Really? Free Computer Games I can enjoy with my kids?
Yes, there are free computer games for kids out there. There’s a lot out there if you know where to look. This is a hand-selected list of said free computer games you can play with your kids. This won’t be an exhaustive list as there are a lot of free games out there, quality varies. Rather, this is a hand-picked list of some better games. Most of these are open source and all are free. Before we begin, we should go over some things.
Hot-Seat: A multiplayer game where everyone is on the same computer. This makes the hardware requirements a lot lower as you don’t need multiple computers, but this is usually turn-based.
Local: A game you can play on your home network.
Internet: You can play with friends online or possible match-making.
A lot of these games can be played with a joystick. I recommend getting an Xbox or PlayStation controller for your PC. There’s usually a lot of work that goes into them, and modern PCs work well with them. Quality varies a lot between the projects, still, there’s a lot to be said when it’s a free computer game for kids you can enjoy as well.
10: Freeciv
Freeciv is a turn-based strategy game based on Civilization 2 and 3. You start in the Stone Age with little technology, found cities. Build armies, research technologies, and conquer the world. The AI goes from difficult to brutal and gets harder from there. There’s no shame starting on the lowest difficulty until you start to master the game. If you’re not familiar with the civilization series, I recommend going over some tutorials before you jump in.
Managing cities will be the central focus of the game. You have to make sure the people have a surplus of food and production for projects (Military units and public works). You’ll find most countries available to play from the past, present, and some fictional. A simple game can be long and can take several days to complete.
It’s not only free, but also Open Source.
Singleplayer: Yes
Multiplayer: Internet, Local, Hot-seat
OpenRA
OpenRA is an open-source port of Command & Conquer Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, and Dune 2000. Plans for more games coming. A 2D sprite Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game set in various alternate timelines. EA released the games as freeware when they did the HD updates, so the assets, sprites/music/levels are now free. The game supports multiplayer and they’re working on getting all the missions to work. So singleplayer is limited, and you won’t be able to play the full campaign, but the multiplayer and the skirmishes work great. The game doesn’t have high requirements depending on how many forces you want to fight. The player count is limited by the map, one being 8 vs 8.
Being a modern source port, it has modern controls and a variety of options to configure. So if you’re used to modern controls, this will feel right at home. It’s easy to set up a local or Internet game.
Parental Warning: The game has cartoon violence. The game features modern combat, which includes infantry combat. The infantry has tiny sprites, when killed they fall into a pool of blood then immediately disappear.
I don’t recommend installing cut scenes. If you don’t have the CDs, you won’t have to worry about this. The full-motion videos (FMV) make the game have a much darker tone than it otherwise has. But they have scenes of violence and a couple about to get intimate.
You can read more with my review here.
Singleplayer: Limited (skirmishes, all missions are not working)
Multiplayer: Internet, Local
The Battle for Wesnoth
The Battle for Wesnoth is a fantasy turn-based strategy game. The game is easy to understand and even more to master. Things like the unit types, weapon type, terrain, and time of the day can factor in your victory or defeat. The sprites are all hand-animated and give a great aesthetic.
The game features campaigns with detailed stories and characters, events in the world of Wesnoth. With skirmishes, multiplayer online, hot-seat games, and a way to make your own unique units and maps. There’s plenty to do and have fun with.
Singleplayer: Story Campaigns, Skirmishes
Multiplayer: Internet, Local, Hot-Seat
7: Cosmoteer Demo
This game isn’t out yet and at the time of this writing, it’s free. Cosmoteer is a unique 2D space shipbuilder, all the parts and components are interconnected. People inside the ship have to man stations, carry munitions around, and energy canisters. Most of the design of the ship will be optimizing the layout and flow of the internals of the ship.
The game doesn’t have a lot of content, and it isn’t finished yet, but what’s there is a feature-rich game. You can join in multiplayer and do cooperative builds or just duke it out.
Singleplayer: Bounty mode, Creative
Multiplayer: Internet, Local, Creative
6: EmptyEpsilon
EmptyEpsilon is a social multiplayer Spaceship bridge simulator. If you’ve watched a science fiction show involving a space battle, or an old military ship movie. This game mimics the dynamics of that, where every person mans a specific station and does a specific job. You can run a ship with 2-6 people and do multiple crews. There’s a captain that commands the ship, helms that pilots the ship, weapons, engineering, science, and coms.
This is meant to be a social/party game played locally. It’s a game that works well with a tablet and doesn’t require a powerful computer to run. It works best when you have a large main screen (TV works well) and everyone with their device to use. This game may be good for team building.
Singleplayer: No
Multiplayer: Local (preferred), Internet
5: The Ur-Quan Masters
The Ur-Quan Masters is based on Starcontrol II, a game with one of the best storylines. The game is a space opera that takes place after a devastating war, a war we lost. You gather resources, explore, gather alien artifacts, fight and converse with unknown species. It was a groundbreaking game at the time it was made, several science-fiction shows lifted ideas from Starcontrol II.
The game features a single-player story and a multiplayer arcade melee combat mode. The melee mode is interesting with a lot of variety of ships and abilities to use. Melee is a hot-seat mode where both players use the same keyboard.
