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PC Gamer’s 365 Days Of Free Games
Written by John Walker on July 23, 2008 at 8:00 am.
A lot of love and hard work went into a remarkable feature in the current PC Gamer (UK) – 365 free games. And now you can read the entire damn thing on Games Radar.
It was a mad labour of love/hate for half the Gamer team, as well as Jim and me, taking far longer and far more people than any feature ever should. And well worth it.
GR have done a nice job, putting a decent number of screenshots up, along with direct links to every game. I feel for the person who had to copy out all the urls onto the site. Then I stop feeling for them, since the cheeky buggers not only infer they had something to do with writing it in their opening paragraph, but then add the peculiar disclaimer, “Unlike our earlier features, we can’t guarantee the quality of every game here.” How rude! Just you wait until I’m next in San Fran, you terrible men. Anyway, I can assure you there’s nary a duffer amongst them.
You’ll have seen quite a few of them on RPS before, but there’s literally hundreds we’ve never mentioned. You’ll never be short of a work distraction again.
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66Comment on this story — Share/save/Digg this story
Tags: 365 days of free games, free, games radar, PC-Gamer
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Ben Abraham says:
Re Matt:
John Walker said:
Anyway, I can assure you there’s nary a duffer amongst them.
Hello? Read before posting, k thx bai.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 am
Evangel says:
The article has links to 50 best free games, best 9 free MMOs and best 10 free shooters.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 am
Matt says:
Re Matt:
John Walker said:
Anyway, I can assure you there’s nary a duffer amongst them.
Hello? Read before posting, k thx bai.
the opinions of one man, and also doens’t narrow down the main problem, that people just don’t have time to play all 365 of them and just want to play the best.
The article has links to 50 best free games, best 9 free MMOs and best 10 free shooters.
which are perfectly good articles, making this one even more pointless.
I should point out that in part I’m playing the devils advocate
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:45 am
John Walker says:
You’re playing devil’s twit. They’re in categories, with short descriptions to help you choose which one you might want to click on. Now stop moaning!
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
AndrewC says:
365? What a stupid, arbitrary number. You all just get bored before you even got close to 500? Lazy journalism.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
Arsewisely says:
Why has this of all things stirred up an argument? Can’t we just enjoy a massive list of free games vetted by professional games journalists? Bloody internet.
(and that games radar opening para was a bit snotty, I hope words were had – why is it there and not on CVG anyway?)
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Michael Bay says:
Jesus Christ, you bunch of half-bred imbeciles. Free stuff! For Free! If I gave you tickets to my latest movie, and five pounds, would you complain?
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
aldo says:
Jesus Christ, you bunch of half-bred imbeciles. Free stuff! For Free! If I gave you tickets to my latest movie, and five pounds, would you complain?
Does it have explosions and the theme music from The Rock?
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 am
Crispy says:
The article links to 3 other articles copy-pasta they’ve brought us scrounged from the pages of other people’s work. Funny thing is only one of them was done by GamesRadar, the others are straight from PCGamer UK, PCGamer US and PCZone UK.
I have to say I think the sirs do take the undeserving credit piss slightly with their opening paragraph.
—
As for the weird-ass argument brewing in this here thread about whether we should be happy with a list of free games, just play a bit of Robokill: Titan Prime in your lunchbreak today, and then rejoice when you return the next day to find your progress has been saved!
This alone is sufficient proof for me that RPS does not lie when it recommends free games.
—
In fact, here’s an idea!!!1111
Why not try out a game from the list and report back in this thread if you liked it/hated it!
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
Ubernutz says:
Those responsible for this list should be hung, drawn and quartered. Then put back together with super-bionic parts for being brilliant enough to play all 365 games and tell us what they’re like.
To the nay sayers, mammaries or fare thee well.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:04 am
AndrewC says:
If they don’t cost anything, they aren’t worth anything.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
mpk says:
That site has a “Top 7 shower scenes” article. As my Granny used to say: “Wtf?”
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:43 am
James G says:
@AndrewC
Surely cost and worth are two things that are only loosely correlated. One is a fact, the other a judgement. Worth is in the eye of the beholder,cost in the barcode scanner’s database. Oxygen may be free, but if you were for some reason running low on it, you’d realise that it was in fact worth an awful lot. (Well actually, you wouldn’t. It would be the increasing levels of carbon dioxide that made you query the worth of oxygen. If it was just a lack of oxygen that was the problem then you’d only realise when you fell unconscious.)
