Gaming is generally considered one of the most expensive hobbies out there. Not only do you have to pay for powerful hardware, but games themselves cost a pretty penny.
But I'd argue that the best games out there are incredibly cheap. Instead of playing a copy and paste open world AAA game for $60 that needs a NASA pc to run, you can play some of the most creative and interesting games out there on a potato for little to no cost.
1- Emulation / Old games / AbandonwareThis one is pretty obvious and already known to most, but it would be a crime to make a thread about cheap games and not include it.
There is a
vast library of old games out there. Enough classics for an entire lifetime, most of which hold up surprisingly well today! Instead of playing the newest title on a franchise, you can play the one that made that franchise famous in the first place.
For abandonware, you can check out
myabandonware.com.
For emulation, all you need is to google the best emulator for the console you want. Always make sure you're downloading from the emulator's official site. Roms out there are generally pretty safe to download from google (just search [game][console] ROM). But know that roms will NEVER come in exe format. They will always be a file that can be opened with an emulator (usually a rom/iso that is packed in a zip file).
For old games in general, check out
gog.com.
2- Itch.ioIndie games! Some of the most creative games to be released the last few years are on itch. While the front page of the popular section looks like a blob of similar looking horror and romance games, I'd recommend sorting by either "New and popular" or "Top Rated".
A lot of the free games are either demos or made for game jams, meaning they're pretty short. But still very enjoyable. The paid games are usually pretty cheap and of very high quality. This is the best game marketplace out there today in my opinion.
They also sometimes make charity bundles, which not only support good causes but include a lot of good games.
My only advice for this one is to get out there and discover!
Edit: I recently went on gog.com again, and remembered that it was also a good place for indie games. Especially if you're looking for the medium range stuff that isn't AAA but still made by a professional studio.
3- SteamThere is a whole world of niche/indie games on steam that almost no-one sees. The interactive steam recommender is great in this regard. Crank the slider to niche, adjust the games on the left to reflect what you're looking for, and you'll find games you never even heard of that cost very little but match your tastes perfectly. Do this during a sale and you'll find games that cost less than a dollar. Keep experimenting with the settings!
5- Visual NovelsEven a computer that came with windows xp can run a book. You can usually discover newer VN's through itch, and older ones on vndb.org. Though with the latter I'd recommend searching with the "No sexual content" filter on (Not that there aren't VN's
with sexual content that are worth playing, but without this filter you will usually find stuff that was mostly meant to be a dating sim/porn).
If you want recommendations, my votes are
here. These go from LGBT stories, to puzzle games, to 1200000 word long mystery novels. If you've never played VN's before, If Found, 9 persons 9 hours 9 doors, Ace Attoreny and Christmas Tina might be good starters depending on your preference. I'd highly recommend any game I gave an eight or more.
6- Misc sitesTo be honest, I only have one site to put here, but I'm hoping the people in the replies will add to the list!
-Vgperson All the games on this site are free and easy to run. Some are made by vgperson, while most were just translated by them. A lot of them are classic, must play rpgmaker games.
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