Search free PC games by keyword

4X (7)

GAME GENRE - 4x games are strategy games that follows the so called 4X rule: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate. In 4X games, players must bring their empire to victory by conquering territories, research technologies, discover new lands (or planetary systems), build units and wage war against enemies.
Popular non-free 4x strategy games: Master Of Orion, Civilization, Galactic Civilizations, Stellaris.

action puzzle (14)

action-adventure (8)

GAME GENRE - Action-adventure games are a blend of two very different genres. In action-adventure games there's a bit of both. It could be a touch of action in a classic adventure, or a platform game with elements of adventure gaming such as an inventory, a story, etc. First-person survival/horror games can also be usually tagged as action-adventures.

adult / erotic (69)

ancient history (8)

anime (74)

arcade (42)

arena (11)

artillery (7)

ASCII games (34)

A few decades back, ASCII games (or text-based games) were quite popular. Why? Because graphics on home computers were not that good. Fast forward a few years: the appeal of ASCII games didn't fade completely. Ignoring almost completely the visual aspect of a game allow the developer to focus on gameplay, depth and complexity. Dwarf Fortress and ASCII Sectors are two examples of fairly complex text-based games.
And then there are MUDs: Multi User Dungeons. MUDs are text-based really old-school multiplayer RPGs with even less graphics than ASCII roguelikes.
ASCII gaming is not for everyone, but you may be surprised by some of these games; give them a try.

board game (8)

brawler (7)

casino (3)

casual (103)

city building (5)

GAME GENRE - City building games are strategy games in which the player has to manage the development of a city by creating infrastructures, building houses and, as the game progresses, micromanage the economy.
Popular non-free city building games: the SimCity series, Pharaoh, Caesar, Cities: Skylines.

co-op (26)

collectible card game (14)

GAME GENRE - Trading card games (or collectible card games: CCG) gameplay is based on playing cards (obviously!) and involves some sort of collecting activity. In order to progress in the game, the player is tasked in winning turn-based matches to acquire new cards. Cards are often organized in different types and different rarities. Some CCGs allow the player to exchange real money with some sort of currency used to buy booster packs or single cards.

comedy (47)

Commodore 64 remake (8)

contemporary (68)

controller support (36)

TECHNICAL FEATURE - If you don't like playing with a mouse or a keyboard, or if you're simply looking for games to be played comfortably on the couch with a controller in both hands, these are the games you are looking for. Some of these free games support a controller completely, while others only grant a partial controller support.

crafting (43)

crime (11)

cyberpunk (4)

Cyberpunk was born in the 80s thanks to authors like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. What is cyberpunk? Well, take a grim vision of the future, mix it with information technology, drug addicts, artificial augumented punks and there you are. Gibson's masterpiece novel Neuromancer became a videogame, but it wasn't the only cyberpunk game to come out back in the day. Titles like Syndicate, the point and click adventure DreamWeb, the RPG Bloodnet or Rise of the Dragon are some of the many cyberpunk games developed in the past.
Cyberpunk in videogames is not dead and games like Shadowrun Returns and Cyberpunk 2077 are proof of that.
Popular non-free cyberpunk video games: Syndicate, Shadowrun Returns, Deus Ex.

dark, gothic (21)

Demons from the underworld, vampires sleeping in coffins, noir murder adventures are all themes that have something to do with a dark and/or gothic atmosphere. There are quite a few games that draw inspiration from gloomy themes and you can see it from the predominant black and white palette (with a touch of red... for the blood, of course). So take a pick: an horror-themed game? Sci-fi? A detective story? Your choice.

dating sim (9)

deathmatch (14)

demake (6)

detective (12)

dungeon crawl (24)

Dungeon crawling was the main player goal in the first CRPG (Computer Role-Playing Game) ever to came out on a computer. The first CRPGs were a sort of early roguelikes back then, and by "back then" I'm talking decades ago. Later, thanks to the capabilities of the PCs of the 90s, dungeon crawlers shifted to "half" of a 3D visual (it was 2D simulating 3D, actually) and became much more appealing to a much broader audience. That was when developers designed some of the greatest RPGs ever for PC:

