Best Freeware games

[MateoTheBold!]

For those of you with more free time then me.

Edit: I included a permalink to the comment breaking down games/software by categories, as they got pushed down the thread a little.

150 listed so far, broken down by genre:
Games: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comme ... re/c6syykr

Other software:
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comme ... re/c6t0l7a

Main thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comme ... esoftware/

[Masakari]

A better place for them than Reddit:

http://www.freeindiegam.es/

[Crusty Juggler]

I highly recommend ShellExView. It's on the list, and is very useful.

It's not a game, but a tool to remove items from your Windows context menus.

[Zork Nemesis]

(Confessing right now: I didn't look at the entire list, many of those aren't even games)
There's a few worth looking into that I've found

Melolune: http://leebleforest.wordpress.com/demo/
It's incomplete, with the last update being March 11th of last year, however you're provided with a very well thought out RPG created by Laura Shigihara in her spare time (the person behind the music of Plants vs Zombies). Follows the formula that made plenty of SNES era RPGs great.

Zelda Classic: http://www.zeldaclassic.com/
This is several things in one, it's the original NES Zelda available in a PC format, it's also an in-depth game editor and supports easy loading of numerous Zelda adventures created by other people. Worth looking into if you love the original top-down Zelda titles or would like to build your own.

Lunar Magic: http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/
Along the lines of the Zelda editor mentioned above, this is a windows based editor designed to work with Super Mario World ROMs (Youtube search for Mario World hacks, pretty much all of them were built with this tool). Requires a ROM to work with as well as a SNES emulator, but if level design is your thing, check this out.

Cave Story: http://www.cavestory.org/downloads_game.php
If you don't know what this is by now, shame on you.

TrackMania Nations Forever: http://trackmaniaforever.com/
A small portion of the vastly popular racing game, the free version provides a large amount of content to work with including about 100 tracks, a full blown course editor, and access to global leaderboards. This game is so popular for it's skill levels, it is frequently used in Major League Gaming competitions.

Mario Paint Composer: http://mario-paint-composer.en.softonic.com/
For the musicians, this is an advanced version of the music editor found within Mario Paint. This version allows for a variety of extra features that the original Mario Paint didn't have, including sharps and flats, higher and lower notes than the given staff, and the ability to load your own sound effects in place of what's provided.

Castle of the Winds: http://lkbm.ecritters.biz/cotw/
A fairly old rougelike for people who are into those games

I feel like I had more somewhere, but these are the ones I played myself, give them a try.

[MateoTheBold!]

A better place for them than Reddit:

http://www.freeindiegam.es/

That's another good resource, but I like how the reddit list contains a breakdown by category. However, I probably don't want to get into a staring contest with masa when it comes to indie games though....

[MrBlah]

I'd like to 2nd Trackmania. I played it a lot. Being a fan of the racing genre. It never gained a lot of popularity in the US though, which is a shame. It really is a great racing game. It has a neat replay editor which allows you do so some really neat things like this:

[The Domer]

My favorites:

Cave Story (ohmygodamazing)

Within A Deep Forest

Knytt / Knytt Stories

Iji

[Bronze Fox]

My favorites:

Cave Story (ohmygodamazing)

Within A Deep Forest

Knytt / Knytt Stories

Iji

Whoa, someone else played Iji? Remember Sector Y & X? Such depth to that game.

It was also nice seeing Ib way down at the bottom.

[The Domer]

I'd also add An Untitled Story as another great freeware game. Seems I really enjoy the "metroidvania" style game, but what can I say? The best freeware games fall into that genre.

If you like mayhem shooters, Warning Forever is solid too.

[Supreveio]

My favorites:

Cave Story (ohmygodamazing)

Within A Deep Forest

Knytt / Knytt Stories

Iji

a.k.a., look at Deceased Crab's Let's Plays and pick one.

Speaking of which:

- La-Mulana (there's a freeware one and a remake that costs money)

The Chzo Mythos:
- 5 Days a Stranger
- 7 Days a Skeptic
- Trilby's Notes
- 6 Days a Sacrifice

- Trilby: The Art of Theft

[The Domer]

I don't know who Deceased Crab is, but if he plays those games, he seems pretty cool already!

Another great source of indie games: The Indie Game Database. I highly recommend checking out their top-list. Note that not all the games are freeware, but they are all indie, and many are free.

[Earthworm James]

Vanguard is f2p on steam. Would I play it? No. Was it fun when I did? Yes. Fantasy Adventure MMO, gigantic world, in-depth crafting & diplomacy systems, unique classes with enough abilities to take up your entire keyboard(true story). Sony pretty much butchered this games chances during it's release, but it actually has some awesomeness to it. Some of the best quest-lines I ever played are in this game.

[Zork Nemesis]

Bumping with two more for the list, and although they're in Japanese, they're worth looking into.

We've got an 8-bit demake of Mega Man 8 and an 8-bit demake of Final Fantasy 7. While the language barrier severely hinders the enjoyability of the FF7 demake, the Mega Man 8 demake is amazingly accurate and that's a game where the story probably doesn't matter.

There are some notable differences with the Mega Man demake though:
-The bolt system has been overhauled; bolts are no longer finite and the game uses a shop interface similar to 7, 9, and 10, and enemies can drop small bolts.
-Furthermore, powerups purchased with bolts beyond extra lives and energy tanks only last for one stage
-Energy Tanks exist in this version when they did not in the original, conversely some powerups that existed in the real 8 no longer exist, such as the laser/arrow charge shot or Rush Medic
-A password system is in place of saving.
-Random prize balls now only exist during the Rush Jet segments in Tengu Man and Wily 2; and they only give you companion assistance like the original.
-Mega Ball can be used as a pseudo Rush Coil in it's abscense
-The prologue stage and the stage between the robot masters has been cut.
-Aqua Man, Sword Man, Search Man, and Astro Man can be taken on immediately with the levels changed to not require you to have the weapons from the first four robot masters.
-Mega Man cannot swim in Aqua Man's stage.
-The second snowboarding section of Frost Man's stage has been removed.
-The first M. C. Escher style area in Astro Man's stage has been removed.
-Tengu Man's stage theme changes between the PSX version and the Saturn version every time you die.
-NO CRAPPY VOICE ACTING!

Both found here:
http://demake.web.fc2.com/