OpenTTD
Do flash games count? Motherload is great.
It’s been a few years, but Armagetron Advanced was the best. Felt like you were riding the lightbikes from Tron.
I often revisit Soldat
Lost Vikings
Clonk! It’s a 2D mining/strategy/base-building hybrid that was apparently more popular in Germany than other places. I actually paid to play it way back in '05, but it has since become freeware. It’s got a particle sim (similar to Noita, but not as extensive) that plays into the scenarios well.
Warzone-2100
I’ve played Simutrans on and off ever since the mid 2010’s. I’m not any good at it, and usually play it without regard to a lot of its mechanics (especially managing finances), but I’ve spent countless of hours just connecting communities and cities with over-engineered roads, rail systems, ferries, and airplanes.
Nikujin by ikiki, and other games by the same developer. Not sure where to find them now, but they were some of the greatest freeware games I have played.
OpenTTD is open source, so not sure that fits.
I had to google as I was wondering what was so fun about Touch Tone Dialing. I’m old.
Older? Check.
Free? Check.
Software/game? Check.Checks out in my book!
I happened upon the original for $20 in Wal Mart in 1995 and I’ve been playing it on and off ever since!
One of the best games ever made.
Dwarf Fortress, since 2008
ASCII no questions, I’ll tell you no lies
🪨⛏
I don’t know if it technically counts as freeware, but Space Cadet Pinball. Back on XP it was my go-to for something quick to play on the offline computer, and I just brought it with me to every new machine. Also it’s now been decompiled and will run on pretty much anything!
Something about Castle of the Winds really seemed unique and even today it’s distinct from most roguelikes. I liked the fact that items could be enchanted or cursed. Simplistic graphics, but fun! I also liked the 3D pinball game (demo) that came with an old version of Windows…
Wow holy shit I’ve literally never heard another person speak of this game. I came here thinking, “it’s a shame Castle of the Winds is never mentioned in these kinds of threads” and here it is. I wasted a summer of my youth playing this game and listening to Blues Traveler Four every day.
We never had the sequel so the game just ended. I thought of it about fifteen years ago and found it! Beat the game and it was every bit as much fun as I remembered it being as a kid.
Random dungeon levels, traps, hidden doors, magic, monsters, treasure - this game is an absolute blast.
i also really fell into this game as a kid, it was included on a disc of free games for pc that my dad got at some point in the 90s. it was the first game i personally played with any sort of exploration mechanic, and it really hooked me. cool to see a couple of other people on lemmy have fond memories about it as well!
Dozens of us! I even bought the sequel as a kid (I think the first was shareware)
Make it a baker’s dozen because I played it too! I never beat the sequel, though.
I got it working on Mt last computer by running it through win 3.1, but I haven’t been able to make that work since I changed. How are you running it these days?
Tyrian is still fantastic 30 years later!
I’ve probably played this game for over a hundred hours. Great soundtrack too, by Alexander Brandon. I also loved the minigame hidden behind the DESTRUCT cheat code.
And it’s open source too!
The soundtrack really is fantastic…I spent many an hour as a kid listening to it in the jukebox mode with its super groovy visualizations!
Love this game!
Haven’t played recently, but this one came to mind’
I missed the original, but Scorched 3D was a big hit at my high school.