Dungeon Master - an instant classic, the one that started the 3D dungeon crawling mania
Eye of the Beholder - the series that better represented the dungeon crawlers in the 90s
Wizardry - something more than a mere dungeon crawler; a long time running series that lasted more than many other RPG franchises
Might and Magic - like Wizardry, Might and Magic was something more open world-like, but managed to keep that dungeon crawling feeling

These games were perhaps the most popular of their time; many pages were written about them on every video game magazine of the 90s.
When Wolfenstein 3D (and Doom) shocked the gaming world with its real-time 3D environment, almost every CRPG developer started to look in a new first-person direction: no more turn-based movent, enter real-time (see Ultima Underworld). That meant a lot of changes and 3D/2D dungeon crawlers started to quickly lose their appeal.

editor included (29)

Some games are structured in a way that it's easy to create new content. Once in a while, the developers include some kind of free editor in their game. Depending on the game, the player can use the editor to create new levels for platform games, maps for real-time strategy games, puzzles for... well... puzzle games, and so on.

educational (4)

fantasy (197)

GAME SETTING - Fantasy is one of the most used (and abused) themes in the history of video games, wether they are free-to-play or not. Roguelikes, MMORPGs, platformers, adventures and even card games often take place in a fantasy world with dwarves, elves, dragons, goblins and other vicious creatures, swords and sorcery.

female protagonist (36)

Some video games feature a female character as the protagonist: explorers, princesses and more. It's not a common practice, but there are a few popular games that feature a female main character, notably the Tomb Raider series. Freeware games seems be more inclined to female characters in the main role: Iji, Hyper Princess Pitch, Knytt are a few examples.

fighting games (16)

GAME GENRE - Do you remember those all-action video games in which you beat the hell out of your friends in a one on one on-screen brawl? Does the titles Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters ring a bell? Those were some of the most popular fighting games of the past. Here are some less popular, but free, more recent fighting games.
Popular non-free fighing games: Tekken, Street Fighter 2; Mortal Kombat, The King of fighters.

first-person 3D (87)

first-person shooter (30)

GAME GENRE - First-person shooters (FPS) are firse-person perspective shooter video games in which the player has to shoot hordes of enemies in order to progress in the game, one level after another. Multiplayer FPS are often arena-style kill-em-all games with no levels and no story.
Popular non-free first-person shooters: Doom, Half-life, Quake, Halo.

flash game (5)

Browser games come in different flavors and may use different technologies to run. Macromedia Flash is an animation editor used a few years ago in web development. As different technologies arise every year, Flash is being used less and less. The one area where Flash is still somewhat popular is game design for browsers. Flash is a plug-in, so you may want to download and install it here.

flight simulator (2)

hentai (12)

hex-based (7)

hidden object (3)

horror (33)

Blood thirsty vampires, walking zombies, haunted houses; this kind of free game is not for everyone: try it at your own risk.

idle clicker (12)

indie (444)

interactive fiction (12)

GAME GENRE - Interactive Fiction (IF) is one of the earliest video game genres. Interactive Fiction games are story driven adventures in which the player issues text commands to move around, pick up objects and progress through the story. A few Interactive Fiction games contain some graphics, but the interface remains a text-based experience.

isometric (67)

JRPG (21)

GAME GENRE - JRPG (or console RPG) stands for Japanese Role-Playing Game. As the name suggests, JRPG are role-playing games with a distinctive japanese style. JRPG distinguish themselves from western RPGs mainly by the "anime" graphics and peculiar turn-based combat.
Popular non-free JRPGs: the Final Fantasy series, the Legend of Zelda series, Chronotrigger.

