Indie slop (or perhaps not?) free for you:

Itch.io
Idols of Ash
https://leafygames.itch.io/idols-of-ash

Steam
Chamber Survival
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2943780/Chamber_Survival/

Epic
Evergreen Valley: The Parkour Game
https://store.epicgames.com/p/evergreen-valle … our-game-761e7b

kameshazam wrote on 2026-04-07, 17:34:

pete8475 wrote on 2026-04-04, 19:30:

leileilol wrote on 2026-04-04, 01:08:

Steam
Reflex Arena
(beware it's promode poisoned though)

What does "promode poisoned" mean?

My guess? pay to win.

Thanks.

I googled the term and got 0 results.

I don't think it's P2W. It was paid and now it's F2P, looks good. And hi.

EPIC-

Prop Sumo

Luna Gaming
*Requires Amazon Prime to acquire

A Rat's Quest - The Way Back Home (Epic)
King of Retail (GOG)

pete8475 wrote on 2026-04-07, 22:18:

I googled the term and got 0 results.

i can't even

ok quick brief history lesson. in 2000 there was a screed about quake3 being too much designed for casuals (unbelievable right?) and they wanted a 'pro version' that wasn't fun, and thus promode was established. and then that screed's scope gained into cheat territory (brightskins, keels only, no shadows, absolutely no texture detail) and such killed q3's scene. That's 'promode poisoning'. Quake Live pandered for them and couldn't sustain having new blood. Reflex was aimed to tap into these promode people but wasn't commercially successful either. Quake Champions gets a lot of complaints about being too graphically rich (therefore resisting the poisoning) so it still has (some) players.

Anyway Reflex Arena was a paid game that just got free.

Interesting. But what was the "and they wanted a 'pro version' that wasn't fun, and thus promode was established.". Was it a new release or a mod or what?

leileilol wrote on 2026-04-10, 02:37:

i can't even […]
Show full quote

pete8475 wrote on 2026-04-07, 22:18:

I googled the term and got 0 results.

i can't even

ok quick brief history lesson. in 2000 there was a screed about quake3 being too much designed for casuals (unbelievable right?) and they wanted a 'pro version' that wasn't fun, and thus promode was established. and then that screed's scope gained into cheat territory (brightskins, keels only, no shadows, absolutely no texture detail) and such killed q3's scene. That's 'promode poisoning'. Quake Live pandered for them and couldn't sustain having new blood. Reflex was aimed to tap into these promode people but wasn't commercially successful either. Quake Champions gets a lot of complaints about being too graphically rich (therefore resisting the poisoning) so it still has (some) players.

Anyway Reflex Arena was a paid game that just got free.

Thanks!

What does "keels only" mean though?

I googled "keels only quake" and there is a character named Keel in Quake 3 and Quake Champions, so was that a mode where everyone used that model or something along those lines?

Steam

Burning Skies Arcade
DESTROY Simulator VR
Graveyard Keeper
LivingForest

keels only = InstaGib (straight killshot every time)

brightskins = I see you easily and can target you easily!

No shadows and no texture details = super-fast rendering and increased engine performance, making multi-player games zip and zoom. With the hardware configs of the time using chonky HDDs, this was a big boost in performance, but it means little now.

All of these are "good things" to those who take the competitive games far too seriously, but they are considered grossly outdated in today's gamescape, where over-powered rigs with every graphics setting turned up to 11, with high frame-rate displays, are the norm.

EPIC-

The Stone of Madness

Epic (Android)

Broken Sword Reforged

Steam-

Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager

With me having to spend hours driving to and from work so I can telework from the office I've canceled Amazon Prime, been meaning to do it for quite awhile but finally did it. It's the only recurring expense I didn't really need so glad to be rid if it. So it may be more difficult for me to post those free games once it expires at the end of the year.

Amazon Luna
*Requires Amazon Prime

Detective Agency: Gray Tie-CE
Monster Harvest (EPIC)
Snake Core (GOG)

End of the year is a long way away. I'm sure someone will stand up