Freewares Gems (an Optional List?)
 

i had not been into freeware Adventures or being a even a fan .
but at the last 4-5 years something about them had changed,(shinned) something very intriguing and the fact that i found my self getting drawn by them even more than the usual commercial ones.

following the monthly updates for Mr.Steve became a priority for me... though the games there aren't really much reviewed, not rated, missing that Pros and cons BOX and above that (for me) a confirmation or a notice about a voice acting included or not..

its so hard to search and track back the good freewares i missed in last 4 years or so mayhap more !, i don't know actually when did freewares became such valuable or even noticeable (a scene), not just some tries from some amateurs from time to time...

i would like to request of you Guys and i hope Mr.Steve would appreciate to make Something like a list ,or anything about the best 100s Freewares of all time ,even help me (and others interested as well) to find those Freewars gems
which no body actually care to mention them or talk about the way they deserve .

in a short term, i want to put my hand of every good freeware that was made!, since ever. they still always seem to have that dedication i felt at the time of Sierra's... especially that they are for free, which mean that they are only motivated by the passion of their developers toward the scene ..

Oh, that's a challenge! I will have trouble naming even 20 great freeware titles :) But my TOP-10 would look something like this:

1. A Tale of Two Kingdoms (AGS) - a damn great King's Quest-style game. I still can't believe so much effort was put into it. It is long, atmospheric, with a very detailed world and multiple solutions to puzzles.

2. Chzo Mythos (AGS) - a line of great horror adventures by Yahtzee, who knows his thing. They are connected by one story and universe, so I put them together.

3. Space Quest: Incinerations (AGS) - came out only this February, and I still can't praise it enough (praised it a bit in the topic of the same name).

4. King's Quest 2 VGA (AGS) - still the best fan-made remake. I really enjoyed how they added a lot of stuff to once poor story.

5. Out of Order - a truly British surreal comedy, long forgotten now, but still bringing smiles to my face when thinking about it.

6. Gretel and Hansel 1-2 - I just can't resist those ultra-violent Grimm Brothers-inspired adventures. Very stylish, funny and gory.

7. Fiend - the first game from the creators of Penumbra and Amnesia. A top-down survival horror that scared me to death when I played it back in early 2000's.

8. Pleurghburg: Dark Ages (AGS) - another forgotten AGS classics, heavily influenced by Gabriel Knight games. Bad graphics, good game.

9. The Winter Rose (AGS) - and another King's Quest-inspired ag that was great while it lasted. Catches the mood perfectly.

10. Nelly Cootalot, Ben There Dan That, The Apprentice and a number of other short, but sweet AGSs I will have too much trouble to remember :)

EDIT Oh, how could I forget? :D The guy from my avatar presents the best freeware game ever: Cave Story. It's not an adventure, but a breathtaking platformer with adventure elements, wonderful gameworld, storyline, characters, puzzles, music - you name it! Should be considered an adventure classics, if you ask me.

Robert Redford Saves the Day! - It's dorky, it's weird, it's hilarious, and it's the first thing that pops into mind whenever I see either Robert Redford or Harrison Ford... :D
And it's also probably the only AGS game I've ever played...

If you need voice-acting, then you're less likely to get the best out of the freeware scene. Because these games are made on a zero budget, voice-acting is a rarity.

The white chamber has voice-acting and is a sci-fi horror story.

The Silver Lining is a fan-made sequel to the King's Quest series with full voice-work. There is still one episode yet to be released and it's a single over-arching story so it may be worth waiting for that to come out.

The Ben Jordan series didn't start with voices, but voiced editions have now been created for all episodes to date. The long awaited final episode is due shortly. Unlike The Silver Lining, the individual episodes are largely stand-alone adventures anyway, though there are recurring characters. The exception is probably episode 7, that ended on quite a cliff-hanger.

As for a top 100 list, such a task is far easier said than done. Keeping up for the monthly articles is a major job as it is.

I'd like to add Knightsquire. Its a great little game, one of my favorite

And Stargate Adventure if your a Stargate fan

Murder in a Wheel

The Journey Down: Over the Edge

Why did you make me start looking at ags games again? :frusty:

Teen Agent is very good :)

Dirty Split - I play-tested and proofread the English edition of this detective story.

