Well shoot, did you see all those Black Friday deals that appeared all over the internet? It’s pretty dazzling to try to keep track of all of it. We spotted Batman games for €2, The Evil Within is cheap everywhere and even deals on newly released games like Escape Dead Island are floating around. Still, that only applies if you actually have money to spare.
We know what it’s like to be scrambling around for a buck to buy a new game. It’s hard watching some great deals fly by, because while Shadow of Mordor at $19 is an absolute steal, money just doesn’t grow on trees.
That’s why, in solidarity with gamers who are in the “it’s the end of the month” slump, we’ve prepared an alternative. We’ll point you to some games that are completely free, which you didn’t even knew existed.
As new releases follow up each other so frequently these days, some free-to-play items have come and immediately gone. For some, that’s not really a bad thing, since they’re not so great. Others though; those could be your source to a novel game and maybe even a new guilty pleasure that last weeks.
Here are 5 free alternatives to the Black Friday sales. The struggle is real.
5. Battlegrounds of Eldhelm
Are you getting a bit tired of Hearthstone too? Don’t get it twisted; Blizzard’s card game is aces and a good way to kill a few minutes, but there’s definitely a roof on where the game is going.
If you’re waiting for new content or just want to try something completely different, Battlegrounds of Eldhelm is an indie project with some sizable thought put behind the making of an original concept. In this card game, draws boost a roleplaying game (RPG) element that lets warriors fight against each other.
This central character can be customized from different races and play styles. Additionally, experience can enhance abilities, to further craft a unique beast.
Given cards all serve a single unit, it can be a little disorienting at first, but there’s a tutorial to help out. Moreover, Battlegrounds of Eldhelm offers a singleplayer mode to hone skills.
After you’ve found your favorite way to crush enemies, you can go online and take on several competitive modes. Cooperative play is available as well.
As a nice little kicker, Battlegrounds of Eldhelm is rather easy on your rig and only requires a 100Mb download.
Try out Battlegrounds of Eldhelm here.
4. Lost Saga
Fresh off a new launch, Lost Saga is a brawler for those who want more action, this weekend. Already highly popular before it came to Steam, newcomers might be able to join up and get punching, before the competition realizes the migration has happened yet.
In Lost Saga, you pick a character from a wide fighter roster. There are over 60 choices in total and if you’re a fighting fan, you may recognize a few special characters, coming over from franchises like the BlazBlue series.
Visuals have an anime-style, which may indicate the standard click-y online game, but the brawler does try to keep it real. Characters come with their own move sets, which have different approaches, categorized as melee, ranged, magic and special.
Characters have further customization with gear slots and a level up system.
Aside from a large roster, what makes Lost Saga is its multiple game modes that offer many different ways to play. Outside of the standard side-scrolling fights, the game can open itself up to competitive free-for-alls or team-based play.
It’s even possible to jump into an adventure-like mode and destroy monsters with other players.
3. Shake Spears
Every time someone does a list like this, it’s just PC games galore. To be fair, the PC crowd is truly blessed when it comes to both having the best looking games and the cheapest ones to boot.
Well, no more of that. Shake Spears is a free-to-play game that’s available on the Playstation Store for Playstation 3 and PS Vita. It’s an easy and entertaining time waster as well.
In this simple title, players put on armor and helmet, choose their best lance, straddle their noble stead and then go to arms against the smelly knights of other places. The goal is to knock down the other person from their horse; that’s about it.
It sounds simple, but there are some tricks to Shake Spears. For instance, a steady aim is the difference between a glancing hit or a full-on assault that does a lot more damage.
Moreover, powerful blows can destroy equipment. Better gear can be acquired with money raised from victorious tournament bouts.
To top it off, players have a range of special attacks that can be triggered to turn the tides of the joust. To damnation with those other, lesser knights!
2. Hazard Ops
A likely reason for Hazard Ops not receiving the attention it so deserves is that its branding is needlessly confusing. You’ll either know the game under this name or the less subtle Zombies Monsters Robots.
It’s definitely going to be up the alley of the crazed shooter fanatic though. It has so much content as well. And what’s even better: It doesn’t mess around.
Hazard Ops plays like a third-person shooter like Gears of War, but with less focus on being macho and much more time dedicated to being the most ridiculous thing ever. This game doesn’t care about themes or anything, it just wants to massacre all the things we love, which is great.
Some of its game modes pits a team of soldiers against incoming hordes of atrocities, from zombies to huge dudes with tons of sharp ends. It’s even possible to fight a dinosaur with rocket launchers strapped to its body.
Aside from cooperative action, it’s possible to take the silliness of Hazard Ops against other humans. Jump in a mech and fight with robots? The game has that too. Does that sound like a good way to kill time and other things?
1. Double Action
Double Action is Max Payne: The Game. Wait, that’s already a game. Let’s try that again: This game would be what Max Payne would be if it had a baby with Garry’s Mod, for some ungodly reason.
Since we’re discussing what good times can come from silliness, this is the perfect opportunity to revel in that, without having to worry about much else. A shooter at heart, Double Action is all about having fun and looking good while doing it.
Players can choose from a few standard action heroes. These clichés can then be given a certain class, such as marksman or a punching bouncer.
From there, just pick a few cool guns and get to shooting other dudes in the face. While doing that, be sure to do a cat-like dive or do a backflip off a wall.
Stylish kills rack up slow motion time. This can be used to look even cooler when twirling around killing people.
In its most silly of traits, it’s totally an option to fall off a skyscraper, activate slow motion and try to have an in-air shootout with the enemy. It doesn’t matter if both people die, as long as it was worth it.
