Free Online Games
by Britney MayCom
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If you haven't found enough ways to social network, Skype, blog or Plurk your time away online, here is the update on phenomenal online games that are free to play. This is a big update for online gaming and the game model. In a short generation, we've gone from uninspired two dimensional text games, to fully three dimensional, massively multiplayer, online worlds...at no direct cost to the gamer. Even relatively obscure games like shogi, contract bridge, backgammon, whist, chess variants and other niche games have found large followings in the Web community.

We've collected massively multiplayer, first person shooter computer games, flash, strategy and card games so that our readers can find the right free game for their tastes. There are more gamers online than ever, with the term "game" being searched more than 40 million times a month, in one form or another. We believe that massively multiplayer games like Mabinogi and social card games like Contract Bridge have yet to reach their critical mass for the online community.

Mabinogi

This painted Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) has garnished the attention of a broad base on Internet quest seekers. The interface and game engines are similar to what one might find in World of Warcraft (WOW), Everquest or Dark Ages of Camelot (DAOC). The game is developed by South Korean game company Nexon, devCAT studio. Within the game you may work towards becoming a Paladin or Dark Knight, create food, beverages, clothing, weapons, armor and more. You may take on part time jobs, join a guild, or complete quests rescuing villagers from dungeons. The advanced graphic, game play engine and battle system truly impressed our play testers.

While the game is free to download and try, there are many advantages to purchase game credits, like extra quests, pets, unique weapons, houses, shops, further tech support and many additional features. Nexon calls this new game model a Hybrid Value Added Services Model.

Addicting Games

One of our play testers favorites is Flash game Oligarchy at addictinggames.com, where you bribe officials, destroy wildlife and displace locals in the quest for an oil monopoly. There are no electric compact cars, wind turbines or clean coal plants in this game, just raw crude.

Poker

With questionable business and programming practices by large online poker companies, it may be best to stay away from real money play until the industry has mellowed, but as far as play money goes there are plenty of fine options to check, bet or raise. Bodog, Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker are behemoths in the online gambling world. Our play testers prefer Bodog poker for real money play, as they are located in Great Britain and are unaffected by domestic gambling restrictions. For play money our play testers prefer Full Tilt Poker with their snazzy interface and many game options.

Bridge

The old game of contract bridge, and possibly duplicate bridge, is staging a revival in the West as a younger crowd of "lifemasters" are entering the game. Players can find a game to meet their skill level at any hour on Yahoo Games. A note to new players, our play testers recommend practicing the basics of hand play before delving into the complications of the bidding process. Internet bridge companies are quickly closing the gap to provide play for those newcomers to the game. I expect to see a rating system soon put into place for online bridge similar to the ELO system used in chess. This is truly a game for the 21st century even though it has been around for a long time, as the game combines strategy, timing, social cohesion, competition and mathematical elements to create a complicated competition of cooperation, bidding systems and skill.

Combat Arms

Another innovation from Nexon, devCAT studio brings a no-cost first person shooter to the FPS market. You may customize your character and weapons with purchased upgrades. The game suffers from major deficiencies compared to industry leading rivals, Half-Life Counter Strike, Quake, Doom and others. But, for the price it's worth a try if shoot em up games are your cup of tea.

Chess

The game of kings is seeing a revival as new Bilbao rules, computer analysis and greater exposure are leading the game into a new era of Grandmaster class world competition. The recent World Chess Championship and Computer Chess Championship are evidence of the popularity of this timeless game. Chess may be played on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) or again Yahoo Games. Google even has a chess game integrated into their site, and Microsoft has bundled Chess Titans software with their recent Vista operating system (OS).