Finding Free Game DownloadsFinding and Using Public Domain Games
Aside from using pre-designed games, don't forget the potential of
creating new games based on other forms of public domain materials. For
instance, let's say that the original Wizard of Oz film is public domain material(verify to be sure), you could then make a computer game, based
on the film. This is only one example and I will cover this below in a
little more detail, but basically I want to remind you to keep your
eyes and your mind, open when searching for public domain material and
really consider the potential for all aspects of some of these older
works. Using some of the resources below you should build a much better
understanding of what is and of course what is not found in the public
domain. The public domain is home to lots of great board games and some
computer based games as well, so there are plenty of ways to truly make
these types of materials work for your business. Aside from the
resources I have already given you, you may also search the major search
engines with the terms "public domain computer games", "public domain
board games" and "public domain console games" to find even more. 2.
BoardGameGeek.com features a nice list of traditional board games
that are freely available in the public domain. People, especially
families love playing board games on rainy days, its really a great way
to involve the whole family in a little fun time. Some of the games here
include chess, tarot and backgammon to name a few. 3. A quick search for "public domain" on
GameBase 64, turns up an extensive list of public domain games. In
fact this list was so big, over seven hundred links, that I have since
book marked the page for future use. There were just to many to look at
in one day alone. 4. This web
site has a wonderful list of computer based Tolkien games, believe
it or not, that are freely distributable through the public domain.
There are some really great "old school" games on this list and I can
see a very high revenue potential. The platforms in which these run on
range from Windows to MS-Dos and Unix, so there is really a little for
everyone. 5. This
page from Cornell University only has a couple board games from the
public domain, but it also lists some useful information for creating
your own board games.
1. Build an online gaming community. With this idea you can simply
upload public domain games for people to play, there are lots of people
out there that enjoy the old school games, even I dust off my Atari once
in a while. Also, if you have the know how, or are willing to pay
someone, you could turn these old computer based games into brand new
games. Imagine revamping these games into Java based entertainment. To
profit from this idea you can charge membership fees to play, or make
money from selling advertising space and offer the games for free. 2. Put together a nice, detailed directory or resource guide of all
the public domain games you can find and sell it to people interested in
starting their own online gaming community. As an outlet to market your
new list you could sell them from your web site or distribute them on
eBay. 3. If you are great with your hands and love woodworking, you might
consider constructing your own game boards from popular board games
found in the public domain. I have seen many custom built, hand made
chess sets sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars and that is only one.
There are countless possibilities and you could start your own designer
game shop and make a fortune. 4. Just because a board game was originally created as that, it
doesn't mean it needs to remain that way. You could take some of these
popular board games and recreate them as web based games for people to
play. There are some very nice online chess communities that make plenty
of money from memberships and advertising together. To do this you will
need the programming experience yourself, or hire a designer to create
these games for you. 5. Recreate one or two web based games and distribute them freely on
many of the download sites like Cnet. When building the game include
some advertising or sponsor pages built into the game and make money
while people are enjoying their free games and clicking on your
advertisements. 6. Create a players book or cheat code book for some of these games.
For instance, write an ebook about mastering the game of backgammon and
sell it on eBay. This process would work well for online web based games
as well, I could use one for mine sweeper. 7. Turn some of the older public domain movies or films into state of
the art computer based video games. At the beginning of this section I
mentioned the Wizard of Oz, you could turn that into a great game and
build a good amount of interest from within the gaming community. You
could also pull ideas from literature as well. Once created you could
then use many of the ideas above to market and distribute this game. 8. Package several games onto one disk and sell it on the eBay
marketplace. This would be really profitable if you were to build a
collection of games with a specific theme or genre, like action, or
brain teasers. Simply burn them on to a cd, create a nice cover for the
disk and your ready to sell them. 2. Astro Storm is a computer game created for the Commodore 64 that
is now in the public domain. 3. Did you know that before there was Chutes and Ladders, there was
Snakes and Ladders which by the way is another public domain game. You
could create another game from Snakes and Ladders which could be a
wonderful profit maker. 4. The world famous board game Backgammon is another classic that can
be found within the public domain. 5. Breakout is another popular console based game that now resides in
the public domain. 6. Are you aware that before Tarot cards were used by psychics and others working in the occult, it was actually a card game. This would be a great one to profit from, imagine creating your own Tarot cards and selling them, or creating directions on how to play them as a game.
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