Game for Free: The Best Spots to Play Without Paying 

The free-to-play (F2P) game market is booming. 

Its current value? According to Statista, over $110 billion. 

This shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. 

Since 2020, gamers have been ditching premium titles for free-to-play games instead. 

You can’t blame them, either, especially now that most AAA games retail at $70 or higher. Not to mention, the global economy is still struggling, so people are much less willing to spend money on games than they used to be. Nintendo’s recent Switch 2 announcement caused a meltdown on social media when people realized it will hit the market at $499.99 — and there’s now a global movement to try and get them to lower the price. 

If anything sums up the state of modern gaming, it’s that. 

What’s for certain moving forward is that more people than ever are going to be playing free games. The great thing about this is that it’s never been easier to access them, whether you’re playing on PC, mobile, or even console. And to get you on the right track, this guide is going to give a breakdown of the best spots to play games for free without spending a penny. Best of all, there are no hidden costs or subscription fees that try to catch you out. 

Let’s take a closer look. 

Where to Play Games for Free: Player’s Guide

Sweepstakes Casinos 

Sweepstakes casinos are a brand-new type of casino site where all of the games are free-to-play. Yep, casinos with free games: that’s a bizarre concept, isn’t it? It’s a very real thing, though, which is why the likes of Chumba Casino, Stake.us, and WOW Vegas have all attracted millions of players. And once you start playing the free games on SweepsKings, it’s possible to collect Sweeps Coins and eventually redeem them for real-life prizes. These prizes usually include cash transfers, gift cards, and more, so you’ll definitely want to hit up the slot machines and table games if that sounds interesting to you. 

Browser-Based Game Sites

Browser games are still popular. There’s plenty of free-to-play ones to pick from, too, including Forge of Empires, Krunker, and even classics like Old School Runescape. As long as you have a PC or tablet, you’re good to go. Plus, you can take it to the next level by using a gaming browser, such as Opera GX. This way, you can use built-in gaming tools like Discord integration, as well as super handy features like ad-blockers to stop advertisements from popping up whenever you’re mid-game. 

The Android and Apple App Stores

There are 3.3 billion Android users and more than 1.3 billion iPhone users. The chances are, you’re one of them. So, the next time you feel like playing games for free online, all you need to do is open the app store and head to the ‘Free Games’ section. Here, you’ll find popular titles like Roblox, Subway Surfers, and the all-time classic 8 Ball Pool, all of which are available to download for free. Just make sure you have enough storage on your device before you hit the install button (and add a bluetooth gaming controller to the back of your mobile if you want it to feel more console-like). 

Epic Games Store

The Epic Games Store exploded when it first hit the internet back in 2018. Over half a decade later and there’s a strong case to be made that Epic Games is one of the top F2P companies out there, having released Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys, and several other genre–defining titles. If you want a good free-to-play game, the Epic Games Store is the place to go: that’s for sure. It’s easily accessible via PC or Mac and all you need to do is download the “Launcher”. Once you’ve done this, all of Epic Games’ F2P games are available for you to pick from and you don’t have to spend a penny for the privilege. That in itself gets a big thumbs up from us. 

Online Emulators

Are you a fan of old-school ‘90s and early 2000s games? You might want to consider downloading an emulator to your PC or mobile. Essentially, what this will allow you to do is play all of the classic games from years gone by. We’re talking all the old GBA and console classics, most of which can be downloaded and played via an emulator for free. As a general example, one of the most frequently played emulated games is Super Mario World, so that’s a great game to start with. But whichever game you’re thinking of, simply search on Google to see if it’s available in an emulator package and you’ll be able to use it — simple. 

The PlayStation Store

Lastly, there’s the PlayStation Store (PS4, PS5). Inside the PlayStation Store, it’s no secret that a lot of today’s games are expensive and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 is rumoured to be hitting the market at $100 dollars (yikes). However, there’s good news: PlayStation still lets you download plenty of F2P games if that’s your preference. Some of the big-hitters include Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2, with all three of these games having huge player bases. But we recommend checking out the PlayStation Store for yourself to see which F2P titles appeal to you the most, as there’s a fair few of them you can download. 

How Do Free Games Make Money? 

A lot of people get confused by free games and automatically assume there’s some type of catch involved with them. In most cases, though, there is no catch. This is because these games typically come with in-game ads, microtransactions, or a combination of both. 

At the moment, AI-powered in-game ads are extremely common, especially on mobile. For example, in between the action, you might have to watch a 10-second ad before you can continue playing. This then allows the developers to make a profit while still providing you with the game for free. 

At the same time, you’ve probably noticed that almost every game released today comes with a purchasable battle pass or microtransactions. With the microtransactions, these are one-time payments you can make for cosmetics, loot boxes, and other similar things. Most of the time, because people have downloaded or accessed the game for free to begin with, they have no issue spending money on microtransactions, which (again) allows companies to make money. 

Don’t be put off by this if you’re the type of gamer who doesn’t want to spend a penny. In-game ads are easy to skip over and microtransactions are all optional, so you don’t have to pay for anything if you don’t want to. Instead, you can kick back, relax, and enjoy the free-to-play action as it was intended — no matter which platform you’re on. 

Final Thoughts

From online sweepstakes casinos to the PlayStation Store, we’ve given you an easy breakdown of the best places where you can play games for free. No catch, no secret payments. The world is quite an expensive place these days, but the good news is that gaming for free is still a genuine option, so we recommend giving all of these suggested spots a try.