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IGN's free game daily

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Before Factor 5 was the massive company releasing a string of Star Wars hits, the studio busied itself porting titles for other publishers. One such project was porting R-Type to the Amiga. No big deal, right?

Amusingly, the company would release its own 2D scrolling shooter around the same time, entitled Katakis. Graphics, level layouts, power-ups and virtually everything else about the game was obviously "inspired" by Irem's hit. Years later, the company would release the game as freeware.

Regardless of the game's colorful copyright-infringing history, it's still a fun (if a bit retro) side-scrolling shooter. Note that gamers will need an Amiga Emulator installed to run the title. Normally this column won't require jumping through these hoops, but for Katakis an exception has been made! ​
 
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Tag: The Power of Paint is a first-person puzzle platformer developed by a student team at Digipen. Players have the ability to "paint" any of the game's surfaces, changing its properties. Make walls bouncy or sticky. Make floors "speed floors." This simple painting mechanic is used to solve around an hour's worth of puzzles.

Sound familiar? It should. After Tag released, Valve scooped up the entire student team and set them to work designing Portal 2! This is a remarkably similar to the story of Narbacular Drop. That game's team was hired by Valve and ended up producing the original Portal.

Anyone curious about what Valve has in mind for Portal 3 would be wise to pay attention to what other student projects the company pays an interest in. ​
 
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Rebuild is a different kind of zombie game. Instead of focusing on action and zombie headshots, the title instead focuses on the strategic side of surviving a zombie apocalypse. Rebuild's gameplay is turn-based. Players must make tough decisions between fortifying their base, growing food, or going on the offensive to clear out undead and reclaim more territory. With multiple difficulty levels and several endings, gamers have plenty of reason to play through the title more than once. ​
 
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Oh SkiFree. All kids of a certain age remember playing this very low-fi downhill skiing game, as it came free with most copies of Windows. Or if they don't remember actually playing it, they remember the inevitable end of each run – being eaten by the Abominable Snow Man. IGNTip: Hit "F" to toggle fast mode and the beast can actually be outrun. Mind blown! ​
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If you're a younger gamer, SkiFree will show you what older generations had to put up with to get their free gaming fix. And if you're older, the freebie download will serve up a nice jolt of nostalgia. ​
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Frogatto is a gorgeous 2D platformer that perfectly recaptures the 16-bit era's platforming simplicity and style. The adventure is lengthy, the gameplay polished, and the artwork gorgeous. The entire game is available as freeware on Mac, PC & Linux, including the source code – no catch!​
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Jable's Adventure is a short and polished indie action platformer from Jason Boyer. The gameplay is solid and fun, but not truly exceptional in any way. It's the game's very cheerful and funny tone that makes the 45-minute adventure worth experiencing. Play it any time you've had a bad day! ​
 
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Don't be fooled by Endeavor's tiny hero – this is a very large and surprisingly epic non-linear 2D platformer. Several sidequests, multiple endings and an outsized soundtrack make Endeavor one of the best freeware Flash games released in the last few years. ​
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The game has a clever system for gating off areas while still allowing players freedom to explore. Your tiny dwarf has an Endurance meter that drops as you jump and climb. But plants found around the game world increase your total endurance capacity. As endurance increases players will be able to scale previously unreachable heights, jump to previously unreachable platforms, and more. ​
 
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At first glance Sugar, Sugar looks like another "sandbox sim," allowing gamers to mess around with particle systems. But the game is actually a clever physics puzzler. The goal of each stage is simple: fill a mug with sugar that falls from the top of the screen. Players can guide the flow of the sweet stuff by drawing lines with their mouse. The stages ramp up in complexity quickly, requiring players to contend with portals, multicolored sugar, and plenty more. Play it! ​
 
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I Wanna Be the Guy is a 2D platformer famous for its legendarily high difficulty. It isn't difficult in a fair way. Or "hard but still fun." It is just ridiculously, stupidly hard. IWBTG can't be recommended in any genuine way. It isn't fun to put in death after death to progress, only to have an unseen deathtrap leap out of nowhere and kill you once again. ​
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Still, IWBTG is not without merit. Good-natured players that can overlook the game's trial-and-error gameplay will laugh at its absurdity and references to classic video games. The gigantic Mike Tyson boss fight is one especially memorable moment. ​
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Aether is a light and breezy puzzle platformer from Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen and Closure developer Tyler Glaiel. Gamers click their mouse to flick their tongue onto clouds, then use WASD to swing from cloud to cloud, escaping their planet's atmosphere and on into the stars. ​
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There are four planets to explore, each with their own unique puzzle to solve. Dreamlike visuals and a vaguely melancholic piano soundtrack lend weight to the light gameplay. ​
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Both developers have gone on to greater game design heights, but Aether shows that before they were making smash-hit downloadable games both members of this duo were already producing excellent works of video game art.​
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You Have to Burn the Rope is a silly little Flash game released around 2008. In fact it's less of a game, and more like the playable video game version of a single short joke.

Developer Kian Bashiri has noted in interviews that he basically set out to make a game that spoils the entire experience for you before you've even started. Can't figure out how to beat the Grinning Colossus, the game's sole enemy? Try paying attention to the game's name.

