Taking a page from another forum's book frequented by yours truly, this thread is to list all those potential time wasters for all of us that cost not a penny to download and enjoy. I'll start by listing my personal favorites:
Osu!Site: http://osu.ppy.shGenre: Rythm and music (Similar to Elite Beat Agents)
DZ's Rating: 10/10
Additional Comments: Basically, a VERY WELL-DONE Windows-based clone of the popular DS game
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, also known as
Elite Beat Agents. It has quite a huge amount of songs, all user-created, and you can easily create your own music maps (or "beatmaps", as the game calls them). Highly recommended -- been my constant and persistent time waster for the last month or so. XD
Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2Site: http://mirrormoon.org/Site Announcement: http://mirrormoon.org/node/248Japanese Site: http://homepage3.nifty.com/alexholth/main.htmlGenre: Freeform 3D mecha fighting (Similar to Zone of the Enders)
DZ's Rating: 9/10
Additional Comments: If you like your mechs, this is for you. Almost all of the mechs are physically designed after various famous mechs from several shows, mainly the massive Gundam universe, but have names parodying those of widely known computer operating systems, to avoid lawsuits. XD Still, the game is freaking awesome and addictive, very easy to grab and play, and surprisingly small (the installer weighs a measly 60MB).
StepmaniaSite: http://www.stepmania.comGenre: Music dancing (Basically a Dance Dance Revolution clone)
DZ's Rating: 8/10
Additional Comments: If you've played DDR, you'll immediately know how Stepmania works. Designed to be played with the keyboard, it can provide for HOURS UPON HOURS of endless fun. The community behind it is HUGE, and the amount of songs freely available for the game is HUGER still. Also, if you have a PS2-to-USB converter and a couple of PS2 DDR dance mats, you can connect them to your PC and enjoy the game the way it was supposed to be played.
If you liked your dancing, you can't miss this game.
Frets on FireSite: http://louhi.kempele.fi/~skyostil/uv/fretsonfireGenre: Guitar simulation
DZ's Rating: 7/10
Additional Comments: A Guitar Hero clone for the PC. If you have the original Guitar Hero games, you can even import their songs into Frets on Fire, and if you have a PS2-to-USB adapter or an Xbox 360 Guitar Hero guitar controller, you can use it to play the game. There are many songs available, all user made, and many very well done at that. Just do note that it'll be physically impossible to try and play this with a laptop or a regular gamepad controller -- voice of experience speaking. >_< (A laptop still has hope of salvation if you can somehow manage to acquire an USB keyboard, though.)
Super Cosplay Wars UltraReview Site http://www.acid-play.com/download/super-cosplay-war-ultra/Genre: Classic 2D fighter
DZ's Rating: 6/10
Additional Comments: Don't take me wrong, the fact that I rated it a bit on the low side doesn't mean the game is bad in any way, it's just that since I'm quite a devoted fanatic of 2D fighters (as Melty can thoroughly attest to), I tend to be rather nitpicky. Still, having played it several times, the game is decidedly fun, hilarious, and full of smartass, well-known and sometimes obscure otaku references, be it to other games, to manga and to anime series. Definitely worth a try if you've got a soft spot for stuff like Capcom's Pocket Fighter.
Alright, so I've listed the ones I know and have owned and played at some point in time. I have quite a list of other entries, but since I can't really give an opinion on them (as I have yet to touch any of them), I'll refrain from posting them in this first post, and leave it for another post in this same thread. Now come on, share your own freeware games!