Audio By Carbonatix
Video games are pricey. Millions of dollars are thrown into the money vacuum that is the latest Call of Duty or Halo.
As a plucky college student with
no money and a near-endless amount of free time, I’ve been on the
lookout for the internet’s best time-wasters.
Let my wavering grades
be your video game entertainment, and take a look a couple of
games that are both free and pretty dang good.
5. Digital: A Love Story
Digital is a
token of affection from its creator, Christine Love, to the bulletin
boards (BBS) of the 80s. Bulletin boards were small forums where a localized computer-having Illuminati congregated about cool stuff like
neon, jorts, New Order, and Neuromancer.
The game’s narrative is told through one-sided conversations your in-game persona has through email and private BBS messaging. The player is left to assume what his or her character said through the response email. You’ll form contacts and pirate the software you need to start an e-romance, hack the Gibson, and maybe stop a rampant AI from killing the internet.
Pick this game up, if only to hear the warbly klaxons of the 56k dial tone just one more time.
Download it here
4. Spelunky
Indie game developer Derek Yu’s procedurally-generated opus will kill you. Your death will be sweetened, however, by the game’s devious traps, catchy soundtrack, and the fact that the game reorganizes itself every time you start it up.
The Sisyphean task of death and rebirth in Spelunky
is made much simpler by easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master gameplay,
and the eventual realization that winning is tertiary to getting
eaten alive by snakes.
All the while, your Indiana
Jones lookalike will be making a mad dash for the dig site’s gems,
gold, maidens, and sacred symbols that may or may not evoke the wrath
of an angry god. Numerous power-ups are available from shops owned by
bearded fellows that react to theft with deadly force.
So make peace with your God,
strap on your jetpack, and get ready to die. Download it for Windows or OSX
3. Dwarf Fortress
Bay12Games’ ASCII behemoth
is widely regarded as one of the most difficult games to play.
Players that take the time to learn its complex interface will discover a vast world of dwarves and the various
ways they can end up dying.
This is another one featuring procedural
generation, and Dwarf Fortress takes the whole process a step
further.
During world creation,
everything from geography to your text world’s history is generated
from the aether. You’ll pick a place for your initial seven dwarves
to embark their industrial quest, and then much like a vertically
stunted Scarface: The world is yours.
Watch dwarves build a fortress on Windows and OSX
2. Cave Story
Pixel’s PC homage to classic
sidescrollers like Castlevania and Metroid is an addictive formula.
Players will explore a massive 2D caves and uncover a doctor’s plot to
rule the world. They’ll do this by blasting away enemies with
weapons that become more powerful as the player racks up kills. Weapons weaken, however, with each hit the player takes.
Due to the original game’s
popularity, a premium version of Cave Story was released in 2010,
receiving the WiiWare “Game of the Year” award. If you miss
your NES, or want to relive an era where games were simpler be sure
to check out Cave Story.
Nab it for Windows or OSX. Mac users will also need to install an English patch.
1. Team Fortress 2
With Team Fortress 2, Valve
took 10 years of first-person shooter design and optimized it into
one hunk of cartoony goodness. In June of 2011, Valve decided to
remove the price tag from their game, offering it for free.
TF2 features 9 different
character classes each with unique personalities and playstyles.
From the smug, back-biting spy to the Napoleon Complex addled scout.
The game also emphasizes a unique 60s aesthetic that complements its
irreverent humor. After being blown up, players receive a
freeze-frame of their killer, sometimes including arrows to their
strewn-about bodyparts.
Team Fortress 2 is available on Valve’s Steam service, available here.
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