Back to Tarnside Fellwalk
Pennick's rainy-day map case

Eight free games for the bothy
when cloud sits on the crags all day

Some days the cloud comes down over Wrayndale so thick that even Pennick will not take a walker up past the last wall. On those days he hangs his moss-green hat by the bothy stove, opens the leather map case and unfolds a different kind of map: eight free games, from villages and castles to a Nile city, a 1914 front line, a pirate sea, a football club and a factory that starts with one small plot. All eight open in a browser tab, and seven of them come with an official app too.

8games in the map case
7with a studio app on the side
Freeto start, every single one
Travian key art
First fold of the map

Travian

Village and tribe MMO · Strategy & war

A valley full of villages is something Pennick understands, which is why this one sits at the front of the map case. You choose a tribe, raise a first village and spread outward farm by farm, while your alliance works towards the great shared goal of a round: finishing the great wonder of the round while rival alliances are still hauling stone. Long-running, patient and properly social.

Good for
Dedicated long-term planners.
Length of a sitting at it
A couple of short visits daily
Runs on these platforms
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Read up on the tribes before you choose one.
  2. Settle a second village early in the round.
  3. Join an alliance in your first week.
Play Travian freeOpens travian.com in a new tab

Seven more tucked behind the walking map

Sim Companies key artBusiness & tycoon

Sim Companies

Factory-to-shop economy sim

The calmest fold in the case, as unhurried as a sheep crossing a lane. You build a business from raw inputs, through production, all the way to shops, and every price on the market moves because another real player moved it.

  • A short look once or twice a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Anyone after a calm, long-horizon economy game.

Your first session
  1. Pick one product line and learn it well.
  2. Watch the market before you set a price.
  3. Reinvest profits before you expand sideways.
Play Sim Companies freeOpens simcompanies.com
Goodgame Empire key artStrategy & war

Goodgame Empire

Castle keep and army builder

Stone walls are a Wrayndale speciality, though none of them are as tall as these. Build and defend a medieval castle, train an army, then forge alliances and fight for ground across a kingdom that keeps living while you are away.

  • Several quick look-ins a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: anyone happy to build a castle the old-fashioned way.

Your first session
  1. Strengthen the walls before you march out.
  2. Keep the resource buildings busy.
  3. Join an alliance before your first big fight.
Play Goodgame Empire freeOpens empire.goodgamestudios.com
Lords & Knights key artStrategy & war

Lords & Knights

Medieval real-time strategy

Castles, resources and war on one large real-time map. You grow a single keep into a string of strongholds, keep stores full and timber stacked, and move troops with care, because rival lords are making plans of their own while you sleep.

  • Short look-ins from morning to night
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Strategists who like a busy shared map.

Your first session
  1. Balance your resources before you build up troops.
  2. Scout the land around your first castle.
  3. Make friends with the neighbours early.
Play Lords & Knights freeOpens lordsandknights.com
Anocris key artFarm, town & zoo

Anocris

Nile city builder

A long way from a Lakeland valley: a city beside the Nile in ancient Egypt. Lay out the streets, grow the economy, prepare your forces and push outward one careful step at a time; it rewards a methodical builder far more than a hasty one.

  • A few unhurried visits a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Methodical builders and planners.

Your first session
  1. Sketch out the city before every plot is taken.
  2. Get the economy running before the army.
  3. Expand one district at a time.
Play Anocris freeOpens int59.anocris.com
Supremacy 1914 key artStrategy & war

Supremacy 1914

Grand strategy on the 1914 map

Europe in 1914 on a live map, where a single campaign can stretch over days. You run an economy, raise armies and haggle with the other powers, and a well-timed treaty often does more good than a whole division.

  • Several short orders a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Fans of historical strategy.

Your first session
  1. Look at your provinces before moving any troops.
  2. Keep the economy and the army in step.
  3. Talk to your neighbours before war does it for you.
Play Supremacy 1914 freeOpens supremacy1914.com
Seafight key artRole-play & adventure

Seafight

Buccaneer sea-battle MMO

Pennick has never sailed anything bigger than the tarn steamer, but he likes this one anyway. Captain a pirate ship, fight on the high seas, upgrade your vessel and climb through a world of buccaneers, one broadside at a time.

  • A battle or two a sitting
  • Desktop browser
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Players who like pirate adventure.

Your first session
  1. Learn to handle your first ship before picking fights.
  2. Spend upgrades on the hull and the guns.
  3. Sail with other crews when the seas get rough.
Play Seafight freeOpens seafight.com
Online Soccer Manager key artSport & management

Online Soccer Manager

Matchday football management

For Saturdays when the rain never lets up. You take over a real licensed club, pick the formation and match tactics, haggle over transfers and send scouts to watch promising youngsters, then test it all against other people managing in the same league.

