List of free closed source games

[MrFlibble]

This is a list of legally free games that do not have their source code available to the public in any form, including non-open source games created using open source third-party game engines or game-maker toolkits. It includes both games that were always freeware, and "liberated" games that were originally paid software (commercial or shareware) but eventually the atuhors/copyright holders declared them freeware.

The list aims to only include full, complete games, but exceptions may be made for incomplete games that either have high artistic merit or offer an essentially complete playing experience, even if formally not considered complete releases.

The games are mostly for PC (DOS and Windows), with occasional titles from other platforms. Emulators might be required to play games for DOS and some other platforms. If a game is for a legacy platform and one or more source ports or engine recreation exist, these are listed after the game title separated by the tilde sign.

Unauthorised remakes of proprietary games are not included when original game data is used, but remakes and fangames are acceptable if they were authorised by copyright holders. Exceptions may be made for remakes of games from very old platforms that have long outlived their commercial potential, such as ZX Spectrum.

For a list of free open source games, please check this thread. A very comprehensive, frequently updated list of all sorts of free games can be found here.

Adventure - Action-Adventure
Black Orb, The
Legend of the Silver Talisman
SPISPOPD
Super ZZT
Tower of the Sorcerer
ZZT

Adventure - First-Person
Beasts
Beauties and Beasts
Desperabis
Fedora Spade
Great Mystery of Kheops, The
Missing
StarFight VI: Gatekeepers
Thor's Hammer

Adventure - Graphic
Adventures of Maddog Williams, The
Black Cauldron, The
Denarius Avaricius Sextus
Lord Avalot d'Argent
Voodoo Girl

Adventure - Interactive Fiction
Bronze Dragon: Conquest of Infinity
Dragon Side II: The Twisted Speare
Empire of the Over-Mind
House that Nobody Wanted, The
Lost Crown of Queen Anne, The
Murder in the Mediterranean
Temple of Death, The

Adventure - Interactive Fiction (illustrated)
Crimson Crown, The
Mickey's Space Adventure
Oo-Topos
Talisman: Challenging the Sands of Time
Transylvania
Transylvania III: Vanquish the Night
Troll's Tale
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood

Adventure - Point-and-click
5 Days A Stranger
7 Days A Skeptic
6 Days A Sacrifice
Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator Case 1 - In Search of the Skunk-Ape
Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars ~ ScummVM
Cedric and the Revolution
Cosmos Quest
Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back
Eye of the Kraken
Flight of the Amazon Queen ~ ScummVM
King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown
King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones
King's Quest III Redux
King's Quest III VGA Remake
Lure of the Temptress ~ ScummVM
Nippon Safes, Inc. ~ ScummVM
Runaway
Space Quest II VGA Remake
Stowaway
Teenagent
Trials of Odysseus Kent, The
Udoiana Raunes - Special Edition

Adventure - Zelda style
BobQuest
GemWorld
Hoosier City [download]
Legend of Lezda, The: The Adventure of Jinx
Robomaze III [download]

Adventure - Other
Crime Fighter
Space Kids
TechnoVenture

Arcade - Arkanoid/Breakout
3D Pulsoid
BIPROLEX+
Blockage
Break Machine
Breakout (Ken Silverman)
Cybersphere
Cybersphere Plus
Enigma (Geckosoft)
MEGA BreakOut
PopCorn ~ PopCorn 1988
PowBall [download] ~ PowBall Deluxe
Pulsoid

Arcade - Bomberman
Bombs And Bugs
Dstroy
Fracas
Mine Bombers
Xplosive

Arcade - Frogger
DIV Frogger
Revenge of Froggie

Arcade - Pac-Man
Greedy ~ Open Greedy
Munch Man
Pako

Arcade - Sports
Arcade Volleyball ~ GAV
Hairy Harry

Acrade - Other
Hopmon
Trick Blast

Educational
Aro & Elmi
BabyType
Blupi at Home
Blupi Explorer
Bug Brain
Color Wizard, The
Der Name des Bruders [download]
Donald Duck's Playground
No Future?

Fighting - Beat'em up / Brawler
Bonkers
Executioners
Franko: The Crazy Revenge
Little Fighter
Little Fighter 2

Fighting - Versus
Black Heart, The
Invincible
One Must Fall 2097 ~ OpenOMF
Sango Fighter ~ Sango Fighter Special Edition
Sango Fighter 2
Super Fighter ~ Super Fighter Special Edition
Timeslaughter
Tough Guy
Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport

Platformer - Cinematic
1213
Blackthorne
Iji
onEscapee
Skull Quest 1, The Cyan Sarcophagus
Skull Quest 2, The Vortex
Umbrella Adventure

Platformer - Hop and Bop
A Game with a Kitty
Akiko and Minami
Giana's Return
Giant Worlds [download] [installer]
Great Giant Sisters, The
Mister Kid
Stargirl and the Thief from the Exploded Moon
Todd's Adventures

