Back to Dorylight Harbour
When the fog rolls into the cove

Eight free games for the net loft
while the dories wait out the fog

Some mornings a grey wall of fog creeps in past the lighthouse and nobody rows anywhere. On those days Bosun Gansey hangs his oilskin on the peg, props a laptop on a fish crate and works through his list of eight free browser games: Mediterranean island ports, a village of tribes, a frontier camp, a medieval farm, two hero games and two very different trading lives out in space. All eight open in a desktop browser with nothing to download.

8free games on the Bosun's list
8played in a desktop browser
3with a mobile app as well
Ikariam key art
The Bosun's harbour pick

Ikariam

Ancient island trading strategy · Strategy & war

The pick that feels most like home on the wharf. Every Mediterranean island in it offers a single luxury good, so your towns must swap and ship to prosper: cargo boats shuttle between your ports, scholars push research along, and a stubborn neighbour may wake to a siege fleet in the bay. The Bosun reckons the shipping timetable wins more wars here than any army.

Good for
Planners who enjoy economics steering the warfare.
A sitting, give or take a cup of tea
Several brief visits daily
Where the Bosun plays it
Desktop browser
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Find out which luxury resource your island holds.
  2. Set up a cargo route before you need the goods.
  3. Join an alliance before rivals notice your port.
Play Ikariam freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/ikariam in a new tab

Seven more for the days the foghorn will not stop

Travian key artStrategy & war

Travian

Island-village empire building

Villages first, then an empire: you pick a tribe, raise fields and walls, and band together with an alliance whose real aim is to raise a world wonder first, before any rival alliance manages it. It rewards patience, the way a slow fishing day does.

  • Quick visits dotted through the day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Suits & getting started

Good for: Long-term strategists who like a shared goal.

Your first session
  1. Choose your tribe with care; it shapes the whole game.
  2. Grow resource fields before troops.
  3. Find an alliance early in the server.
Play Travian freeOpens travian.com
WildGuns key artStrategy & war

WildGuns

Wild-west land-claim strategy

Saddle up for one of three frontier nations, and each of them is good at something different. Your camp starts small; you haul in raw materials, put up buildings, swap goods with neighbours and ride out on raids over land that several players are eyeing at once.

  • A daily look plus the odd longer evening
  • Desktop browser
Suits & getting started

Good for: Tacticians who like dust, saloons and a frontier map.

Your first session
  1. Read up on all three nations before you pick.
  2. Get raw materials flowing into the camp.
  3. Trade with neighbours before you raid them.
Play WildGuns freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/wildguns
My Little Farmies key artFarm, town & zoo

My Little Farmies

Medieval village farming sim

The calmest game on the list, and the one the Bosun plays with his tea. You plant fields, run workshops and turn raw goods into wares for your townsfolk, so the village grows through production chains rather than any fighting at all.

  • Ten relaxed minutes or a slow afternoon
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Suits & getting started

Good for: Players who would rather craft and build than fight.

Your first session
  1. Plant the first fields straight away.
  2. Open a workshop to turn crops into wares.
  3. Plan one production chain at a time.
Play My Little Farmies freeOpens mylittlefarmies.upjers.com/en
Shakes & Fidget key artRole-play & adventure

Shakes & Fidget

Comic fantasy hero game

A cheeky fantasy role-play game where the hero heads off on quests that tick down on a timer while you get on with your day. There are a dozen classes and they really play apart; the Bosun likes the Druid, who takes bear, tiger or eagle shape, while the Berserker swings several times before the other side can answer.

  • A couple of minutes, several times a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Suits & getting started

Good for: Anyone who likes a laugh alongside their stats.

Your first session
  1. Try a class that sounds fun rather than strong.
  2. Send the hero on a quest before you step away.
  3. Look for a guild once you know the ropes.
Play Shakes & Fidget freeOpens sfgame.net
Gladiatus key artRole-play & adventure

Gladiatus

Gladiator role-play in old Rome

Ancient Rome, seen from the sand of the arena. Your fighter sets out on expeditions that run on a real clock and comes home with gear and gold, meets other players in duels the game settles by itself, and clears dungeons for rarer equipment.

  • Five minutes, a few times a day
  • Desktop browser
Suits & getting started

Good for: Players who want brief daily check-ins.

Your first session
  1. Send your gladiator on a first expedition.
  2. Spend early gold on better gear.
  3. Enter the arena once your kit is ready.
Play Gladiatus freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/gladiatus
Pardus key artSpace & sci-fi

Pardus

Action-point space trading

A long-lived space game in which every move spends action points that slowly come back, which lets a busy player with ten minutes a day stay in the race. Dig ore, make goods, haul cargo from sector to sector, slip contraband past the patrols or collect bounties.

  • One batch of action points a day
  • Desktop browser
Suits & getting started

Good for: Competitive players with little spare time.

