The Best Free Online (in-browser or downloadable) Games

well the advantages over castle crusher or whatever the originator of this style was, aaare:

i. not non-nerd-exclusive graphic design
ii. this particular schtick feels a lot less boring with touch control
iii. the level design & progression is actually thought through pretty well

iv. makes a lot more sense as a 5-minutes-play-on-each-commute phone game than as a laptop/desktop game.

iv. makes a lot more sense as a 5-minutes-play-on-each-commute phone game than as a laptop/desktop game.

Yeah I played a lot of it on the train for a couple of weeks but the desktop version feels shitty in comparison despite being identical.

Lately, largely from following tips on this thread, I have had a go at some Kongregate games:

Desktop Tower Defense 1.5 & Pro - Hugely enjoyed 1.5, despite having to google for tips to beat some of the bosses. Possibly the most addictive game I've come across in years, making the only sensible approach to get 1 respectable score and quit4lyfe. Couldn't see the point of Pro. I mean, I'm sure everyone but me played this to death ages ago anyhow.

Cursed Treasure - Not bad if you're desperate for another tower defense game. The difficulty curve is bumpy.

Morningstar (http://armorgames.com/play/3814/morningstar) - Lovely little p&c adventure, 1 or 2 of slightly wtf puzzles whilst others were boringly obvious, but a great old-skool-sf atmosphere and a jolly way to pass a couple of hours.

Civilizations Wars - A lot more polished than I expected, given the spurious plurals. Very nice artwork and a pretty elegant interface. Gameplay wise this is not a million miles from Populous, on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately you have to grind through the levels several times to beat the bosses, and the variations on gameplay they came up with to make this more interesting I found deeply annoying (Play the game as if you have to look at the screen through a pinhole in the bottom of a sock! No, ta.) I abandoned it before I beat the last boss, but it's definitely worth a look.

Lately, largely from following tips on this thread, I have had a go at some Kongregate games:

Desktop Tower Defense 1.5 & Pro - Hugely enjoyed 1.5, despite having to google for tips to beat some of the bosses. Possibly the most addictive game I've come across in years, making the only sensible approach to get 1 respectable score and quit4lyfe. Couldn't see the point of Pro. I mean, I'm sure everyone but me played this to death ages ago anyhow.

Cursed Treasure - Not bad if you're desperate for another tower defense game. The difficulty curve is bumpy.

Morningstar (http://armorgames.com/play/3814/morningstar) - Lovely little p&c adventure, 1 or 2 of slightly wtf puzzles whilst others were boringly obvious, but a great old-skool-sf atmosphere and a jolly way to pass a couple of hours.

Civilizations Wars - A lot more polished than I expected, given the spurious plurals. Very nice artwork and a pretty elegant interface. Gameplay wise this is not a million miles from Populous, on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately you have to grind through the levels several times to beat the bosses, and the variations on gameplay they came up with to make this more interesting I found deeply annoying (Play the game as if you have to look at the screen through a pinhole in the bottom of a sock! No, ta.) I abandoned it before I beat the last boss, but it's definitely worth a look.

Argh, laggy browser. Sorry.

Morning star was fun.

Cool stuff.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/568517

frustrating/addictive

Civilizations Wars - A lot more polished than I expected, given the spurious plurals. Very nice artwork and a pretty elegant interface. Gameplay wise this is not a million miles from Populous, on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately you have to grind through the levels several times to beat the bosses

Yeah, I found this an absolutely infuriating design decision - the game was v. successfully making me feel like some kind of invincible wonder-leader whose cunning led his people to victory, and then it intentionally took this away.

pretty charming little game: http://armorgames.com/play/11371/the-i-of-it

So I am stuck in 1990 when it comes to video games. All I am looking for is any old, decent golf game I can download for free and play on my PC. Also, some sort of casino (poker, 21, slots, etc) game too. But all I know to do is google for "freeware golf game" or something and it's not giving me much (lots bs ad links). Is CNET a good place to find simple, free games, or is there any one site to find a bunch of this stuff? Thanks!

freeware isn't really a thing anymore. try these google searches with the word 'flash' instead (and look thru places like kongregate). sorry i don't know any specific games tho...

alrighty, thanks

There's the free online tiger woods game thats pretty fun. It requires you to register and stuff but it might be worth your time.

EA sports? cool, thanks.

Definitely second the mention of Perfect Cherry Blossom way upthread. Haven't really enjoyed too many video games for while now, but this is fun as hell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtthnx9ptP8

I don't know if this has been posted: http://www.kongregate.com/games/mastermax/ultimate-assassin-3

xxxxxxp freeware is still a thing

http://www.kongregate.com/games/dampgnat/wonderputt
^everybody should try this, it is fucking great

serious replay value too.

That's pretty awesome.

Charming as all hell!

totally biting eyezmaze, but yes this is very cute.

likes it

have we mentioned the AV Club's Sawbuck Gamer feature in here yet? They totally have links to worthwhile stuff in each edition

Can any of you schmoes beat this?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/the-fox-and-the-duck-game-battle

did it

obligatory pic or it didn't happen pic http://i56.tinypic.com/e8lanl.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkhTF69SoWY
Love this game.

http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/1867

All coded from the guy's virtual desktop on his phone.

The best way to play is to have an earphone bud in one ear and listening to your keyboard clacks with the other.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/7243/desktopfoxandduck.png

Ultima 4:

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ultima_4

rrrrrrrrrrrrrad

The National Film Board of Canada has created its own boobah.tv

http://blabla.nfb.ca/

(boohbah.tv rather)

http://www.whatisnous.com/

Saw this on indiegames.com. I felt involved while playing it. I encourage you ilxors to play it at least until you understand the play mechanic. The game is short (it's a student game), and I think it could have benefited from more levels and level types and permutations of its basic building blocks, but then that might also have compromised the overall experience. You may not feel the same about it, but it was affecting in spite of its cyberpunk cheese, even if I didn't get the wind knocked out of me.

http://jayisgames.com/games/a-game-about-game-literacy/

Super fun victory rave dance party time!

yeah that's tons of cute fun

SO BORING

y'know i think i hate like 99% of videogames.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/2DArray/fisher-diver

also typography game: http://type.method.ac/#

i got 83%

braid-like: http://armorgames.com/play/12409/one-and-one-story

minesweeper but with levelling up: http://www.hojamaka.com/game/mamono_sweeper/en.html

^ that i like

hasn't been released yet, but O_O

http://youtu.be/mTBXvP89Now

awesome.
what's the levels? i count mega man, zelda, double dragon, river city ransom, pro wrestling, urban champion, mario, contra, balloon fight and elements of goonies(?), kid icarus, castlevania, mike tyson and kung fu.

man, that's some trailer!

http://www.pippinbarr.com/games/letsplayancientgreekpunishment/LetsPlayAncientGreekPunishment.html