You’re bored, and in need of some way to pass the time, so your mind turns to the world of gaming. You want to play a few games to give your brain something to do as you unwind at the end of the day – or have time to kill during a commute. Gaming is always an extremely enjoyable activity; there’s just one issue: it’s an expensive hobby nowadays!
It’ll cost upwards of $70 for most Triple-A games these days, and with rumors circulating that GTA 6 will exceed $100, it seems like the cost of gaming could continue to rise. It makes you wonder if you will ever have a free gaming experience again, just like the old days. It used to be easy to find all sorts of games that didn’t cost a penny yet provided a fantastic gaming experience – is this truly possible anymore?
That’s what we’ll discuss today as we look at the different types of online games available and whether or not you can legitimately find some for free. Here’s a quick spoiler: you can find a host of games listed as “free to play,” but many of them come with caveats.
Genuine 100% Free Games With No Extra Costs
Let’s get the ball rolling with the best category of all: 100% genuinely free games. Yes, they still exist – it’s just much harder to find a wide variety of them these days. In fact, if you look at most of the “free” games on the market, you’ll notice they actually fall into one of the other categories in this guide.
For a game to be 100% free, it must have no cost to play and no additional purchases. You simply boot up or download the game and can play for as long as you want without running into barriers or locked features.
More often than not, free online games end up being crash games or puzzle games. The likes of online pinball, solitaire, chess, checkers, blackjack, and other similar games are always available for free. You’ll also find loads of online educational games available without costs – or online-based party games like Codenames or Skribbl.io.
It’s exceptionally rare to find a free game outside of these genres. Even a lot of mobile games fall into the categories below – they claim to be free, but you normally need to purchase something to get the best experience. True free games are available via independent online platforms where you play them without downloading the game itself. Unfortunately, this makes it highly unlikely to ever find a “proper” game on a console or PC that’s 100% free and doesn’t encourage you to make extra purchases.
The good thing about these types of games is that they’re exactly what you’re looking for a lot of the time! If you want to make the most of your break or have time to kill during the morning commute to work, then load up some free online solitaire or pinball. You don’t always want a game with a rich story and intense game mechanics; you’re looking for simple puzzle games or things you can dip in and out of to pass the time.
Freemium Games
The majority of “free” games are actually classed as freemium options. You can download or access them without spending a penny, though they tend to lock away some of the “premium” features behind a paywall. Scroll through any mobile games list, and 99% of the top options will be in this category because developers love this business model.
Having your game available for “free” entices users to download it. They get attached to the game and enjoy the mechanics, but then they hit a slight wall. Different games have different approaches to what’s locked away, though most freemium titles involve restricting certain game mechanics or making it hard to progress through a story/level. By the time a player reaches this “barrier,” they’re already addicted to the game and eager to carry on. This makes it all the more likely that they’ll spend money to unlock the premium features.
You have to tip your cap and say this is a genius way of marketing games, but it does suck a bit for the average user. Some common paid elements of freemium games include the following:
- Paying for improved attributes
- Paying to get better in-game gear
- Paying for more lives in a game
- Paying for hints in puzzle games
Effectively, you pay for things that improve the gaming experience and help you get the most out of the game. Here’s the thing with freemium options: you can technically play them without spending any money. The issue is they’re designed in such a way that makes it almost impossible not to spend cash. The free experience will always reach a point where it’s hard to have fun, so you spend a few dollars here or there to continue enjoying the game.
Free-To-Play Games With Additional Purchases
What’s the difference between free-to-play games with additional purchases and freemium titles? On the surface, this looks like the same thing: you download a game for free, but it contains paid extras when you start playing.
The most significant difference lies in what you’re paying for and why the paid options exist. In free-to-play games with additional purchases, you’re buying things that may enhance your gaming experience – though they don’t “unlock” any new game features. You will find loads of free-to-play PC games that fit this category perfectly!
Take Valorant, for example. It’s a tactical FPS game that anyone can download for free, but it provides in-game purchase options to buy cosmetics or unlock different agents. You’re not gaining an advantage by buying these things – but they can help you enjoy the game more. The same goes for any game that offers cosmetic purchases; you genuinely end up spending a fortune because the cosmetics make the game fun and provide endless customization. All the while, you’re not paying to unlock new features or gain access to abilities or tools that help you get further in the game.
You can also throw some mobile games into this category, though the additional purchases involve adverts. Loads of online games are marketed as being “free,” but you’re bombarded with ads every few minutes – or after clearing a level. The actual game itself is still free for you to play, and it doesn’t have any freemium features, but you can pay to remove the ads for a less disruptive gaming experience.
So, in summary, free-to-play games with additional purchases differ from freemium games because they don’t hinder your in-game progress. The purchases are optional extras, yet most players still end up buying them!
Gacha Games
The last category is almost a combination of the two previous ones, yet still inherently different. Again, lots of gamers get freemium and Gacha games confused – so how do they differ?
Gacha games are named after “gachapon” toy capsule machines in Japan. These machines let people spend money and randomly produce a capsule with a toy inside. It’s completely up to chance – and you could get the same toy three times in a row. This randomness is where Gacha games differentiate themselves from any other game with internal purchases.
Like freemium games, the in-game purchases enhance your experience and help you progress through the game a lot faster. Most Gacha games involve collecting items or upgrading different parts of your character. As such, you’re constantly looking for better items – and that’s where the purchases come in. You can use in-game currency to “roll” for certain upgrades, though it’s completely random. You might get what you need, or you could end up with stuff that’s worse or equal to what you’re already rocking. Thus, you’re encouraged to continue spending the in-game currency until you pull the right upgrades.
How do you get in-game currency? By playing and progressing through the game – yet you almost always reach a point where you run out of currency and still need upgrades. So, you buy in-game currency using real money to try and roll some more. Gacha games are normally themed around anime or Japanese manga – popular titles include Genshin Impact and Hokai: Stair Rail. They’re extremely popular mobile games, though you find them across all gaming consoles, too.
To reiterate, Gacha games are free to play, and you can technically progress through them without spending any money. It’s very hard to do this because you have to grind really hard to upgrade your items and progress without spending money on capsules. What makes this different from freemium games is that the capsules are randomized, and you can’t buy a specific upgrade. It’s left up to chance – which makes these games very polarizing because of the potential gambling links.
Conclusion – Free Games Still Exist
Bringing it all together, you can see that free games still exist. It’s entirely possible to play all of the game categories in this guide without spending money. Granted, this might mean you don’t get the best gaming experience in some of them. Regardless, it’s nice to know that there are also some 100% free games out there without any hidden purchases or locked features.
