Best Free Adventure Games

Highlights

• Adventure games have been popular for decades and there are many free options available to fans of the genre.
• Indie adventure games often start as free releases and later get commercial re-releases.
• There are a wide variety of free adventure games to choose from, each offering unique gameplay mechanics and captivating stories.

Adventure games are some of the most popular free games one can find. Free-to-play versions of first-person exploration games, room escape games built entirely in Flash, and even classic point-and-click adventures have been offered. This genre is as old as video games themselves, which is why many free adventure games are decades-old classics.

Many indie adventure games are initially released for free but get a commercial re-release later on. Some begin as enticing early access titles but update the paid version a few months before the free one. Regardless, there are so many kinds of free adventure games to make any fan of the genre happy.

Updated December 1st, 2023 by Stephen LaGioia: Adventure games are often associated with grandiosity when it comes to presentation and gameplay; traits that usually mean gamers will need to shell out to experience them. Yet, there’s been a growing number of surprisingly enjoyable and rich examples of late — which don’t require a penny.

Studios have been able to support this free-to-play model often by providing purchasable add-ons, or compensating with minimal graphics or environments. And with so many (often overlooked) free adventure games, we thought we’d revisit this list and explore more of the best of this genre.

17 Isle Of Ewe

Steam Score: 87%

Who would have thought that being a Shepherd could be such a fun and rewarding experience? The small band of developers at No Ewe Productions sets out to prove such a thing can indeed be possible with this delightful game.

2020’s Isle of Ewe has players assume the role of a humble Sheperd who’s called upon on a quest to locate a sheep named Ramsey, who’s mysteriously gone missing. The game offers several colorful, blocky biomes and vibrant but similar aesthetics — reminding one of the 3D puzzle platformers of the early days.

Despite its crude look, however, the experience entices with novel puzzles and amusing gameplay concepts. These involve using one’s sheep as avenues to progress (tossing and bouncing on them), while gathering more sheep along the way. While the journey is short, there is plenty of fun, whimsical exploration and platforming to be had.

16 Gravitas

Steam Score: 97%

While more puzzler than straight-up adventure, Gravitas from Galaxy Shark Studios will have players fully immersed in this gripping series of trials. The game heavily leans on an innovative gravity manipulation mechanic as a means of progressing and tackling tricky puzzles.

The vibe and game design feel akin to the dynamic hit puzzler Portal (talking AI and all), but with a quicker campaign — and teleportation swapped with tractor beams. Despite its minimal content, gamers will likely be spending ample time tinkering with the distinct, multi-layered puzzles.

Players will need to work through a slew of often ambiguous puzzles, finding ways to drift across tractor beams and hover to different points, as well as using gravity to move around traversable boxes. Short campaign aside, the craftsmanship, clever design, and unique physics are admirable given its free cost of admission.

15 Mandagon

Steam Score: 95%

Mandagon by Blind Sky Studios is a delightful and crafty adventure that enthralls from the moment players drop into its vibrant, pixelated world. The game uses retro-style visuals — along with Tibetan theology for its motifs and presentation. These aspects help fill in the details of a dreamlike journey that touches on philosophy, death, and sacrifice.

The concepts are symbolized in clever ways through this intricate world of limbo. Despite its simple visuals and slim campaign, there is much subtle depth and intrigue, through the detailed non-linear world, gripping storytelling, as well as a rich, atmospheric sound design that further paints the scene.

14 Lapso: Nimbo

Steam Score: 90%

• Developer: IslaOliva Games
• Free Platform/s: Steam, PC

Lapso: NIMBO is a brief adventure that some have referred to as a walking simulator as a prequel to the main game. Thanks to its captivating plot and difficult puzzles by IslaOliva Games, gamers found it to be much more than that.

The tale isn’t entirely clear, although the protagonist seems to be investigating some sort of mysterious tunnel or natural trail in a place called Rockrose. The game boasts impressive visuals and an immersive setting because of 3D audio and careful visual design.

13 Your Turn To Die

Steam Score: 97%

• Developer: Nankidai
• Free Platform/s: Steam, PC

An early-access, freeware horror adventure game called Your Turn to Die draws inspiration from the Danganronpa series. 12 strangers find themselves trapped in a room with no recollection of how they got here. Things take a turn for the worse when the group is forced to go through lethal trials that will decide their future. Your Turn to Die is a subgenre of horror adventure games called Death Games.

Studio Nankidai made the game available in a freeware version and a paid enhanced edition on Steam, and players can get it on Microsoft Windows. It’s played from the first-person perspective across multiple episodes, and its gameplay techniques are reminiscent of point-and-click adventures. Players can access different game areas and carry out various actions by using the on-screen menu. In addition, the game’s story can be greatly altered based on the choices players make during conversations, thanks to the many dialogue options.

