Free-to-play games have become increasingly popular over the years, and it’s easy to understand why. They’re excellent time sinks, and are now so robust that you never feel handcuffed for not plunking down real cash.
If you have time to kill, you can’t go wrong with a free title—especially if you’re playing on PC, which has many free-to-play options. Still, it’s hard to find a game worth downloading with so many games to sample. You could stick to free Steam games, but if you don’t mind venturing outside the comfy convenience of Valve’s online video game store, you’ll find a lot of good stuff.
We’ve got some obvious picks in our list, like the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite, which combines third-person shooting, resource gathering, and building to create a highly addicting multiplayer experience. Of course, no free-to-play PC list would be complete without Riot Games’ highly popular MOBA League of Legends. That said, there are numerous other top free PC games, many of which may have flown under your gaming radar.
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Some free titles you can find on Steam, others are on Epic Games Store, and still others can only be downloaded from a game’s official website. All are well worth playing, so grab a keyboard, mouse, fight stick, or gamepad and let the good times begin.
There are a lot of MMORPGs to play, each with unique aesthetics, combat, and lore. Blade & Soul takes you to a fantasy world inspired by Wuxia fiction and martial arts. It’s packed with dungeons and raids to conquer, as well as strong player-versus-player systems that encourage you to master your skills.
If dungeon crawling isn’t your thing, Blade & Soul’s arena offers excellent PVP action to slake your competitive bloodthirst. Leveling is fairly easy, too, so it doesn’t take very long to get to max level, where the game’s content really opens up.
Blade & Soul is free to play, of course, but you can optionally purchase new warrior outfits, additional character slots, and other items.
Brawlhalla maybe inspired by Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series, but the game features a few, cool twists that give it unique flavor. This fighting game lets you knuckle up in four-player competitive matches, with the object of knocking your opponent off the platform to score points.
Like Samurai Shodown, Brawlhalla is a weapons-based affair, so each of the 40 fighters has a designated set of weapons they can use during a match. These weapons randomly rain onto stages and complement your move set. Brawlhalla has a weekly rotation of playable characters, but you can purchase you favorites using in-game currency. Even better, Brawlhalla has cross-platform play between PC and consoles, so you’ll always find a match.
Monster Hunter World has made a massive critical and commercial impact, so it’s no shock to see games that are inspired by Capcom’s series. Dauntless is one such title. Dauntless pits you against vicious behemoths in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. It can be played in single player or multiplayer modes, with up to four people hacking at a beast’s shins. Multiple combat classes keep the fighting interesting.
As a free-to-play game, Dauntless won’t cost you a dime. Unless you want to apply a cool skin to your characters or weapons.
In Destiny 2, you and your crew play as Guardians, immortal warriors who travel the solar system taking down interplanetary threats. This sci-fi shooter has seen many changes since its 2017 launch, such as moving to a free-to-play model, adding the Destiny Content Vault, and increasing the planet count. Destiny 2 is one of the most action-heavy MMOs that you’ll find on PC, so it could be your bag if you dig Call of Duty.
“Easy to learn, hard to master” is a phrase commonly heard in gaming circles, but few titles exemplify the idea more than Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2).
This free-to-play MOBA game tasks you with selecting one of more than 100 playable Heroes to take to the battlefield (with am option to buy them), utilizing the character’s unique abilities, play style, and attributes to help your team achieve victory.
The Nidhogg games are incredible fun, but if you don’t want to plunk down the cash to play them, Eggnog+ is a fantastic free-to-play alternative.
Like Nidhogg, Eggnog+ sees you clash with an opponent in sword duels as you race to the opposite side of the map. You can use your weapon as a projectile, as well as a melee tool. In addition, Eggnog+ features retro style visuals that give the game plenty of old school charm as you parry and thrust.
The Zenimax Online-developed title is the lone MMO set in the popular Elder Scrolls franchise. Set a thousand years before Skyrim‘s events, Elder Scrolls Online lets you visit many familiar series’ locations and take part in legendary happenings.
In Elder Scrolls Online, you explore Morrowind’s swamps and alien environments, Summerset’s sun-drenched isle, and Skyrim’s snow-covered peaks. In terms of storytelling, Elder Scrolls Online is one of the stronger MMOs, as it features a strong narrative and characterization.
There are legendary games, and there’s Eve Online. The long-running, sandbox MMO gives you a ship and tosses you into cosmic adventures featuring guilds, pirates, and player-created corporations.
Truthfully, Eve Online is more of a social experiment than a game, as it forces you to engage with a vast universe of potentially cutthroat existing users merely to survive. If you decide to give it a go, you’ll discover that Eve Online is one of the most rewarding and unique games ever made.
Fornite, the incredibly popular battle royale game, pits 100 players against one another in an increasingly shrinking map, until a single player or squad is left standing. Fortnite incorporates resource gathering and building, in addition to the gunplay, so you must run around the field with your handy pickax to collect fort-worthy materials.
