Here's 5 recession busting games!

Why pay so much!?!

In this ever growing climate of people becoming bankrupt and families scraping to make their next buck, the games industry seems to be ever growing. Call of Duty Black Ops appears in 1 out of 9 homes’ video games collections in the US, Nintendo have brought casual gaming to the masses with the Wii and more kids in American schools know a fat Italian plumber’s face, than they do a squeaky Disney mouse.

However, after all that, games are still one of the most expensive forms of home entertainment. You’ll find most DVDs now in BOGOF deals, Blu-Rays are approximately €20/30 and Sky TV, at its most expensive package, is over £60 in the UK and over €70 in Ireland for a month of 999 channels...or something like that.

Your average, new video game for the 360 or PS3 will set you back between €50 and €60. Downloadable games are an exception to the rule. But even the Limbo’s and Super Meat Boy’s of this world are constantly rising in price.

So, why pay money!?! Or at least, why pay a LOT of money. Free software is becoming a lot more readily available through the likes of Steam and word of mouth whilst mobile gaming has brought little nuggets of joy to iPhone & Android users around the world. The days of Snake being the biggest graphical advancement in your pocket have well and truly gone.

To those that are feeling the pinch, and let’s be honest, who isn’t, here are a few inexpensive morsels of joy to get your fix. Some of these games are on multiple platforms, some are browser games, but all in all, here’s 5 games to whet your whistle...a whistle you had to pawn off ‘cause you are one broke b@$+@&d.

Plants Vs Zombies

PopCap’s tower defence that spawned cosplayers around the world to wear traffic cones on their heads is a definite for casual and hardcore players of all kinds. PvZ came out in 2009 on PC & Mac but has since found its way onto nearly every platform imaginable. Also, on every platform, the price varies greatly, however, on iOS for the amount of levels, the great gameplay and the accessibility, €2.39 is a steal.

Doritos Crash Course

I didn’t expect to add product placement on here...so...for equality’s sake...Walkers Sensations are very tasty too. Anyway, this game is pretty much Total Wipeout in a 2D platformer. It’s fun and free! Released on XBLA in ’10, it encompasses pickup-and-playability. It isn’t the most diverse or deep game you’ll ever play but if you want to burn 15 minutes, this is it. Sadly, Top Gear’s Richard Hammond isn’t involved.

Tiny Wings

One of my favourite games of 2011 was developed by one German developer. Not a team, one man. It can be picked up on the iPhone for €0.79. It is THE best use of touchscreen controls on society’s must have gadget. There is no on-screen D-Pad, no virtual buttons, nothing. You just touch the screen to make your bird slide down hills and take it off to make him fly!

The Wiki Game

If you’re like me, you can spend hours staring at your computer screen, just browsing. Wikipedia, makes this even more interesting and you can find yourself looking up A Flock of Seagulls discography for no other reason than, “boredom”. Well, why not click onto thewikigame.com and make a game of it! Word of warning, don’t click if you’re planning to be somewhere in 10 minutes. You’ll be late.

Drop7

God, this is addictive. Like a mix between Tetris and maths class. If I tried to explain it, my head would explode...look, just play it. It’s free on iPhone (with ads, but I’m sure you’ll get over it). It’s great. Trust me.

And that’s just scratching the surface. There are plenty games out there to play that are inexpensive, even cheap. With the advent of Facebook games and now even Google+. Even though you’re wallet is empty, that doesn’t mean your game library has to be.