As the title insinuates I shall be finding, playing and then letting you know about free games that need no money to be enjoyed. Although if they do have features that can be bought I will state their relevance.

Now and then I look at my vast steam library and sigh, Then I turn to my stacks of old console games and do the same a moment I’m sure some of you have shared, So many games and nothing to play. It’s a mildly unsettling experience but I have been a citizen of our electric web long enough to know a few searches will find me the entertainment I’m seeking, so I begin only to then discover my brother is having the same moment at the same moment I’m having my moment*. So now we need a co-op game, Enter unturned a terrible looking Rust DayZ cube thing we found on the free to play section of steam.

I have not played the two games mentioned but I understand the concepts they are “Stay alive, trust no one, awkward social interaction, they might kill you and steal your last two hours work simulators” Or if you playing rust it’s a “wake up dead simulator” At the moment you must be thinking I dislike these games, I don’t blame you I haven’t typed anything positive yet.

Getting into the game the accurately labelled play button shows the way to a tutorial, server selection, single player and IP connection. The tutorial teaches you the buttons a few menu interactions and that’s about it. Starting a new game you are dropped into the world with nothing but your clothes so here is a little getting started guide for those of you not wanting to join the horde.

Head to single player and just pick a map (Not Yukon you will freeze to death) and for a more casual survival experience so you can learn the how the game works I recommend hitting the advanced button and changing the item spawn chance to 0.9 and then scrolling down to change zombie loot to 0.9 hit back and then play.

Next find a campsite, farm or town and get scavenging, armed with just your massive square fists I also recommend avoiding a fight until you find a blunt object or a sharp one if you’re lucky. To avoid a fight press “X” to crouch and when you need to be really sneaky hit “Z” for prone, in prone you can get worryingly close to zombies so use it when fighting isn’t an option but that buildings loot looks too good to pass up.

Shhhhhsh – Don’t make a sound.

A brief interlude from my guide, if the game already sounds like to much work it’s because it is, it comes with the genre. The games advanced options (Spawn rates etc.) really let you customise your experience even to the point of removing the survival aspect if you wanted too.

For those of us still surviving, After looting a few places and maybe removing a few threats you can hit “U” to use experience improving your character from melee damage to needing less food and water there are a lot of options there but keep in mind the default setting on death is to lose 75% of your experience Ouch!

And finally, if you find an axe or don’t mind cutting down a tree with a golf club (It takes a while) you can pick up logs and craft floors and then pillars for the corners finishing up with windows, a door frame and walls for in between the pillars.

While looting, Any clothes you find that you’re not going to be wearing can be salvaged into cloth in turn that cloth can be crafted into bandages (Live savers) and a sleeping spot found on the storage tab of crafting for some reason. Like in other open world survival games the sleeping spot is your spawn point for when the inevitable happens.

After getting the basics multiplayer is the same but you get shot more. If getting shot it not your thing but staying alive on your own is getting old there are a few PVE servers. Personally, I hosted my own server for myself and my brother and we currently have a two story house with a helicopter about seven guns a crate of ammo and no food or water.

And finally, if you find yourself having a great time but wish that Springfield rifle you found looked like it was attacked by a graffiti artist or want to support the developer the game has the ever so popular crates and keys combo. That sets you back £1.58 for that random chance buzz (Cheaper via the steam market, also you could just buy the skin you want for about 20p-60p) along with steam workshop content Including content mods, maps and skins.

 

After reading the above you should know if the game sounds like it’s for you or not. Of course, my guide is not to be mistaken for instruction or the only way the game can be played. Feel free to share your setups, tips and tricks after having a good look yourself it’s free after all and worth some of your time.

Untunrned is available here on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/

 

*I enjoying typing this so it's staying