Platformer - Lode Runner-like
Drilling Billy
Flynn Sprint
Infiltrator
Jetpack
Jetpack Christmas Special!
Lode Runter Maniac
Widget & Gold

Platformer - Metroidvania
Castlevania 2: The Lecarde Chronicles
Eternal Daughter ~ REternal Daughter
Haunted Castle II
HooperVania
Knight of Exile
Maria Renard's Revenge
MetroGalactica
Power, The
Silver Night's Crusaders
XGA

Platformer - Puzzle
Boondog
Clyde's Adventure
Clyde's Revenge
Happyland Adventures
Janitor Dan the Spaceman
Lao's Quest
Lost Vikings, The
Mick
Quadrax
Sint Nicolaas
Toffifee Fantasy Forest
Top Hat Willy
Trilby: The Art of Theft

Platformer - Shooter
Acter World
Alien Carnage
Arctic Adventure
Beez
Bio Menace
Captain Binary
Cool Cat
Dark Ages
Electro Man
Heros I: The Sanguine Seven
Jack Flash [download]
Maldita Castilla
Noitu Love & The Army of Grinning Darns
Pekka Kana 2
Pharaoh's Tomb
Putty Squad
Santaman
Special Agent
T2002
Tailchaser
Tom & Jerry
Tricky Quicky Games
Troy

Platformer - Other
Bonesaw: The Game

Puzzle - Bust-A-Move / Puzzle Bobble
Ball Blaster
Bubble Puzzle
Scrambled Eggs

Puzzle - Crillion
Crillion 97
Frozen Fruits
Frozen Fruits 2
HitBlock / HitBlock Deluxe
Summer Bound

Puzzle - Boulder Dash
Adventures of Robbo ~ GNURobbo
Cave Chaos
Cave Chaos 2
Digger (Harald Winkler)
Dot Valley
Fatal Dash
HamsterJam [download]
Heartlight PC
New Dash Dimension, The
Rock 'n' Spin
RockRush
RoX
StoneAge 1
Supaplex ~ OpenSupaplex, Supaplex Online
TunnelMan, The

Puzzle - Falling block
Blockout
Bref 2.0
Columns (Brian Boese)
FitUp!
Super ACiD Block Attack
Tetris Pro (Craig Rothwell)
Tetrix
Tristix

Puzzle - Lemmings-like
Ducks
Hamsters

Puzzle - Maze
General Budda's Labyrinth
Get Lost!

Puzzle - Rolling ball
Ballgame 2
Ball Blazing Fantasy

Puzzle - Soko-Ban
Block-O-Mania
BOB and His Amazing Journey Home
Capt'n Squiddy's Bootleg Push-Push
Clone
Continuing Adventures of Cyberbox, The
Cyberbox
Pufiban!
Puzzle Pits, The

Puzzle - Tile matching
Boppin'
Japure
Marbleicious

Puzzle - Other
Bombzuka
Bricks
Fluffy Deluxe
Fool's Errand, The
GATE
Laser Tank
MonoKrome
Taking Care of Business
xyWords

Role-Playing - Dungeon crawler / Roguelike
ADOM
Beneath Apple Manor
Castle of the Winds
DND
Dungeons of the Necromancer's Domain
ELONA - Eternal League of Nefia
Lords of Doom
MageGuild
Ragnarok
Rogue's Quest
o additional scenarios
Telengard ~ Telengard Remake
UnReal World

Role-Playing - First-Person
Berserker Quest VI
Elder Scrolls, The: Arena
Elder Scrolls, The: Daggerfall ~ Daggerfall Unity

Crawler
Akalabeth: World of Doom
Daymare 1
Daymare 2
Escape from Ragor
Megrim's Rache

Blobber
Bard's Lore, The
City Beneath the Surface
Darkside of the Sun
Gates of Integrity
Gene Splicing
Tower of Fortune

Role-Playing - Hack and slash
Fire & Dragons [download]
Gates of Destiny [download]
ShadowFlare: Episode One [download]

Role-Playing - jRPG
A Blurred Line
Ahriman's Prophecy
DarkPhear
Fenix Blade
Warrior Dragon

Role-Playing - Ultima style
Dragon Engine
Exile: Escape from the Pit (use winevdm)
Exile II: Crystal Souls (use winevdm)
Exile III: Ruined World (use winevdm)
Helherron
Joyous Rebel
Kingdom of Syree, The
Kingdom of Syree II, The: Black Magic
Madman
Nahlakh
Realmz [reg. codes]
Ultizurk 3
Wraith

Role-Playing - Other
Aleshar: The World of Ice [download]
Eschalon: Book I
Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
Perihelion
Provinces of Midland, The - Argskin
RuneSword

