Free-to-print games that might actually be worth printing
Steve S
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Yeah, free games are cool - and we all appreciate efforts to keep the cost of the gaming hobby down.
But the fact remains some games are better than others, and printer ink isn't cheap.
So, I know there are several lists that just list free games, but, what are the really *good* free games?
(I've also selected a sorting by rank, so we'll see what happens  )
(Note to designers: Due to this list basically becoming a dumping ground, I have had to set up a few base rules: To not get deleted, any game added must a) have at least 5 ratings, b) have a rating of at least 6.0, c) actually be available for download. Anything added that doesn't fall into those criteria will be trashed!)
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Sergey Dembitskyi
Ukraine
Kiev
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At its core, "The Age of Sovereigns" is a military strategy, but the game is not limited strictly to combating. An important part of gameplay is the construction of buildings (common and special buildings, 26 total). Due to these constructions players can multiply their wealth and / or fame, along with the development of the army.
The game is divided into various stages. In the era of "Kingdoms Rising" players gradually get bonuses specific to the kingdom. In the era of the "End of Times" all events are resolved. These two steps constitute the main part of the game, when the players give a variety of orders and fight. In the era of "Destiny" victory points and fines are scored.
The dice are not used during the battles, so the game is not that much random
The game has low downtime and relatively short playing time (30 minutes per player).
GAME COMPONENTS (For Two Players):
A. PnP files include:
1) 3 sovereign cards for each player;
2) 5 destiny cards;
3) 40 combat cards;
4) 8 kingdom bonus cards;
5) 14 End of Times cards;
6) 2 sets of 10 order tokens for each kingdom;
7) 2 sets of 33 building tokens for each kingdom;
8) 2 sets of 15 army unit tokens for each kingdom;
9) 2 sets of 2 (Barbarians) and 3 (Paladins) special army unit tokens for each kingdom;
10) 5 rebellion tokens;
11) other tokens: 6 revolutionary tokens, 9 plague tokens, 1 glory token, 2 Great Conqueror tokens; 6 defend token.
12) 1 playfield for two players.
B. Components NOT Provided (May be Taken From Other Games):
Tokens to represent gold talents. Besides, it is preferable to substitute the tokens of common and special army units by the miniatures from other games (we use Risk: Godstorm).
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Mr Mahon
Poland
Unspecified
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Free introduction into the world of Two Hour Wargames.
Much improvement over the previous versions of the game, streamlined rules, useble for head-to-head, cooperative, or solitaire gaming.
It was intended to be played with miniatures, but you are free to use tokens, meeples, card cutouts, paper miniatures, or anything you can come up with, so it can easily be a free print-and-play game.
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Chuck Cothran
United States
Wilmington
North Carolina
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This game is not listed as free to print, but I found all the items. Either at the GMT site or at the designer's site. Just burrow through the BBG Links and you'll be able to make your own copy.
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P.D. Magnus
United States
Albany
New York
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A game system with almost two dozen different games that can be played with it.
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Emmanuel Aquin
Canada
Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Quebec
And D-Day Dice, too!
I'm an "A"vatar.
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This started as a variant to Zombie in my Pocket, also on this list, but became so different and so big it warranted its own game entry.
Takes place during the airborne night drops of June 5th, 1944. As an allied paratrooper, you must sabotage german guns to prepare the Normandy landings.
The game is mostly solitaire, but includes many scenarios for 2 players or more. With its 44 scenarios and 13 campaigns, I guarantee you will get your money's worth.
Come check it out! We need all the help we can get to trash those Nazi bastards!
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7.
Board Game: Splut!
[Average Rating:7.36 Overall Rank:3763]
Steve S
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Robert Carroll
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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From the Rules:
"Have you ever wanted to build a basketball dynasty to rival that of Wooden’s legendary UCLA teams? How about experiencing the thrill of recruiting, developing and a starting a team of Champions? What about trying to improve a run-of-the-mill team into a tournament team, all while trying to keep your job? You can do all of these things a more in Basketball Dynasty—in under an hour.
Basketball Dynasty is a game about recruiting and developing college basketball players, while trying to qualify for the tournament and win a championship. Each player acts as the head coach of a college basketball team and has 12 years to win as many games, go to as many tournaments and win as many championships as possible. As the coach, you determine who to recruit (do you want solid season performers or the star who can win in the big game), who to develop, who to start and bench, and what style of team do you want (e.g., a group of 'team players' or bunch of talented 'individuals' who happened to play on the same team)."
Components:
1 Six-Sided Die
1 Rules Book
1 School Rating Chart
1 Coach Record Sheet
14 School Roster Boards
25 Red Chips
150 Blue Chips
168 Player Counters (General Supply)
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10.
