Steam is a platform that empowers millions of gamers and developers. It is designed and developed by Valve, the gaming studio behind hit titles such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Left 4 Dead, and Portal.

Among the multitude of genres that Steam has in store, it features a long list of free-to-play role-playing games (RPG) that continue to delight customers every day. These free RPG games are easy to learn and offer thousands of hours of gameplay to keep players glued to their seats. From anime to strategy games, these titles cover a wide spectrum of subgenres.

Updated on April 6, 2024, by Mark Sammut: Free Steam RPGs are not a daily occurrence, but most months tend to produce one or two projects that fit the bill. While they are not quite among the best options on the platform, recent weeks produced games like Firestone: Online Idle RPG and LISA: The First.

Path Of Exile

Steam User Rating: 88%

Path of Exile is a free-to-play action RPG that immerses players into the dark continent of Wraeclast. The world provides gruesome combat, enchanted items, and deep character customization. Players and their party members can choose to play different classes such as the Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow, and the Scion.

Players can journey across Wraeclast and discover ancient secrets in an epic adventure. They can learn unique skills and trade gems while playing through quests and missions. Path of Exile offers PvP tournaments and Capture the Flag events on an international scale and encourages players with daily leagues to climb up ladders and win exquisite prizes.

Guild Wars 2

Steam User Rating: 88%

Those looking for a fantastic, engrossing, and downright massive MMORPG experience can load up Guild Wars 2. This epic from Arena Net has been running strong for over a decade and recently entered a free-to-play state. Players are able to snag the base game on Steam and enjoy most of the fun that Guild Wars 2 has to offer. They'll sadly be locked out of some content due to free-to-play restrictions but these can be lifted for those that obtain the DLC content and expansion packs.

Guild Wars 2 features incredibly fluid and satisfying combat that will keep most players hooked from the moment they try it. With multiple classes, specializations, an array of weapons, and some amazing storylines, Guild Wars 2 is the perfect free-to-play RPG for those who are craving something they can easily sink hundreds of hours into.

Warframe

Steam User Rating: 86%

Warframe is a frontrunner for the most improved game of all time. When the title launched in 2013, its enjoyable blend of third-person shooter and melee gameplay was let down by repetitive levels and bland environments. The game's foundations were strong but the overall package left something to be desired.

Nearly a decade later, Warframe has evolved into an ambitious project that includes open-world sections, deep lore, an impressive roster of Warframes and weapons, and a gameplay loop that makes grinding rewarding. The RPG is absolutely stacked with content, and all of it is available for free. Anyone looking for a new game they can sink hundreds of hours into should give Warframe a shot, and that includes players who only tried the free RPG during its first year or two on the market.

Grimm's Hollow

Steam User Rating: 98%

Released just in time for Halloween, Grimm's Hollow is a story-driven RPG about a girl, Lavender, who finds herself in the afterlife. Once there, she sets out to locate her brother. That makes up the crux of the journey, although Grimm's Hollow does throw in a few neat surprises along the way.

While the gameplay is nothing more than serviceable, Grimm's Hollow makes up for it with a lovable protagonist, charmingly grim visuals, and an emotional narrative. It is also pretty short and does not overstay its welcome.

Eternal Senia

Steam User Rating: 97%

Eternal Senia drops players in a tower filled with monsters and tells them to climb. In due time, the anime RPG begins to expand on its plot by exploring Senia's past and the one relationship that matters the most to her. Although it takes its time, the story is well written and builds nicely to a trio of endings.

Utilizing a simplistic but effective combat system, Eternal Senia delivers an enjoyable, if not particularly challenging 5-hour campaign. The boss encounters are especially satisfying.

Moonring

Steam User Rating: 97%

A small project that caters to old-school sensibilities, Moonring came and went without making much of a fuss, an inevitable outcome exasperated by major releases like Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield occurring around the same time. Still, Fluttermind's roguelike has plenty of positives in its favor, and it can scratch an itch that not many other free Steam RPGs try to reach. More importantly, these types of indie games are typically fully fleshed-out experiences that can be enjoyed without worrying about hitting time limits or restrictions imposed by bigger free-to-play MMOs. They exist just to be enjoyed, and Moonring oozes passion.

Dropped into the mysterious world of Caldera, players are both given smart directions and left to explore blindly. The latter comes in the form of the world's lore, the story's purpose, and many of the main mechanics that will hog most playthroughs. However, Moonring also provides enough early guidance to ensure players do not immediately find themselves running headfirst into walls. Like many classic dungeon crawlers, the world (and its inhabitants) move when the player does so, which adds an element of strategy when approaching enemies. While combat is quite simplistic, it is complemented by a pretty good skill progression system that is linked to this universe's gods.

