Recommend me some good cheap/free games!

[Rhymenoceros]

Basically, I'm going o be getting a laptop soon and have decided the time is finally ripe for me to start dipping my toes into the vast ocean of PC gaming. However I have no idea where to begin and I'm not exactly rich at the moment!

So I was wondering what cheap/free games my fellow Escapians would recommend me given the chance, the only problem is I highly doubt the laptop will be a top of the range £1000 gaming laptop so try to keep them fairly CPU unintensive, although if a game is brilliant I could always check it out on Xbox

Thanks

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

I have started a thread about good free games somewhere here. You might get a clue there...
Anyway: If strategy is your thing you should give Battle of Wesnoth a try. linky here It's really quite addictive.

 

[the spud]

What kind of games do you like? If you like RPG's and you live in the states or Canada, you may have a moral excuse to play a game called Terranigma on an emulator (I don't condone piracy but if you live in North America it is the only way you can play the game). Normally, I would reccomend donating to the developer, but they are now defunct. PM me to learn more.

 

[Rhymenoceros]

I have started a thread about good free games somewhere here. You might get a clue there...
Anyway: If strategy is your thing you should give Battle of Wesnoth a try. linky here It's really quite addictive.

I have actually tried Wesnoth before
I didn't really get into it as I'm not really an RTS guy myself but I can see how it would be good for people who actually like RTS's

 

[Twilight_guy]

Go buy the Orange box if you haven't already. Then check out steam. They have a 10 dollar and under section.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I posted this on the last thread, but the Marathon Trilogoy is free.

http://trilogyrelease.bungie.org/

 

[scorptatious]

I recommend Team Fortress 2, which is free, and Plants vs. Zombies which is $10 on Steam.

 

[Rhymenoceros]

What kind of games do you like? If you like RPG's and you live in the states or Canada, you may have a moral excuse to play a game called Terranigma on an emulator (I don't condone piracy but if you live in North America it is the only way you can play the game). Normally, I would reccomend donating to the developer, but they are now defunct. PM me to learn more.

I'm basically open to any game type except RTS's so I may look at that one

 

[The Virgo]

If you like good, fast-paced twitch-shooters from before the days of "regenerating health", you should try Quake Live. For free, you get pretty much everything (there are pay versions, but you don't get much, so stick with the free version) and all you have to do is watch a commercial before the match.

It's pretty fun, but be prepared to have your ass handed to you on many occasions.

EDIT: Also, it has a pretty nice userbase, too. I've rarely ever had problems with another user.

 

[the spud]

What kind of games do you like? If you like RPG's and you live in the states or Canada, you may have a moral excuse to play a game called Terranigma on an emulator (I don't condone piracy but if you live in North America it is the only way you can play the game). Normally, I would reccomend donating to the developer, but they are now defunct. PM me to learn more.

I'm basically open to any game type except RTS's so I may look at that one

It was criminally overlooked when it came out, and it is actually in my top 3 SNES games (and I hold the SNES in very high regard). I will PM you a video that tells you basically everything you need to know.

 

[LostCrusader]

League of Legends is free and quite addicting. Team Fortress 2 if you want a free shooter. Other than that, just watch Steam sales.

 

[Dutch 924]

I'm sure there are a lot of cheap games from the Xbox/PS2 era. Those were great

As for PC games, I don't know. I never really played them, apart from Theme Hospital and Stronghold

 

[Fredrikorex]

You should get The Binding of Isaac, it's a great game and it's also very cheap.

You can try the demo on Newgrounds. http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581168

EDIT: Trackmania nations forever is a free game you could try.

 

[Darknacht]

Sign up for Gamersgate Freegames beta http://www.gamersgate.com/freegames . You get free games you just have to watch a 30sec ad before you start playing and if you rate and review the game after you play it you get store credit towards other games. Gamersgate also has sales that beat even Steam's sale prices if you have some money.
Steam also has some really good sales and some free games, you just have to deal with the steam client running when you play them.

 

[Niilo Piippo]

All you need is League of legends and Team fortress 2.

 

[5-0]

Far Cry should be pretty cheap by now. I got it in the Steam sale. And of course Deus Ex, that'll last ages.

 

[Trivea]

Ao Oni, either version 5.2 or 6.1 (just make sure you get the English version unless you read Japanese). It's a Japanese RPG-Maker game and it's completely free, and no, by "free" I don't mean available for pirate. It's actually not an RPG, it's kind of a cheesy survival-horror "kids stuck in a haunted house" game. Similar to Clock Tower if you've ever heard of that. It's also rather terrifying for all its cheese. (Plus it's extremely underground pretty much everywhere but Japan, so you could also do the Hipster Superiority Sniff each time someone mentions it to you after that.)

 

[ToastiestZombie]

If you like Phoenix Wright and want a funny game then go download Murder Dog IV: The Trial Of Murder Dog. Its pretty much the blackest humor you can get, and theres multiple endings. The game takes from 1 minutes to about 15 minutes so it wont take that long to play. Also, there is no 3, 2 or 1, the name is just a weird humorous name.

Link:http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/adventure/murder-dog-iv-trial-of-the-murder-dog/5807/

 

[Berenzen]

What's your top-end?

As well, if you like long, well-written RPG's check out some of Obsidian's/Black Isle's older stuff (KotOR2, NWN2, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1 and 2), yes they're older, but still pretty damn good and will keep you occupied (current playthrough of NWN2 has kept me occupied for about 100 hours now).

Also check out the original TES games. And the old FPS classics like Serious Sam and Quake.

If you want newer games however, check the games in the for $10 and under section on steam.

 

[Aidinthel]

I didn't really get into it as I'm not really an RTS guy myself but I can see how it would be good for people who actually like RTS's

*twitch* RTS means Real-Time Strategy. Wesnoth is turn-based, thus TBS, for Turn-Based Strategy. Different genres.

OT: Hmm, Wesnoth would have been my first suggestion as well. I don't know how many outright free games I can recommend but there's plenty of stuff for cheap. I can second TF2, and well, any Valve game really. World of Goo is pretty good. The Witcher 1 sells for $10 on Steam these days and my laptop ran it just fine. (Sequel is a bit past the limit, though.) Psychonauts is a given, especially with recent updates. The STALKER games, as long as you make sure to get a fan patch 'cause they are really buggy. Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines is commonly cited as an under appreciated gem (again, get a fan patch). And of course there's a ridiculous ton of stuff on Good Old Games that you'd pretty much be able to run on a toaster these days.