# Can You Recommend A Free PC Game For Me, Please? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 14, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834 "2018-02-14T16:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/1 "2018-02-14T16:58:48Z")
I’m in the market for a game I can play on my PC while I wait for the next WoW Xpac to come out. Here are the criteria it has to meet: [ul] [li]It has to be free.[/li][li]I can play it with just my keyboard and mouse (and mic & speakers headset); I don’t have, and can’t afford to buy, any special controllers.[/li][li]Hi Opal.[/li][/ul] I have a POC HP laptop with Win 10, with middling memory, graphics cards, all that. It’s enough to allow me to play WoW, but that’s about it. I also have Steam installed. To give you an idea of what I like: I like adventure and RPG games, and I’d like to get into horror gaming (if it can be done in a way that meets my conditions). I tried Runescape, it gave me nothing and I quit. I also tried SWTOR, but after I burned through all of the free content, and kept repeatedly getting punished for being an FTP player, I ditched it. I also like “party” board games like Balderdash, or even old classics like Clue. I do _not_ like exceptionally dense, thick games like RftG or Risk. * * * If you have any recommendations for me, I welcome them. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/2 "2018-02-14T20:58:34Z")
The original _Bioshock_ is currently free on Origin. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/3 "2018-02-14T21:13:09Z")
I don’t remember if Rift went fully free, but it might be worth a look. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/4 "2018-02-14T21:31:22Z")
My first idea was Path of Exile if you like ARPGs. Not sure how it plays on a older machine though. Warframe is probably out of question. If you don’t mind playing against other people you could give Hearthstone a try - since you’ve played WoW you already have the Blizzard launcher installed. There’s also a fair number of free MMOs on Steam - TERA, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/6 "2018-02-15T14:06:27Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The original _Bioshock_ is currently free on Origin. Do you have a link? I looked on their site, but couldn’t find it. Doing a search turned up nothing, and the “On the House” section had a different game. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/7 "2018-02-15T16:20:45Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Do you have a link? I looked on their site, but couldn’t find it. Doing a search turned up nothing, and the “On the House” section had a different game. My mistake, got _Dead Space_ and _Bioshock_ confused. :smack: Same genre, different publisher. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/8 "2018-02-15T17:11:14Z")
There is an old game that still works on Windows 7. I haven’t tried it on a Windows 10 machine as yet. It is called, “Iron Dragon”. It can accommodate four human players either together in a room taking turns on the computer or on line. If there are less than four humans, they can play alone or fill in the remaining spots with bot players. It is challenging. Each player has to build a rail empire connecting eight major cities. They have to do that and save 350 gold pieces in order to win the game. There are challenges such as natural disasters, strikes, hostiles, etc. with which you must deal. You can adjust the parameters of the game before starting it, depending on whether or not you want to connect just 6 or 7 cities instead of 8, or just save 250 or 300 gold pieces instead of 350, etc. You have to make decisions about when and how much money you want to invest in infrastructure and the contracts to accept that will yield the most profit in the least time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/9 "2018-02-15T17:30:40Z")
DDO is still free for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/10 "2018-02-15T18:40:08Z")
I don’t know how well it does on laptops, but I have been able to run War Thunder quite well on an older desktop. It’s a player-vs-player military simulation of tanks and aircraft roughly centered on the Second World War era. It’s free to play; cash can get you to the later-ear vehicles significantly faster, but you can get there just by playing regularly. There are three modes, depending on how much detail you want to have to deal with: Arcade, Realistic, and Simulation. So far I’ve only played the aircraft side, on Realistic. In realistic the aircraft are lovingly modeled on their alleged historical characteristics (how _accurate_ the flight models are is the subject of debate, however.) In Simulation I am told you also need to manage things like “adjust the trim to compensate for propeller torque” and “manage the fuel mixture while dogfighting” and so on, which has deterred me from trying that mode. Realistic is plenty detailed. You don’t need any special controllers (i.e., joystick) to play Arcade or Realistic; in fact it’s _recommended_ that you stick with mouse & keyboard. I don’t know if diving your shark-nosed P-40 onto a fleeing Zero or being hunted by Messerschmidts in a cloud bank is your thing, but I’m having a blast so far. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/11 "2018-02-16T16:08:38Z")
No idea if you’d like it or not but [Dungeons 2](https://www.gog.com/game/dungeons_2) is free today from GOG. Add it to your GOG account, play it at your leisure. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/12 "2018-02-16T16:20:47Z")
I downloaded and have been playing LotRO on Steam. Fun game with pretty-decent graphics. Although I can’t find Lobelia Sackville-Baggins to save my life… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/13 "2018-02-16T18:33:49Z")
I’ve not played LotRO in a long time but there was a SDMB guild. No idea if it’s still around. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/14 "2018-02-16T21:47:42Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I don’t know how well it does on laptops, but I have been able to run War Thunder quite well on an older desktop. It’s a player-vs-player military simulation of tanks and aircraft roughly centered on the Second World War era. > > It’s free to play; cash can get you to the later-ear vehicles significantly faster, but you can get there just by playing regularly. > > There are three modes, depending on how much detail you want to have to deal with: Arcade, Realistic, and Simulation. So far I’ve only played the aircraft side, on Realistic. In realistic the aircraft are lovingly modeled on their alleged historical characteristics (how _accurate_ the flight models are is the subject of debate, however.) In Simulation I am told you also need to manage things like “adjust the trim to compensate for propeller torque” and “manage the fuel mixture while dogfighting” and so on, which has deterred me from trying that mode. Realistic is plenty detailed. > > You don’t need any special controllers (i.e., joystick) to play Arcade or Realistic; in fact it’s _recommended_ that you stick with mouse & keyboard. > > I don’t know if diving your shark-nosed P-40 onto a fleeing Zero or being hunted by Messerschmidts in a cloud bank is your thing, but I’m having a blast so far. I’ve been playing this for quite awhile now, aircraft mode with the German arc. The Germans have an awesome, gigantic amphibious bomber, forget what it’s called. Once you get that thing armored and gunned up, it’s payload is quite impressive. I’ve never tried any other mode other than arcade though. If I switch modes do I have to start over or to I get to keep all the planes I’ve already earned? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/15 "2018-02-18T00:51:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’ve been playing this for quite awhile now, aircraft mode with the German arc. The Germans have an awesome, gigantic amphibious bomber, forget what it’s called. Once you get that thing armored and gunned up, it’s payload is quite impressive. BV238. As an exclusively American player so far, I hate and envy those things. But I’ve managed top bring one of them down, which was sweet. > [@](#): > > I’ve never tried any other mode other than arcade though. If I switch modes do I have to start over or to I get to keep all the planes I’ve already earned? I’m too new (about two weeks in) to know the answer. But I think you get to keep all the planes you’ve researched, as it lets me switch modes without chaning my selectable aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-a-free-pc-game-for-me-please/808834/16 "2018-02-19T04:50:58Z")
I’m now addicted to WarThunder, and I blame you all. I’m close to unlocking the B-17, probably my favorite airplane of the war. Though those T5/6 jets look promising.