The Captain's Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games - New List
Sep 16 '07 (Updated Sep 19 '07)
The Bottom Line My Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games list - September 2007 Edition.
Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games
These are some of the very best freeware adventure games I've played. I don't claim to have played every freeware adventure game ever made, but I've played quite a few in my time. These, in my opinion, are the ten best (subject to change, in no particular order...)
http://www.studiotrophis.com/wc.php
- The White Chamber - a chilling sci-fi horror game, and unusual take on the genre with very classy execution. Even more impressive considering it's Studio Trophos' debut game. This is one of the most atmospheric adventure games I've ever played, freeware or commercial.
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/scummvm/bass-cd-1.2.zip?download
- Beneath a Steel Sky - a former commercial release by Revolution (creators of the Broken Sword games), this cyberpunk game takes you into a dystopean future where your fate is, quite literally, in your own hands. You'll need http://scummvm.org - SCUMM Virtual Machine to play this game. Despite its age it's well worth playing today. Revolution's old game "Flight of the Amazon Queen" is one of the other games that can be played on Virtual SCUMM, but I couldn't get it to work for some reason - it looks like a great game if you have more success though!
http://www.absurdus.net/kraken/buynow.htm
- Eye of the Kraken - another former commercial release, this very odd French game is a great combination of a Jules Verne novel and Agatha Christie novel - all inside the world of a very playable adventure game! Quirky graphics style and music complete the slightly surreal, but very enjoyable, gaming experience. And odd. Very odd. ... did I mention that it's odd?!? Don't worry about the "buy now" in the download URL, it's now completely free but they obviously didn't change the URL!
http://offstudio.fabry.cz/mb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=40&lang=en
- Ten Magical Amulets - a real fairy tale plot brought to life with an imaginative storyline, great visuals, and nicely balanced puzzles. The outakes you can see once you've completed the game are qutie funny, too.
http://prodigal.aedmark.com/download.htm
- Prodigal - a spooky horror-style game with some of the best graphics ever to grace an AGS game. Unravel a sinister plot the your brother has become embroiled in, or the whole world just might regret it... (this game is not recommended for younger children) The programmer of this game is working on a sequel that he hopes to get released commercially - it will certainly be one to look out for.
http://www.pinheadgames.com/bounty2/bounty2.zip
- Nick Bounty - "The Goat in the Grey Fedora" - Pinhead Games second Nick Bounty games (the first being http://www.otterarchives.com/bountygame.html - Case of the Crabs - this one's gone 3D with some impressive visuals, nice music, fully voice-acted and a great noir plot. There's also a Mac version at http://www.pinheadgames.com/bounty2/bounty2mac.zip and an online version at http://www.otterarchives.com/bounty2/bounty2.html. Pinhead Games are fast establishing themselves as one of the prominent freeware game design teams.
http://ron.the-underdogs.info/downloads/games/surf.zip
- Purity of the Surf - the genius of AGS maestro Dave Gilbert soared in this, my all-time favourite RON (Reality On the Norm) game. Play Josh the surfer dude on a mission to... er... find his surfboard, initially, but loads more afterwards! Very funny and very playable.
http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=4372
- The Uncertainty Machine - an excellent game in the style of the first two Broken Sword games, with you playing the role of a reporter who gets involved in a plot that the Wachowski brothers may well make into a film one day. But is Schroedinger's cat dead or alive?!? Does even the cat know?
http://www.tierraentertainment.com/KQ2.php
- Kings Quest II remake- Tierra Entertainment brought the old Sierra classic up to date with not only improved graphics, music, and sound effects but about 50% extra storyline! The fact that I love this one is a huge testimony to the game as I'm not a huge fan of Sierra's "get it wrong and get killed" style - I grew up with LucasArts' "you can never actually die" philospohy and much prefer that as a rule!
http://outoforder.adventuredevelopers.com/
- Out of Order- this will probably always remain my absolute favourite freeware adventure game because of its excellent graphics and storyline - and the fact that the auther, Tim Furnish, actually wrote his own game engine to run it! (The same game engine powers some other great adventure games like "The Game That Takes Place On A Cruise Ship" and "Frasse and the Peas of Kejick") Great graphics and sound, too.
LATE ADDITION
Haven't completed this one yet, but A Tale of Two Kingdoms
- http://taleoftwokingdoms.com/ -
is a great game that is more like King's Quest than King's Quest is! Getting killed is a little frustrating but overall this is one all adventure game fans are going to want to play.
If any of the URLs don't work anymore, leave me a message - preferably with a working URL!
Commercial Adventure Game Reviews
Monkey Island series: One, Two and Three compilation, Four
Broken Sword series: One, Two, Three,Four
Discworld series: One, Two, Three
The Dig
Grim Fandango
Sam & Max / Day of the Tentacle Double Pack
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