The Nameless

Links: Homepage

Summary: The Nameless begins in a spaceship above a terraformed planet. You jetpack down to the surface and explore different complexes, trying to figure out what happened to everyone. Rescue survivors, move stuff with a tractor beam, kill enemies, and find upgrades.

My opinion: If you're looking for a really long and challenging exploration game, The Nameless is a great one to try out. The game started out a bit slow, but once I gained access to more areas, everything opened up and turned out to be a lot of fun.

Media: For some reason, screenshots didn't work for this game. Luckily, good ol' Caiman has a bunch.

The Wasteland

Links: Homepage / Download page

Summary: An exploration game with a focus on rather difficult puzzles.

My opinion: I love the graphical style in The Wasteland. There are cool little particle effects and bright colors, but overall everything remains very simple. Some of the puzzles are really hard but rewarding.

Media: Here's a screenshot:

Abandoned

Links: Homepage / Download page

Summary: Control a genetically engineered experiment gone wrong and try to escape from the laboratory that created you.

My opinion: The graphics and lighting in Abandoned are great. The main character is fantastically bizarre looking. Everything is pretty repetitive, but seeing the occasional freaky looking statue or strange background scenery makes Abandoned worth playing. And the music and sound effects are awesome.

Media: Here's a gameplay video. Check out the uploader's website, it's great!

Nifflas

Links: Homepage / Within a Deep Forest / Knytt / Knytt Stories / MOAR Stories

About: Nifflas has been making exploration games for years, but his latest, FiNCK, is more of a puzzle game. His game before that, Saira, is an awesome exploration game that I'd highly recommend, but it costs 9 dollars. In keeping with the freeware theme, I'll focus on Nifflas' three older games, which are some of the highest quality exploration games out there.

Within a Deep Forest: Nifflas' first (?) game is about a bouncing blue ball that must stop a bomb from freezing the world. I discovered this game late one night, and ended up staying up well into the morning playing it. There's tons of great platforming and puzzle gameplay, and the graphics are beautiful. There's an almost intimidating amount of awesome stuff to see in this game.

Knytt: Nifflas takes the awesome graphical style of Within a Deep Forest and removes pretty much all of the gameplay. This results in a game where the reward of playing is found in what you see, not what you accomplish. Exploration gaming at its finest. It's like hiking, but in a platform game, which is awesome because there's air conditioning.

Knytt Stories: Knytt with a great level editor, which makes for infinite fun.

Kaipuu

Links: Download page / Homepage

Summary: Explore a colorless world, collecting orbs and feelings.

My opinion: The music is epic, the graphics are fantastic, and there are some great particle effects. Damn, every time I really like a game, I have very little to say about it!

Media: Here's a screenshot:

Treasure Seas Inc

Links: Play

Summary: Use your submarine to find underwater treasure, then buy upgrades so you can find more!

My opinion: Playing Treasure Seas Inc feels like being on a beach on a sunny day. It's just a really chill, simple game. I've always been a fan of Mausland. It's nice to see them kicking back and making a pleasant, non epileptic seizure inducing game.

Media: Here's a screenshot:

The Fantasy of the Sord

Links: Play

Summary: Explore a retro world, killing bats and collecting swords.

My opinion: It would have been nice if The Fantasy of the Sord had a map. I'd constantly get lost and end up back in the same place I'd been to a thousand times. Kind of a buzz kill. I also didn't realize you could hold the down key and press X for a low sword hit until I'd been killed by the frogs a thousand times, but that was my bad. The spell and weapon collecting system is quite well done. The boss battles are great, and the prizes you get for winning tend to be pretty epic.

Media: Here's a screenshot: