Are you a fan of social gaming? If you prefer titles that let you chill out with friends or cause some mayhem with familiar faces, then our picks of the best free friends games will no doubt do the trick. The choices we've selected have plenty of co-op functionality to ensure you and your close friends can have endless streams of fun in the virtual realm.
In this list, we'll run through a few games that work perfectly when playing with friends. Even better, these games are totally free, so you and your pals can dive into them without worrying about spending money. There's nothing better than a good time shared with friends, but being able to do so without paying is even better!
Here are the best free friends games
World of Tanks
First on our list is a brilliant military game where you and a bunch of friends can control history-spanning tanks in battle. World of Tanks first launched way back in 2010 but is still going strong with hundreds of tanks on offer. Even better, you can customise them to your liking, tweaking their weaponry and design to make either a heavy cannon-based tank or a zippy LMG-style vehicle.
It's a great time with friends too, mainly thanks to the Clan Wars game mode that lets you form alliances with your pals. Together you contribute towards developing your stronghold, before taking it to a vast open map, dotted with other clans too. It then becomes a frenetic battle to defend your stronghold from enemy attacks while also planning sieges on rival bases to expand your influence across the map. It's a far deeper and more tactical mode than you may expect, making World of Tanks a must-play with friends.
Genshin Impact
If your favourite gaming memories with friends involve exploring vast open worlds, look no further than Genshin Impact. Available on PC, PlayStation consoles, and mobile, this gacha game takes place in the open world of Teyvat, often compared to Hyrule from the Zelda games. With grassy biomes and enemy-infested caves, there's plenty to see in Genshin Impact.
In terms of playing with friends, Genshin Impact has a Domains mechanic where you can clear dungeons with teammates alongside you. It's not quite the same as venturing through Teyvat alongside pals, but the rush of slaying enemies and tackling hulking bosses more than makes up for it. You can spend your free time grinding through the open world to level up your stats, then dive into Domains with friends to show AI enemies what you're made of. That's the thrill of Genshin Impact!
Words with Friends
Words with Friends is one of the longest-running games you can play cooperatively, and there's a good reason behind that. The concept is really quite simple: it's effectively a game of Scrabble, played in gradual turns, one by one. What will no doubt start as a reasonably straightforward affair, slotting in basic words with your available tiles, will eventually balloon into intense scraps where you're each trawling through your vocabulary to take the win.
Following the incredible surge in popularity of Wordle and other word games in 2022 so far, Words with Friends will certainly prove an even more enticing prospect now than it ever has before. If the slightly detached comparisons of daily Wordle scores isn't competitive enough for you, then Words with Friends is the perfect remedy. Just make sure you brush up on your vocabulary beforehand to show your friends who has the best grip on the English language!
Draw Something
Last on our list for now is Draw Something, another turn-based game that you can play with friends. Similar to Pictionary, you and one friend each take turns to scribble together a sketch of a prompt word, with the other player tasked with guessing what it is. For those not blessed with natural artistic skill, it makes for some wacky experiences as you try your best to draw something vaguely resembling your target.
Draw Something will inevitably lead to some hilarious memories, with absurd guesses far out of left field, or drawings that simply don't resemble their intended target. If you prefer a more casual game to play with friends, one which lets you play at your own pace in bite-sized turns, then Draw Something will more than suffice.
That's it for our list of the best free friends games for you and some pals to enjoy! Be it war games or even just word guessing, there's all sorts of titles in here that should do the trick. If you're looking for even more social fun, look no further than our picks of the best free multiplayer games to check out.
For even more of the best game recommendations out there, check out our list of the best free RPG games for hundreds of hours worth of gameplay. On top of that, we've got a look at the best free sports games, as well as the best free action games, to cover the interests of all sorts of gamers.