LGBT (5)

made with Adventure Game Studio (AGS) (17)

Adventure Game Studio (AGS in short), is a development tool specifically designed to create graphic adventures for Windows. Adventure Game Studio was released in 1997 and it's still in active development. Some of the games created with AGS became commercial hits and proved very successful among the point & click adventure fans. Here's a few: Resonance, Heroine's Quest, Blackwell Epiphany, Technobabylon, Kathy Rain.

made with Game Maker (4)

made with MUGEN (3)

made with RPG Maker (13)

RPG Maker is a series of tools for the development of JRPGs (Japanese Role-Playing Games) initially released in 1992 available both for personal computers and consoles. RPG Maker became very popular among players and amateur developers as well as professional devs. Lots of games made with RPG Maker are free or free-2-play. Some of the most popular RPGs made with RPG Maker are: To the Moon, Aveyond, Sometimes Always Monsters.

mahjong (6)

management (9)

GAME GENRE - Construction and management simulation and strategy games focus on developing and managing an empire (or something equivalent) by paying attention to the economy and constantly expanding. Management games often involve researching new technologies and competing against other players (or the computer).

massively multiplayer (81)

maze (14)

medieval (17)

metroidvania (13)

GAME GENRE - Metroidvania games are platform/action/adventure games with gameplay elements borrowed from two popular series: Metroid and Castlevania. Such elements are: a huge map to explore freely, areas of the map accessible only after acquiring certain items or skills, 2D graphics.
Popular metroidvania non-free games: Castlevania, Metroid, Super Metroid.

military / warfare (19)

MMOFPS (7)

MMORPG (44)

GAME GENRE - MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Think of a role-playing game where lots of players are fighting, questing, having fun together in an open world gameplay.

MMORTS (12)

MOBA (5)

MS-DOS remake (8)

MSX remake (4)

MUD (8)

GAME GENRE - MUDs (an acronym for Multi User Dungeon) are role-playing games played online, set in a shared world (usually larger than a dungeon) where players interact with other players and the environment. Some of the earliest videogames were MUDs.

multiplayer (178)

mythology (5)

NES remake (4)

nudity (66)

old school RPG (23)

Old school RPGs are a niche genre for nostalgic gamers. To be considered old school, a CRPG should have a distinct vintage look and retro feel: pixellated graphics, turn-based or pausable gameplay, retro soundtrack, no real 3D graphics.

open world (90)

In open world video games the player can move freely in the world, almost without restrictions. Opposed to linear gameplay, in an open world game you can actually approach each situation in many different ways. Open world gameplay is usually related to RPG games such as Skyrim or the Ultima series, but can be applied to shooters or platform games (expecially metroidvania).

pixel graphics (170)

play it online (12)

point & click (54)

GAME GENRE - Point and click adventure games were very popular during the golden age of PC gaming. Titles such as Monkey Island or King's Quest made the history of the adventure genre. In recent times, indie developers revitalized the point and click scene. The love for this genre is so strong that some fans developed point and click adventures and made them available for free.
Popular point and click adventure games: Monkey Island, Leisure Suit Larry, the LucasArts Indiana Jones series, The Longest Journey.

politics (4)

post-apocalyptic (12)

PvP (64)

racing (20)

In racing video games, the player takes part in racing competitions piloting any kind of vehicle: cars, planes, spaceships, karts. Racing games can be arcade-action games or complex simulations, depending on the amount of action or strategy required from the player.

real-time strategy (14)

relaxing (7)

remake (44)

The freeware scene is scattered of developer teams or lonely programmers who take inspiration from old video games to create something new or simply to remake them. Sometimes, the best way to pay homage to old video games is to create a remake with updated graphics and sound, smoother gameplay, better controls with the purpose of making a better game than the original. Video game remakes are a wonderful way to show that kind of appreciation to the old times and sometime are a prelude to a career in the video gaming industry.