12 We Were Here

Steam Score: 90%

Total Mayhem Games is responsible for the We Were Here series of co-op first-person adventure games. In We Were Here, each player assumes a different role and is separated from the others within the castle, which is located in the center of a frozen landscape.

The puzzles are fantastic and amusing, and the collaborative element sets it apart from other puzzle games in a new way. To work together and tackle the challenges they confront, the players are equipped with walkie-talkies for communication.

11 DreamWeb

GameFaqs Score: 3.58

• Developer: Creative Reality
• Free Platform/s: Archive.org, DOS, MS-DOS, Amiga, AmigaOS

DreamWeb is an almost forgotten point-and-click adventure for DOS and Amiga machines. Creative Reality has since re-released it as freeware on Archive.org, where it was previously a commercial product. DreamWeb is easily recognizable for its top-down perspective, a rarity among point-and-click adventures.

DreamWeb follows the story of Ryan, a bartender and dreamweb deliverer. Things get interesting when a figure from his dreams instructs him to kill the seven evils that are trying to destroy the Dreamweb. What makes this story interesting is the unclear nature of the DreamWeb, whether it is a reality of this cyberpunk world or a delusion fabricated by Ryan.

At the time of its debut, it was unusual for a feature film to include both graphic violence and brief scenes of full-frontal nudity. Moreover, when compared to other adventure games, the gameplay is unusually straightforward and rational, especially in terms of solving riddles.

10 Island Saver

Steam Score: 95%

• Developer: Stormcloud Games
• Free Platform/s: PC, IOS, Android

Stormcloud Game created the adventure game Island Saver, which is accessible for free on PC and also playable on iOS, Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch. The goal of the game is to make players make their way across an island while pretending to be garbage collectors. The system for clearing out trash is also quite entertaining.

Furthermore, players aren’t only cleaning; they are also fighting monsters and beasts. There are items to find and utilize, and certain animals can be tamed and then ridden across the world to access otherwise inaccessible regions. The game’s art style is fantastic, and the colors and design are delightful.

9 Colossal Cave Adventure

Google Play Score: 4.0

• Developer: Will Crowther
• Free Platform/s: PC, Android, TRS-80, PDP-10, ZX81

Colossal Cave Adventure is the progenitor of all adventure games. Most importantly, it’s still a solid game in its own right. Being a text adventure—arguably the first text adventure—the game is composed entirely of dialogue and narration. Even the player interacts with the game exclusively through writing. In Will Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventure, the player is a nameless person who decides to explore a cave system.

The best free version of Colossal Cave Adventure is the mobile version since it’s the only one to add quality-of-life features. Another interesting version is the paid remake by Roberta Williams of Sierra Online fame. The remake reimagines the classic text adventure as a 3D, first-person exploration game. Android, TRS-80, PDP-10, ZX81, Microsoft Windows, and maybe more operating systems support it. So, players can now travel to many places in the game in pursuit of a hidden treasure.

8 Grimms Hollow

Steam Score: 98%

• Developer: IslaOliva Games
• Free Platform/s: PC, Steam

Ghosthunter’s Grimms Hollow is a 2D role-playing game with a classic aesthetic, and it runs on Microsoft Windows. The player takes on the role of Lavender, who sets out on a perilous journey through the Hollow and other haunted areas in pursuit of her missing brother.

Along the way, players will meet a wide variety of personalities, talk to ghostly beings, and get valuable experience points. Unlike the other entries on this list, Grimms Hollow maintains a consistently dark tone without ever being oppressive. The game has a fantastic story in addition to its charming visual style and enjoyable soundtrack.

7 Ib

Steam Score: 100%

• Developer: Kouri
• Free Platform/s: Kouri’s Website, Android, PC

Ib is part of a standout genre known as RPG Maker horror games. Unlike what the word might imply, those games don’t play like traditional RPGs but like top-down adventure games. Kouri’s Ib is considered to be one of the best games in the genre, and it’s certainly one of the most polished ones. The game begins as Ib, a young girl and the protagonist of the game, gets lost in a museum.

Much like Silent Hill, the museum in Ib is fairly normal at some times — and a nightmarish reflection of itself during others. It might seem a bit short and beatable in about three hours, but there are enough choices and story changes to warrant a couple of replays. The protagonist meets new people, such as Garry and Mary, and sets out on a journey with them to leave the museum and return to the real world. This Japanese game has become a hit across the world thanks to its intricate gameplay and generally positive feedback.

