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Some of the Best Truly Free and Open Source Games on the Internet

by L. Marksman, Dec 6, 2007

The internet is filled with rubbish games that claim to be free but are in fact ad ware, propaganda or just plain boring. Rather try these totally free, totally ad free and totally fun games. These games contain something different that make them truly unique.

Tremulous

This super addictive open source game blends elements of team based FPS (first person shooter) and RTS (real time strategy).

  • Choose to be an alien or human player
  • Build up to 16 different structures; each with it's own functions
  • Scale walls as an alien waiting for an unsuspecting human to pass by
  • Realistic physics
  • Buy weapons and armor as a human
  • Several alien classes with unique abilities

Frets on fire

Fret on Fire is a game of musical skill. Play guitar on the keyboard while trying to be as accurate as possible. Many people believe this to be one of the most fun games ever made.

  • Distinctive inverted keyboard gameplay style
  • Supports guitar controllers or joysticks
  • Hundreds of songs

BZ Flag

When it comes to multiplayer games this must be one of my favorites, I don't even know why but it's just so much fun! And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Its one of the most popular open source games ever.

BZ Flag is a multiplayer tank battle game with no special features just a winning formula for the perfect package of distilled fun.

Danger from the Deep

DftD is a graphically rich and engaging World War II submarine simulator.

I chose this game because it's turning out to be the best free submarine simulator and everybody loves being the silent hunter…

This game is still in the ALPHA stage of development but playable and recommended none the less.

If you don't believe me have a look at the screenshots.

True Combat: Elite

I love this tactical-team shooter because in my opinion it's one of the few games to add a variety of options and weapons without robbing the game of any of its fun or pace.

TC:E is a feature rich total conversion for Wolfenstein Enemy Territory and for me it's even more fun than Enemy Territory itself.

You may be thinking: “just another terrorist counter terrorism shooter” but don't be fooled TC:E is engaging and not just a brute force show of skill, many other factors play a roll. In essence TC:E is just a more realistic experience than the other games of this kind.

  • Letterbox and widescreen modes
  • Cross Platform Support (Win, OS X, Linux)
  • Realistic weapon behavior simulation
  • Iron sight aiming system, no crosshair
  • Sophisticated ballistic simulation including multiple-layer object penetration
  • Balanced, team specific set of real-world weapons (Grenades, Pistols, SMG's, Assault-, Shotgun- and Sniper-Rifles)
  • Lag compensation, client-side bullet prediction

Conclusion

What I looked at in this article is games with that little something special that transforms a game form just another game to the game I can't seem to stop playing.

Many other free games are indeed very good but these games are something different and to me they seem to stand out.

Stay tuned for more games.

These are my favorite free games, you are welcome to comment and share yours too.

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Comments (43)
#1 by Ryan™, Dec 7, 2007
There's Gunz online, MapleStory (it gets boring after a while though), Runescape, Eudemons online, and Silk Road.

Some games that you can get money from is/are Second Life and...er...I forget the other one.

I've never played Gaia Online but I've seen a few things for it (cheat engines, etc.) so I think it's pretty popular.
#2 by AstralSin, Dec 7, 2007
You forgot Alien Arena, Warsow, Nexuiz, World of Padman, loads of others, but decent stuff here
#3 by L. Marksman, Dec 8, 2007
True, those seem very good.

I’m planning another article with more so in the meantime I’ll research and play some of your suggestions.

Thanks for commenting.
#4 by kennypu, Dec 8, 2007
2 ryan:
those won't count because they are not open-source.but yes, they are good games, especially Gunz XD.
#5 by great list, Dec 8, 2007
I think wesnoth is also multiplayer, but im not sure. I only played the single player campains and they were very fun. Great list!!
#6 by wookie, Dec 11, 2007
Tremulous and danger from the deep look awesome! I've never heard of these games before...Thanks.

Alien arena is kind of fun but I can never find servers with more than 4 people playing at one time.

True combat elite is REALLY fun. I've spent a lot of hours playing that.
#7 by JD, Dec 12, 2007
Thanks, grabbing the submarine simulator now.

I don't know how "truly unique" that DDR ripoff is...

#8 by L. Marksman, Dec 12, 2007
I don't know about the FOF being a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) rip-off.

Yes it uses the same basic idea but I think of it more as another title in a genre rather than a rip-off.

If everyone criticized games using the same genre we would probably still be playing Spasim(1974) because all other FPS games are rip-offs.

It contains features making it unique like the ability to play guitar hero style on your keyboard.
#9 by N.Beringer, Dec 12, 2007
Thanks for posting this article. Definitely some guilt free fun to be had playing these games with everyone.
#10 by fnaz, Dec 12, 2007
I'd bet that DDR ripoff meant StepMania, not FOF
#11 by gna, Dec 12, 2007
Neither TrueCombat: Elite or Enemy Territory are open-source...
#12 by L. Marksman, Dec 12, 2007
Yes that is true, in retrospect my title should have read: Some of the Best Truly Free OR Open Source Games on the Internet.

