• ocasta@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 hour ago

    UnReal World is a free, survival-focused roguelike rpg that came out in 1992 and is still actively being developed and improved. It’s got a lot of depth and a very cool fantasy setting heavily inspired by Finnish folklore (the developer is Finnish).

    I highly recommend it if you’ve got the patience for an in-depth roguelike rpg.

  • secret300@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 hour ago

    For the longest time I thought Minecraft was free because I only ever pirated it. Lol

    PlanetSide 2 is the free-to-play I keep going back to

  • ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world
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    1 hour ago

    Irisu Syndrome! is a favorite of mine. It’s only from 2008, so I personally don’t consider it retro. It’s tricky to learn at first since it doesn’t tell you anything about how to play and I don’t recall there being a manual. It’s also one of those games that you can’t really say too much about without spoiling things.

  • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    If we’re sticking strictly to free, I’m not sure Doom mods work if you only have the free version installed. Either way, people basically never stopped making wads since the game came out, and I try various ones out from time to time.

    There are tons of them, so if you’re interested you can see what won the annual Cacowards throughout the years and start there.

    https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Cacowards

  • sanglyon@jlai.lu
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    9 hours ago

    “Einstein puzzle” by Flowix games, copyright 2004-2005

    I play it from time to time, to see if I can still complete it in under 4 minutes and my brain isn’t slowing down too much with age.

    Technically, Dwarf fortress is the oldest game I still play, but I only got fully into it thanks to the non-free Steam version.

  • Emma Liv@lemmy.ca
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    10 hours ago

    Beneath A Steel Sky (though I kinda prefer the grungier aesthetic of the Amiga floppy version)

    • Die4Ever@programming.dev
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      5 hours ago

      I’ve probably played this game for over a hundred hours. Great soundtrack too, by Alexander Brandon. I also loved the minigame hidden behind the DESTRUCT cheat code.

      And it’s open source too!

  • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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    17 hours ago

    Something about Castle of the Winds really seemed unique and even today it’s distinct from most roguelikes. I liked the fact that items could be enchanted or cursed. Simplistic graphics, but fun! I also liked the 3D pinball game (demo) that came with an old version of Windows…

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      10 hours ago

      I got it working on Mt last computer by running it through win 3.1, but I haven’t been able to make that work since I changed. How are you running it these days?

    • Chuck@eviltoast.org
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      16 hours ago

      Wow holy shit I’ve literally never heard another person speak of this game. I came here thinking, “it’s a shame Castle of the Winds is never mentioned in these kinds of threads” and here it is. I wasted a summer of my youth playing this game and listening to Blues Traveler Four every day.

      We never had the sequel so the game just ended. I thought of it about fifteen years ago and found it! Beat the game and it was every bit as much fun as I remembered it being as a kid.

      Random dungeon levels, traps, hidden doors, magic, monsters, treasure - this game is an absolute blast.

      • yum_burnt_toast@reddthat.com
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        15 hours ago

        i also really fell into this game as a kid, it was included on a disc of free games for pc that my dad got at some point in the 90s. it was the first game i personally played with any sort of exploration mechanic, and it really hooked me. cool to see a couple of other people on lemmy have fond memories about it as well!