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Norbert's slate by the clock

Shutters down at the Lammasby hall:
eight free games for the walk home

When the last cheese wheel is wrapped and the lamps are turned low, Norbert chalks eight free games on the slate that hangs under the great clock. There are two farms with produce to sell on, an empire that grows through the ages, two football sides to run, a quest board, a monster hunt across far-off zones and a dark fantasy dungeon crawl, and every one of them opens straight in a browser tab.

8games on the slate
8open in a browser tab
4with an official mobile app too
My Free Farm 2 key art
Norbert's first chalk mark

My Free Farm 2

Farming and production sim · Farm, town & zoo

The one Norbert would play himself, because it runs like a trader's week. You plant fields, keep livestock and fire up processing sheds that turn raw crops into goods worth selling on, then keep growth timers and standing orders humming along while the acres spread. The pleasure is in the planning: keep every shed busy and the whole farm hums along like the hall on a Saturday morning.

Good for
Planners who like a production line that runs smoothly.
Typical session
A harvest, a refill and an order or two
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Sow something that will be ready by your next look-in.
  2. Feed one processing shed before you build a second.
  3. Fill standing orders when your stores are full rather than all at once.
Play My Free Farm 2 freeOpens myfreefarm2.upjers.com/en in a new tab

Seven more chalked up under the clock

Farmerama key artFarm, town & zoo

Farmerama

Light-hearted farming sim

The sunnier of the two farms on the slate. You plant and harvest, raise a yard of cheerful animals and decorate the little farm until it looks the way you like, with seasonal events dropping in through the year to give the fields a fresh look.

  • A quick harvest and a tidy-up
  • Desktop browser
Best for & getting started

Good for: Anyone after a gentle, colourful farm to tend.

Your first session
  1. Sow the quickest crop first to learn the rhythm.
  2. Add animals once a few fields are paying their way.
  3. Keep an eye out for the seasonal events.
Play Farmerama freeOpens farmerama.com
Forge of Empires key artStrategy & war

Forge of Empires

City through the ages

A long-running city builder that walks one settlement from its earliest huts through the centuries. You lay out streets and workshops, push along a research tree that opens each new age, and fight tactical battles on a hex map when your neighbours get restless.

  • One building order and one skirmish each time
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Best for & getting started

Good for: Builders who enjoy steady, long-term progress.

Your first session
  1. Leave room to grow when you lay out the first streets.
  2. Keep the research tree busy so the next age opens.
  3. Try a few easy battles before taking on neighbours.
Play Forge of Empires freeOpens forgeofempires.com
Fallen Sword key artRole-play & adventure

Fallen Sword

Classic browser role-play

An old-school levelling adventure that sends you hunting monsters from frozen summits down to smoking volcanic flats. You pick up blacksmithing and alchemy, duel other players, and trade gear and buffs through an auction house run entirely by the community.

  • A hunt through a zone or two
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Best for & getting started

Good for: Players happy to grind steadily if the grind has layers.

Your first session
  1. Hunt in the first zones until a level or two comes easily.
  2. Choose a profession and stay with it.
  3. Browse the auction house before you sell anything.
Play Fallen Sword freeOpens fallensword.com
ManagerZone key artSport & management

ManagerZone

Veteran sports manager

One of the oldest web sports managers about, built on squad economy, drafting and training. You put clinics and club shops round your ground, rewatch old fixtures to learn how a rival lines up, and have your say in federation votes with fellow managers.

  • Training and a match review
  • Desktop browser
Best for & getting started

Good for: Managers who want deep systems and a veteran crowd.

Your first session
  1. Choose a training plan and let it run for weeks.
  2. Replay an opponent's last fixture before you meet them.
  3. Join a federation once you know the ropes.
Play ManagerZone freeOpens managerzone.com
Online Soccer Manager key artSport & management

Online Soccer Manager

Quick-start football manager

The football manager you can start before the kettle boils. Pick one of the real licensed clubs, choose a shape and the tactics for each fixture, haggle on the transfer list and send scouts after young talent, then face other human managers in a league of mates or strangers.

  • A team talk and a match day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Best for & getting started

Good for: Managers who want a season underway in minutes.

Your first session
  1. Start with a club whose players you can name.
  2. Check the tactics ahead of each fixture.
  3. Check players over before paying transfer fees.
Play Online Soccer Manager freeOpens en.onlinesoccermanager.com
Tanoth key artRole-play & adventure

Tanoth

Fantasy quest-board role-play

Fantasy for busy people. Pin your name to a job on the notice board and the adventure unfolds in real time while you get on with things; levelling hands you attribute points, ruins give up legendary kit, duels decide the ranking table and guilds gather for boss fights.

  • One or two quests squeezed between chores
  • Desktop browser
Best for & getting started

Good for: Anyone after a small daily dose of swords and sorcery.

