The best free games on Steam

Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game with role-playing game (RPG) elements set in Europe at the close of the Dark Ages. Players pick a ruler and make sure his dynasty survives as you play a succession of his descendants through the ages, fighting other lords for territory, investigating treasonous plots, and managing resources. When playing as a specific ruler instead of a God-like controller of a civilization, each turn is a bit more personal than a typical historical strategy game. You can customize your character’s skills and appearance and control their individual actions — you can get married and have kids, become a warlord, go hunting, and more. There’s so much you can do, and every decision affects the game. You can take this game on solo or build a wild multiplayer game with up to 32 other players, forming alliances or doing a little backstabbing with friends. A third installment in the Crusader Kings series is also available, although it isn’t free as of now.

Fallout Shelter puts players in control of a state-of-the-art underground vault from Vault-Tec and tasks them with keeping the underground safe haven functioning properly. A standard resource management game with a post-apocalypse spin, gameplay revolves around keeping the vault’s dwellers happy; making sure the shelter has enough food, water, and electricity; and defending the base from murderous raiders. You can also send adventurers out into the wasteland to collect supplies, send radio broadcasts to recruit more settlers, and pair off your settlers to produce new residents in-house. If you’re a fan of the Fallout series and have ever imagined how well you’d run a vault, this is the simulator for you. Learning how to best utilize vault dwellers with different skills and knowing when to ship out a settler takes some time, but it’s good fun watching your vault grow when you figure it out. Take a look at our Fallout Shelter guide for some assistance.

Blizzard’s Overwatch popularized the “hero shooter” multiplayer genre, but Paladins is a worthwhile alternative and is completely free. Before battling it out with another team, players choose from a roster of champions divided into four tactical categories: Front Line, Damage, Support, and Flank. Like Overwatch, each character has a set of unique abilities and a charged “Ultimate.” All players have free access to six default champions and a rotating roster of four others — other characters can be unlocked by purchasing them or grinding for in-game currency. No matter where you stand on the issue of whether or not Paladins is an Overwatch copycat, it’s worth checking out at no cost to your gaming budget.

Heavily inspired by the Diablo series, Path of Exile is an online action RPG set in a dark fantasy realm. Banished for your misdeeds to the dark, you are an exile struggling to survive on the continent of Wraeclast and seeking revenge on those who have wronged you. Players pick between one of six classes — Witch, Shadow, Ranger, Marauder, Duelist, Templar — each of which has their own movesets, strengths, and weaknesses. Combining skills, armor, and weapons, you can carefully customize your character to suit your preferred playstyle. While exploring the world through the main storyline is plenty engaging, you can always take part in some competitive online player versus player (PvP) gaming. Developer Grinding Gear Games has a strict mission in terms of its free-to-play world, too — no pay-to-win options here, so don’t fear jumping in. Eventually, you will even be able to move on to Path of Exile 2 when that fully releases.

Smite is another game from Hi-Rez Studios, the same developer behind Paladins, but it’s a straight-up MOBA. Smite features five versus five online battles on a large map, where you must push past your opponent’s defenses to defeat the Titan. You play as one of over 100 playable deities, immortals, heroes, and mythical creatures from ancient mythology that each belong to one of five classes: Guardian, Mage, Hunter, Warrior, or Assassin. The only issue with picking up Smite is that it’s a highly competitive game — expect no mercy from elite players and no way to hide from them in casual game modes.

War Thunder is a military MMO that puts players in control of the armies of World War II nations (United States, Germany, Britain, U.S.S.R., and Japan). Players can take part in major battles on land, in the air, and at sea, fighting with millions of players from all over the world in an ever-evolving environment. With over 1,500 vehicles in play and a dedication to historical accuracy, strategizing and picking the correct combination of war machines is the key to victory. War Thunder is a versatile game with challenging multiplayer deathmatches and single-player campaigns. The game will keep you busy with its different modes and provide different experiences. War Thunder is a game that works under the “freemium” model — essentially, it’s free to play, but if you want premium items, you need to spend real money to get them. Despite that, as long as you’re fine with going without these premium goods, the game is highly enjoyable, even without paying a single cent. History buffs, especially, will get a lot of fun out of the game. 

Whether you’re interested in taking a trip down memory lane with Old School RuneScape or checking out all the improvements made in RuneScape 3, both MMORPGs are available for free on Steam. Monthly subscribers will gain access to a larger world and more skills, but free users can still get up to plenty of mischief in the massive world of Gielinor. Whether you want to become a billionaire on the Grand Exchange or team up for some high-stakes PvP, the options at your disposal are almost limitless. Old School RuneScape is a perennial favorite, while the upgrades made to RuneScape 3 are quickly winning over legions of new fans.

Hearthstone might gather all the fanfare, but don’t sleep on CD Projekt Red’s stand-alone CCG GWENT. Constantly updated and reworked, GWENT has become one of the best card games available on Steam. Not only does it draw from the deep Witcher lore, but it features some impressive special effects and playing fields that will keep you engaged beyond the strategic gameplay. Despite CD Projekt Red’s busy update schedule for Cyberpunk 2077, GWENT has managed to receive multiple patches throughout the year. New cards, new rules, and new unlockables keep the CCG exciting month after month, and we don’t expect the fun to end any time soon.