Edit: And please tell me you were joking about 365 being an arbitrary number!
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
TheLordHimself says:
Thats a good philosophy to live by AndrewC. Even if you were joking, your still a tit for assuming that worth is only a measure of money.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Zuffox says:
Wow, what an unprecedented show of internet animosity and grumpiness in here.
Those are greatly missed in the Metal Gear Solid 4, Witcher and all sorts of miscellaneous discussions, but not here.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
AndrewC says:
OK, I apologise. I’m sorry. I should be more aware that this is the Internet, where too many people would hold those opinions in all seriousness to reasonably expect anyone to pick up on my terribly clever irony.
I’ll get back to you on my real reaction to this article in a year or so.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
silencer says:
I like that Mythos made the list, except that Flagship just recently shut it down (for now). :(
Edit: Also, Crime Craft reminds me of APB.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
Wait, where was I when people were passing around the memo saying “Free” was now a bad thing?
I’ve already played at least eleven percent of these games (for reasons which may or may not have anything to do with RPS articles, honest) and am of the opinion that all of those I’ve played were damn fun.
Which, I’m pretty sure, puts the lie to Sturgeon’s Law at least this time.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Philip says:
Irony is something that doesn’t really work on the internet unless you make it brick-to-the-face obvious.
I thought I heard dull thud this morning. It was the noise of thousands of people from across the world simultaneously rolling out the wrong side of the bed.
Get a grip, people. Thanks for the article, can imagine it was a complete arse to complete… :-)
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
AndrewC says:
Also my last post probably sounds really sarcastic.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Albides says:
AndrewC,
Take a hint from the following blog post – Postal III – and…work on your delivery.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
AndrewC says:
Mushrooooooom, apparently.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Calabi says:
I’m not sure how anyone can argue against the worth of the games there.
Its got a game where you can beat up little kids in a playground. They contain way more creativity than lots of overcharged mainstream games. You could play ten of them in 5 minutes.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
AndrewC says:
Albides: wait a minute. Was that a….pun?
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Al3xand3r says:
[You know what - I'm sick of your mindless negativity Al3xand3r. If you hate everything you read on this site so much, I suggest not reading it. - Ed]
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
John P (Katsumoto) says:
Or they prefer reading magazines to articles on their computer screen / enjoy taking it to the loo with them whilst having a shit / reading in the back of a car when your mates are taking you on a “ROAD TRIP” / and so on.
If magazines were just a list of “news” then i’d see your point, ish. But as it stands, “eh?”
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Al3xand3r says:
They’re not just news, but anything they write is online months before. Game reviews, hardware reviews, feature stories on current hot topics, whatever else, can be found on sources as respectable (or not respectable) as any magazine, there must be some which fit anybody’s tastes.
That’s like saying the internet is just a list of news if you think magazines provide more than such and therefor aren’t merely competing with online sources….
It’s not like you provided any compelling content based reason to buy a magazine, other than being able to take a magazine somewhere with you, though with the variety of wi fi enabled devices, you can do that for websites also, and if wi fi won’t be available, save the articles you’ll wish to read during the trip or whatever…
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
John P (Katsumoto) says:
Hardly as convenient as just picking up the magazine and leaving the house though! You can’t just flick casually through the pages of a PDF file stored on your 15 inch laptop.
Anyway, the more content the merrier for me. I mean, I COULD make do with just RPS and Eurogamer, but I love to read stuff from PC Gamer and PC Zone too, just for another angle on things. Also, it’s really hot and hard to hold a laptop on your legs whilst you’re in the loo.
For a similar discussion – see the waves of “meh” generated by E-Books.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Dan says:
I subscribe to PC Gamer because I like their reviews and opinion stuff, mostly. It’s very rare that any of their news is actually new, although they occasionally get exclusive reveals on some of their previews. And yeah, I prefer reading long items from a magazine to reading them off a computer screen.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Mr Peckerston says:
As much as I hate complaining about a free article about free games, I have to agree that there’s way too much shit in that list. Just from the first page there’s Epic Saga: Extreme Fighter, Dad ‘n’ Me, Kumoon, Shapes on a Plane, Hydrophobia and Pengiun Panic, and a few of the games I haven’t tried look dire too. The short descriptions give absolutely no indication of quality either, so people are just as likely to randomly download Facewound or Toadzilla as Cave Story.