Matches are easy to find and highly addictive, so give it a try if you want some zany shooting action. Thankfully, experiencing the action won’t cost you a cent, whether you’re playing on PC, console, or mobile. Optional in-app purchases let you buy new outfits, emotes, and pickaxes.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then developer Mihoyo’s title is about as flattering as games come. In 2019, Genshin Impact made a splash in the video game world with the unveiling of an expansive open-world action-RPG heavily inspired by Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
That is not to say it’s a cheap knock off, however. Genshin Impact is a gacha game that features numerous unique gameplay systems and charming story beats that set it apart from Zelda and other open-world RPGs. That said, the free-to-play PC game requires some serious grinding (or shell out some serious dough) to unlock high-powered warriors. But you don’t have to spend a dime to have a good time.
There are plenty of excellent card-based games on the market, and Hearthstone is definitely high on that list. Hearthstone draws its cards from Warcraft lore, and features relics and characters from the series.
Card battles pit two players against one another in a turn-based struggle, where each player uses their 30-card deck and a special hero to strategically whittle their opponent’s health to zero. You can take on challenges and beat opponents to earn gold, which you can then use to purchase more cards to customize your deck
Honkai: Star Rail
With Honkai: Star Rail, developer Hoyoverse embraces the turn-based roots of classic RPGs, while also paying homage to space westerns and space operas. You are the Trailblazer, tasked with pursuing dangerous, planet-corrupting artifacts called Stellaron. Travel to distant worlds via the intergalactic Astral Express, and free these planets from the Stellaron’s evil influence. Combat is a strictly turn-based fair, but a rich elemental alignment system and turn-skipping super attacks give the game a surprisingly action-heavy feel. Honkai: Star Rail is free to play, but features gacha elements for character recruitment.
League of Legends is one of the largest, most highly played MOBAs available on PC. In League, you play as a champion, a warrior with unique skills and mobility, and must coordinate with teammates to destroy the opposing team’s base. Naturally, matches can become decidedly more complex as you face stiffer competition, and can last up to an hour.
League uses a freemium transaction model; free champions rotate weekly, unless you decide to pay cash to permanently keep a character. You can also play regularly to earn in-game currency, which can be used to purchase champions.
Lost Ark is a free-to-play action-RPG that recently made it’s highly anticipated U.S. debut after thrilling overseas audiences for some time now. The Smilegate RPG-developed game (published stateside by Amazon Games) features thrilling ranged and melee combatants that are spread across 15 character classes.
It’s a beautiful title that features strong singleplayer and multiplayer action, especially in its robust endgame. Sure, Lost Ark could use better controller support, but the MMO is a terrific time sink.
Runescape is a fantasy-based MMO that’s been around for 20 years, and it’s still trucking along. Despite having two decades under its belt, Runescape remains a popular title that receives regular updates to keep longtime fans happy.
The game found its footing well before the MMO character-archetype trinity (tank, DPS, and healer) became popular, so it uses a rock-paper-scissors system where melee beats range, range beats magic, and magic beats melee. Gameplay is largely a point-and-click affair, but it incorporates a blend of combat scenarios, social interactions, quests, and mini-games. Runescape is easy to get into, and its casual feel and old-school style may engross you enough that you may never want to leave.
Smite is a third-person MOBA that pulls its champions straight out of classic myths and ancient pantheons. Matches are team-based, 5-on-5 ordeals that task you with destroying your opponent’s base and towers.
The third-person perspective makes combat much more dynamic when compared to League of Legends’ top-down camera, and the unique cast of playable characters also adds to the aesthetic. Smite features a rotating roster of free gods to play with, which can be permanently purchased with in-game currency, or bought in packs with cash.
If you’ve grown tired of the typical battle royale game in which you tote guns, download Spellbreak. This fantasy-based game sees you play as a Battlemage, a wizard who has no need for such base firearms.
Spellbreak replaces guns with different elemental gauntlets for your dominant hand. Do you want to shoot powerful fireballs, long-range ice missiles, or waves of toxic goo that poison opponents over time? You can do that. You also find more gauntlets on the battlefield to equip on your off hand, giving you access to two elements at once as you battle toward victory.
War Thunder is a vehicle-based MMO that shares a few things in common with Wargaming’s World of Tanks titles, and features several game modes that suit your gaming mood.
If you want casual action, War Thunder gives you an arcade-style mode that makes it easy to drop in and wreak havoc. If you’re the simulation type, War Thunder has some highly in-depth physics, ammunition, and damage systems working under the hood to drive home the sim elements and make your battles as realistic as possible. In a nice touch, War Thunder supports cross-platform play, so you can bring the business to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers, too.
War Thunder is free to play, with the option to buy premium vehicles.
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