Back to Snowblock Suites
Before the fur throws come out

Eight games for the warm lodge
while the ice rooms settle for the night

Nobody carries a laptop into a room carved from ice, so the sleepers of Snowblock Suites leave their bags in the heated lodge by the river and gather round the long pine table after supper. Umbertuft keeps eight free games on the list there, from a galaxy of player bases and island trade routes to a jungle city, a medieval tribe, a soccer club, a zoo, a company and an arena of home-built battle cars. Every one of them runs in a normal browser tab except Crossout, which comes as a free Windows download.

8games kept for the lodge
7run in a browser tab
5have a phone app too
My Free Zoo key art
The concierge's soft spot

My Free Zoo

Classic zoo builder · Farm, town & zoo

Umbertuft has a soft spot for any game full of animals, and this traditional zoo builder is the one he opens first after the night shift. You lay out the enclosures pen by pen, bring in the animals and keep the visitors happy while the park spreads further out. Feeding rounds, breeding and decorating make for a slow and pleasant climb.

Good for
Players who like a calm park to look after.
Typical session
Fifteen quiet minutes
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Build a few enclosures before you bring in rarer animals.
  2. Feed every animal on each visit.
  3. Lay paths and add decorations as visitor numbers climb.
Play My Free Zoo freeOpens myfreezoo.upjers.com/en in a new tab

Seven more for the pine table in the lodge

Astro Empires key artSpace & sci-fi

Astro Empires

Galactic strategy

Picture the night sky over the frozen river turned into one enormous board. Every player plants bases on its planets and moons, and you widen your empire base by base, launch fleets and side with a guild when the shared map erupts into organised war.

  • Short check-ins, longer war nights
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Strategists who want a huge map to carve up.

Your first session
  1. Grow your home base before you spread out.
  2. Build a small defensive fleet early.
  3. Seek out a lively guild before the large wars break out.
Play Astro Empires freeOpens astroempires.com
Ikariam key artStrategy & war

Ikariam

Island empire strategy

A sun-warmed island empire, about as far from snow as the lodge list goes. Every isle grows only one luxury good, which pushes your towns into trade; cargo ships ply the routes between them while research creeps forward, and rival ports are besieged once bargaining fails.

  • Brief drop-ins, several a day
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Players who like economics steering the war.

Your first session
  1. Learn which luxury resource your island holds.
  2. Set up a cargo route to a second town early.
  3. Keep research moving between building jobs.
Play Ikariam freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/ikariam
Tentlan key artStrategy & war

Tentlan

Mesoamerican city strategy

A Mesoamerican strategy game, as far from a frozen river as Umbertuft can travel. You raise a stepped city, juggle its stores and make alliances while spreading over a living map. Careful plans pay back far more here than quick clicking.

  • Ten to twenty minutes
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Planners who enjoy steady progress over many visits.

Your first session
  1. Plan the city layout before building fast.
  2. Keep an eye on every resource, not just one.
  3. Join an alliance once you know the map.
Play Tentlan freeOpens int.tentlan.com
Tribal Wars 2 key artStrategy & war

Tribal Wars 2

Medieval village conquest

Follow-up to a classic village-conquest game. A medieval hamlet grows into a fortified village, its troops march on neighbouring land, and whole tribes plot their raids in step across a world lasting months, so loyalty counts as much as walls.

  • Daily calls over a long campaign
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Competitive players willing to stay a whole season on one world.

Your first session
  1. Strengthen the village before recruiting a big army.
  2. Find a tribe early on and pick up its plans.
  3. Watch your neighbours before you pick a fight.
Play Tribal Wars 2 freeOpens tribalwars2.com
Online Soccer Manager key artSport & management

Online Soccer Manager

Soccer club manager

Real licensed clubs, ready to manage within minutes of signing up. You settle a formation and match tactics ahead of each fixture, bargain for signings, scout young talent and then measure your club against rival human managers in the league.

  • Ten minutes ahead of every match day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Armchair managers who want a season under way tonight.

Your first session
  1. Pick a club whose squad you really want to manage.
  2. Choose a formation that suits the players you have.
  3. Scout players before you spend in the transfer market.
Play Online Soccer Manager freeOpens en.onlinesoccermanager.com
Virtonomics key artBusiness & tycoon

Virtonomics

Multiplayer economics sim

An economics game played by many at once, where farms and mines feed the factories and the factories feed shop chains. Once a day the server settles everybody's orders in one go, so a thoughtful plan written over breakfast beats any amount of busy clicking.

  • One quick planning stop a day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: patient players who like a measured business game.

