Issue 07 · Free to play
A photocopied zine about games that cost nothing. Six features, torn from our own play sessions, printed loud and over-inked.
ISSUE 07 · FREE TO PLAY · PRINTED BY HAND
Pages 02–08 · The features
Six games, every one free to start and free to keep playing. Each "read on" runs straight to the official store page — no cost, no fine print, no affiliate strings.
No. 01
"Every ability is a skill-shot you aim by hand."
A MOBA shot from behind the shoulder, so aiming is a craft, not a click. The mythological roster is huge and rotates free, with every god fully unlockable without paying a penny.
It is a genuine standout that plays nothing like the top-down crowd — closer to an arena brawler than a lane-clicker, and all the better for it.
No. 02
"Build-craft layered onto your gunfights."
A team hero shooter with a deck-based loadout that lets you tune a champion to your style mid-match. It is fast, readable, and generous on the free tier.
A solid pick for groups who like a little theory-crafting between firefights, with new champions reachable without ever opening a wallet.
No. 03
"Read the map like a chess board on water."
A naval combat sim with weight and patience — angle your armour, lead your salvos, and think two moves ahead. The tech trees are vast and free to climb.
The slow-burn tension here is unlike anything else in the issue; one good cross-map citadel hit can make a whole evening.
No. 04
"You command a whole squad, not one trooper."
A WWII shooter where every objective feels like a small front because you direct a squad of AI soldiers, not a lone rifleman. It is a clever, atmospheric twist.
Dense and detailed, free to enlist, and a real standout for the tactical-minded who want to think in formations rather than crosshairs.
No. 05
"Fully voiced episodes that read like Trek."
A sci-fi MMORPG split between ground missions and genuinely satisfying starship combat, with voiced episodes that play out like proper instalments of the show.
Free to play and stuffed with a decade of content, it is a deep one for fans of the universe who want somewhere to live, not just visit.
No. 06
"A comfortable one for tabletop-leaning players."
A Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG set in the Forgotten Realms, with action combat and a player-built foundry's worth of content to wander through.
Free to enter and easy to dip into solo or in a party, it is the cosy corner of this issue — low stakes to start, deep enough to stay.
Page 09 · House rules
Free is not the same as fair. A game only earns a feature in this zine once it clears every rule on the checklist — scrawled, ticked, and taped above the editor's desk.
Page 10 · From the desk
If it only runs free until it runs well, it doesn't make the issue.
This zine exists because "free-to-play" had quietly come to mean "free-to-trial." Our rule is fixed: a game earns a feature only if it runs — and keeps running well — without a card in the slot. Cosmetics pass. Selling performance does not. A short issue, played honestly, beats a long one copied off a store page.
— The editors · house rule No. 1 · printing since 2024
Page 11 · Fan mail
Clippings sent in by readers who played a feature and wrote back. Cut out and taped down exactly as they arrived.
The Smite "skill-shot combat" note set my expectations perfectly. Completely different from the MOBAs I'd bounced off. Logged hundreds of hours, paid nothing.
I trust a zine that lists its house rules and sticks to them. Played three features off this issue, never hit a paywall that mattered.
World of Warships was exactly the "slow-burn tension" the feature promised. Best free game on my drive, and the issue called it.
Enlisted's squad idea sounded gimmicky in print. It isn't. Read on, enlisted, stayed. Keep the issues coming.
Page 12 · Classifieds
WANTED — a fourth for ranked. Mic optional, patience essential. No flamers. Will trade callouts for snacks.
FOR FREE — every game on this page. That's the whole gimmick, honestly. Six of them. Go on.
LOST — two hundred hours in a tech tree. Last seen aboard a tier-VIII cruiser. Reward: zero regrets.
SEEKING — a guild that logs off before sunrise. Healer, no drama, owns a kettle. Forgotten Realms preferred.
SWAP — my pay-to-win habit for your free tier. Cosmetics welcome. Sold power not accepted at this desk.
NOTICE — next issue ships when it ships. Subscribe below and we'll email the moment the ink is dry.
Page 12 · Contact
When the next feature goes to print we send a short note by email. No noise, cancel any time.
Reach a human:
[email protected]