Who doesn’t like free games? Nobody, that’s who!
We’ve scoured the web and compiled a list of pages where you can legally download free games by some of the biggest developers and digital storefronts. Whether you’re looking for a first person shooter, a sports-management simulator, or an action adventure, you’re bound to find something that’ll keep you hooked.
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Let’s play!
First off the bat, Reddit is a great place to source listings and updates for free game giveaways—either directly from other users or straight from announcements made by developers or publishers. Some of the best communities include:
Make sure you keep checking these communities, as some giveaways can disappear in the blink of an eye!
Internet Arcade
Play games: Here
We’ve written about the wonders of the Internet Archive before. Essentially, it’s an online library that provides universal and free access to a wonderful selection of media including books, comics, films, magazines, software, and you guessed it—games!
The Internet Arcade is the Internet Archive’s virtual games room and lets you play retro (or “bronze era”) video games online. The selection offers just under 3,000 games released between the 1970s and onwards, across a variety of platforms.
Epic Games
Get games: Here
Notable titles from previous giveaways: GTA V, Control, Hitman, Watch Dogs 2, Football Manager 2000, Metro: 2033: Redux, Cities: Skylines, and Star Wars Battlefront II.
Every Friday on the Epic Games Store, players are treated to a free game giveaway. Giveaway periods last for seven days, and whatever you claim is yours to keep forever. On weeks where a game on offer has a mature rating, a second game is also made available as a family-friendly option. The initiative has been a huge success for Epic, drawing in an average of approximately 56 million monthly active users to the platform in 2020.
Steam
Get games: Here, here, and here
Available on: Windows, macOS, Linux (limited)
Launched by Valve in 2003, Steam is the biggest online game marketplace in the world—bar none. In 2020, Steam hit an all time high with an average of 120 million monthly active users. As of 2021, Steam has over 50,000 titles available for purchase and a healthy selection of free and free-to-play games covering a variety of genres. Apex Legends, Counter Strike: GO, and DOTA 2 are available to play for free on Steam and are among the most played games in the world.
GOG
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows, macOS (limited), Linux (limited)
Notable titles on offer: Shadow Warrior, Samorost, Symphonia, Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves, and Beneath a Steel Sky (note: one of this writer’s favorite games ever!)
Founded and operated by CD Projekt—the developer behind The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077—GOG offers a wide selection of classic games. Unlike other digital distribution platforms, games released on GOG are DRM-free which means unlike other forms of digital distribution, when you purchase a game from GOG, you own it outright.
On occasion, GOG will offer freebies that can be redeemed directly from their home page.
Blizzard
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows, macOS (varies), Amazon (varies), Android (varies), iOS (varies)
Blizzard has developed some of the most recognizable strategy franchises of all time—namely the Starcraft and Warcraft IPs. With their Battle.net platform, Blizzard provides some of these titles—and other console classics like Blackthorne and The Lost Vikings—as free to play offerings.
3D Realms
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows
Previously known as Apogee Software, 3D Realms is perhaps best known as the developers behind the Duke Nukem and Commander Keen franchises. Most of their free offerings are classic ’90s platformers.
Mojang
Play Minecraft Classic for free: Here
Minecraft is one of the most popular games on the planet today! Minecraft Classic, a JavaScript remake by Minecraft’s developer Mojang Studios, can now be played online for free.
Read how Minecraft is an education and anti-censorship tool.
Bethesda
Get The Elder Scrolls: Arena: Here
Get The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall: Here
Get The Elder Scrolls: Legends: Here
Get Fallout Shelter: Here
Games available on: Windows
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is probably the most recognizable entry in The Elder Scrolls series and one of the most well known games in the world—in fact, it is one of the best selling games of all time. The first two entries in the series—Arena and Daggerfall—are available for free from the series’ developer Bethesda.
itch.io
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows, macOS (varies), Linux (varies)
With over 96,000 free games on offer, it’s no wonder itch.io is considered the Steam of indie games. In addition to video games, itch.io also offers game assets and physical (tabletop and board) games.
AGD Interactive
Get games: Here
If you’re a fan of point and click adventure games (this writer LOVES them), then you’ll be more than familiar with Sierra Online adventure games from the ’90s. AGD Interactive has developed VGA remakes of Sierra’s classics King’s Quests I, II, and III, and Quest for Glory II.
Other marketplaces
Green Man Gaming
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows, macOS
Green Man Gaming is an online gaming marketplace and independent game publisher. There’s a small but decent selection of free to play games on offer, and on occasion, the site will offer free giveaways.
IndieGala
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows
IndieGala is another digital distribution platform that regularly does giveaways. Titles range from indie games to classic favorites.
Game Jolt
Get games: Here
Available on: Windows, Mac (varies), Linux (varies), HTML5 (varies)
Similar to itch.io, Game Jolt is an indie game distribution platform except that the focus is squarely on games only.
GG.deals
Get games: Here
GG.deals is a price comparison website that provides price listings for games across other marketplaces. Its freebie listings include games and downloadable content from a variety of sources.
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