Free PC Gaming Blog

I’m not sure how long this will stay free, but you can sign up for the Gleemax Games Alpha now to play games like Axis & Allies and Acquire online for for free. Other games listed include Magic the Gathering Online, Guillotine, and Vegas Showdown. This definitely has potential!

Check out this post from one of their blogs:

We’re going to be trying out a number of different things in the next few months and along the way there’s lots of free gaming to be done. Eventually we intend to make money off of our Gleemax Games content, but we aren’t ready for that step yet. For now, we have some cool games coded and we figured we’re better off making those available for free rather than having our test servers sit around mostly empty while bored employees (like me) played yet another game versus the computer AI.

What we have ready right now is five of our best Avalon Hill board games: Acquire, Vegas Showdown, Axis and Allies, Guillotine, and Robo Rally. These are inherently multiplayer games which you can play through the website against any combination of humans or computer AI’s. Note that the computer AI opponents are not good, and they aren’t intended to be. We had two goals in mind with the AI: 1) make it possible for new players to learn without embarrassing themselves in front of other humans and 2) fill in for anyone who drops without disrupting the experience for the other people playing the game.

In order to play these board games for free you’re going to have to jump through a couple of hoops. They use Java so you’ll have to download that if you don’t already have it – the prompts should make it pretty easy to do – and you’re also going to have to set up an account on our Alpha server (which is currently a separate account from anything else you might have on our systems – yes, for now you’ll need a new account even if you’re already a Gleemax user).

In addition to the board games, we also have one flash game available: Desktop Tower Defense. DTD won our Gleemax Award for Strategic Gameplay (“The Gleemie”) at the Independent games Festival at GDC two months ago. It’s available for free elsewhere on the ‘Net but we really wanted to include it here as an example of the kind of gameplay we value.

Big picture, the goal here is to have one page that folks can go to in order to learn about all the various digital game projects that Wizards of the Coast is involved with. In some cases it will be direct transliterations of our tabletop games (Magic Online fits this model, as do the board games). In other cases it will be original digital game designs (like Uncivilized: the Goblin Game, which has been in the works for a while but isn’t going to release until we get some back-end infrastructure stuff worked out). Yet a third category of stuff you can expect to see is digital distribution of indie games content. In addition to flash games like DTD, look for our recommendations as to which try-and-buy download games are worth your time.

For now, this is just an Alpha test. We expect to learn a lot and you should expect that stuff isn’t always going to work perfectly and may change without much notice. You should also expect us to experiment with various business models before we settle on the right way to make enough money to keep these games available. We’re optimistic that free, high-quality games will make this an enjoyable ride for you even if it’s a bit bumpy at times. See you in game!

A new Mario Kart style PC racing game is now available and it’s free to play! Kart n’ Crazy is now available from free to play games portal Goa.com.

Launch of Kart n’Crazy, new free game on the Goa.com portal.

Kart n’Crazy has taken off like a rocket!

Compete against up to 16 challengers online on a multitude of crazy tracks! The final version has new options that were not available in the beta, including new tracks, items, and stunts…
Customise your character and choose your personalised kart before the race begins!

Kart n’Crazy, the third game from the free online games portal Goa.com, is being launched exclusively in Europe in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish.

Kart n’Crazy features:
- Completely free online gaming without subscription.
- Amazing items to help you win against your opponents.
- A learning curve suitable for gamers of all ages.
- Extra content added every two weeks: there are already more than 140 items, 15 karts, 6 characters and 22 tracks.
- 4 game modes.

To download the Kart n’Crazy client and start playing today, completely free of charge, visit http://www.goa.com/#/kartncrazydowload/

Open beta press release from the free-to-play oriental fantasy MMORPG Sho Online:

Sho Online invites gamers to its Open Beta !

All are welcome to the vibrant world of Oriental Fantasy!

Seoul, Korea – April 23, 2008 Lizard Interactive announced its eagerly waited commencement of Open Beta for Sho Online. A free-to-play Oriental Fantasy MMORPG is scheduled to launch its Open Beta on April 30, 2008 after its successful CBT held last March.