Your first session
  1. Begin with a single, simple supply chain.
  2. Check prices in the player market before you build.
  3. Make your choices before the daily update runs.
Play Virtonomics freeOpens virtonomics.com
Crossout key artAction & arcade

Crossout

Post-apocalyptic vehicle combat

The loudest game on the list and the only one that will not open in a tab. You bolt armoured battle cars together from scavenged parts, then take them into arenas against other players. Umbertuft keeps it as a free Windows client on the lodge laptop, and it runs on PlayStation and Xbox too.

  • A few rounds at a sitting
  • Free PC download (Windows); also on PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox One/Series X/S
Good for & first steps

Good for: Tinkerers who like to build a machine and then test it hard.

Your first session
  1. Download the free Windows client from the studio's own website.
  2. Try the starter vehicle before changing parts.
  3. Rebuild one piece at a time and test each change.
Play Crossout freeOpens crossout.net

All eight side by side, like parkas on the lodge hooks

PickGenre, as the concierge files itPace of a stayCompany in the lodgeUsual visitPlays on which machines
My Free ZooClassic zoo builderRelaxed and long-runningA park of your ownFifteen quiet minutesDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Astro EmpiresGalactic strategySlow build, sudden battlesGuilds at war on one shared mapShort check-ins, longer war nightsDesktop browser
IkariamIsland empire strategyUnhurried, built on tradeTrade partners and rival portsBrief drop-ins, several a dayDesktop browser
TentlanMesoamerican city strategyPatient, planned across visitsAlliances across a living mapTen to twenty minutesDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Tribal Wars 2Medieval village conquestA long, committed campaignTribes coordinating attacksDaily calls over a long campaignDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Online Soccer ManagerSoccer club managerQuick to start, steady over a seasonLeagues of human managersTen minutes ahead of every match dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
VirtonomicsMultiplayer economics simUnhurried: one round of decisions dailyA market shaped by other playersOne quick planning stop a dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
CrossoutPost-apocalyptic vehicle combatFast arena fightsLive players in battle arenasA few rounds at a sittingFree PC download (Windows); also on PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox One/Series X/S

All eight cost nothing to play, though every one sells optional extras in-game.

01

Nothing owed at the lodge door

Every game on the lodge list can be started for nothing and played deep into without spending; the zoo, the star empire, the soccer club, the company and the car arena all live in the free version.

The studios live on optional extras such as decorations, a bonus currency of their own or a skip past a timer. Plenty of lodge regulars never touch them, and parents sharing a lodge laptop can usually switch purchases off on the studio's account page.

02

Your first night in the lodge

Press the button on a card and the studio's own site opens beside this one. Expect a brief registration before the park, base, town or club shows up, and for Crossout, a Windows client to fetch first.

Each of the eight opens with a short lesson on how its world works. Stick with that lesson to its last screen; it explains controls and resources sooner than wandering about on your own ever will.

03

A short visit or a long sitting

My Free Zoo, Virtonomics and Online Soccer Manager suit short visits, since the park, the market and the season keep moving while you are away.

Astro Empires, Ikariam, Tentlan and Tribal Wars 2 are long campaigns that grow over weeks and months. Crossout is the one to save for an evening, a round or two at a time.

04

Keep your logins as safe as the hotel keys

Logins differ from studio to studio, so enter yours only on the true web address of the game you mean to play. Never reuse one password across the eight, and switch on the second sign-in code any studio lets you add.

Helpers at a studio never need to hear your password. Anyone who dangles free bonus currency in return for your login wants the whole account, so bin the message the way Umbertuft sweeps snow off the doorstep.

How the lodge list was chosen

  • Seven of them load straight into a desktop browser tab; Crossout is the exception, a free Windows client that runs on PlayStation and Xbox as well.
  • You pay nothing to open an account at any of the eight, and the heart of each game is yours without spending.
  • The moods range from a quiet zoo round to a months-long tribe war and a loud arena of armoured cars.
  • Each studio still runs its game, so the leagues, markets and shared maps stay lively.

Only Crossout, a free Windows client playable on PlayStation and Xbox as well. Seven of the eight load in a desktop browser; Virtonomics, Tribal Wars 2, Tentlan, Online Soccer Manager and My Free Zoo add a mobile app, while Astro Empires and Ikariam stay desktop browser games.

Nothing up front. Every game on the lodge list is free to play, and whether you ever buy an optional extra is your call alone.

No. He only plays them in the lodge. Each game is run by the studio that made it, and each button here leads to that studio's official site.

No. The studios are separate, so you sign up for each game on its own.

My Free Zoo, where a feeding round and a new path make a full visit. Crossout is easily the noisiest of the eight.

Yes. Online Soccer Manager lets you run a real licensed club and compete in leagues against other human managers.

Astro Empires, Tribal Wars 2, Tentlan and Ikariam all reward joining a guild, tribe or alliance and sticking with it for weeks.