Lately, the video game market has been flooded with action-packed platforms, shooters, strategy games, and roleplaying adventures that are a blast to play. Unfortunately, these games typically come with heavy price tags which narrow potential player bases significantly. To counter this, a number of game developers have chosen to release their product for free, gaining profits from their works through other means. The following are the five best strategy-based games available for free today, all of which have better ratings and an immensely larger following than the majority of their highly priced competitors.
1. Savage and Savage 2: A Tortured Soul
Both of these games have been released to acclaim, blending strategic elements with intersections of features taken from role playing and first-person shooter games. Savage premiered itself as the first ‘Real Time Strategy Shooter’, or RTSS, in the pantheon of genre gaming. Its gameplay is heavily influenced by the tried and true Warcraft formula. This series offers fast-paced action elements under its Warrior character class married with the strategic elements of its Commander class.
2. Age of Empires Online
Developed by Robot Entertainment, Age of Empires Online is actually the next chapter in a recognizable best-selling PC franchise of the same name. It presents two ancient empires, the Egyptians and the Greeks, and lets players pit them together in a massive battle of wits to discover which empire will be the victor. This free-to-play online strategy game innovates the Age of Empires series by adding more customization, MMORPG elements, and new social interactions in an online world that promises to evolve and persist as more players join its realm. Age of Empires Online offers over forty hours of free franchise-fair gameplay, albeit with several incentives to purchase new content for the game world.
3. League of Legends
League of Legends is another free strategy game mixed with RPG elements. Like Savage, League of Legends adopts the classic Warcraft model of gameplay. Where League of Legends stands out is in its essential playability, offering up a new assortment of tactics and skills for exciting variations in battle and endless hour players can spend enjoying the game. The developers consistently update League of Legends with new maps, features and loveable champions for players to test their mettle against.
4. Pandemic
Developed by Kongregate games, this playful inclusion on the top-five list positions players in a uniquely cruel strategic position: you are the swine flu epidemic as it tries to spread itself, and you must avoid eradication at the hands of evil humans who are trying desperately to find a cure for you. A sequel, Pandemic 2, has recently been released, offering the same zany and addictive freeware that’s as fun as the original.
5. WarZone 2100
Rounding out this list is WarZone 2100, an open source tactics game in which players command a battle to rebuild the entire world after nuclear fallout has occurred. With multiple campaign missions, multi-player capabilities, and skirmish modes, players can enjoy hours and hours of dynamic and free entertainment.
