Free Games!

Don't you just love that word... Free. Ahh, the joy of not having to fork out cash for something... Linux has been capitalizing on this idea for a while now. No, I'm not going to go evangelizing an operating system. We're here to have fun.

There are a few ways of getting free games: Demos, getting into betas, and getting actual, free games.

1. Demos

Demos (in case, for some reason, you're not familiar with the term) are "demonstration" versions of full games (thus the name.) They fall into a few categories - noninteractive demos, limited (or even 'beta') demos, and mini-games. We'll go into these in a moment, but first...

Why bother with demos? I know, I know - they take forever to download these days. And there is some risk - some publishers put out late beta (testing) code as a "demo" to update later, others don't put demos out until after - sometimes months after - the game is released. But there's good reasons for tackling demos - at least, the ones you can play (which are most of them.)

First - they're free. No publisher in their right mind is going to charge you for a demo. It's a sales tool. And even the larger ones are often distributed on magazine CDs or other CDs the publisher will send out - sometimes even with another full game.

Second - they can save you money. That's a rarity - something free that actually can save you money. How? Well, when would you rather find out you didn't like a game, or it couldn't run on your system - before or after you fork out $40-$60 for a game? Of course, this is a double-edged sword. I was sure I'd never bother with Command and Conquer, or Myth, before I played the demos. Afterward, I've gotten to be a fan of both series. Even Myth III, which was made by a different developer, was on my "ignore" list until I downloaded the demo.

Limited demos vs mini-games -->