Shooter - First-Person
8bit Killer
Alien Cabal [download]
Avert Fate
Beyond Life
Bitsturbed
Chemical Warfare
Derelict
Esc4pe, The
Gore: Ultimate Soldier [download] [download 2]
Gun Godz
Hades 2 [download]
Industrial Killers
Invention RPG
Journey, The
Paranoia 2: Savior
Pencil Whipped
Purple Complex
Red Alert: A Path Beyond
Renegade X: Black Dawn
Soldier of Empire
Soldner: Secret Wars
TECNO - The Base [download]
Tiberian Sun Reborn
Trench Warfare
Tribes series
Wolfram
Wolfschanze 1944

Shooter - Fixed/wraparound screen
Submarine Fury

Asteroids
AstroFire
Disasteroids 3D
Roxx

Buster Bros / Pang
Bubble Jeopardy
PANGG!

Centipede
Crawly-Pede
Megapede'95

Choplifter
Airlift Rescue

Defender
Abductor
Glook

Jetpac
Jetman [download]
Jetpak [download]

Paratrooper
Ack-Ack Attack
Paratrooper II

Robotron
Llamatron
Robotica

Snake / Nibbles
Snake (Abhijeet Meshram)
Snake (Ilija Mihajlov)
Zonker

Space Invaders / Galaga
Cash Invaders
Cheesy Invaders
Cosmic Ambush
Galacta: The Battle for Saturn
Galactix
Galaxi
Gargoyle Medieval Pack
Kiloblaster
Space Crusaders
Spaced-Out Invaders

Shooter - Isometric
Assault Trooper
Outbound
Theseus - Return of the Hero

Shooter - Side-scrolling
Attack of the Mutant Camels (John M. Dow)
Hydorah
Katakis
Liero
MoleZ
Operation Spacehog
Operation Vulture III: Cyber Chopper
Operation Vulture IV: Escape from Station 7
ProtoType
R-Type
STARCOM
Revenge of the Mutant Camels
SideLine
Stargunner
TerraFire
Tiger's Bane

Shooter - Third-Person
G-Sector
Frenetic
Frenetic Plus
Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe
Noxious
Path of Shadows
Warscape Alpha

Shooter - Top-down
Alien Assault II
Alien Breed: Obliteration
Alien Breed Remake (Rob Farley) [download]
Bert Higgins: The Man from H.E.L.L.
Dungeons of Grimlor, The
Dungeons of Grimlor II, The: The Lich
Enemy Lines
Factor X
Operation Carnage
Tapan Kaikki [download]
Tapan Kaikki Bloodshed
Traffic Department 2192
Transcendence
Ultimate Tapan Kaikki, The

Shooter - Vertical scrolling
Cosmo Dragon
Firecrow
Invasion Alien
Island Hopper
Major Stryker
Overkill
Tyrian ~ OpenTyrian
Tyrian 2000 ~ OpenTyrian2000
Vanguard Ace: Vertical Madness
Xenon 2000
XOP Ultra
XOP Black Ultra

Simulation - Business
Der Planer
TVTower

Simulation - Flight
Harrier Strike
Jaguar GR1: Strike Force Delta Zulu
Spanish Civil War Aircrafts
SVGA Air Warrior
Tornado Squadron
Wings of Thunder

Simulation - Mecha
EarthSiege 2 [download]
Giants of Steel [download]
Metaltech: EarthSiege [download]

Simulation - Rail
Mechanik [alternate page]
RAILSIM

Simulation - Space
BACKLASH: A Turret Gunner Simulation
Babylon 5: I've Found Her - Danger & Opportunity
Battlecruiser 3000 A.D.
Battlecruiser 3000 A.D. v2.09
LineWars II
Orbiter
RiftSpace [download]
Star Wraith 2 [download]
Star Wraith 3: Shadows of Orion [download]
Star Wraith IV: Reviction [download]
Universal Combat Free Full Singleplayer

Sports - Football / Soccer
Football Glory

Sports - Racing
2FAST4YOU / BiFi Rennen
Billabong Racers
Carser
Death Rally
FFX Runner HD
Mister Bike
Overheat
RCross
RetroFuel
RunOut
SkyRoads
Street Rod
Victory Road

Strategy - City-Building
City of Rauma
I, Mayor
Kulavanem

Strategy - Real-Time
Clonk
Command & Conquer: Dawn of Tomorrow
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Devolution - Global Warming
Enemy Nations
Fertile Crescent, The
House Globe
Loria
Priority: Survive
R.A.D. - Rapid Area Deployment
Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War
S.W.I.N.E.
StarCraft: Brood War
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Subpar Commander
Trash
Twisted Insurrection

Strategy - Real-Time Tactics
Battleships Forever
Ground Control
MechCommander Gold

