Looking for a roundup of the best free GOG games? There’s a reason GOG was formerly known as Good Old Games, and that legacy is alive and well when you peer through the store’s pre-2000s catalogue, with arcade gems, sequels you forgot about, and everything in-between represented with gorgeous box art.
Look a little deeper into the vast number of games on offer, and you’ll find that some are free GOG games. While you won’t find many of the best MMOs for free on GOG, its collection of free single-player games should appeal to anyone looking to give their wallet some rest.
Here are the best free GOG games:
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
If you’re after a quick, accessible card game that doesn’t require much monetary investment, Gwent is one of the best deck builders on the market. There’s plenty of rich lore to hoover up if you’re already a fan of the Witcher games, and rounds are mercifully short, so you don’t have to commit half an hour at a time. It’s also available on mobile if you can’t always be near your PC.
The Elder Scrolls 2: DaggerFall (Unity GOG Cut)
Despite its many flaws, Daggerfall is the game that put Bethesda on the path of becoming the studio behind some of the most revered and renowned open-world RPG games of all time. Its original form was packed with bugs and frustrating game design choices, but modders and community members have spent years porting the whole game over to Unity and addressing those issues. The result? An icon of RPG gaming made not just playable again but enjoyable for new generations.
Beneath a Steel Sky
Beneath a Steel Sky boasts one of the most gripping and mature science fiction narratives in gaming history. That it comes in the form of a point-and-click adventure game that never strays too close to the absurd with its logic puzzles only broadens its appeal. Equal parts Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We and Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Beneath a Steel Sky’s world is still a joy to explore over 25 years after its initial release.
Tyrian 2000
Not many will recognise this vertical shooter, but it’s one of the best arcade space games available on PC during the mid-1990s. The 2000 re-release improves on the original with a fifth episode and several new ships. Still, the rich variety of worlds, distinct enemy ship types, and deep level of customisation all give the shooter its core appeal.
Stargunner
There are plenty of sci-fi scrolling shooters from the ’90s, and while Stargunner may not be the best or most popular, it’s certainly up there in the rankings. Much like Tyrian 2000 above, Stargunner remains popular because it offers so much more than most competitors – meaningful differences across its roster of over 70 enemy ships, three genuinely beautiful terrain types to battle across, and a nuanced ship upgrade economy that requires strategic thinking. Stargunner doesn’t do anything particularly new compared to other scrolling shooters, but it does the basics extremely well.
Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure
A spinoff from a larger title, Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure is a fresh narrative that serves as either more content for fans of the throwback adventure game or a sample of what’s to come for new players. There’s plenty more to uncover as you control Delores, who returns to Thimbleweed Park a year after the main game’s events, as she discovers that a lot has changed in the sleepy town.
Cayne
Cayne is a blood-soaked sci-fi adventure game where you play as Hadley, a woman who is nine months pregnant, as she wakes up in a mysterious facility with no recollection of how she got there and no clear path out. While the bigger, more fleshed-out counterpart, Stasis, is also worth your time – it’s not free. This intense, atmospheric side game gives you a short taste of Stasis’ world.
Shadow Warrior Classic Complete
Shadow Warrior Classic Complete is not among the most celebrated classic FPS games, which is hardly surprising, as it tries to go toe to toe with Duke Nukem for gross-out insensitivity. However, its gunplay still stands the test of time. Charging through levels with a katana and a rattling Uzi still feels great, and its legacy as one of the more challenging FPS games from the ’90s means you’ll likely get a lot of hours out of this freebie.
Most free GOG games not listed here are demos and prologues, so if you run out of options you’ve not tried here, we also have a selection of the best PC games of the year so far. If you want something to try before you spend money, our list of the best free PC games ensures every gamer has a choice they can be happy with.