Still, it is incredible how many gamers simply didn't catch on. Check the game's comments on Kongregate or Newgrounds and count the number of people complaining that their axes do no damage. Incredible. ​
 
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Instead of focusing on action and zombie headshots, the title instead focused on the strategic side of surviving a zombie apocalypse. Allocating resources, expanding territory, and making strategic decisions to keep everyone alive. ​
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The sequel offers up more "thinking man's" apocalyptic gameplay. The UI has been improved, graphics and sound revamped, and a new item system gives the gameplay a little more depth. ​
 
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Don't Look Back is another early game from Terry Cavanagh, the talented indie developer that would go on to make VVVVVV and other better-known commercial products. ​
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The game is a retro-style platformer that tells a story of lost love. Some insist that it's a direct reference to the story of Orpheus, and I'm inclined to agree, although the Greek legend isn't a 100% perfect fit. ​
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The gameplay is intentionally low-fi. All gamers do is run, jump, and shoot. Don't Look Back accomplishes a lot with these tried and true game design building blocks, though. The gameplay, especially towards later rooms, becomes quite challenging ​
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Don't Look Back's final moment is powerful and memorable, so if you're getting frustrated, stick with it! You'll be glad you did. ​
 
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The original was posted a couple of weeks back in this thread.​
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In Merry Gear Solid 2, Old Snake is on an adventure to retrieve Santa's Hat from an extremist group known as the Ghosts of Christmas Past. Players have several new gadgets at their disposal, and will need to use them all to successfully infiltrate the Outer Savin' mall. ​
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What makes Merry Gear Solid 2 so awesome is that it doesn't just lean on its humor. The game is full of sly references to the MGS franchise and holiday cheer in general, but the actual game underneath is polished and very fun. Play it! ​
 
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Nanaca Crash is one of those arcade-style flash games that seems like a shallow time-waster at first, but the more you play, the more layers of depth you uncover. Eventually you discover you've just spent the last 2+ hours playing.

The basic premise will be familiar to anyone that has wasted time on a flash games portal. You crash your bike into an unsuspecting anime character, and via timing determine the angle and power with which he'll be launched. From there, the goal is to keep his flight running as long as possible.

The game stands above the pack for a couple of reasons. Most notably, it has a lot of hidden depth. I'm still occasionally coming across very hard-to-run-into power-ups and game wrinkles even after hours of play.

Nanaca Crash has been called "the most addictive browser game of all time." Play at your own risk! ​
 
Has anyone else noticed that it's not daily any more? I know... well... Okay I don't even know that. How is it that hard to find a freeware game on the internet? I mean half of the time it's just a game on Kongregate or something similar.
 
IMesh said:
Has anyone else noticed that it's not daily any more? I know... well... Okay I don't even know that. How is it that hard to find a freeware game on the internet? I mean half of the time it's just a game on Kongregate or something similar.
Click to expand...

They dont do it at weekends but I think they have still done it everyday (above one was from Friday). Sometimes im not home on those days to post updates though and have to do multiple in one post.
 
IMesh said:
Ah, didn't know that...
Also I'm in a completely different time-zone to them, so it just seemed like they skipped a couple days.
Click to expand...

A lot of the gaming sites dont work weekends, I wonder if they game in their spare time a lot too. :lol:
 
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Gamers control a Jeep with a spike ball dragging along behind it. Your goal is to run down raptors, stick them to the ball, and then drag them back to a teleport pad in order to teleport them to the future. The best part about OVS is bevy of bonus ways points can be scored. My favorite is the "raptor on raptor" point bonus, awarded for knocking one raptor into another. ​
The bottom line is that whipping your jeep around in a quick 180 to slam a spike ball with extreme prejudice into the side of a fleeing raptor is more satisfying than it has any right being. OVS might be from 2008, but it still holds up very well. Play it! ​
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Quick: define a roguelike dungeon crawler. The subgenre means different things to different people, but most would probably agree that a good dungeon crawl features a top-down perspective, randomized levels & enemies and plenty of loot. ​
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Shoot First includes all these features, with one major twist. Instead of bashing enemies over the head with swords, the game plays out like a top-down shooter. Gamers explore each increasingly dangerous floor, earning better and better guns and armor as they progress. To survive players must dodge enemy fire while liberally returning it themselves. Fun! ​
 
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In Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman gamers play as a generic office worker. The goal of each stage? Find a way to kill yourself. ​
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Karoshi gets a lot of attention for it's suicide-centric premise, but that premise is really just an excuse to create puzzles that aren't really that different than those found in most platform puzzlers. Instead of opening a route to the exit, you're opening a route to a pit of spikes to throw yourself in. Fun! This means you'll be pushing and pulling blocks to activate switches, making sure you're in the right position when activating a switch, figuring out how to reach specific levers, etc. ​
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The kill-yourself theme leads to some amusing moments for longtime gamers, as videogame conventions are flipped on their head. During the game's final bossfight, hearts are thrown at the player. When collecting one, the player actually gains a life, meaning they now have to be hit by the boss one more time in order to "win." ​
 
That's weird...
The previous one I had gotten was Shoot First a week ago.
I just got a new one today which was When Pigs Fly, not Karoshi Suicide Salaryman?
 
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