I guess I should make my own review site instead of bitching. Oh well :(
[Yes, except you forgot the "instead of" part. What a bunch of miserable bastards you lot are today. Watch this and then try and be negative:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDaszN9ByxM - Ed]
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Joe says:
A good list, but a lot of it was stuff I already knew about :(
AISLE should so be on that list as well by the way.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Cooper says:
Wow… Just, wow. Angry internet Men Out In Force. They’re free. And the majority of them are very good time fillers. Sure, few compete with commercial games, but many, many provide mechanics, styles and ideas you’d never, ever see in a commercial game. Pah.
Anyway, I read this in PCGamer (about, ooh, a month ago, Al3x). I’m an avid fan of indie games, and had played a large proportion of the ones suggested (some of which I played again, having forgotten about them) and quite a fewthat were new to me.
Many, many of which (150?) were neatly put together on the cover disc (so I didn’t have to piss about with hundreds of internet links and webpages and downloads, Al3x).
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Nick says:
“I guess it’s ok since this was made for a magazine, whose readers usually don’t know much about anything (else they’d not have a reason to regularly buy magazines, aside from the odd unique feature story everything is online months earlier) but having it online is redudant.”
Utter nonsense and somewhat insultingly ignorant.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
El Stevo says:
You guys can be so negative. And this isn’t even a Fallout 3 post.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Man Raised By Puffins says:
Anyway, the more content the merrier for me. I mean, I COULD make do with just RPS and Eurogamer, but I love to read stuff from PC Gamer and PC Zone too, just for another angle on things. Also, it’s really hot and hard to hold a laptop on your legs whilst you’re in the loo.
Yup, I still subscribe to Gamer, and pick up the odd Edge, for much the same reasons.
As for the article in question, I have to say I only skimmed through it. But it is quite useful to know that I’ve got such a repository if I need it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
MCHN says:
Well dammit, I’m excited about this. Great stuff.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
runningwthszzors says:
Just tried out the Deus Ex of Adventure games: Masq. Excellent, excellent game.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
GibletHead2000 says:
Lost Pig was great, thanks. :-) You seem to have missed Kingdom of Loathing though… Or I missed it… ?
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Al3xand3r says:
Hey mr “Ed” (I’ll call you that, since you didn’t even write your nickname when you edited my post), I believe my negativity here was meant for things found on a different website, not this one, and you can always skip my comments yourself.
Editing them with messages like what you left in place of my last is rather sycophantic. Of course, it’s your website and you can do anything you please, I’m just assuming the staff here have some decency when I write this. I may very well be unpleasantly surprised.
For someone who spends all that time on the internet, you sure take things way too seriously and dare I say personally. Why not give me some examples of my apparent horrible constant negativity which ruins your little corner of the web, because I fail to see any negativity aimed @ RPS’ way of doing things on any of the front page stories so it must not happen all that often, else your reasoning would have been perfectly valid and I’d have nothing to argue with.
Even doing a google search about my nickname instances on your website, brings up pages of various reports I’ve commented on with nothing negative to say about anything RPS does, and little negative about anything at all. In fact I seem to be decently active about many topics and present opinions not that radically different to other readers, casually contributing to all sorts of discussions, so I’m pretty confused over the issue you bring up.
Feel free to delete this, but you can respond to me via e-mail either way.
[At RPS we retain the right to delete or edit any comment in any way we see fit. People are negative, obviously, but you seem to be aiming for some sort of record. We shall choose to take comments as personally or seriously as we wish when published on our website. Please, for the love of anything, stop dragging every thread down into your world of misery. Thanks! - Ed]
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
cyrenic says:
I’m very disappointed to not see Crysis or Call of Duty 4 on there.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Bullwinkle says:
Hey guys, next time, instead of doing a ton of research to find good, free games, and sorting them into convenient categories, and writing short descriptions and adding screenshots to give us an idea as to whether we’d like to try that game, why don’t you [presumably this is ironic, but that's enough for now, thanks! - Ed]
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Bullwinkle says:
It was ironic. My apologies. [I thought it was funny. - Another Ed]
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Man Raised By Puffins says:
/me adds ‘free games’ to the list of hot-button RPS issues.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Okami says:
Could you please all stop fighting. I’m in a depressed mood today anyway and all this negativity here almost made me cry. Won’t somebody please think of the children?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Okami says:
FREE GAMES CAUSE TERRORISM.