I never had heart for those on_line (flash) Games but those look very promising .... very nice indeed but do i get to save and load progress, because i can't see i could?

There is an autosave feature that allows to continue from the moment you quit. The games also keep track of different ways of violent deaths you encounter :)

... i am sure you understood me missing NO in that phrase "had(No)heart for those on_line...

its obvious from you answer, thaaanks Arialtype

Edit:My English Sucks :D

The only editions of mine that have full voice acting are cases 1, 2 and 7. Do you know where I can pick up the speech packs because I can't find them on the website. It would be great to play them all again with voice acting ready for case 8!

so00 off topic .. LegendLongy... where have you been man?, you kinda missed here in the forums :D

Ha ha! I know, but when I heard there was a voice pack for all cases I got a little excited and didn't want to flood the board with another topic!

I've been good mate! just off my feet recovering from and operation so I've been resting.

ooh ,sorry, i hope you are feeling well by now

I'm feeling a lot better and moving around now too so I'm able to play my games ha ha! That's all that matters in life.

Well since my off-topic post killed the thread I'll contribute to the cause because I too do love a freebie!

1. Nick Bounty: A Case of the Crabs
2. Nick Bounty: Goat in the Grey Fedora
3. Tales of the Odd: Brain Hotel (This and both Nick Bounty games were created by TellTale Games designer Mark Darin, and are well worth a look at. You and play them online or download for free on Windows or Mac)
4. Back Door Man (a short from the creator of the Ben Jordan series about a night of a male prostitute. If that doesn't sell it I don't know what will.)
5. 5 Days a Stranger
6. 6 Days a Sacrifice
7. 7 Days a Skeptic (I remember playing the "days series" 5 years ago and they were a fantastic play with dark themes that got you gripped. Infact I'm going to play them again because they're beauts!)

I've played hundreds of AGS games but the names slip me of the good ones. Finding them on the new layout without a name is becoming quite a struggle too.

http://www.traumagame.com/pics/visual.jpg

Trauma -- Great visuals, unique style. And fully playable to the end, although it says "Try" on the website; the pay version has slightly better graphics.
Dead Cyborg -- 3D Sci-Fi.

Thanks people, for posting your lists. One positive effect of the filesharing revolution is that so many interesting small projects crop up, mostly unadvertised. I hadn't heard of most of the games previously mentioned.

1) Fate by Numbers

http://www.fatebynumbers.com/

2) Broken Sword 2.5

http://www.brokensword25.com/

3) Soviet Unterzoegersdorf Sector 1-2

http://www.monochrom.at/suz-game/sektor2/index_en.htm

High Quality, commercial like freeware Adventures.

http://cdn1.spiele-umsonst.de/vsevolod1.jpg

Vsevolod: Prologue
- adventure from Svarun Studios, a development team from Eastern Europe/UK/Germany.

Vsevolod is a traditional 2D point-and-click adventure in the vein of the most well known classics of the genre, completely drawn by hand (background art, as well as character animation). The development is in progress, but we have already released a demo free to play, including the Prologue.

Thanks for your contribution, tsampikos - 1) and 3) look a lot to my taste.

http://grandfiles.com/megascreenshot...te-chamber.jpg

The White Chamber looks just cool - thanks, stepurhahn, for the tip.

If your're into Silent Hill-style survival-horror/FPS, check out Euthanasia. Probably no masterpiece, but great for lonely nights. Some gameplay here:
http://s11.postimage.org/apw7a79kx/Euthanasia_6.jpg

The creator SerygalaCaffeine (Adrien Asselborn) has one or two horror adventure games on his mind, Relikt and Psishock (the spiritual little brother to Systemshock and Bioshock). I'm intrigued.

Citizen Abel: Gravity Bone
Short, but quite interesting game.

Octodad
So far best free not-remake 3D adventure I have played.

Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer
More experimental game then adventure, but worth trying.

Automation
Very short and quality ags adventure.

+ What Makes You Tick?, The McCarthy Chronicles: Episode 1, Emily Enough: Imprisoned, Technobabylon series.
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/...obabylon-2.jpg