# Good freeware 8 or 16-bit style games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 17, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673 "2009-08-17T00:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/1 "2009-08-17T00:07:50Z")
Preferably platform/action-adventure type. Something along the lines of Cave Story or I Wanna Be The Guy but NOT as hard as IWBTG. I hurt my thumb playing that awhile back and still only got about halfway through it before giving up for the sake of my sanity. Waddayagot? ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/2 "2009-08-17T00:29:21Z")
Spelunky is amazing. It isn’t hard because dying is fun! ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/3 "2009-08-17T10:16:10Z")
[**Jumpman**](http://www.runhello.com/) is quite good - and it has a great 8-bit feel. (Note: Not browser-based, small download). ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/4 "2009-08-17T12:44:42Z")
It’s not freeware, but the entire commander keen series is on Steam for $6. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/5 "2009-08-17T13:16:15Z")
It’s not adventure, but [Death Worm](http://www.planetfreeplay.com/game/Death-Worm/) was fun for a while. I don’t vouch for that freeware site but it does have an adventure section. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/6 "2009-08-17T13:21:15Z")
Would Oregon Trail qualify? There’s a website that emulates a Mac, www.virtua [lapple.org/oregontraildisk.html](http://lapple.org/oregontraildisk.html) link broken because I don’t know if it’s considered pirated and/or against board rules ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/7 "2009-08-18T04:04:05Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > It’s not freeware, but the entire commander keen series is on Steam for $6. I’ve never heard of this game before but it looks pretty good ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/8 "2009-08-18T06:17:24Z")
An Untitled Story is very good. A metroidvania style exploration game with some pretty neat platforming. The easiest difficulty is very easy, the hardest very hard, I’d recommend playing on normal. Get it from the creator’s [site](http://www.mattmakesgames.com/games.php), it’s the middle one in the second row (I’d link straight to the game but can’t because of crappy web design). Or how about [Within a Deep Forest](http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?main=04Within_a_Deep_Forest)? You play as a bouncy ball, and have to switch between materials with different physical properties to defeat the platforming challenges. Lots of physics fun. Another, much smaller game I like is [Eversion](http://zarat.us/tra/offline-games/eversion.html). To quote, “a cute platformer with a dark secret”. Good for a morning or afternoon of fun, but perhaps not an evening or night. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/9 "2009-08-19T00:37:23Z")
> [@Commander\_Keen](#): > > I’ve never heard of this game before but it looks pretty good It’s by the guy who did Dangerous Dave so if you liked that… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/10 "2009-08-19T03:34:05Z")
> [@Commander\_Keen](#): > > I’ve never heard of this game before but it looks pretty good 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-freeware-8-or-16-bit-style-games/506673/11 "2009-08-20T14:57:57Z")
[Tower of Heaven](http://tigsource.com/articles/2009/08/14/tower-of-heaven) was recently featured on a gaming blog I read. It’s a fun little platformer with hilarious rules.