I don't care that a game isn't open source as long as there isn't any strings attached.
#13 by jace goods, Dec 12, 2007
wots #open source' mean guys? please?
#14 by JASON, Dec 12, 2007
I just tried to play that 'Frets of fire' but when I click on your link (the title) all I get is a page that opens with 'About Frets Of Fire', no download or play option ?? Can anyone help pls? Thks
#15 by L. Marksman, Dec 13, 2007
http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/ for all the download options.
#16 by L. Marksman, Dec 13, 2007
An open source program is a free program of which the source code(the files used to make the program) is freely available for anyone to improve or use in other free projects.
#17 by L.Marksman, Dec 14, 2007
At last! My second list of games is finished, find it here:

http://tinyurl.com/33y8uw
#18 by lordoftheives, Dec 15, 2007
wesnoth is multi player, and another great single player game is cave story
#19 by lordoftheives, Dec 15, 2007
btanks is really confusing. I dont know who's on my team, or much of anything for that matter.
#20 by ReignonYourParade, Dec 16, 2007
I recommend dwarf fortress, despite the fact that it is still an alpha.
#21 by snoop dog, Dec 17, 2007
Another great game (that I am currently addicted to) is Soldier Front, found on ijji.com... You buy your weapons with money they provide you and then fight real people from all over the world (I even played someone from Israel!). The only problem, as I have already said, is that it is unbelievably addicting (but that comes with great games) and there are hackers :(
#22 by Deceth, Dec 18, 2007
Game that I currently play thats free is BattleCity Classic! You build, defend and attack cities while riding a tank ;)

http://battlecity.looble.com
#23 by L. Marksman, Dec 19, 2007
The second article(Some of the Best Truly Free or Open Source Games on the Internet 2) has moved here:

http://orange-blog.net/?p=41#more-41

Reason for move: More visible and reputable site than Gameolosophy.

Thanks.
#24 by Saum, Dec 19, 2007
There is also Warrock.

http://warrock.net
#25 by kamil, Dec 19, 2007
where is America's Army in this list? it should be #1...
#26 by Waffleeeee!, Dec 19, 2007
Nice list, I checked out some of those games. If you make another, you might want to add Flyff. It's not bad, and totally free. Except for paying for extras, if you count that. You get the full game free, but some 'sparkle' you can buy.
#27 by Mataor, Dec 21, 2007
Is there a plane combat simulator, like the long lost Crimson Skies? Oh how I wish some kind soul makes an open Source from that game, or at least sometning similar.
#28 by Dilbo, Dec 21, 2007
I found my split near the end. Where is the other cabin? Please your lord.
#29 by Unknown glory, Dec 22, 2007
What about americas army huh? u left that great game out...
#30 by L. Marksman, Dec 22, 2007
No matter how you look at it; AA is and always was propaganda (and consequently not really free). It is fully government funded and has the sole purpose of promoting the US army. But I agree it is a high budget quality game.

Many people seem to ask for another one of these lists despite the fact that I already made one (first comment #18 and then comment #25) but the second list (even better than this one in my opinion) hardly gets traffic.

Here is the link again: http://orange-blog.net/?p=41#more-41
Remember to stumble or digg if you like it
#31 by Cameron Eittreim, Dec 24, 2007
Nice informative article dude, I've played a number of open source games and most of them are actually pretty good.
#32 by Jared Stenzel, Dec 26, 2007
Great list! I think the only one of those games I've played is the tank one, and then of course the guitar game I've played on an xbox. I look forward to a second list. I don't really know of any truly free games, but you've got a lot of suggestions here.
#33 by jackiee, Dec 26, 2007
it\'s good
#34 by Steven West, Dec 26, 2007
Nice variety of free games. I have bookmarked various sites for free computer games.
#35 by Efe Ozalp, Dec 26, 2007
hi! ı just downloaded Frets on Fire but when i entered the game and select to play the game, it gives me some errors and quits the program.Do someone have any idea what should i do about it or do anybody else have theese kind of problem?
thank you!!
#36 by Tommy-TBone, Dec 28, 2007
Good list, I'm a big Tremulous fan. Another good free game engine is Marathon Aleph One - http://source.bungie.org/get/

There's loads of scenarios for it.
#37 by jonny, Jan 3, 2008
you forgot friendasap.com
#38 by Josh W., Jan 3, 2008
from comment #1: "Some games that you can get money from is/are Second Life and...er...I forget the other one."

I believe the other game is called Project Entropia
#39 by CommandLine-Mind, Jan 5, 2008
Over 150 Free Open Source Games.

http://fossgamer.110mb.com/index.html
#40 by martinact420, Jan 10, 2008
yEAH ALL looks well, check out this gaming site http://420games.blogspot.com
#41 by Bradley, Feb 10, 2008
Well I WAS going to stumble this but... seeing as the title says free AND open-source... no rating :P
NAAAH JUST KIDDING! Of course im going to give this thumbs up ;)
#42 by Silky, Apr 13, 2008
Don\'t forget Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Emeny Territory. Wonderful multiplayer-based first person shooter.
#43 by davo, May 13, 2008
Not open source but a great free game is Trackmania Nations Forever... loads of multiplayer fun
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