6 Zork

Steam Score: 95% (Anthology Collection)

• Developer: Infocom
• Free Platform/s: PDP-10 mainframe computers

Zork is the first commercial release of Infocom, which would later become the biggest developer house for text adventures. Zork takes the same premise as Colossal Cave Adventure, that of exploring an abandoned underground world, and adds a lot more fantasy elements on top. Zork was an ambitious game for its time, so big that the already-completed game had to be released in three chapters.

The game gets more complex with each chapter, adding mechanics as players become more comfortable with those already introduced. Zork can be played on PDP-10 mainframe computers. Messages are used for conversation, and the main objective of each episode is to find and gather all the treasures, a lot of which are locked behind challenges.

5 Beneath A Steel Sky

Steam Score: 91%

• Developer: Revolution Software
• Free Platform/s: Steam, MS-DOS, Amiga, iOS, Amiga CD32, GOG

Beneath a Steel Sky, the classic point-and-click adventure is available for free on Steam, MS-DOS, Amiga, iOS, Amiga CD32, and GOG. This cyberpunk adventure takes the player from wasteland villages to the streets of Union City, the capital of an AI-driven fascist dictatorship. Revolution Software gained fame almost immediately with Beneath a Steel Sky, but their biggest success would come with the Broken Sword series.

Thanks to that series, the studio survived to this day, and in 2020, it released the sequel Beyond a Steel Sky. The protagonist, a young child named Robert, survives a helicopter crash, gets abducted, and then finds himself in the company of a new artificial intelligence buddy. The story follows him and his pal Joey as they learn to thrive in their new surroundings.

4 No-One Has To Die

Metascore: 68

• Developer: Sammy Madafiglio
• Free Platform/s: Flash

No-One Has to Die is a free flash game about sliding blocks and time loops. The game takes place at night in an office building. Four people are stuck on the same floor as the fire begins spreading. The player must maneuver them to stop the spread of fire by closing doors and opening sprinklers.

Despite what the name implies, someone does have to die in No-One Has to Die. Every floor is a puzzle that can’t be solved without someone’s sacrifice. But getting to the end of the game and allowing every character to survive at least once might unlock a way out for everyone. Sammy Madafiglio, the game’s developer, aimed to create a puzzle game with a strong narrative that also explored science fiction themes, such as time travel.

3 Off-Peak

Steam Score: 92%

• Developer: Cosmo D
• Free Platform/s: Steam, Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS

Off-Peak is a unique game that might not be everyone’s idea of an adventure game. Most of the interactions boil down to walking around and collecting tools from the environment. Thankfully, this game has one of the most unique, expansive environments among free Steam games. Off-Peak is one of the first games from Cosmo D, a solo developer that makes “surreal, musically driven” adventure romps.

Those first-person exploration games take place in dense locations populated with strange characters and secret nooks. Despite that, Off-Peak is fairly easy to get into, as the setting is limited to a single train station. Off-Peak‘s stunning environment complements the game’s enjoyable gameplay.

2 The Submachine

Steam Score: 98% (Legacy Edition)

• Developer: Mateusz Skutnik
• Free Platform/s: Epic Games Store, Flash

The Submachine series is a classic of escape games, a sub-genre of point-and-click games that were popular among flash games. The objective of every Submachine game is to escape the submarine-looking building the protagonist is trapped in. To do so, players must interact with the environment to find tools that open new rooms. The Submachine is a special series for many adventure game fans.

For one, it was one of the first polished and innovative escape games. Where most games in the genre are about being locked in a normal room, The Submachine has a unique mood and a vaguely surreal setting. Players in Mateusz Skutnik’s World of Submachines can explore a wide range of environments and fix up various buildings to better grasp the world and find a way out. The use of ambient music in the game’s design creates a chilling environment.

1 Cube Escape

Google Play Score: 4.6 (Collection)

• Developer: Rusty Lake Games
• Free Platform/s: Rusty Lake’s Website, Web browser, iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows

Fans of intense escape games consider the Cube Escape one of the best in the genre. The series is still ongoing, as it only started in 2015, which is unusual for a genre that died out in the early 2010s. The story is still popular, likely because of its story focus, something unheard of in the genre. The story in Cube Escape unveils itself in a very original way. What happens in these games is rarely literal and constantly retreads the same story under different circumstances.

Instead of following a linear narrative, players learn to understand a bit more about the two protagonists with every new game. In Cube Escape, the player uses point-and-click controls to look around cubical rooms in search of objects and hints that will help them escape.

MORE: Best Co-Op Games You Can Play On Steam For Free