Free Realms

Free Realms: What You Need To Know

by Mike Smith

What's the big deal about Free Realms? Find out what makes this teen-friendly, colorful online world different than all the rest.

1. It's free.

Yup, you can log in and start playing right away. As the name suggests, Free Realms has no compulsory subscription fees or charges. Sure, you can pay a little extra for a few fringe benefits, but the team behind the game is committed to ensuring free players get just the same experience. There might be no such thing as a free lunch, but there sure is such a thing as a Free Realms.

2. It's safe.

Concerned about your family's online safety? If you're not, you should be -- but Free Realms offers a cast-iron system to make sure you're not exposed to offensive content. Child accounts can only communicate with an innovative symbolic chat system, which still allows them to chat with older players, but without any risk of exposure to inappropriate language. This is one online world where your kids can play without risk.

3. It's versatile.

Want to be a ninja? An archer? A chef? A mailman? A kart racer? Not only does Free Realms let you choose between far more character types than other massively-multiplayer games, you're not stuck with your decision once you've made it. In other words, you can switch out jobs whenever you like, leveling each one up separately. Want to check out another profession? Go right ahead.

4. There's plenty to do.

Bored of questing, chatting, and exploring? Free Realms offers far more play options than most games like it. You can master the cooking arts in the cooking minigame. You can hop in a high-octane kart and take on other players in a Mario Kart-style tournament. You can raise a pet, and train it to interact with other players. More is coming, too: watch this space for updates on new minigames added by the Free Realms team.

5. It's easy to get started.

Thanks to low system requirements, you don't need a specialized gaming computer to play Free Realms. Chances are, it'll run just fine on whatever PC you have already. There's no big download or shipping fees, either, because the game streams to your computer as you play. And with Free Realms' simple but flexible character generation tools, you can be dipping your toe into its world in a matter of minutes. You don't even have to think up a name. Unless you want to, of course.