Independent editorial · Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand's free-to-play game guide
Sydneynests reviews and curates free-to-play games across strategy, action, fantasy, simulation, MMO and city building — browser, desktop and mobile. We play them, write honestly, and send you to the official site.
Discovery board
10 reviewed
Genres in rotation
Featured collection
All 10 titles are free to start. Some include optional in-game purchases — each review says exactly what is sold.
A free-to-play combined-arms MMO where aircraft, tanks and warships share the same battlefield across historical and modern settings.
Suits: Players who enjoy military simulation, PvP tactics and long-term progression.
A fantasy city builder where you choose elves or humans and grow a magical settlement through research, trade and gentle expansion.
Suits: Players who like city building, light strategy and a calm fantasy setting.
A gentle farming and restoration sim: clear overgrown land, grow crops, keep animals and slowly bring a coastal village back to life.
Suits: Anyone who wants a relaxing, cosy game they can dip into for a few minutes at a time.
A classic real-time medieval browser strategy game built on resource management, army composition and alliance diplomacy.
Suits: Strategy veterans who enjoy long persistent worlds and alliance politics.
City building crossed with hero collection and turn-based battles, moving your civilisation forward through historical eras.
Suits: Players who want strategy and RPG progression in the same game.
A hero-collection RPG where you assemble a five-strong team, upgrade their skills and take them through campaigns, arenas and guild wars.
Suits: Players who enjoy collecting characters and optimising team composition.
Browse by play style
Direct fights, fast decisions and vehicles or ships you can feel.
3 titles
War Thunder · Hero Wars · DarkOrbit Reloaded
Explore collectionResource maths, army composition and long-range planning.
4 titles
KingsAge · Heroes of History · King of Avalon · Rise of Kingdoms
Explore collectionHeroes, magic and settings that lean into myth and legend.
2 titles
Elvenar · Hero Wars
Explore collectionCities, farms and stations that grow the more you plan.
4 titles
Elvenar · Sunrise Village · Heroes of History · Galaxy Citadel
Explore collectionLow-pressure games you can play in short, calm sessions.
2 titles
Sunrise Village · Galaxy Citadel
Explore collectionShared worlds where alliances and clans do the heavy lifting.
5 titles
War Thunder · KingsAge · King of Avalon · Rise of Kingdoms · DarkOrbit Reloaded
Explore collectionEditor's current picks
Best for strategy
Lilith Games
The real-time world map makes marching distance and rally timing genuinely tactical, and the civilisation choice changes how the first month plays.
Best for relaxed progression
InnoGames
Fifteen quiet minutes a day is a complete way to play it. Nothing punishes you for logging off, and the restoration loop always has a next small goal.
Best for large-scale battles
Gaijin Entertainment
Nothing else in the catalogue puts aircraft, tanks and ships in the same match with this much detail — and Arcade mode keeps it playable from New Zealand.
Choose by your moment
I have 10 minutes
Short loops you can finish in a break.
See matching games →
I want a long campaign
Deep progression across weeks.
See matching games →
I want something relaxing
No timers breathing down your neck.
See matching games →
I want competitive action
Ladders, arenas and PvP maps.
See matching games →
I want to build a world
Cities, farms and orbital stations.
See matching games →
I want to play with others
Alliances, clans and fellowships.
See matching games →
How Sydneynests reviews games
Publisher announcements, reader suggestions and genre communities.
Multiple sessions across every platform the game supports.
Scored relative to the alternatives already in the catalogue.
Official domain, account requirements and 2FA availability.
Revisited on a rolling schedule and after major updates.
New this month
About Sydneynests
Sydneynests is a small Wellington editorial team. We play free-to-play games properly, describe them honestly and link straight to the publisher's official website. We are not a developer, publisher or store, and we do not host any of the games listed here.
Publishers cannot buy a listing or a rating. Where affiliate links exist we disclose them, and they never change what we write. Some of these games include optional in-game purchases — we always say which, and whether spending gives a competitive advantage.
More about the teamEvery listed title can be played without paying. Some include optional in-game purchases, and we say which.
Links go to the publisher's own domain — never a mirror, portal or shortened URL.
We note what works in a browser, what needs a desktop client and what's genuinely good on a phone.
Reviews carry a last-reviewed date and get revisited when games change.
FAQ
Yes. Every title in our catalogue can be created, downloaded where relevant and played without payment. Free to start is not the same as free of purchases — see the question about in-app purchases below.
No. We are an independent editorial site. We do not host, publish, operate or own any of the games we write about. Every 'Visit official website' button sends you to the publisher's own site.
No. There is no Sydneynests account. Saved games are stored in your own browser using local storage, so they stay on your device. Individual games usually require their own free account with the publisher.
Many titles have full iOS and Android apps, and each review lists its supported platforms. A few — such as KingsAge and DarkOrbit Reloaded — are designed for desktop browsers and are cramped on a phone.
An editor plays the game for at least several sessions, records notes against our published criteria, checks the official domain, and compares it with similar titles already listed. Games we don't consider worth your time simply aren't added.