Sho Online Team has finally unlocked its sealed door for all to participate in the breathtaking battle field of ancient land of China. Based on true Chinese epic tale of war which took place between the two nations ‘Yin’ and ‘Zhou’, legendary monsters, forgotten heroes, and countless items with mystical power are now about to reincarnate.

Sho Online Team shows great appreciation to the CBT testers for their active participations and suggestions. After necessary modifications are made, Sho Online Team is confident with solid contents and more ready than ever. Sho Online Team has prepared 3 Opening Thank you events along with Open Beta test, ‘Quest for Mysterious Talisman’, ‘Who’s the best?, and ‘The King of the Forum’.

Sho Online Team says “We thank you very much for your kind interest in Sho Online and we have prepared a very special event which was not originally scheduled with Open Beta Service. Some of you will have a chance to win unique in game item which will be tempting and hard to resist. You can win it only through this event. It is one time only and final.” Details are posted at official website www.shoonline.net

Self-developed engine for Sho Online is the latest design and it offers flexible camera angles and smooth interface. Special factor to be emphasized is that this innovative engine system makes it possible even for users with low computer spec to run full 3D games with high quality graphics without lag.

Sho Online server operates on Linux system where single server can accommodate up to 4,000 simultaneously and 1,000 players can play in a single map in comfortable game play environment.

Open Beta Service of Show Online will be open to all gamers 100% free to play. Visit and register account at www.shoonline.net and you are all set to go. Open Beta Service will start on the 30th April; however, Game clients will be available for its download starting 28th April. In order to avoid heavy traffic, it is advised to download the game client in advance.

Trackmania Nations Forever, the full version PC Racing game followup to TrackMania Nations is now available for free! Announcement from the Trackmania Nations Forever site:

TRACKMANIA NATIONS FOREVER - FULL GAME, FREE AND FOR ALL

Launched two years ago, TrackMania Nations became a true video game phenomenon. The free downloadable racing game attracted an unbelievable number of players around the world who were obsessed with the game’s fast cars, spectacular tracks single- and multiplayer play and simple yet powerful tools for creating tracks and race videos. For the past two years, it has been installed more than 30 million times and nearly four million players have created an account to play the game online on the game’s servers.

Its highly awaited sequel, TrackMania Nations Forever, is now available as a free download. TrackMania Nations Forever offers a new complete “Forever” version of the Stadium environment, a complete solo mode and 65 brand new, progressively difficult tracks. TrackMania Nations Forever will unite an even larger number of players thanks to its engaging multiplayer modes, innovative online functions and revolutionary interactivity between players.

For TrackMania Nations Forever, Nadeo studio chose to take advantage of the PC’s capacities as a gaming, creative and communications platform in order to allow a greater number of players to share a unique gaming experience:

Florent Castelnerac, Director of Nadeo studio, explains:
« The PC is the premier gaming platform when it comes to the number of casual and expert players. To satisfy this wide range of players, we designed the game for everyone instead of trying to focus on the average gamer. We have put a lot of effort in developing the competitive spirit and challenge between players in order to present a game adapted to big e-sports competitions while remaining captivating and accessible to players who have less gaming experience. Even if you play Nations Forever quietly alone, you can still be ranked in the world, your country, your city or even in your list of friends that you can create by inviting friends to join like in Facebook or MySpace. It is up to each player to set his/her goals - become one of the best players in the world or just impress friends. These ladders are adapted to everyone and they add ten times more interest to solo or multiplayer modes. Always searching for new ways to add interest and unite an even larger number of players, we explored the possibilities the PC offers as a universal communication platform: for example, a system that allows you to challenge your friends by mail or Messenger. Since the game is free, fun and works on most computers, there is a big chance that many people that you know will play it. Finally, as for creativity, the PC is the only game platform that allows players to easily create additional game content, and the game comes with powerful creative tools like the track editor. We increased creative possibilities even more with richer, more complete editors while making creation more accessible to a larger number of players with a simplified track editor. Tomorrow, we will see exceptional creations from the four corners of the world that players will be able to exchange for free and easily. It’s a tremendous motivation for the entire development team. »

