How to play video games for free (or almost free)

Overpowered
Jul 25, 2017 · 5 min read

Free” is a very powerful term. There are so many business models out there: everyone tries to make you pay — or give something valuable for free while taking something equally valuable in return. And since we don’t really like to let go of our hard-earned money, it’s little wonder that “piratebay” is one of the top 100 search terms on Google in the first half of 2017. When it comes to video games, there are no exceptions. Otherwise, what are you doing reading this article? ;-)

But first, we must talk about the elephant in the room. Downloading illegal content for free is not something we’re going to discuss here. If you came here for that, let me give you 4 simple reasons why you shouldn’t:

  1. Because that’s unethical, boys and girls.
  2. The developers can always mess up with your game and you might not even realize it. For example, you might get stuck in an elevator infinitely like in “The Talos Principle”, your Batman character might drop like a rock instead of virtuously descend upon your enemies, or even better… instead of firing bullets and grenades, you’ll find yourself firing chickens (courtesy of Crysis Warhead devs).
    See here for more interesting ways developers get back at pirates.
  3. You can never trust the motives behind the person who cracked the original version. What if he or she snuck some evil spyware into the cracked copy?
  4. There are ways to play legit games and not to go bankrupt while doing so. It’s a win-win, so why not?

Still here? Awesome. Let us walk through our options.

1. Play a free-to-play game

Yes, I know, most of them are free-to-play and pay-to-win. But hey, there are some pretty good titles out there than can be fair even if you’re not paying. You will have to do some research first. Let me throw in a couple of examples of fair free-to-play games that I liked:

· Dota 2: the learning curve in this one is pretty steep but it generates tons of fun hours with friends.

The Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2

· Team Fortress 2: this is a huge game, I really like it and I play it with my friends as well. The gameplay is smooth, the classes are fun to play and while some people think that hats are dumb in this game, I find them completely hilarious.

· Alto’s Adventure — it’s available on Xbox, Window 10, Android and iOS. The game is very simple and yet, it oozes style. The soundtrack and the visual style elevate this endless snowboarding game into its own category. If you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely should give it a try.

· There are so many more, I won’t have enough space to talk about all of them: Hearthstone, Spelunky, Tribes: Ascend, Path of Exile, Eve Online, Life Is Strange, and more.

2. Pick bundles that deliver great value

Try buying games in bundles. They might not be newest or the coolest, but you get great return on your buck. Take a look at the Humble Bundle. You get to decide how much to pay while the money splits between the developers and a charity. The bundles are time limited and offer everything from indie to triple-A games on various platforms. Subscribe to their newsletter, have your pick and the sweet deal will keep your bank balance happy for a long time. There are other sites that offer great bundles too. Bookmark this and this page and you won’t regret it.

3. Wait for big sales

This one is a no brainer, but like everything in life — if you want to make the maximum out of your money, you have to be patient. Don’t fall into buying games on their release date. Wait for Black Friday deals and the occasional sales. You can add games to your wishlist on Steam and they will let you know when the there is a price drop. Or you can use OP for that ;-) more details below.

4. Monitor deals

There are some pretty neat ways to follow deals out there. One of them is to follow Reddit’s deals page. You can filter the results by site, in case you prefer buying from Steam and not from Amazon, for example. You might also want to take a look at the similar subreddits that you’ll find on the page (see the menu to the right).

5. Swap games

This one is a great way to get new and great games without actually paying. There are many websites that connect people who want to swap their games. You can definitely start by looking here, here and here.

6. Play beta games

If you find it difficult to wait for a sale, you might want to try playing games in beta stage. Games in beta are games that are not yet released to the public, only to a circle of testers. Most likely, the games won’t be very polished, and they will still have some glitches and bugs. You will also be limited in playing time — month or so. This will allow you to get to know the game and understand if you like it or not. On the plus side, you do get to play the games before anyone else, there is some great selection of titles — and you get to do it for free. If you decide the game is for you, you can always use tips mentioned here to get it cheaper. You can start by checking out this site.


So there you have it. 6 great ways that kept my bank account safe for the past couple of years. I do all my “heavy purchases” during huge sales times and then swap the games. When I’m bored with the big titles, I buy indie bundles or play betas. Looking for cheaper games got me exposed to some original and jaw-dropping content that I would have otherwise missed completely. So not everything that’s new, shiny and hyped is worth your precious pennies.

I’ll wrap this up by sharing the best way to get the latest on deals and sales all year round (and an ounce of self-promotion :) ): In our upcoming app Overpowered, we are going to help you find the best deals for games you want to play — plus, once you get your hands on them we will show you how to play them like a pro. So don’t forget to hit the subscribe button on the OP page and we will send you the beta app the moment it’s out.

Thanks for reading, hope you’ll find the post useful! Got more tips? Leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

Jordan from the OP team.

Thanks to Itamar Rogel

Overpowered

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