The 50 Best Free Games

Freeware classics and indie darlings

- Andy Kelly, Chris Livingston, Jody Macgregor, Tom Sykes, Robin Valentine, Rachel Watts

I want to...ENJOY A STORY

THE DOLL SHOP

With the help of its art students, Atelier Sentô makes beautiful, free adventure games inspired by, and set in Japan.

Blending horror with romance, The Doll Shop transports you to a small village, which is being buried under a relentless snowfall. Fairly long, for a free game, it takes the time to establish its world, before the darkness at its rotten core is revealed. It’s all the more effective for it, telling a sinister story involving creepy handmade dolls, and the arrival of an old friend to your remote village. The art is sublime and the ending memorable in this handcrafted visual novel. TS ateliersento.itch.io/dollshop

THE SUPPER

Octavi Navarro’s wonderful adventure games tell short, twisty stories set in evocative worlds. The Supper is a highlight: a dark story of revenge that brings to mind Sweeney Todd. You play as a peg-legged, tavern-owner, who has to serve three very special dishes to a trio of horrible pirates, who really should have checked the Food Standards rating first… TS pixelshuh.itch.io/the-supper

LOCKHEART INDIGO

This is a sci-fi detective game that feels a lot like a JRPG. You’ve arrived at a vast mansion to solve the murder of its former owner, but locked doors and suspects stand in your way. The latter are dealt with via interrogations, in the form of turn-based chat battles. TS bit.ly/3dBYZZ7

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