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When rain stops play on the plots

Eight games for the shed
while rain rattles the shed roof

When a summer shower sends everyone off the plots, Bryony Sevenspot settles into the shed with a mug of tea and a browser tab. Her shortlist of eight runs from a working farm and a railway empire to a space fleet, a multi-sport club and several long campaigns across medieval and wartime maps. Every one is free to start, with nothing to download first.

8free browser games
4also have a phone app
5genres to browse
My Free Farm key art
Bryony's shed favourite

My Free Farm

Classic farming sim · Farm, town & zoo

A plain-looking farm that has been running for years, with a far richer economy under the soil than its looks suggest. Seed goes in, livestock gets fed, crops go off to market, and the cleverness is all in staggering your sowings so no field ever stands bare. Bryony calls it the closest thing on screen to a plot of your own, minus the slugs.

Good for
Growers who care more about depth than decoration.
Length of a typical visit
Ten minutes between sowing and picking
Platforms it grows on
Desktop browser
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Sow something quick first, so you learn the harvest rhythm.
  2. Plan the next crop before the current one is ready.
  3. Bring in livestock only once the crops are covering their costs.
Play My Free Farm freeOpens myfreefarm.com in a new tab

Seven more for a wet afternoon behind the potting bench

PowerPlay Manager key artSport & management

PowerPlay Manager

Club manager across several sports

A whole sporting club house under one roof: hockey, football, handball and basketball clubs, all managed from a single login. Line-ups and tactics are your call against rival managers who are real people, every player can follow a training plan written just for them, and spare money goes into the arena.

  • About a quarter of an hour per club
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Club bosses who could never settle on one sport.

Your first session
  1. Begin with the sport you follow most closely.
  2. Set practice plans for your key players early on.
  3. Put leftover money into the arena before buying stars.
Play PowerPlay Manager freeOpens ppm.powerplaymanager.com/en
DarkOrbit key artSpace & sci-fi

DarkOrbit

Space combat MMO

A veteran space MMO in which your little starter ship mines ore, trades blows and is gradually refitted into something fearsome. Sign with a company and you are swept into huge fleet battles beside other pilots. About as far from a potting bench as this shelf gets.

  • Thirty minutes or more, like a good weeding session
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Sci-fi fans who want to fly the ship themselves.

Your first session
  1. Learn to steer and fire in the quieter starting sectors.
  2. Put early upgrades into the ship you actually fly.
  3. Join a company before heading into the big battles.
Play DarkOrbit freeOpens darkorbit.com
KingsAge key artStrategy & war

KingsAge

Taking medieval villages one by one

Old-school medieval conquest that runs on timber, clay and iron ore. Spearmen, swordsmen and horsemen come out of your barracks, scouts go ahead to size up a neighbour, and noblemen finally ride in to take the whole village over. Patience beats quick fingers, rather like planting out after the last frost.

  • Short visits spread through the day
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Planners who like a classic map of villages to win.

Your first session
  1. Grow your wood, clay and iron at an even pace, all three at once.
  2. Always scout a village before you march on it.
  3. Save up for noblemen once your army is steady.
Play KingsAge freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/kingsage
Khan Wars key artStrategy & war

Khan Wars

Strategy among medieval nations

Twelve medieval nations to pick from, each bent towards trade, economy or the battlefield. Armies draw on up to 28 kinds of troops, and guild members ride out together to lay siege to citadels and hang on to the land they take. Choose a nation as you would a plot: for keeps.

  • A daily visit, season after season
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Players who pick a side and stick with it.

Your first session
  1. Compare the nation bonuses before you decide.
  2. Let the economy ripen fully before you raise a large army.
  3. Find a guild early, because sieges are team work.
Play Khan Wars freeOpens khanwars.com
Supremacy 1914 key artStrategy & war

Supremacy 1914

Grand strategy across the First World War

Europe in 1914, played out on a map where the clock never stops. Factories and farms feed the war effort, armies march in real time and rival powers can be talked round or talked down, so a pact struck over breakfast may decide everything by teatime. Words weigh as much as divisions here.

  • Quick check-ins, several a day, like watering
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: History lovers who enjoy a good negotiation.

Your first session
  1. Strengthen your economy in the opening days.
  2. Talk to your neighbours before you mobilise.
  3. Look in at regular hours so your armies are never left idle.
Play Supremacy 1914 freeOpens supremacy1914.com
Rail Nation key artBusiness & tycoon

Rail Nation

Railway tycoon

Lay track, buy locomotives and feed the towns along your lines until they swell into cities, while rival companies race you for the same stations. What you carry and where you carry it decides everything, so a good timetable here is worth more than a fast engine.

  • Fifteen minutes to retune the routes
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Tycoon fans who love a tidy timetable.