Strategy - Turn-based
1821: The Struggle for Freedom
Barren Planet
Battlelords
Conquest of Elysium II
Knights of War
Palm Kingdoms 2 Deluxe
King Arthur's KORT [download]
Lost Castle, The
War of the Solstice, The
Star Lords (Master of Orion prototype)
Stellar Conquest III
War of the Atomic Gods
Wargame Project

Strategy - Turn-based Tactics
Chaos Reborn
Crazy Cows

Strategy - Wargame
1848 / For Liberty!
Conquests (Crusade prototype)
EGA Civil War Battleset
Pacific War: Matrix Edition [alternate version]
Steel Panthers: World at War
Titans of Steel: Warring Suns [download]
War Engine, The [download]
War in Russia: Matrix Edition [alternate version]
Wars of Napoleon
winSPMBT
winSPWW2
World War II in Western Europe

Traditional - Boardgame
Chinese Checkers
Ishido
Redhook's Revenge
Viking Siege
Wari - The Ancient Game of Africa

Traditional - Chess
Nero 5
Psion Chess
Rebel Decade 3.0
Siberian Chess

Traditional - Mah Jongg
Mah Jongg -8514-
Mah Jongg -V-G-A-

Traditional - Solitaire
Infinite Patience
Klondike Gold
Kosynka

Traditional - Other
Rubik's Cube

[MrFlibble]

Just found this really huge blog dedicated to liberated games:
http://juegosliberados.blogspot.com/

It's in Spanish, but everything is pretty self-explanatory. The blog seems to feature quite a few really obscure games too. Here's some of the interesting games from the database that caught my attention:

• Tecno - The Base - a futuristic FPS made in the early 2000s style, although apparently it was released much later than that.
• PaybackTime 2 - an obvious X-COM clone, which was distributed as shareware in the nineties (here's their home page from back then), released for free in 2011.
• Cosmos Quest series, obviously inspired by Sierra's Space Quest games.
• StarFight series shmups.
• A huge number of games produced by the German developer Motelsoft, ranging from Amiga and DOS adventure and RPG games to Windows FPS titles.

[Cire]

That Spanish blog was a great find indeed. Sadly, some of the download links are broken. I have been able to find most of them though, thanks to mirrors and The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A few of them I haven't been able to find anywhere. From what I remember, those include:
-Wild Metal Country
-Chris Unarmed
-Lucid
-Baseball Mogul 2009
-Sticky Wicket
-Smiley Fruit Machine 2008
-World Cup Cricket
-Psychodelic
If anyone know of any working links for them, I would be interested.

[MrFlibble]

-Grand Theft Auto 2
-Grand Theft Auto

Shouldn't those be available from the official website?

[Cire]

I can only seem to find the demos at the official website?

[Hallfiry]

CHIP still has them:

http://www.chip.de/downloads/Grand-Thef ... 07686.html
http://www.chip.de/downloads/Grand-Thef ... 15291.html

[Cire]

Thanks!

[blinkingboythe]

Interesting note: Amulets and Armor uses the Doom wad format for the level data, so it shouldn't
be a huge step creating a level editor for it.

[blinkingboythe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... s_freeware

They list BC racers as one of the liberated games but I'd like to
confirm this.

[MrFlibble]

Released as freeware in 1995? That sounds very suspicious, especially since there has been a 1996 commercial PC release in the UK, according to MobyGames.

The archived copies of Core Design's website doesn't seem to contain any information on the freeware release of the game.

It is very probable that due to some misunderstanding this false information was published on some "freeware"/shovelware website and then widely repeated by other, similarly careless sources.

There could have been some limited promotional distribution (like with Sierra's Red Baron), but it's very unlikely this would happen the same year as the game was released.

[Litude]

Regarding GTA and the other liberated Rockstar games, IIRC the license states that they may only be distributed through http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/ but since they are currently unavailable from there I don't really know if they can be called liberated at this state.

As for BC Racers; from what I've gathered it seems that the PC release was freeware from the get go. I have a bunch of old shareware discs from a Finnish company and the BC Racers disk is the full version of the game. As for there being a commercial release, you have to remember that even shareware games were sold in boxes back in the day.

[MrFlibble]

As for BC Racers; from what I've gathered it seems that the PC release was freeware from the get go. I have a bunch of old shareware discs from a Finnish company and the BC Racers disk is the full version of the game. As for there being a commercial release, you have to remember that even shareware games were sold in boxes back in the day.

Interesting, thanks for providing this valuable info!

Here's another recently liberated game, and a quite obscure one:

Fighting

• Battle of the Eras

[MrFlibble]

Just found what seems to be the GTA1 distributive here.

[MrFlibble]

Added SideLine to the list.

[Cire]

I'm wondering if there is any chance of also getting A.D. Cop (made by the same Company as SideLine) liberated, or is the copyright to it held by someone else?