The release of TrackMania Nations Forever will also allow the convergence of the huge TrackMania community. For the first time, players of the free versions will be able to play online with players from the retail version of TrackMania United on servers dedicated to the Stadium environment that is common to both games. Players of the TrackMania United retail version also gain a brilliant free extension named “United Forever”. In addition to being compatible with Nations Forever, this extension offers many bonuses - including tracks that have never been seen before, new design blocks for the game environments and a spectacular graphics update for the three historic environments Desert, Snow and Rally.

I just received an email announcing a new game launching called Goal or No Goal or GONG! for short. Here’s a bit of the message I received:

I am very excited to let you know about a new game we are launching Goal or No Goal! (aka “GONG!). GONG! is a 3 versus 3 backyard soccer game with a bit of twist. Players can customize their characters and use some interesting super powers while trying to win matches. There are some pretty nice community features that we hope to announce soon. We are launching the Closed Beta next month. www.gongonline.com

The screen shots look sweet with a nice cell shaded style. I’ll post out any more info I get on this here in the near future…

If you register now for Mentin 2 you can get Mentin Points to spend on in-game items:

G4Box Inc’s Metin 2 Celebrates April With A New Registration Offer

New METIN 2 Players Will Get 150 METIN Points Just For Signing Up!

Toronto, CANADA—April 7, 2008- G4BOX Inc, a North American publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment media, announced today a special promotion for the month of April. All new players who register at http://metin2.us/ will receive 150 free METIN points (MP) to buy items in the game’s item mall.

New players can start their METIN 2 experience off right with 150 MP in their pockets as soon as they start the game. Players can immediately go into the game’s item mall and purchase popular items including the important “return scroll” which will save a location and allows players to teleport to that location, or the player could choose to purchase "Peach Flower Wine" which will instantly recover 500HP (almost 1/3 of the HP for low levels).

“For players who have thought about joining but haven’t done it yet, now is a great time to come and experience METIN 2,” said Howard He, CEO of G4BOX. “Once they have signed up and started playing the game they will be hooked.”

About METIN 2

METIN 2 is Free To Play massively multi –player role-playing game for the PC. METIN 2 features amazing 3D graphics, a unique dynamic fighting system a strong story line and a King mode where players can be elected king (giving their nation bonuses on the battle field) and much, much more.

‘Metin’ are unknown meteors that started falling from the sky many years ago, changing the lives, land, wildlife and the people on the planet. Players of METIN 2 assume the role of a brave hero and band together with other players to find out the secret of ‘Metin’ and use it to rule or defend their Kingdom. But players be warned! Players are not the only heroes seeking the power of ‘Metin’; enemy Kingdom’s seek out this power as well. There are four classes of characters for players to choose from, with each class containing two specializations that are unlocked as players level up.

For more information about G4BOX and its games visit www.G4BOX.com or to download METIN 2 visit http://metin2.us/.

The closed beta was just launched for the upcoming free to play MMO Wonderland Online. It looks like you may still be able to get in on it:

Wonderland Online Closed Beta Test Officially Launched

Wonderland Online (http://wl.igg.com) Closed Beta Test was officially launched at 9:00pm EST (GMT-5) April 9th, and the test will last until 9:00pm EST (GMT-5) May 8th.

Different from the Alpha Test, the Closed Beta Test will not wipe out players’ character information. During the test, many fun-filled events, such as “the King of the Newbie’s Contest” and the “Forbes List” events, will offer big rewards and lots of fun in the game and in the forum. Players are more than welcome to join these events.

Additionally, to give something back to those players who participated in the Alpha Test and lost all their hard work, the WLO team will give them each a Turtle Car.

Download the latest WL client at here: http://wl.igg.com/download/download_client.php
Click here to obtain an activation code: http://wl.igg.com/act/cbsignup/index.php

For more about it, please visit the official Wonderland Online site:
http://wl.igg.com/news/newscontent.php?aid=370.

