Siobhan Keogh: The best free play games

Money too tight to mention? Siobhan Keogh discovers four free games that are worthy of your time.

I just bought a house. This is important because it means I have no money. Having no money means that in order to get my gaming fix, I have to play stuff I've already got in my collection (which, to be fair, is substantial) or find games I can play for free.

If you, like me, have free gaming hours but very little money to spend, I have news for you: there are loads of free games you can legally download and play. I've pulled together a few that I've had a go at. While some of these games allow microtransactions, none of them impede play by making you pay to win or buy "energy" to keep going.

Pandemic 2

Pandemic 2 (not related to the co-op board game Pandemic) is a flash-based strategy game you can play for free in your browser. In it, you play as a deadly virus trying to infect the entire planet. As you play, countries will make it tough for you by shutting down airports and shipyards, and you'll have to find a way to overcome them.

Although it's not the prettiest game in the world, there's no catch with Pandemic 2 - it's ad-supported so you really can just play it for free, as much as you like. Good luck trying to infect Madagascar, though.

Website: pandemic2.org

DC Universe Online

When this game first came out, it wasn't free-to-play at all. You had to pay for both the base game and a subscription. Nowadays you can download it and get going for the low, low price of nothing. If you like superheroes and massively multiplayer online games, DC Universe Online is definitely worth your time. You can run - or fly - around a huge world based on the DC Comics universe, fighting Batman villains and helping out your favourite heroes. The catch? There's a fair bit of DLC available, and you'll need to pay if you want it. DC Universe Online is available on PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, so most New Zealand gamers will own at least one platform that can run it.

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is an online collectible card game, based on Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft series. Cards and characters within the game are all based on the Warcraft universe, so you'll fight with goblins, giants, beasts and dragons. Gameplay is similar to classic fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering at its most basic, players take turns to play cards and try to attack the opposing player's health while defending their own.

Without spending a single cent, you can download Hearthstone, play through tutorials, play online, and collect cards. Thing is, if you want to quickly unlock the really cool cards, you might have to spend a little bit of money. But at least you get to play as much as you like before you make the decision to get out your wallet.

Website: us.battle.net

Surgeon Simulator

You might know of Train Simulator, or Farm Simulator. Surgeon Simulator takes the sim genre and pokes fun at it ruthlessly.

The premise of the game is fairly simple - you need to complete a transplant, but you have no idea what you're doing. You're just a gamer, not a surgeon - but you have to make sure your patient doesn't lose too much blood and die on the table. The difference between this and other sim games is that your own limbs betray you by flopping around uselessly. It's very silly, and very fun. Surgeon Simulator 2013 is available on Steam for about $12, but the original web-based version of the game is still available online for free.

Website: a10.com

- TimeOut