There’s a cubic inch of grey mush in our brains which insists that things you don’t pay for, like air, your neighbor’s WiFi and your housemate’s toothpaste, are worthless. Perhaps it’s a healthy bit of self-delusion to believe that something you’ve shelled out money for is better than it actually is, as the alternative is to live every day crushed under an elephant of regret. But throw away the shackles of monetary convention and you open the doors to what we like to call Freeware Country. From one-off indie ventures to professionally made platformers, developers of free games are so unshackled by commercialism that their creativity runs rampant. If it’s free, and it’s ace, it’s most definitely here. Put your wallet away dear, this one’s on us.

50) 5 Days a Stranger

Click here to play it now

A free point-and-click by Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw. Built using the Adventure Game Studio, 5 Days also comes in a premium version costing $5 that has a developer’s commentary. If you’re anything like us, it’ll make you want to make your own adventure. Before realizing it’d probably be rubbish.

49) Orbiter

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The passion of space nerds is a powerful thing, enough to drive them to create freeware space simulator Orbiter. The space being simulated here isn’t your typical Star Wars stuff though. It’s serious - realistic shuttle launches and docking procedures, plus elliptic projections and trajectories. Terrifying, but deeply satisfying.

48) Cottage of Doom

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The game that claims to “accurately simulate the reality of being trapped in a cottage and having to hammer planks to the doors and windows to keep the zombies from coming in”. You’ve got a shotgun in case they do, though, so prepare to score some point-multiplying “zombos” when the walking dead inevitably break in...

47) Dismount

Click here to play Porrasturvat- Stair Dismount now

Click here to play Rekkaturvat - Truck Dismount now

Excellent rag doll nonsense. In the Porrasturvat version you fall down stairs, scoring the most points for violent trauma to the head and neck of your hapless crash test dummy. In Rekkaturvat, a truck helps you to mutilate your man. These games are essentially construction kits for creative sociopaths.

46) Gambare Natsuki-San

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A bizarre platforming fruit-fest that has you jumping around, fixing yourself to walls with a gigantic spring-loaded claw that you can precisely position to help you reach the next peak. The gaudy anime visuals don’t manage to ruin the fun, though, and the random flashes of incomprehensible Japanese always manage to make us laugh.