Free to Play, isn’t that just a fantastic phrase? Since a few years there has been a huge boost in the number of F2P games on the market, some bad but luckily there are enough that are pretty fun! To save you the effort of digging through all these games yourself and finding the gems, here are 6 online free to play games that you should definitely give a try.
Path of Exile
Did you love Diablo I and II, but just couldn’t get yourself to enjoy Diablo III? If this is the case, you might want to give Path of Exile a try (you can also give it a try if you did like Diablo III of course). If you are familiar with Path of Exile, you know that the game has a lot of influences from the Diablo series: it is basically the same type of game. Areas are randomly generated, making sure that you don’t come across the same area twice. The game has a variety of classes, each with different skillsets and abilities. So if you are up for an old-school looting game, try it out.
Is Path of Exile pay-to-win? No, paying with real currencies doesn’t give you any advantages in the game. However, you can still buy cosmetic changes and such with real currencies if you feel like it and if you want to support the game developers.
Dota 2 & League of Legends
Both of these games are very similar, and there is quite a chance that you already know about these games. Both games are MOBA’s, what stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. The games places you in a map where there are 2 battling teams that both consist of five players. Every player controls a certain Hero character that has different abilities and the possibility to buy items and gain levels during the match. The goal of the games is to destroy the opponent team’s base. But to get that far, you will first have to destroy enemy towers that are powerful and block your way. This is where your minions come in: they take the damage, while you deal the damage. Up for a highly competitive game? In that case pick either Dota 2 or League of Legends.
Are these games pay-to-win: Everything in the games that is necessary to beat your opponents is purchasable with in-game currency, which you can obtain by playing the game. You can of course skip this and just pay for a nice hero if you can’t wait at all, but if you have some patience you will be able to unlock what your heart desires - it might just take a little longer.
Hearthstone
Remember the good ol’ days, when everyone was collecting cards and you were trying to tell your younger neighbour kid how awesome that Rattata card was? You can get those times back (minus the neighbour kid) if you try out Blizzard’s new card game Heartstone. The game is fairly easy to get into, as you will have to complete 7 tutorial levels which explain the basics of the game. The game has quick matches that last between 5 or 10 minutes most of the times, which makes it a great game to play if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands.
Is Hearthstone pay-to-win? In some way, it is yes. With real currency you can buy booster packs which contain cards, but you can also buy these booster packs for gold that you slowly earn in the game. Buying the booster packs with real money surely makes it a lot easier to have a chance on getting decent cards as you can buy a lot of packs which equals more chance on receiving a nice card.
In some way it is, yes. You can buy booster packs with real money, and it takes a lot longer to obtain these booster packs by just using in-game gold. As the game heavily relies on the cards, it is easier to ‘win’ good cards if you buy a lot of booster pack with real money.
RuneScape
There is quite a chance that you are familiar with RuneScape, but there is a chance that you have literally no idea what it is. RuneScape is a browser-based MMO game that is made with Java. It isn't the most beautiful game out there, but that shouldn't run the fun for most people. Unlike most MMO's out there, you won't have to choose a class in the game. In total the game has 26 different different skills, and you can level all of them to the maximum level. Most of the skills speak for themselves, such as Attack, Strength and Herblore.
The economy in the game is also very important, as you can literally buy any piece of equipment you want if you have the right amount of gold. This doesn’t mean it is easy to get rich though, you can either gather items yourself and sell them; or be a smart merchant and get rich by merchanting.
Is RuneScape pay-to-win? No, but once you become a member you will have access to all 26 skills and you will be able to travel to areas that are locked for non-members. So becoming a member definitely comes with benefits, but you won’t be able to use any of these benefits in non-member worlds. Sounds pretty fair!
Blacklight: Retribution
Do you love shooters, customizing your loadout and you are craving for a fast-paced game? If you answered yes to all these questions, Blacklight: Retribution might be the thing you are looking for. The game allows you to assemble your own weapons and this is a very important aspect of the game as it has a lot of customization options. When you are putting your weapon or outfit together, the game gives you very exact numbers of what each upgrade of your weapon.
The game is, as I stated earlier, a pretty fast paced game: you can compare the speed to a game such as Call of Duty. However, this isn’t your average shooter. Just as in the recently released Titanfall game, you are able to ‘summon’ huge mechanical robots and you are able to climb inside of these powerful beasts. You also have the ability to look through walls for a short amount of time, which forces you to play different than you would play in your average FPS.
Is Blacklight: Retribution pay-to-win? You can definitely make it easier to obtain weapons and armour if you use real currency, but you can still devastate your opponents without paying a dime. I’ve seen a lot of players that haven’t spend a single cent on the game, and still manage to always end in the top 3 of a match. Blacklight requires skill and if you don’t put any effort into it, yet you buy the best weapons with real money, you will still fail at the game. In my eyes, it definitely isn’t pay-to-win as you can obtain everything without opening your wallet.
