Trial games (like the first of many levels) for the PC

[Omega-TI]

Hey Guys,

I'm not exactly a modern PC Gamer, but I remember BITD being able to download some games "to try". Castle Wolfenstein was one game that gave you the first level free, which ended up sucking me in to buy it. Anyway that was YEARS ago, but now my new super PC will be arriving in a few days and I'd like to give the new video card 'some exercise' and to see how far the graphics have come in the past decade.

 

So, are there any sites where you can download a game (WITHOUT CRAPWARE) or any other garbage coming along for the ride? I'd like to try a racing game. Any help or links would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Tanooki]

Commercial grade stuff typically not, the old wise idea of shareware is long dead due to corporate greed and paranoia replaced by descriptions and download videos in most cases. There are points where it does happen, but it's rare, even Nintendo has done a few like that on 3DS with Steel Diver and Rusty's Baseball with a solid teaser before buying the rest. PC side it's more like going to itch.io or other B tier services where desperate amateurs looking to break into money making or those who just want to show off their skills put up all sorts of stuff, but it's kind of rare there to find something CPU/GPU taxing. I hate to say you're kind of screwed but well you know. Usually you get these Black Friday online sales with GoG and Steam, or if they dodge that they do quarterly seasonal sales where so much of the better stuff is like 50-90% off, so maybe committing wouldn't be so bad doing $5-10 instead of $30-60 would be good enough motivation.

[Omega-TI]

Commercial grade stuff typically not, the old wise idea of shareware is long dead...

 

Shareware is dead huh? Wow, what a shame. I was kind of looking forward to taking a couple of laps. I guess time has marched on and left me behind. (Sigh).

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[xenomorpher]

Do yourself a favor and install Steam and browse the free/demo section. If you see a game that interests you, put it on your wish list. You'll get an email when it's on sale, and some of the games are crazy cheap. Do the same thing at GOG.com, which also has some nice free games and demos. Also, you can play Steam games offline, just make sure you activate the mode. A good practice is just to keep Steam on offline mode until you want to update games or play online if you really hate the idea of logging in to play a game.

 

Some games have trading cards you earn for playing. I sell duplicates, which over time adds up and I've gotten free games that way. Also periodically check out HumbleBundle.com because they have some great deals. You either get a Steam key or a DRM free direct download. I can't remember if they sometimes include GOG keys for some games or not.

 

GOG.com is my preferred store since they don't make you do that crap, plus they have nice extras they include. They're having a sale right now actually, and will be giving a free game out in a couple days that you can vote on. I personally voted for Shadow Warrior 2 since I liked the reboot and original.

 

It's not a racing game, but a good free game that's made by one guy is called Unturned and it's on Steam. It has simple graphics, but it has good effects and very far draw distances. It's also very deep and probably the best zombie survival game I've played. It's worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing.

Edited October 2, 2018 by xenomorpher

[digdugnate]

+1 for scouring Steam and Humble Bundle. I've gotten the vast majority of my PC games for 'practically free' by keeping an eye on sales and bundles.

[Tanooki]

 

Shareware is dead huh? Wow, what a shame. I was kind of looking forward to taking a couple of laps. I guess time has marched on and left me behind. (Sigh).

 

Thanks for the heads up.

Well sorry to do that, but I miss it too. The days of Apogee and iD software selling Episode 1 of a game, then buying the other 2 to 5 after them for the set is just dead. These days the best you can hope for is a more generous developer through Steam and GoG where you get like a 24-48 hours grace window where you buy a game and can get a refund. Usually meant if you buy it and it was an accident or it's so so rotten you want out and fast. You basically have to have time open then and there to sink into it to see if it sucks or not, and you need to kind of poke around to see if the game even offers the option as it's not always spelled out if at all.

 

 

Like xeno my preferred store is GOG, but I will use Steam too if necessary since may big name console game makers are tools about GoG (due to no DRM alone) and won't release anything or much on there, yet on Steam they will since it's under lock and key. GoG randomly gives out a few games each year, could be up for a half a day, day, or a few days. Sometimes it's a freebie just because, other times a thanks for something from them or the developer, and anything they have that ends up going PD or freeware they just flag you an email and set it as a free to grab title and they have some nice ones under there for that too including old era stuff like Tyrian and Bio Menace from around 1990.

[HammR25]

Google PC demos. The Microsoft store has them for download as well as Steam like xenomorpher mentioned.