The full free beta of Zero Ballistics, a mixture of first person shooter and tank combat, is now available:

Zero Ballistics is a unique blend of first person shooter and tank combat, focusing on multiplayer gaming exclusively. To learn more about the details, read the Game section.

We are glad to announce that an open beta version of Zero Ballistics is now available. To download the free beta go to the Downloads section.

The open beta features:

• Two levels set in an alpine environment
• Three different main weapons, and one secondary weapon
• Three different skills
• Deathmatch and Team Deatchmatch modes
• Best of all, it’s absolutely FREE to play

Deathmatch and Team Deatchmatch modes are available and if your graphics card supports shader model 2.0, then there is no reason why you aren’t already downloading the open beta of Zero Ballistics and start playing right now!

Have fun and come back to check for the first of many updates introducing new features.

Please feel free to leave comments in our Forum, good ideas are always welcome.

Your QuantiCode team

In my opinion, achievements are one of the most incredible features built into Xbox 360 games. It gives you something extra to reach for, a reason to pick up that game one more time and take it to the next level. I just came across this announcement that Gala-Net, makers of Rappelz, Flyff, and other gPotato games, are about to add achievements to their free to play MMO games:

Gala- Net Announces Release of New Achievement System

Sunnyvale, Calif. -March 28, 2008 – Gala-Net has announced a new Achievement System for their popular free-to-play game portal, gPotato.com. These achievements will provide new goals for their users to strive toward, along with the ability to show off their achievements and gain in-game benefits for completing them.

GPotato users can earn achievements by completing specific objectives within gPotato games. Every gPotato user has a profile page, and on this page they can show off their achievements, their scores in the various gPotato games, post information about themselves, and post to their own blog.

Every night, the Achievement System will detect any new achievements a user might have unlocked. When they have unlocked a new achievement, the achievement will be displayed on their profile page. They will also be given a point reward, called pChips. PChips can then be spent on in-game items found in a special web-shop.

“We wanted to provide our users with more goals,” said Michael Powers, Producer at Gala-Net. “We hope users will enjoy showing off their accomplishments to each other and form a stronger community.”

The Achievement System will first launch within the gPotato game Rappelz. The system will later be added to Flyff and the other gPotato games.

About Gala-Net
Founded in 2004, Gala-Net, Inc. is a subsidiary of the global online community company Gala, Inc. Together with its European subsidiary, Gala Networks Europe, Gala-Net is a leader in the burgeoning free-to-play online games market. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Gala-Net’s diverse service portfolio includes Flyff, Rappelz, Upshift StrikeRacer, Corum Online and Shot Online. Through the games portal gPotato (http://www.gpotato.com), gamers can play any of Gala-Net’s games for free, as well as buy in-game currency and virtual items for any of its games.

We’ve been getting a lot of info here lately on free to play MMOs. It’s nice for a change to get some news on a newly released freeware PC game. You can download both the original and the Last Of The Patriots sequel here. Here’s the press release:

Last Of The Patriots II now available on PC

Edinburgh, Scotland - March 28, 2008 - Paul Davis author and creator of the prototype series Last Of The Patriots has announced that Last Of The Patriots II is now available for download on PC. The game features new concepts in story-telling techniques, and switches between the two main characters as they seek the truth behind the corporation.

The series is a prototype for future games, that revolve around plot and character and less on action, with an emphasis on deeper underlying meaning. The main premise of the game is to show war in a realistic way never before seen in games. "The game is a prototype, but we hope this can add something both for the industry and players alike" said Paul Davis the games creator.The game has been released as freeware and is now available for download.

About Paul Davis

Paul Davis has been working in the industry for eight years, and has worked on titles such as GTA-San-Andreas, GTA4, and the Manhunt series. He has set out to create free prototype story-based solutions to promote games with deeper meaning.

Paul Davis, Director
+0790-9887157
paul@last-of-the-patriots.com
http://www.last-of-the-patriots.com