Your first session
  1. Learn how your action points refill.
  2. Try a simple trade route before smuggling.
  3. Ask an alliance which sectors are safe.
Play Pardus freeOpens pardus.at
Prosperous Universe key artBusiness & tycoon

Prosperous Universe

Space trading run by players

Out here nothing exists until a real player builds it. You set up production chains, fly cargo, sign and fulfil contracts, and buy and sell on a commodity exchange where no computer sets the prices, a little like the fish market on the wharf after a big catch.

  • A planning session, then short checks
  • Desktop browser
Suits & getting started

Good for: Traders after an economy that players truly run.

Your first session
  1. Pick a first product that others will need.
  2. Work out your costs before you sell.
  3. Watch the exchange for a few days before big trades.
Play Prosperous Universe freeOpens prosperousuniverse.com

All eight side by side, like dories along the stagehead

Game on the Bosun’s listGenre, in the Bosun’s wordsHow quick a game it isOther players in the mixA sitting, give or take a cup of teaWhere the Bosun plays it
IkariamAncient island trading strategySlow-building, trade-drivenRival ports and alliancesSeveral brief visits dailyDesktop browser
TravianIsland-village empire buildingSlow and steady over a long serverAlliances racing for a wonderQuick visits dotted through the dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
WildGunsWild-west land-claim strategySteady camp growth, sudden raidsThree nations at oddsA daily look plus the odd longer eveningDesktop browser
My Little FarmiesMedieval village farming simUnhurried, like a calm tideMostly peaceful, at your own paceTen relaxed minutes or a slow afternoonDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Shakes & FidgetComic fantasy hero gameQuests that run against a timerArena and guildsA couple of minutes, several times a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
GladiatusGladiator role-play in old RomeTimed expeditions, quick duelsArena duels plus a market run by playersFive minutes, a few times a dayDesktop browser
PardusAction-point space tradingKept in check by action pointsPlayer alliances across sectorsOne batch of action points a dayDesktop browser
Prosperous UniverseSpace trading run by playersSlow, thoughtful planningA market set entirely by playersA planning session, then short checksDesktop browser

What all eight cost: nothing to play, with optional in-game purchases.

01

No fee at the gangplank, none later

None of the eight costs anything to start, and each main game carries on without spending, from island ports and frontier camps to farm villages and starships.

Whatever the studios offer for sale is optional: premium currency, decorations, or a way to make a timer finish sooner. Long-time players often never spend a cent, and a family sharing one laptop on the kitchen table can usually switch spending off on the settings page of every studio.

02

Your first foggy morning in each world

Each link on the Bosun's list takes you to the official home of that game, run by its own studio. Expect a short, free registration before your village, hero, camp or ship shows up.

Each game opens with a short tour. Follow it the way you would follow an old hand round the wharf; it explains the screens and resources far faster than guessing.

03

Which worlds keep sailing overnight

Ikariam, Travian and WildGuns run in real time, so cargo, troops and buildings carry on overnight. Shakes & Fidget and Gladiatus send heroes off on timed quests and expeditions that finish while you are away.

Pardus refills your action points over time, Prosperous Universe keeps its exchange trading around the clock, and My Little Farmies simply waits for you with its fields and workshops.

04

Keep your sign-ins safe as a moored boat

Each studio runs its own sign-in, so the Bosun types his password only on the web address that studio really owns. He gives each of the eight its own password and switches on the extra security code wherever a studio offers it.

A genuine studio helper never has to ask for your password. Anyone offering gratis premium currency for your login details wants the account itself, so let that message drift out with the tide.

Why these eight earned a hook in the net loft

  • Each one runs in an ordinary desktop browser, so the Bosun never waits for a download while the fog sits on the cove.
  • Joining costs nothing for any of the eight, and not one of them locks its main game behind a shop counter.
  • Some reward a two-minute look between chores and others fill a whole grey afternoon, so short and long days are both covered.
  • Their studios still run them, which means real people to trade with, sail against or form an alliance with.

No. All eight start in a desktop browser. Travian, Shakes & Fidget and My Little Farmies also have a mobile app; Ikariam, WildGuns, Gladiatus, Pardus and Prosperous Universe are desktop browser games.

No. Sign-up costs nothing at all eight studios, and each main game plays from start to finish without a bill; extras are entirely up to you.

No. The Bosun only looks after the wharves. Separate studios made all eight and still run them, and each link here goes to the studio's own site.

No. Bosun Gansey's key only opens doors in the outport. Every one of these games belongs to its own studio, and you sign up with that studio directly.

Ikariam, Travian and WildGuns run in real time, and the timed quests in Shakes & Fidget and Gladiatus finish while you are away. Pardus tops up your action points between visits.

My Little Farmies, with no fighting at all. Prosperous Universe and Travian ask the most patience and planning.

Travian, Ikariam and Pardus are built around alliances, WildGuns sets three frontier nations at odds, and Shakes & Fidget has guilds.