Board Game: Vinci
[Average Rating:7.24 Overall Rank:216]
Eric Pietrocupo
Canada
Montreal
Quebec
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Originally, it was not print and play, but there is now a printable version available.
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Nick Hayes
United States
Los Angeles
California
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Utopia Engine is my newest game here on BGG. It's a solitaire dice game and has already gotten some good praise. The game requires very minimal effort to make, just print out the adventure sheet and supply two dice and a pencil with eraser.
You play as the Artificer Isodoros who is attempting to reconstruct a mythological device called the Utopia Engine. It is believed that the Utopia Engine is the only thing that can halt the oncoming Doomsday. You'll divide your time between searching the monster ridden wilderness for parts and studying in you workshop to finally assemble and activate the Engine. If you die out in the wilderness or fail to activate the Utopia Engine in time, the world ends in apocalypse.
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Free print and play-game from Sweden.
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13.
Board Game: 1886
[Average Rating:7.16 Unranked]
James Hemsley
United States
Palatine
Illinois
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Stumbled across this one. Big thanks to the two guys who translated it from Japanese!! Files are on the game page.
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14.
Board Game: Creepers
[Average Rating:7.14 Unranked]
Marek Szumny
Poland
Wrocław / Głubczyce
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Logical strategy board game for two players. They take roles of totally bored gardeners, who are fooling around with a small chemist's kit in an old, godforsaken garden. However, that play quickly turns into a competition about who is going to grow more mutated creeper and overwhelm the opponent with it. Only one of them can win. Is it going to be you?
Players aim for reaching a certain amount of points though expansion of their own creeper and blocking their opponent. Points are earned through placing creepers on point-marked tiles or by doing certain actions on the board.
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Anthony L.
United States
Savannah
Georgia
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I was suprised this wasn't on the list. You can get the rules and map printouts for free on the website. It's a bit of a long and drawn out game, but with the right group, it's pretty good.
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Elijah Lau
Singapore
Singapore
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I think this game looks more interesting than Bloody Mary.
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Donald Seagraves
United States
Copperas Cove
Texas
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Mesopotamia, according to the author, is derived from History of the World. I've never played HotW, so I can't say whether or not that's true. The game reminds me of Risk, but a bit smoother. I'll warn you, you'll use at least a half a cartridge of ink printing this game out, but it's worth it.
I rate this game an 8.
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Michael G
United States
Pembroke Pines
Florida
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This is the best one. This is better than many games I've spent a lot of money for. It has a tricky auctioning system, a cool wargame embedded with both tactical and strategic decisions, and a monster rampaging everywhere. Read my session review at the page for an idea of how it plays.
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As a huge King fan I feel this has to be on the list!
Nothing like deciding if you want to risk it outside and battle evil hedges or take your chances with potential possession.
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Steve S
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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This one is a really good abstract tile game. Makes you think even with solo play, and likely is just as good with more players.
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Steve S
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Open Rails is a sort of melding of features from multiple popular train game series, with a gorgeous artwork retheme available. Playable by 1-3 in under 90 minutes, which is apparently super fast for a rail game.
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Steve S
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but it's gotten good ratings, looks fun to play, and has gained enough of a fan base that there are now several add-ons for it as well...
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Vashazar Yathrukar
United States
Unspecified
Unspecified
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This is my favorite board gaem. It is so much fun with almost any amount of people, and more can jump in at any time with no big disadvantage.
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Michael M.
United States
Fort Worth
Texas
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Explore the land of Dawn, find special items and fight wandering monsters as you search for the ingredients to a magical potion to defeat the impending bandit horde and their leader. You only have eight days before they raze the village of Dawn.
A good fantasy RPG card game that uses unique hand management to determine your abilities and your life.
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Kallen McInerney
Australia
Murwillumbah
NSW
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This was worthwile to me
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Rockford
Illinois
Fort Bragg
California
http://www.lpdgames.com/gamehsbacw.html
It comes in a downloadable print-n-play edition, and there's a Cyberboard gamebox for PBEM. It is about Oklahoma's only major Civil War battle, the Battle of Honey Springs.
Take a look and enjoy.
Add a "Do not add your own games to a worth printing list of games" rule so we can avoid the "my games are awesome list" wich is what this geeklist turns into.
Vlaanderen
Add a "Do not add your own games to a worth printing list of games" rule so we can avoid the "my games are awesome list" wich is what this geeklist turns into.
Can somebody add Splut! then?
Rockford
Illinois
Anything that was no longer available for download, had less than 5 ratings, or had less than a 6.0 rating got trashed, think I just deleted around 20 or so off the list. Sheesh.