Free Games For The Win! Part 2

2012 was another landmark year in gaming.  The details, from the audio to the video to the controls, are all reaching higher standards with each passing month.  The next generation of gaming started with Nintendo's Wii-U, and the evolution of gaming as an art was evident in games such as Journey and Spec Ops: The Line.  One of the biggest trends from 2012 was the rise of free-to-play gaming.  League of Legends, a game I mentioned in the last "Free Games" entry, has become the most-played game in the world, averaging 12 million active players... daily.  However, the rise in free games wasn't just for the hardcore; games in the mobile realm also experienced a meteoric rise in quality as the year went on.

Today I'm going to present to you some more free games I've found across the Internet.

Jetpack Joyride - http://halfbrick.com/our-games/jetpack-joyride/

Let's start off with a free game that you can put on your phone and enjoy.  Available for iOS and Android, Jetpack Joyride has actually been around for a pretty long time.  I'm not sure that it's been free this whole time, but this lovely little game from the makers of Fruit Ninja is a short, simple game that involves avoiding obstacles, collecting coins, and getting as far as you can to the right before you get hit and crash.  It's a fun little distraction, and I can certainly see it having some long-term appeal for those of you who are score junkies.  Everyone should check out Jetpack Joyride.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - http://www.swtor.com/

The number of free MMORPG's available these days is staggering, but you'll find no other with a developer like BioWare on board.  Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) started as a typical pay-to-play game, like World of Warcraft, but eventually evolved their model to follow the majority of the market because of its inability to compete with WoW and Guild Wars 2.  However, this does not mean it's an inferior game.  It's a few years old now, and some of the qualities of the game will show that, but for no fee (except if you want to pay a bit to get some of the add-ons), it's hard to find an experience that matches the quality of this game.  One of the beauties of this game that separate it from other MMORPG's is its appeal as a single-player experience.  BioWare is known for single-player masterpieces such as the Mass Effect series; they bring that pedigree to create an expansive world with what many consider to be the best story line in any multiplayer RPG on the market today.  It's a hefty download but if you've been looking for a role-playing game with a story to dive into, look no further than the no-cost experience that is SWTOR.

Kingdom Rush - http://www.kingdomrush.com/

Kingdom Rush is available online on websites like Kongregate.com and in the mobile app market.  This is a tower defense game involving different types of towers with different strengths that you can upgrade to have even more power as the game progresses.  The game increases in difficulty as you progress (like most other games), but also provides extra challenges to complete once you've gotten through most of the levels.  There are a lot of free tower defense games online worth checking out (including Bloons TD, also available on Kongregate), but I think that Kingdom Rush is the most polished of them all and provides a good amount of variety and activity to keep players continuing.  The artwork and the style of play also make it pretty accessible for all, as it isn't just little pixels moving across a screen.  The paths are clear, the monsters look like monsters, and your heroes look like the army you'd have when... your kingdom... gets rushed.  Had to be done.  Again, Kingdom Rush is available on mobile devices but can also be found online.

A few more games I'd like to mention: Planetside 2 is quickly becoming a very popular multiplayer shooter.  The game involves holding and controlling points by working with other people in temporary squads and battalions to take control of these points for your faction.  It's available for free in several places, including Steam.  The Company of Myself is an older but still very playable game available on Kongregate.com.  It's a pretty deep phase-based puzzle game that also sends a strong message within the art.

Once again, if you have any other suggestions, feel free to post them up.  There are literally thousands and thousands of free games out there; you've just got to find them and give them a shot, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for.  Happy gaming, everyone!