PPG Game Of The Year 2024 - 56 - Freeplay
This quite large collection of games are all available right now, for free, for you to go download and play. A huge range of genres and art styles are present, some are short couple of minute experiences while others can be played for hours.
Astra Hunter Zosma
Free Top Down RPG
A meaty package for a free game, this romp across a Zelda LTTP inspired RPG offers turn based combat and fun exploration.
Chromatic Isle
Short Atmospheric Puzzler
First person puzzling that moves through the 4 seasons in less than an hour, with a pretty pastel palette.
Mizeria
Challenging 3D Climber
A short 3D platfomer where you have a bow to help manipulate the environment. Kind of inspired by those climbing games where you can fall down and lose progress, but the point is to be zen and keep pushing higher.
Will the Man Get Frog
Haiku Generator
Simple microgame about creating random haiku’s to share with the world. Very chill little toy to play with and come up with silly or meaningful poems.
The Tipping Point
Climate Science Edutainment
A 2D sidescroller about analyzing the arctic ice sheets and how the climate is effecting it's degradation. A great resource for people to learn the actual science around climate change.
Museum Mystery: Deckbuilding Card Game
Museum Deckbuilding Roguelike
Night at the Museum X deckbuilding roguelike with story and historical elements. Kind of bonkers this is free.
Cureocity
Cute Adventure Puzzler
Put together by a collective of devs across the globe in a game jam, with a specific focus on choices around fighting and healing determining the branching of the story.
Super Mayor
Rural Councillor Metroidvania
2D pixelated platformer/metroidvania made in New Zealand. A sweet wholesome adventure released to the world for free with a surprising amount of game present.
With Shining Eyes
Short Surreal Colourful
Short and dense first person game with some light puzzling to keep you engaged. "A nice little philosophical saunter”.
Syke
Story Driven First Person Puzzler
Explore strange geometry and work through puzzles from a first person perspective where reality warps around you.
Free Will
Psychological Puzzle Based
No combat in this one, but that 2D top down perspective lends itself well to a world eploration where you need to fix the world through the "code" of the game while uncovering further secrets.
Playing Kafka
Philosophical Point N Click
A story focused interactive experience built from Kafka's works. Helps to be at least familiar with his ideas, but nice and short and potentially an introduction for those interested in learning more afterward.
Lake Minnewaska
Narrative Driven Fishing
First person fishing with a personal narrative backing. Explore the lake, reconnect with your daughter and uncover the secrets of Lake Minnewaska.
Nightmare Kart
Pixel Bloodborne Kart Racer
Was Bloodborne Kart up until a few days before release when Sony decided that was a no no. Still an awesome free kart racer with creepy vibes.
Imitosis
Short Mystery VN
Sci-fi VN with interesting ideas to discuss. To say basically anything else about it would be wasting time, just go play it. It's free and won't take long to play through.
The Legend of Lumina
Top Down Puzzle Metroidvania
A really excellent sokoban+ style game with in-world puzzles leading you to reach a cadre of different animal spriits that imbue you with new movement/puzzling abilities. Fantastic few hour experience that wraps up in a great way.
Illusion Carnival
2.5D Adventure
2.5D role playing adventure game that is the first chapter of a larger story to tell. Striking visual design and colour palatte set in an eerie amusement park.
.Krypta FM
Paranormal Early Internet Mystery Hunting
Some really neat mechanics in this mystery hunting game, including trawling through a version of the early 2000s web, listening to radio broadcasts for hidden clues and first person exploration set in a small Polish town.
Playback Loop
Time Loop First Person Puzzler
Record versions of yourself and replay them to solve some head scratching first person puzzle rooms. Short enough to not become frustrating.
Slider
World Tile Sliding Puzzles
A 2D top down puzzle game where the entire world is made up of tiles that you must rearrange to get around and solve puzzles. Incredibly generous amount of puzzle goodness here, all for absolutely free.
Frostflame
Japan Mythology Soulslike
A Brazilian solo developed soulslike that is a bit rough overall but still quite engaging. Hard to knock a free game that has a hard crack.
Hotel Tome ws
Pop-up Book Point N Click
A short puzzle adventure with a lovely art style and a fun mystery with some 4th wall breaks and fully voiced dialogue.
Magic Archery
Bite Sized Idling
A nice and short free idler that leaves you craving more. Tickles the lizard brain with a very satisfying power curve.
BlightFog
Narrative Driven RPG
Really stylish and well written Disco Elysium-esque narrative RPG about journeying across a broken world and connecting with others.
Microbial Sector
Lifeform Researcher Simulator
Horror adjacent first person game about researching unidentified lifeforms. What could go wrong?
Traveller's Hymn
Top Down Grid Based Open World
Kind of like Moonring in that it is a free grid based RPG with a classic graphical style, but different in exploration, combat and questing.
A Work of Art
Dark Comedy VN
A quirky cast of characters to get to know and follow through a VN sprinkled with some lite RPG systems.
East Trade Tycoon: Inheritance
East Asian Trade Simulation
Go from nothing to global wealthy merchant by buying and selling goods, building trade routes and expanding into life sim territory while starting a family to pass your empire down to.
Dark Light
Top Down Talky Adventure
A small game with walking and talking being your main interaction among the Underworld of demons and mysteries. Hopefully the first of expanding chapters to come.
STRAFTAT
1v1 FPS
An incredible package of 70 maps, tons of weapons, proximity chat and 1v1 only multiplayer gameplay. Soviet/Brutalist architechture from the creators of the equally fantastic BABBDI.
Until Oblivion
Narrative Focused 2.5D Time Loop
A "slightly horrific narrative game" with a lesbian romance at the center. Definitely a good more chill halloween game.
Sarpedon
Explore An Island Of Greek Gods
A "modern reimagining of a classic myth" where you explore a hand crafted little island and chat with Greek Gods and Goddesses.
The Doors That Led To Nowhere
First Person Metroidvania
A meaty several hour experience with some great movement abilities, some tough bosses and enticing power ups to find. Kind of nuts that this is free given how much there is to it. Pick up the soundtrack for cheap to support the devs.
Project Shoreline
3D Clean-em-up
It's Powerwash Simulator but you're a cute mouse cleaning up a small shoreline space, restoring a "corrupted and decaying beach, one sparkling satisfying patch at a time".
Dull Acres
Thought Provoking Mini Adventure
An exploration game with a certain level of randomization across different screens as you wander through the world. Designed to linger with you long after the game has been shut off.
PockeDate! - Pocket Dating Simulator
Totally Not Horrifying Dating Sim
A pocket sized dating sim where each time you launch the game you go on a new and novel date with your pixel gf Akari. Fans of Doki Doki Literature Club's Monika will be into this one.
And The Most Important Free Game Of 2024 Is…
The Final Exam
Active School Shooter Horror
Released formally in September with a Steam release hitting the Friday before the US election, this "FPS" is absolutely horrific, deliberately. You are in a school location, and you have a handful of minutes to stay alive while an active shooter roams the halls. Created by the parents of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver, who was tragically killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on Valentine’s Day 2016, over 8 years ago now, with the aim to have gun laws in the US changed to protect children. It’s not the “best” game you’ll play, but it’s a must to experience, particularly if you think more guns is somehow a good idea.