The free-to-play genre of video games has done nothing but continue to grow in 2020. With that, just as it has done over the past several years, the free-to-play space of video games has succeeded in maintaining its massive role in gaming and introduced a better variety of types of experiences then one who’s looking into the genre from the outside might expect. While not every great free to play game of this year actually came out this year, many of them have, and the ones that haven’t have undergone enough community and developer support to justify their relevance and being mentioned in our list of the best free to play games of 2020. Free to play games have lots of different sorts of experiences within it, and this list also aims to reflect that. With that, here is our list of the 10 best free games of 2020 that, if you haven’t tried yet, perhaps you should consider doing so.
Valorant
Out of all of the free to play hero shooters that seemed a little more than somewhat inspired by Overwatch, Valorant is definitely one of the best. It’s gotten lots of good reviews and its community seems to be doing nothing but growing since its launch back in June. Valorant doesn’t reinvent the wheel with its genre but it does do enough to stand out and of course, being free to play, what do you have to lose from giving it a shot?
Bless Unleashed
There is no shortage of free to play online MMORPGs, but they are not all created equal and Bless Unleashed is definitely one of the best from this year if not one of the best from the past several years. It’s got a slower more deliberate action style than a lot of other games in the genre but that also serves to make it stand apart on top of its excellent looking graphics and lush worlds that many games of this type tend to lack for whatever reason. It’s not perfect, and could definitely benefit from a little bit of tweaking, but as a free to play experience it’s right up there with the best of the year.
Surviv.io – 2D Battle Royale
As developers continue to scramble for new ways to cash in on the Battle Royale format, Survive.io has certainly found its own version with an incredibly simplistic 2D look that definitely has its own appeal although might feel a bit shallow to some. It does kind of look a little bit like an old Flash game from 2001, but it’s also got a Hotline Miami sort of appeal as well that has gotten its hooks into many players early on and shows some promise for the future.
Spellbreak
Spellbreak is yet another game that seeks to cash in on the Battle Royale craze with its own version of it. Although unlike most Battle Royale games that rely on guns and hand-to-hand combat Spellbreak is a little bit more of a fantasy take with spells and cooldown timers. It’s colorful, almost anime-like art style should be enough to catch your interest but it’s the skill-based magical combats that will keep you playing if and when it’s able to get its hooks into you.
Hyper Scape
Hyper Scape is something a little different in the free-to-play world that has been able to cross the bridge between people who don’t normally mess with free to play games and the people who do. It’s a frantic, hyperactive first person shooter, that relies heavily on insane jumping physics and incredibly fast movement that you normally only see in games like this when somebody is exploiting a game’s bugs to do a speed run. Because of its frantic style Hyper Scape doesn’t really have a lot of room for a careful exploration and taking in very much atmosphere, but in exchange it’s a game that rarely lets up and can at the very least kill a few hours before you know it.
Remnants
Another free to play first-person shooter that has insane physics is Remnants, although unlike Hyper Scape, this is all about slowing down and exploring and taking in the world to better understand it. A little bit of combats a little bit of exploration a little bit of puzzle-solving, and a little bit of platforming all add up to this atmospheric shooter that stands out quite a bit more than it might appear at first.
Space Commander: War and Trade
The world needs more spaceship shooting simulation games like this one. Given that Space Commander is a pretty good-looking game with a hefty trading economy and reasonably satisfying combat, you might be surprised to realize that it’s free to play. The game so far has enjoyed fairly good reviews on Steam and it’s looking like a future could be bright for this one. If it looks like something that might appeal to you, odds are, it is, and you of course have nothing to lose by giving it a chance.
Rocket League
Rocket League has been around for a while, but it was made for you to play and that was a very logical step for the game to maintain its relevance and see another nice new wave of players. Unless you lived under a rock for the past six or seven years, you probably don’t need much of an introduction to Rocket League. It’s just one of the most fun things to come out of this generation and the fact that it’s free-to-play means everyone can give it a shot.
Destiny 2: New Light
Speaking of developers who made their game free to play, Destiny 2 is perhaps one of the best examples of what can happen when the developer is extremely passionate about their game and is willing to overhaul it over time to continue to make it into something special. While Destiny 2: New Light might not have totally rescued the reputation that the first game gave the franchise, it certainly goes a long way towards it, and it does have enough going for it to keep the series going well after 2021. Because of meaty expansions like Beyond Light, Destiny fans and newcomers alike all have plenty of reason to play Destiny 2 in 2021 and well beyond.
Genshin Impact
Here’s one that is very likely to go the distance as a classic free to play game for many years to come. Genshin Impact is one part action RPG, one part open-world exploration game, one part mobile game, and a little bit of Breath of the Wild thrown in for good measure. It takes place in its own fictional world and has a setting all its own, despite borrowing some ideas from other things, (which all games do). It’s a game that has been crossing that bridge between fans of deep RPGs and fans of simple, pick-up-and-play games in a way that few games seem to be able to do, much less free to play ones. Managing your elemental, stamina-based abilities while exploring every nook and cranny of the world is the name of the game here, and given that the game is so well put together, and provides a good sense of progression without any extra financial investment, its likely it will continue to prevail as one of the best free to play experiences out there.
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