Parental Warning: There is a questionable scene late in the single-player game. It’s optional and when I read it as a kid I had no idea what was going on, I thought it was an intimate massage. The screen goes black and there’s just dialog. If it weren’t for this scene, it would be appropriate for most ages.
Singleplayer: Epic Story
Multiplayer: Hot-Seat, Internet (Limited)
4: FreeDoom
FreeDoom is a reskinning and 1:1 rework of doom 2 to where it’s compatible with Doom 2 in source ports. Meaning, you can use it to play doom2 online with source ports like Zandronum.
FreeDoom is a sprite 2.5 D First-person shooter, or ‘boomer-shooter’. While the assets are a 1:1 remake to be compatible, the sprites and looks are very different. The maps for example were created by the ground up to be a vanilla style. The monsters look drastically different but behave the same way their counterparts will.
Parental Warning: Based on Doom, there’s graphical gore and violence. The game today would be rated Mature. If you want a nonviolent, non-gore version, there is Chexquest. Which also has an HD remake:
FreeDoom Website
Singleplayer: Yes
Multiplayer: Local, Internet (Source Ports)
3: Endless Sky
Endless Sky is a 2D space exploration, trade, combat game. There’s a dynamic economy, with each planet creating resources and demand for them. The game is in development and there’s a story done through questing, so more content is being added here and there. The game seems pretty limited until you find a wormhole to an alien territory where the game opens up.
If exploring, space combat and ship/fleet building seems fun to you, give this a try.
Singleplayer: Yes
Multiplayer: No
2: Zero-K
Zero-K is a real-time strategy game in the same family of Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, and Planetary Annihilation. You command robot armies on 3D terrain. What’s interesting is you can actively change the terrain. Zero-K has a lot of rich features and gameplay elements. I recommend playing some tutorials first and a single-player campaign to understand all the units.
Unique to Zero-K in this family of RTS games is there is only 1 tier of units. Usually, you have a 2 or 3 tiers, generally, just forget the first tier. But here there is no second tier of units, and you spend your time making your economy and throwing your armies at each other.
Overall, the game has been refined by a community with decades of experience. It shows a thoughtful unit layout and unit features. I’ll likely do a full review on this later.
Singleplayer: Yes
Multiplayer: Online, Local, Campaign
1: Super Tux Kart
Another kart game built as a labor of love. It’s not Mario Kart, and it isn’t trying to be. It seeks to be its own thing, fun for everyone. There’s a single-player campaign, but the main feature is multiplayer. You can use a Wii remotes or plugin some XBOX controllers and play a 4 player hot-seat game on one computer. This is a great game to put on a TV. You can even set up a local server and have a split-screen, multiplayer game.
The game has a single-player campaign, and it’s okay. There’s standard racing, kart combat, and a soccer mode included. I recommend having at least 4 people with the soccer game.
The game features characters or mascots from other open-source projects. I find that after anyone gives the game a chance, they quickly get into it. STK is a fun time for everyone.
Singleplayer: Yes
Multiplayer: Hot-Seat/4 player Split screen, Internet, Local
Free Computer Games for Kids – Honorable Mentions
There are a few games that don’t quite fit the bill but are worth mentioning.
Endgame: singularity
Realistic rogue AI simulator. Your objective is to hide from humanity.
I mentioned this here:
HedgeWars
A 2D artillery-type game where you try to destroy the enemy team. Fought by cartoon hedgehogs.
TeeWorlds
Cartoony Online Platform shooter, the controls are a little dated and there’s a lot to learn to get started. More popular in the Eastern parts of the world.
MineTest
Free Minecraft Clone, the largest developed one. This will run faster than the Minecraft Java version. If your child hasn’t played Minecraft, this may be a good substitute and there are mods to bring it very close to the original experience.
OSU!
Anime style, rhythm game you play with the mouse (lots of custom music). Well to be fair most of the people who create beat maps add anime art, after all this did come out of Japan (I think?). If you want good dexterity using the mouse, this will help.
Frogatto
A commercial game made free. Last I checked this out on the official website the download portion was down, you can still grab this from other sites.
Tron 3D (armagetronad)
3D Light Cycle game. Race around with your friends and try to smash them into walls.
Oolite
Elite fan remake. Space flight simulator. The game is supposed to be difficult hence the ‘elite’ title. I recommend installing mods if you want to try this out.
UFO: Alien -Invasion
A 3D remake of UFO: Enemy Unknown. You protect the earth from an alien invasion using an elite set of soldiers and equipment. Build your bases, research alien technology, and manage your soldier’s equipment. Turn-based battlefield fighting the alien menace.
Unvanquished
First-person strategy game based on Gloom, Tremulous. The game should only be for late teens. It’s polished well but because of the mature nature of the game and the tiny community for a multiplayer game, it’s just mentioned here. If you have a group of friends to play something with, this would be a good option.
(Early development, small community)
RV-GL
This is a remake of an RC car game. The game does a good job making the cars look and feel like they’re small RC cars.