Your first session
  1. Start with one short, busy route.
  2. Haul the goods that nearby cities are asking for.
  3. Reinvest in trains before stretching the network.
Play Rail Nation freeOpens rail-nation.com
Forge of Empires key artStrategy & war

Forge of Empires

City builder through the ages

Begin with a few huts and walk the town forward, age after age, until its streets would be unrecognisable to the first settlers. Layout, research and turn-based skirmishes lean on each other, and progress arrives in steady steps, which suits anyone who enjoys watching a bare patch fill out season by season.

  • A few minutes at a time, dipping in several times daily
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Builders who enjoy long, patient progress.

Your first session
  1. Lay out roads and housing before decorating.
  2. Work through the research tree to reach the following age.
  3. Try a few easy battles to learn the tactical map.
Play Forge of Empires freeOpens forgeofempires.com

The full eight, benched side by side like show entries

Game on Bryony’s listSort of game, as Bryony sees itSpeed of play overallWho you garden alongsideLength of a typical visitPlatforms it grows on
My Free FarmOld-school farming sim with proper fieldsSlow and steady, one harvest at a timeYour own farm, with a market to sell intoTen minutes between sowing and pickingDesktop browser
PowerPlay ManagerClub manager across several sportsConsidered, taking each match day as it comesLeagues of real people, no computer rivalsAbout a quarter of an hour per clubDesktop browser
DarkOrbitSpace combat MMOFast and hands-onCompanies fighting large battles togetherThirty minutes or more, like a good weeding sessionDesktop browser
KingsAgeTaking medieval villages one by oneMeasured, built on timingNeighbouring villages on a shared mapShort visits spread through the dayDesktop browser
Khan WarsStrategy among medieval nationsA long haul that rewards steady commitmentGuilds laying siege to citadels as oneA daily visit, season after seasonDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Supremacy 1914Grand strategy across the First World WarReal time, at a walking speedDiplomacy with rival powers on one mapQuick check-ins, several a day, like wateringDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Rail NationRailway tycoonSteady, route by routeA race against other rail companiesFifteen minutes to retune the routesDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Forge of EmpiresCity builder through the agesSlow and satisfyingNeighbours and guilds across the erasA few minutes at a time, dipping in several times dailyDesktop browser; mobile app also available

What the whole eight cost: they are free to play, and every one offers optional purchases inside the game.

01

Free to plant, free to keep growing

Nothing on this shelf charges at the door. The farm, the clubs, the railway, the fleet and the campaigns are all there in the free version, and you can tend them for months with your purse left shut in the shed.

The studios earn their keep with extras: cosmetic bits, special currencies, shortcuts through a timer. Ignoring them costs you nothing but a little patience, and on a shared family machine most studios let you block spending from the account page.

02

A first wet afternoon in the shed

Behind every button sits the official website of whoever makes that game, and it opens in a tab of its own. Expect a brief sign-up form before your farm, club, ship or town comes into view.

Most open with a tutorial that walks you round the basics. Bear with it to the end; it teaches the menus quicker than rummaging about like someone hunting for the shed key.

03

Quick sorties or long seasons

DarkOrbit is the hands-on pick of the eight, with you at the controls from the very first second.

KingsAge, Khan Wars, Supremacy 1914 and Forge of Empires reward the gardener's habit of popping in daily rather than slaving away all weekend. My Free Farm, Rail Nation and PowerPlay Manager fall somewhere in the middle.

04

Lock the shed door on your logins

Every studio keeps its own login, so check the web address before typing anything in. Give each game a password nobody else and nothing else uses, and accept any extra login check by text or app that the studio puts on the table.

No genuine helpdesk will ever want your password. A stranger dangling free currency in return for login details is eyeing your account the way a pigeon eyes the brassicas, so bin the message unanswered.

How these eight won a spot on the shed shelf

  • Every one of them runs inside an ordinary desktop browser, meaning a cloudburst over the plots can become a game before the kettle boils.
  • Registration is free on every one of them, and Bryony has yet to meet a game here that keeps its best bits from players who never spend.
  • The moods differ as much as the vegetables: a quiet farm, a busy railway, a fleet in deep space and campaigns that run for months.
  • The studios behind them are still tending their games, so the leagues, worlds and shared maps have plenty of people on them.

No. All eight play in a desktop browser. Khan Wars, Supremacy 1914, Rail Nation and Forge of Empires also offer an optional mobile app; My Free Farm, PowerPlay Manager, DarkOrbit and KingsAge are played in the browser.

Nothing to begin with. All eight are free to play, and buying extras is a choice nobody can make for you.

No. She just picked them. Separate studios make and maintain every one; this page merely sends you along to their official sites.

No. Each studio signs you up separately, one game at a time. Within PowerPlay Manager, though, one login covers clubs in several sports.

My Free Farm, with its fields, animals and harvests. DarkOrbit is the busiest and quickest of the eight.

Yes. PowerPlay Manager covers hockey, football, handball and basketball from one account, with leagues of human managers.

Supremacy 1914 plays out the First World War on a real-time map of Europe, while KingsAge and Khan Wars set their campaigns in the medieval world.