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

I read a review of Echo Bazaar that said that they managed to make the game overall incredibly interesting, but each individual play session incredibly boring. I think that's kind of right. I still like it, though.

i haven't bothered for a couple of days now and don't feel that inclined to carry on. it's well written but i think i don't really like this kind of "come back every day and click a couple of options and grind yr stats so you get new options to click" gameplay

I've been playing semi-obsessively for like a week and even as I'm aware of the boring mechanics I really want my dude to make a name for himself

I need Echo Bazaar friends, can I interact with you guys or would we have to be twitter-following each other?

idk I think we can be in each other's cliques w/o twitter but as far as I know cliques ain't do shit

omg, i played Sisters' Story and Runaway City when i was 15! + season of sakura i think. oh shit, and Ring Out! where is True Love tho? for sure the best eroge VN of the bunch!

i don't know why i'm so excited to excavate this incredibly awkward and embarrassing stage of my life...

cos we all miss being 15 no matter how awful it was at the time?

i see on the side of the page that the reason True Love isn't up there is bc they're finding it too complex to convert into javascript.

i think the save game system mightn't work too well which is a pain

my vote for biggest disappointment of 2011 in coint + plick was a pseudo-homage to all these late 90s erotica visual novels

"Date Ariane" is promising a visual novel sequel this year

coint + plink winner 2012 right there ^

did anyone here actually play Katawa Shoujo? the press totally scared me off, not the subject matter

i haven't yet. tbh idk anything about it except a) free b) VN style? c) runs on Mac

from what I understand it's about moe disabled characters (amputees, burn victims) who are apparently treated with some semblance of human dignity instead of creepily fetishized so it's gotten good press for that, but I also happen to know some of the devs are 4channers and because of my deeply-ingrained loathing for that set I'm reluctant to play it

i've played the first three quarters of an hour or so, it's ok. the 4chan connection is purely coincidental as i understand it

I dunno, I think you can treat characters with some semblance of human dignity in a way that it still creepily fetishistic. The site seems to do that, to me. So I'm guessing the game does too.

*that is still

Meh, I don't know. I've played it a bit and it seems... well, mostly boring? I enjoyed Don't Take It Personally, Babe, but I'm not sure I like most visual novels. This one, in particular, there's just way too much text that seems pointless - reiterations and redundancies (how many more times do I have to click through conversations about the way this girl concentrates when she runs? Grrrrrr), telling not showing, and also some characterisation that is contradictory. I could accept that if it worked as a game, but it is so long between interactive elements that surely it really needs to concentrate on the novel aspect more than it does?

I know, I know, these things rely on tropes, and I'm asking too much... it's just... I don't get it.

nah i agree a lot of visual novels aren't interactive enough and suffer from wordiness, this is less interactive than most but the subject matter was of interest.

True. And I will say, despite a couple of slips, the characters were quite good. The disability plot didn't seem played for fetish at all, in my view.

i agree, it's well handled.

I played GIRP tonight, from the makers of QWOP. A rock climbing game. It was essentially Twister, with big mats on the floor for each letter of the alphabet.

http://www.dreamsofyourlife.com/
trying it now

yuck, never mind

yeah, i played it for about 20 minutes last night. terrible. terribly executed and terribly written. the brainygamer piece about their difficulty making it is about 20x more interesting than the game

yeah, that's what drew me to it.

pretty amazing: http://unmanned.molleindustria.org/

huuuuh.

this is nice

Dys4ia
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/591565
not really a game, but interactive story from Anna Anthropy
worth the 5 min IMO

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/dys4ia-tackles-gender-politics-sense-of-self-and-personal-growth...-on-newg

As a game, useless; as a work of polemic, a good argument that psychological testing should be required as a condition of gender reassignment therapy.

It was linked on one of the many recent gender politics threads and nice things were said, but if we are saying less nice things over here then I'll note that the shaving levels reminded me of the possibly more graphically sophisticated ZX Spectrum classic Advanced Lawnmower Simulator

(I do realise that neither the graphics nor the gameplay were the point and that's OK)

http://pr-if.org/event/apollo-18/

They Might Be Giants 'tribute album' except each track is an IF game instead of a song.

excellent :)

Ha. I like IF, I really don't like TMBG - to download or not to download?

This from their page is quite neat, too:

http://pr-if.org/doc/play-if-card/play-if-card.png

wow. i am all in on that one!

Only tried a handful of the fingertips games and Mammal so far, I think knowing the songs might help? Not only with knowing what to do but also with getting any enjoyment out of what then happens. But yep, I love these.

I was talking about this game with zappi yesterday; I really do think it's one of the best free online games: The Asylum

can't play at work but i already <3 the comfort pillow crocodile, hope it's in the game and not just a logo.

oh i played that a long time ago and can't remember if i enjoyed it or not. i definitely love the idea of it.

anyway, will revisit.

more ipad but still free and on the TMBG tip: http://toucharcade.com/2012/03/26/daniel-johnstons-space-ducks-an-interactive-glimpse-into-the-art-and-music-of-daniel-johnston/

Comfort pillow crocodile is very much in the game, don't worry ledge.

NV, yeah, it's pretty old, but they put in a new character last year so probably worth replaying.

i'm not sure there was an English dub when i played it so that might be v. helpful

Treasure Adventure Game (windows only) is quite good. Shame about the five-minute unskippable intro sequence.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/treasure_adventure_game

http://browserquest.mozilla.org/
curious to try

i updated its thread recently but no responses - do any of you ever check in on kingdom of loathing? i played a bit in 2009, checked back in recently and they've revamped a lot. they've also added these challenge runs which are normal game progressions but with wildly different skill sets and limitations. super addictive.