  • A short look before every match
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Whom it suits & where to start walking

Good for: Anyone who wants a season under way before the kettle boils.

Your first session
  1. Choose a club you already follow.
  2. Check the tactics before each fixture.
  3. Join a league with friends or other new managers.
Play Online Soccer Manager freeOpens en.onlinesoccermanager.com

All eight games spread out on the bothy table

Game in Pennick’s listSort of game, in shortHow quick the going isCompany on the wayLength of a sitting at itRuns on these platforms
TravianVillage and tribe MMORounds that last for monthsAlliances building towards one wonderA couple of short visits dailyDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Sim CompaniesFactory-to-shop economy simSheep-crossing slow, on purposePrices set by real rivalsA short look once or twice a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Goodgame EmpireCastle keep and army builderSteady growth with sharp battlesAlliance wars across a kingdomSeveral quick look-ins a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Lords & KnightsMedieval real-time strategyLive map, day and nightAlliances holding ground togetherShort look-ins from morning to nightDesktop browser; mobile app also available
AnocrisNile city builderCareful, gradual expansionRival rulers along the riverA few unhurried visits a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Supremacy 1914Grand strategy on the 1914 mapDays-long campaigns in real timePacts struck and broken across EuropeSeveral short orders a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
SeafightBuccaneer sea-battle MMOQuick sea battlesA world full of rival crewsA battle or two a sittingDesktop browser
Online Soccer ManagerMatchday football managementA season you can start in minutesLeagues of flesh-and-blood rivalsA short look before every matchDesktop browser; mobile app also available

Cost for every one of the 8: free to play, with optional in-game purchases.

01

Free from the first fold

All eight games are free to start, and plenty of players go whole seasons without spending a penny. Villages, castles, factories and ships all arrive complete.

Each studio runs a modest shop, mostly selling time-savers and decorative extras. Walking past it is easy, and a family sharing one laptop can usually switch spending off in the account settings.

02

Setting off on one

Each button opens the maker's official website in a fresh tab; once you have signed up there with an email, it is not long before there is a village, a keep, a company or a club bearing your name, like a farm sign at the end of a lane.

Each game walks newcomers through its first steps. Follow it to the end: it reveals the screens a little at a time, the way Pennick shows a new walker one stile and one wall at a time.

03

Between showers or a whole wet evening

The strategy games keep working with the lid shut: walls rise, troops arrive and research finishes. Checking in over breakfast and again once the boots are drying by the stove is usually plenty.

Use the short breaks for collecting, queueing orders and reading alliance messages. Save a long wet evening for the heavy decisions, like founding another village, declaring war or closing a transfer deal.

04

Keep your sign-in to yourself

Pennick keeps every gate key on its own nail, and your logins deserve the same care: each studio stores yours, so enter it on the official site of that studio alone. Give each game a separate password, and accept the extra sign-in step if one is offered.

No genuine member of a studio team will ever want your password. A message promising free gold or gems for it is an attempt to steal the account: ignore it and report it to the studio.

How a game earns a place in the map case

  • All eight open on the bothy laptop in a plain browser tab, and not one wants a download before the first click.
  • Starting is free in all eight, and none of them hides its main campaign behind the studio shop.
  • Villages, castles, factories and fleets keep working with the lid down, so even a glance while the rain eases sets something new in motion.
  • Each has a big, long-lived player community, and someone usually answers a beginner's question before the kettle boils.

No. Each of the eight opens in a normal browser tab on a desktop or laptop, and none of them needs a download to begin.

Nothing. Signing up and playing are free in all eight, and spending in a studio shop is always up to you.

No. Pennick only keeps the links in his map case; the games come from separate studios, and every button opens the official site of the studio that made it.

No. Every game belongs to its own studio, so each one needs a separate free registration.

Seven of them, yes: Travian, Sim Companies, Goodgame Empire, Lords & Knights, Anocris, Supremacy 1914 and Online Soccer Manager come with official studio apps. Seafight is listed here as a desktop browser game.

Online Soccer Manager before a match, or Sim Companies and Lords & Knights, where a quick visit sets up the next few hours. Travian and Supremacy 1914 reward longer, steadier planning.

Yes. Travian, Goodgame Empire and Lords & Knights are built around alliances, Supremacy 1914 runs on diplomacy, Seafight is full of rival crews, and Sim Companies and Online Soccer Manager pit you against real people in the market and the league.