A little over eighteen months ago, ScrewAttack Version 4 launched, and with it, I really started posting more and more (with the obvious disappearances). My first post on the new version was "Gaming on the Cheap", a badly edited, poorly put together mess of a blog about gaming when you're a broke-ass college student. Since then...I'm still a broke-ass college student, but now I have a regular paying job, so I can afford a few new games.
Even though I've now got a bit more money, I still like to find cheap or free gaming experiences. What follows will be a list of cheap or free gaming experiences available to you gamers on a budget, not exactly an updated version of the original blog, but more exact gaming experiences available to you that are completely awesome.
Before I get started though, I want to give a few people some awesome shout outs here. For starters, SpellingPhailer for mentioning The Retro Hunters to me when I got back, then them for doing some awesome bargaining. Also, I want to thank Ryan, Jason, and Emily, my co-workers from my horrible job featured in "Day-Dream-ing at Work". Between the Dreamcast experiences as well as playing around with the games available online...I've come across new ways for gamers to game while not having to pay much (if any) money.
So, starting off, let's look at the original list a little. Used gaming is becoming a much more abominable experience as time passes, but second run gaming has gotten all the better for it. Game of the Year additions that include the game's entire DLC package with the game at a highly discounted price has made second run gaming a much better way to go about getting high profile games then shelling out the full price at launch, plus DLC costs. The same can be said about finding retro games. They're almost always gonna be pretty reasonably priced (not always with the case of really popular games), and you can usually get a pretty decent deal on them. DLC for older games also gets pretty cheap rather quickly. 2009's Assassin's Creed 2 full extra content package is under $10 easy on both PSN and Xbox Live, and that's only one relatively recent example I've personally come across.
However, this is about "free gaming", not cheap.
Indie Games have been the biggest enjoyment for me over the last year. I mentioned these last times in the form of Portal the Flash Version, the always awesome Cave Story, and Trilby, the Art of Theft. Since then, I've added a ton of titles to my list of highly enjoyed indie titles, from flash games to full length amazing adventures, both suggested by other g1's in the comments of the original, or byMark the Intern's Indie Games Searchlight. I've separated these into two categories, "browser" (for in browser games) and "download" (for downloadable titles), to make it easier for you to decide which is a better choice.
Since this is going to have multiple parts, this first section will be solely about the "browser" based games, specifically, those you can play on most public computers when bored, but can't download...like those at work or school, heh heh.
Quick note: Though I like them, too, any game that is an attempt at a sequel or a fan imagining of a mainstream title like those found off Newgrounds Video Game Parodies won't be on the list, with the exception of Portal the Flash Version, since I mentioned it in the first one. Check 'em out though, and I'll think about coming back to them at a later date. Also, MMO's, even Indie ones, will be covered later.
Death Vegas (and most Adult Swim's Games, actually) - A quick time event fighting game, which, yeah, I know, sounds horrible, but actually turns out to be a very strategic brawler, with less emphasis on combos and more on parries and blocks. The Sin City-like aesthetic doesn't hurt either, giving a browser based game something them often lack, an actual story. Not to spoil too much of the story, but like the aforementioned graphic novel series, the game follows multiple characters through the gritty city of Vegas, as their lives intertwine and cross, building the universe around them with each new character's arc.
Bloons Tower Defense 4 - Now, this game is so addicting that I'm playing it now as I'm writing this blog in a second window. While at first it seems like your usual tower defense game, it has a much more fluid gameplay, and the presentation values for the entire series has been awesome. You can check out it and the other games in the series at NinjaKiwi.
Portal the Flash Version (link above) - An interesting take on what Portal's gameplay would be like if it was 2D instead of a 3D game. Use of the original games tutorial art used as in game sprites was a wonderful choice, however, unlike the original title, it lacks the story that makes it so great.
Shift - As with NinjaKiwi, Armor Games has made a name for themselves through titles like Shift and their Thing Thing series, and by co-producing as well as hosting some lesser known flash titles out there. Shift at first looks to be very similar to Portal the Flash Version, platforming with a gimmick, lab experiments, proximity to the release of the original Portal...but Shift does maintain a story, and creates a different experience entirely than those featured in Portal, it's flash based homage, or its sequel. It's rather short though, which is both a good and bad thing, and not much reason to replay it in the future.
Zynga - Love them or hate them, Zynga has released some wonderful time wasting games. Though they may lay waste to classic games like Sim City (Cityville), Civilizations (Empires and Allies), and Harvest Moon (Farmville), and rip offPopCap of all things (which will not be covered in this one due to them not being as indie these days), they've come a long way. Empires and Allies is a magnificent little game that blends RTS games with Turn Based RPG as effectively as Fire Emblem or Advance Wars. The only catch is Zynga's commercial arm throwing it's way into the title.
Pandemic Series, Pandemic II - Like Sim games? Ever wanted to kill off the entire population of the world with a virus? Pandemic's for you. Dark Realm Studios awesome little disease making series, as well as it's off shoot, American Swine (which actually has you trying to stop the Swine Flu, in contrast to the rest of the series), gives you a wonderful little experience at what it would be like to truly be an evil genius. I hope in 2.5 they add a little story to it, but it's really fun to destroy the human race every once in a while...just hope you get Madagascar and New Zealand early. They're a bitch to get later on.
Kitten Cannon - As with the game, there's not going to be much to this. Kitten Cannon is BurstStudio's (now defunct) little claim to fame. Hosted nearly everywhere, particularly Newgrounds and Addicting Games, Kitten Cannon gives you exactly that, a cannon you shoot kittens out of for points. Not much to it, but a decent time waster, nonetheless.
Boxhead Series - Another out of Addicting Games, Boxhead is a top down shooter survival game. While there's not much story in the ones I've played (haven't played the latest in the series yet), the game was fun, as you play as Jon Bambo, lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse, hell bent on survival. Very fun and a great selection of weapons rivaling most full game titles.
Learn to Fly - One suggest by Mark the Intern in his Searchlight, Learn to Fly tells the story of an upstart, slightly narcissistic penguin who thinks he should know how to fly. It's worth playing through at least once, and actually uses pretty decent aerodynamics in teaching it's penguin how to fly.
So, that makes up the best of the flash/browser based games I've played. If you have another you think should be up there, please, let me know, and if I think they're really good, I'll add them to the list. You'll see some of these again, and you'll definitely see more free gaming examples in the coming weeks. Next up though (and why this took so long to post, as it was started on Wednesday, July 6th, and it is now Sunday, July 10th), my visit to the first ever Anime Blues Con.
-Sara
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