The games that gets remade the most are classics well known to videogame players. Civilization, Sierra On-Line point&click adventures, Zelda, Transport Tycoon are just some of the games that got remade by fans. Also, arcade classics are a favorite of developers who are looking for easy remakes: Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Pengo were all remade multiple times.

retro (194)

The retro gaming phenomenon started to gain popularity a while ago and influenced every kind of developing company, from big ones to indies. Retro games show a distinct vintage flavor in various forms: pixellated graphics, old style gameplay, etc. A few retro games are directly based on real video games published years ago.

robots (20)

rogue-lite (4)

GAME GENRE - Similar to rogue-likes, but with less constraints. Rogue-lites gameplay takes some ideas from rogue-likes but tend to be less unforgiving: mitigated permadeath, not an ascii dungeon crawler, different genre, etc.

roguelike (46)

GAME GENRE - Roguelike games are a subgenre of RPGs (usually dungeon crawlers) in which the player explores procedurally generated levels. Roguelikes gameplay involves permanent death and turn-based movement and combat. Two of the most popular and free roguelikes are Angband and Nethack.

romance (18)

run and gun (27)

GAME GENRE - Run an gun games are video games in which you control a gun wielding character and must shoot enemies and jump around to reach the end of the level. Traditionally, run and gun games are side scrolling platformers (such as Bio Menace) or top down military shooters (such as Alien Swarm), but there are a few exceptions.

sandbox (18)

science fiction (203)

GAME SETTING - Exploration in deep space, mech battles, cyberpunk lovestories, UFO invasions. Every theme even remotely tied to science fiction has been implemented in a video game one way or another. Free games make no exception; from Star Trek to Star Wars, developers still draw much inspiration from sci-fi.

shoot 'em up (39)

GAME GENRE - Shoot'em ups are shooter action games, usually seen from a top-down perspective, in which the player has to shoot its way to reach the end of each level. In the vast majority of shoot'em ups the player controls a spaceship, a plane, or some sort of vehicle equipped with weapons.

side view (178)

side-scrolling (68)

single player (683)

solitaire (3)

space (60)

space combat (13)

space exploration (14)

Space exploration games let you explore the universe, planet by planet, star after star. Space exploration games are usually open-ended and involve other activities such as fighting space pirates, becoming a trading expert, mining asteroids in space.. One of the first space exploration games was Elite, but the genre didn't stop there and spawned many other games worth a look.

sports (12)

squad management (7)

Star Wars (5)

stealth (6)

strip poker (16)

superheroes (4)

survival (12)

Survival games involve a great amount of self preservation instincts. Prepare yourself to face zombies, different kinds of harsh environments, hunger, etc.

text-based (45)

third-person 3D (53)

tile-based (56)

tile-matching (19)

GAME GENRE - Puzzle games are almost excusively free games or/and games for smartphones. It's difficult to find a simple puzzle game sold at a high price. Tile matching is perhaps the most popular subgenre of puzzle games. Gameplay involves... well... matching tiles of some kind. The most popular tile-matching game is by far Tetris.

top-down (217)

tower defense (4)

GAME GENRE - Take a fixed screen, mix with hordes of enemies that follow precise paths, give the player some structures to defend their territory and you have the basic recipe for a strategy tower defense game.
Popular non-free tower defense games: Gemcraft, Defense Grid, Dungeon Defenders.

turn-based (141)

turn-based tactics (10)

typing (4)

GAME GENRE - In a typing game, gameplay involves typing something on screen to achieve a result. Hangman is a typing game, as well as some action games involving re-writing words that appear on screen for a limited time.

vertical-scrolling (13)

violent (32)

visual novel (37)

Tired of reading books? Try a visual novel. If you like adventure games focused on narrative rather than gameplay, you will like visual novels.

walking simulator (3)

GAME GENRE - In a walking simulator game, gameplay consists mainly in, well... walking around. Walking simulators usually focus more on atmospheric details and beautiful graphics to create an experience that is more similar to an art piece than a videogame.