Free-to-play games get a bad rap as forcing gamers to spend money on a game they paid nothing for. Also, for when children spend thousands of dollars on stupid things. There are plenty of games that are free and make you want to give the developer money. Here are five of them.
"Space Team"
Set the capacitive Omegasphere to 2. Set the Emergency Whittler to jiggle.
If you've ever yelled those or any number of other ridiculous phrases at a team mate in the co-operative space game “Space Team” you'll know why this one is at the top of the list. Best played with four players, each person gets a set of instructions for their team mate that consists of nonsense technobabble. Also, your ship is about to explode. One more thing: don't forget the exploding star chasing you.
The game is so much fun it feels good to give the developer money for cosmetic things like ships or outfits.
"Jetpack Joyride"
Jetpack Joyride started off as a 99 cent endless flyer/runner type game. It's sharp retina graphics and endless missions made it a simple yet intriguing game. When it went free-to-play it got even better and got a much larger audience. Things for sale are all optional like coin doublers, different outfits and the ability to skip challenges. It was worth it at 99 cents and it's worth it now that it's free.
"Punchquest"
This endless puncher is captivating not only because it's inherently silly to go through the universe punching things, endlessly, but because it's actually a good game. In addition to the usual coin doubler and cosmetic items there is another mode, called Spartan, that costs so much in-game currency you would have to use real money to get it. However, I've never paid for it and feel the game is good without it.
"Big Fish Casino"
This casino game offers Blackjack, video poker, Texas Hold 'Em, Roulette and slots. What make it good is that the coin bonuses for logging in regularly and occasionally watching a video are generous enough to not need to spend any real money. That is an option but never mandatory. Plus, all the games are against real people which keeps every session fresh.
"Real Racing 3"
I know this one divides people, but if you play it like the mobile game it is there's more than enough free content to keep you occupied for short bursts of time. One key is to unlock a second car quickly that you can then switch to while one car is being repaired and the timer gate prevents playing. Another tip is to wait until you are about to go to bed before doing major repairs that will require large amounts of time. It'll be like you're playing the game while you sleep.