Doesn’t everything, these days?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Janto says:
ah, the price of fame.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Björn says:
I thought it was nice to see the list. I’ve played quite a few of the games and seen a lot mentioned before, but there were a few new ones there that I want to check out.
It was a bit dissapointing that they’re including a few demos of non-free games, and slightly off descriptions of a few games (also, linking to sites that link to the real websites/download places instead of linking to the right place directly).
Still well worth the enromous effort of 11 clicks to go through the list. So hooray!
Okay, my comment still sounds snarky. This list is nice, and I really appriciate the work that has gone into it. It has made the world a slightly better place (even when counting the increased terrorism).
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Dr_demento says:
I was extremely pleased, and surprised, to see Soldat on the list. An absolutely superb bit of fun, and the only game I’ve played online and had fun with. There is nothing like the feeling you get when you, while flying through the air, hit another flying player with a perfectly-aimed M79 parabola and his bits bounce off the landscape.
Seriously, go play it already!
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Dr_demento says:
Also. DEATH WORM DEATH WORM DEATH WORM DEATH WORM DEATH WORM
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Tony says:
DEATH WORM!
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!
DEATH WOOOOORRRRRMMMM!
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Tim James says:
I almost feel bad that the good work of PCG UK and US has to live at the icky GamesRadar, the site with one of the worst signal-to-noise ratios I’ve seen.
I’d actually pay a small yearly fee to get a version of that site and its forums that is “not shit,” where it just listed the “serious” articles done by the real writers.
I’ll give the list a look when I get home. I think it was in the latest PCG US as well, but this one seems to have more pictures. I just went on an indie/freeware trek and probably have half the games, but I’m sure there are a few gems that I missed!
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Mike says:
Aww. Seeing Knytt made me smile a little. Inside /and/ outside. Must download again.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Arathain says:
You know, at first, the bizzare negativity did get me down. But the [-Ed.] comments and the DEATH WORM! stuff and the 300-millionty free games that I now have handy links for to save the burden of typing in the snipurl codes cheered me right back up again. Hurrah for PCG and RPS.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
compuguy1088 says:
Is this the same list that is in the PC Gamer US September 2008 #178?????? It sometimes gets really annoying with the differences between the UK and the US magazines.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:12 am
internut says:
[I've had it absolutely up to here. If ONE MORE POST of this nature appears on this site, we're shutting this whole thing down forever. I can't even believe you'd drag my mother into this; she's a decent, honest woman. I'm serious, nothing is sacred with you people. -Ed]
July 24th, 2008 at 8:58 am
malkav11 says:
It’s largely the same list as is in the most recent US PC Gamer, yes. (I think there’s a couple more things, actually, or maybe I just missed those entries in the magazine.) That would be why it’s on Games Radar, actually, since that site is now the official PC Gamer (US) web presence or something like that.
It’s definitely the sort of thing I prefer online with clicky URLs and more space for screenshots. It’s a cool article, but typing everything in all the time would have gotten old.
July 24th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
GeorgeR says:
I don’t know if its sad or cool that I’ve already played through a good number of these games. Haha.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Frank says:
Took me a couple days to get through all the games I haven’t tried before (except An Act of Murder, which will probably take longer once I get to it). I found some good stuff, like Dive and Pod Man. And all of ‘em were at least as good as what I find on my own (I’m looking at you, flash games sites). So, thanks guys.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
zzz says:
fuck every one in here
May 30th, 2009 at 7:17 am
fuck u all says:
fuck u all mother fuking gamers sucjk my dick and ass hole
May 30th, 2009 at 7:19 am
steve says:
hey wats the site thats all over the magazine… i read it while at the store but cant remember and i wanna goto it email me twfbeast@rocketmail.com
June 4th, 2009 at 10:43 am
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I’ve got to say, and apologises to those who put the work into this.
But people aren’t interested in 365 free games, in the same way people aren’t interested in 365 arbitrary xbox or ps3 games because they know there’s a high likelyhood that 99% of them will be average-bad and they don’t have time to filter them themslves.
There’s a reason why reviews exist, so people can avoid the majority of these bad titles and focus on the good ones, noone is going to play all 365 of these games, a far more effective effort would have been to do the “top 10 free games” and it would have a much better impact (although not as impressive a title).
/scrouge
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:23 am