5 Free Online Games That Won’t Hurt Your Wallet

Whether or not you want to admit it, our economy is in a slump, my wallet has been saying so for the last few weeks. Now in these perilous times when money starts to run tight but bandwidth is still a plenty you can ease your troubled mind with these 5 completely free online games that only cost you your time.

Portal: The Flash Version

If you’re familiar with Valve’s famously popular puzzle shooter game Portals (available through Steam and Orange Box) you’ll feel right at home with Portal: The Flash Version.

Portal, pits you against a series of constantly changing puzzles that either require you to out think or out pace your obstacles. You’re equipped only with a gun that allows you to shoot two holes in certain areas of your environment and then walk, fall, or propel yourself through them. You can also push, pull or drop objects such as cubes, or deadly drones through the portals as well. Play Portals

VR Defender Y3K

Desktop defense games in and of themselves deserve their own article because there are so many out there. So I asked one of my good friends which was his favorite and he immediately pointed me to VR Defender Y3k. This game puts you in a cyber world where your enemies (viruses) are trying to attack your computer, hence Y3K… I think.

The game requires you to build a series of towers to fight off the enemies, each tower is equipped with a special type of weapon that increases in firepower and cost as the levels advance. The game is very addicting and doesn’t have a steep learning curve, but guarantees hours of frustrated fun for even the most honed Real Time Strategy junkie. Play VR Defender Y3K

Pandemic 2

Pandemic 2 is a strategy game that allows you take the control of a virus, bacteria or parasite and try to infect the whole world. As you infect more people you are able to unlock more powerful and deadly attributes to your sickness. The objective essentially is to kill the entire human population, but don’t worry this game is totally safe for work if no one knows what you’re doing.

The makers of this game have chosen to leave the violence off screen, instead just showing you a view of the world with the countries you’ve infected. As you infect more of the countries, they start to turn a sickly shade of brown until they’re red. Pandemic 2 has a very high replay value, and can be very long and drawn out or very short and concise game depending on how you want to play it. Play Pandemic 2

The Fancy Pants Adventure Series

The Fancy Pants Adventure Series is a fast paced platform that takes elements from Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog to make a very addicting game. With rumors of a third game coming out, this is one series that is hard to pass up.

Adventure 1: Play The Fancy Pants Adventure Series #1

Adventure 2:Play The Fancy Pants Adventure Series #2

I’m In Like With You

I’m In Like With You is a massively multiplayer gaming site that features 5 free online games where you bust, shoot or guess your way through short gaming sessions which can allow up to 7 people (including yourself). IILWY currently offers:

Blockles - a game similar to Tetris with power ups.
Hamster Battle – which allows you to blast your opponents with acorns, gernades or rockets.
Draw My Things – a Pictionary like game.
Dinglepop – a game where you shoot like colored bubbles.
Gemmers – which is similar to bejeweled.

They also have a sixth game in development called Balloono. IILWY guarantees you’ll never be bored as long as you have an internet connection. Play I’m In Like With You

Mark Condon is an avid online gamer, and has been since back in the days when all there was were stickman shooters and yahoo games. If you’d like to find him on I’m in like with you his username is condonm.

photo by ilovemypit