prizes include autographed sports memorabilia, golf clubs, T-shirts and more.
Rotating Insanity - This free game is aptly named. It's a virtual Rubik's Cube, you know: that plastic puzzle that drove many of us crazy years ago trying to solve it. This one's even better than the real Rubik's Cube, in that you can choose from seven levels of difficulty. (For Windows 95/98) 197 kilobytes.
Railroad Tycoon II - Get a free demo of the sequel to one of computer gaming's all-time classic titles. Railroad Tycoon II's demo features two fully playable scenarios of this addictive strategy game, in which you attempt to forge a transportation empire from the ground up. It's complex, deep and immersive. This file is a whopping 45 megs and will take 4 hours to download on a 28.8 modem. (So you might want to start your download and go run some errands or take a nap.) For Windows.
Midnight Sunitaire - Here's a challenging free solitaire card game from Norway. Easy to play, but VERY tough to win. Features a configurable, floating toolbar and nice graphics. Note: for a extra challenge: find the hidden ghost for a bonus! Here's a screenshot.
Vigilance - Sign up for a free fully playable CD-ROM demo of Vigilance, a serious contendor for the Quake throne that's one of the year's most anticipated games. This stunning first person shooter is just the antidote for those who've seen the mind-blowing "GoldenEye" on the Nintendo 64 and wished there was something comparable for the PC.
Chub Gam 3-D Director's Cut - This is one of the best freeware games available. It's a 3-D corridor shooter, with "controversial" cinema cut scenes, digital sounds and lots of action. You battle waves of enemies and weird characters with a large arsenal that includes shotguns, machine guns, grenades, missile launchers, chemical weapons, etc. Not just a demo: this is the whole game.
Netrek: A sci-fi game - Here's an addictive game based loosely on Star Trek. Just download the client and then join others online to explore the galaxy, engage in dogfights, etc. You can either play a minimalist version that displays stick-figure-like ships or you can download a picture upgrade for better visuals. For Windows.
SK-111 Star Killer - This free arcade game for Windows features 3D graphics and lots of action. A 486 or better processor is recommended.
World Opponent Network - One of the most impressive free online game matching services that we've seen. The games here include the classics (such as chess, checkers and backgammon), as well as the cutting-edge. Categories include sports, strategy, action, arcade, role-playing and adventure. Support for many top commercial titles is available, but there's many worthy games to play here, even if you own none of the commercial games. A quality site.
Scrawl - If you like word games, then you'll dig this quality free online gaming site. Here, you can choose from several different word themes. Games are played between up to four players. Each player is given the opportunity to draw a randomly assigned word, in three-minute intervals, while the other players attempt to correctly guess the word. It's fun and addictive.
Click to Play - If you're running Internet Explorer and want some quick online gaming fun, then check out this site. Click to Play features cutting-edge multiplayer gaming with a number of titles, including Go Ballistic, Checkers, Reversi, Hearts, Backgammon and Chess. A plug-in is now available for Netscape Communicator users. There's no need for a pesky password and the site supports ICQ chat.
Bubble Puzzle 97 - Conmeg Freeware Games, a German outfit, makes some of the best freeware games around. Their titles include the classic Bubble Puzzle 97, an arcade puzzle game with addictive gameplay. Requires Windows 95, with Direct X. (An older DOS version is also available).
Stars! - A free, fully-playable demo, Stars! is a ambitious space-based strategy game. Features an excellent tuturial, great 3D graphics, a easy-to-navigate interface and a huge game world in which no two games are ever the same. It's deep, complex, addictive and quite entertaining. For Windows.
PlaySite - This excellent free multiplayer online gaming site offers plenty of board, word and card games, including a lot of popular classics like backgammon, chess, hearts and spades. PlaySite uses rating systems to rank users according to how well they play. You'll need a Java-enhanced browser to join the action here.
Gameshows.com - This quality online gaming site features addictive games, such as "Out of Order" and "Strike a Match." You play the games in real-time head-to-head with other online participants, which adds to the excitement. Note: to play, you must be running Win 95/98 or NT. Mac users can play using Soft Windows. This game cannot be played from behind a firewall.
Virtual Fish - First, there was the Tamagotchi virtual pet; now there's the Virtual Fish. This free computer pet can develop a "unique personality," depending on how you care for it. If you feed it regularly and play with it, you will be the lucky owner of a fish with a happy disposition On the other hand, if you don't treat it right, it'll develop "SFA," Serious Fish Attitude, and fall ill.
InterMingle: The Gaming Place for Singles - At this site, you can play "The Mystery Match Game." The game begins when a player becomes a "mystery date" and he or she chooses 3 contestants and 3 questions. The object of the game is for the contestants to answer the questions to the best of their ability. It's fun, free and you just might meet that special someone in the process.
ShockRave - This free gaming service features plenty of Shockwave online games, such as "Dogbert Tech Support," "Jimbo's Shooting Gallery," and "Clever Chess." There's also a sweepstakes, where you can win monthly prizes, such as a Palm Pilot organizer. To participate, you must have the Shockwave Director and Shockwave Flash browser plugins.
Mplayer: free multi-player gaming - This impressive site offers speedy multiplayer gaming and cool features, such as real-time voice chat. In order to participate, you need to download their 400K "Gizmo" software client. Gizmo requires Win 95, a Pentium processor and at least a 28.8 connection. (Note: players on AOL, Prodigy and Compuserve may sign up for Mplayer but "may only be able to play less latency sensitive games like Hearts, Spades, Checkers and Backgammon.")
Gamesville - This well-done site offers online multiplayer games such bingo and the "Multimedia Celebrity Trivia Game," in which you can win cash prizes. We've had a number of visitors who've reported that they've won $5, $10 or $20 here. No special software required; all you have to do is sign up.
#1 MVP's Command Center - If you're into games, then check out this cool site for lots of goodies (both freeware and fully playable shareware). Free games here include such classics as cribbage, hearts, spades and euchre.
Swingware Games - Here's a fun collection of classic, basic Java- and CGI-based games that you can play through your browser. The site includes games like Web Battleship, Concentration and Websweeper (which is similar to Minesweeper).
TNT Solitaire - How many of you have played the touch screen video games at your local bars, bowling alleys, etc and wished you had those games at home on your PC? Well, now you can, with this fun game for Windows 95/98 and NT.