A very nice reader sent me an e-mail with the following Youtube video, consisting of - so it claims - 111 free games that you can go download and play, covered in 11 minutes (11:11 exactly, which is a neat touch). I say it claims this because I have not heard of all these games and certainly have not downloaded them all myself, but I have no reason to doubt him. I do see some games I've played in there, certainly, and others that I've heard of. Some appear to be abandonware, some are completely original titles, and some are fan-made games that might be begging for a cease and desist, but presumably haven't received one yet (Sonic Robo Blast, I'm looking at you).
If you'd like to watch it, you can follow the link above or just watch it right here:
I notice that there are a lot of shooters in the beginning and middle of the video. First-person shooters, third-person shooters, top-down shooters, side-scrolling shooters... it seems that folks who make free games are pretty drawn to making games about shooting stuff and making it blow up.
I suppose that could be a reflection of what's popular in the commercial industry, as well - certainly the Halo's and the Call of Dutiful Medals of Battlefield Honor continue to often enjoy a lion's share of attention from the gaming media, not to mention profit. But I'm a little surprised to see so many frankly samey-looking shooters from people not being paid to make them. I've written up some shooters here on the site, for sure, but I also try to feature different things, games that try to explore new gameplay types and ideas.
Still, some of the shooters in that list are pretty good, I understand, and there are other things in there... the last third of the video has more genre variety. It gets bonus points for having Spelunky and Battle for Wesnoth, two of the all-time greats. (No Cave Story, though! I mean, what?) If you want to download a few of them and try them yourself, as I'm sure I will, the video sends you to this page where all the games are listed out with links. The page is in German, but none is necessary to find the games.
Enjoy, and thanks to "doink" for sending me the link! Back later this weekend with another writeup, I hope.