Your first session
  1. Take a quest from the board and let the timer run.
  2. Put level-up points into one attribute at a time.
  3. Join a guild once the boss fights appear.
Play Tanoth freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/tanoth
Drakensang Online key artRole-play & adventure

Drakensang Online

Action role-play

The darkest line on the slate. A real-time action adventure in a gloomy fantasy world, where you settle on a class, grow its skills your own way and push into dungeons alongside other players, every swing and dodge happening the moment you click.

  • A couple of dungeons per sitting
  • Desktop browser
Best for & getting started

Good for: Players who like a quick, hands-on fight.

Your first session
  1. Choose the class whose style looks most fun.
  2. Spend early skill points on one approach.
  3. Team up for the dungeons once you know the controls.
Play Drakensang Online freeOpens drakensang.com

The whole slate, side by side

Title of the gameWhat type of gameThe pace of playPlaying with others in the gameHow long one visit usually lastsWhere you can run it
My Free Farm 2Sim of farming and productionSlow and steady, timer by timerAt whatever speed suits youA harvest, a refill and an order or twoDesktop browser; mobile app also available
FarmeramaCheerful farm simulationRelaxed, a field at a timeSeasonal events alongside other playersA quick harvest and a tidy-upDesktop browser
Forge of EmpiresAn age-by-age city builderSlow and steady through each eraNeighbours and guilds in a shared worldOne building order and one skirmish each timeDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Fallen SwordClassic browser role-playA steady grind, zone by zoneDuels, an auction house and a player buff marketA hunt through a zone or twoDesktop browser; mobile app also available
ManagerZoneLong-running sports managementWeek by weekFederations plus a well-established communityTraining and a match reviewDesktop browser
Online Soccer ManagerFootball management you can start fastMatch by matchLeagues where each rival club has a human managerA team talk and a match dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
TanothFantasy quest-board role-playQuests on real-time timersGuilds, duels and boss fightsOne or two quests squeezed between choresDesktop browser
Drakensang OnlineAction role-playQuick real-time combatDungeons tackled together with othersA couple of dungeons per sittingDesktop browser

What all 8 cost: nothing to start; in-game purchases are optional.

01

No admission charge at any of them

Joining is free on all eight and so is staying; the farms, the empire, the football sides and the quests all come in full without spending.

Every game keeps a little shop of shortcuts and dressing-up extras off to one side. Plenty of old hands never visit it, and a household computer can normally be given a spending cap from the account menu.

02

From the slate to the game

Tap the button on any card and the publisher's own site appears in a second tab. Give it an email address and you could be sowing, building or kicking off before the kettle has boiled.

All of them open with a tutorial. Stick with it to the finish: it shows you the menus and explains how each economy works, a stall at a time.

03

A teatime look or a long evening

Most of the slate keeps working while you are away: crops ripen, quests finish, the training week rolls on. Peek once before work and once after supper and nothing stalls.

Keep the quick visits for gathering in and setting new orders. Leave the long evenings for weighty moves such as a new age for your city, a big transfer or a tough dungeon.

04

Keep your login under lock

Each account is held by the game's own publisher, so type your login only on that publisher's real address. Choose a separate password for every title and switch on the extra sign-in code where it is offered.

Real support teams never want your password. Offers of free in-game currency in return for a login are bait for stealing accounts; report whoever sent it and get back to your fields.

What earns a line on the slate

  • Every one of the eight loads in an ordinary browser tab, so the first harvest or kick-off is only minutes away.
  • None of them charges anything at the start, and plenty of long-standing players never open the shop at all.
  • Crops grow, quests carry on and training weeks roll forward with the tab shut, so a teatime peek usually finds a job finished.
  • All eight have been going for years, which means a busy, long-settled community in each one to join forces with or to test yourself against.

No. All eight load straight in a browser on a computer: My Free Farm 2, Farmerama, Forge of Empires, Fallen Sword, ManagerZone, Online Soccer Manager, Tanoth and Drakensang Online.

Not to begin and not to keep going. Every name on the slate is free to join and free to play, and anything in their shops is entirely optional.

No. Norbert keeps to cheese, sweets and his glass roof in Lammasby. Each of the eight belongs to its own publisher, and each button on Norbert's slate leads you to that publisher's official site.

No. Separate studios run them, so every title wants its own sign-up: eight registrations in all, none of them costing a penny.

My Free Farm 2, Forge of Empires, Fallen Sword and Online Soccer Manager have official phone apps too, if you would rather tap than click. Farmerama, ManagerZone, Tanoth and Drakensang Online are made for the browser on a computer.

Tanoth, where a quest runs on its own timer, a quick harvest on Farmerama or a team talk on Online Soccer Manager. Drakensang Online and Forge of Empires reward a proper evening.

Yes. Fallen Sword has duels and a player-run auction house, Tanoth has guilds, Drakensang Online fills its dungeons with other players, and both football games put you up against real managers. Both farms are just as happy to be tended quietly on your own.