Old School RuneScape

Steam User Rating: 90%

RuneScape will last forever, at least that seems to be the popular opinion. While the franchise has produced modern iterations, Old School RuneScape presents a way for the original incarnation to be accessed in 2022. Naturally, the game looks incredibly dated, but that is also part of its appeal.

However, Old School RuneScape's visuals were never its calling card. The game's longevity can be largely credited to the freedom it provides players. In this MMORPG, users can decide what type of existence they want to lead. Wish to specialize in monster hunting? Go for it? Desire a quiet life? Old School RuneScape supports that choice.

Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis

Steam User Rating: 71%

Phantasy Star Online 2 spent nearly a decade stuck in Japan, but it eventually morphed into New Genesis. This iteration tweaks quite a few things, including the introduction of an open-world as a replacement for self-contained regions. That is just the most obvious change, as New Genesis also revamps PSO2's combat, progression, and graphics.

New Genesis has plenty of things going for it that make it worth a download at the minimum. The real-time gameplay is fast-paced, responsive, flashy, and simply fun. This goes beyond just the combat, as Sega also took steps to ensure that traversing the map is also enjoyable. The world is beautiful and diverse without being too huge. The main story is decent for an MMORPG, even if it is on the short side. However, New Genesis is very grind-heavy, in the sense that the game expects players to just head out and fight enemies to gain experience. There are not all that many quests, at least compared to other free Steam RPGs.

Shakes And Fidget

Steam User Rating: 93%

Shakes and Fidget has been around in some form or another since 2009, and its mobile and web browser origins are hard to ignore. Still, the game has enjoyed a successful run on Steam, developing a fairly positive reputation over the 6+ years it has been on Valve's platform. Designed with a casual audience in mind, the RPG allows players to pick a class and race for their main character, who they will then be able to send out on quests to earn things like experience or items. Naturally, the game utilizes a timer to limit the player's potential actions, although it is reasonably forgiving when compared to many games that use a similar technique.

Shakes and Fidget's uniqueness comes from its fortress management system. Eventually, this location will serve as the player's main hub where they can develop their party, bringing quite a bit of depth to the experience. The actual battles are completed automatically, so the majority of the gameplay revolves away from the battlefield.

The Lord Of The Rings Online

Steam User Rating: 81%

World of Warcraft and Runescape are not the only MMORPGs seemingly destined to last forever. The Lord of the Rings Online has been around for more than 15 years, and while the game launched with a subscription, it eventually went free to play in 2010. Nowadays, all players have access to the base content and all the expansions up to Helm's Deep, which requires them to reach level 95. After that, they would need to invest in the remaining five LOTRO expansions. The free level has a couple of other restrictions like allowing only two character slots on a server, but players can subscribe to the VIP or Premium tiers if they want to break these walls.

LOTRO's combat and visuals expose its age, which is hardly surprising considering there is only so much a developer can change via updates. Combat is probably the game's weakest point and can be off-putting to newcomers who want something a bit more exciting. However, LOTRO's storytelling and world are not only fantastic but rank among the genre's best. The MMORPG does an admirable job of bringing Middle-earth to life while also writing character-driven quests that contribute to a sense of narrative progression rather than coming across as busywork.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Steam User Rating: 89%

Celebrating more than a decade of activity in 2022, Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the MMORPG genre's staples. Any fan of the sci-fi juggernaut franchise should give BioWare's title a try since the game's writing is generally of high quality. Along with the base content, the free version also includes two expansions (Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan), which is more than enough material to keep somebody busy for potentially months.

The Old Republic has robust class and morality systems, allowing players to pick whether they want to align themselves with the light or dark side. Each class even follows a unique storyline, presenting a reason to try out different playstyles beyond just shaking up the core gameplay. As this is a 2011 title, The Old Republic's combat is fairly archaic by this point, and it was never among the genre's best, to begin with. However, the game's storytelling more than makes up for it.

Tower Of Fantasy

Steam User Rating: 71%

Genshin Impact took the world by storm thanks to its satisfying open-world gameplay that felt similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Unfortunately, the release never made it to Steam but one of its direct "competitors" did. Tower of Fantasy is another free-to-play release with a very similar style but focuses much more on the combat elements and weapon designs than miHoYo's adventure.

Anyone who likes the look and feel of Genshin Impact (as well as its Gacha-style character and weapon unlocking methods) but wants something that feels more like an action-packed hack-and-slash should give Tower of Fantasy a try.

Lost Ark

Steam User Rating: 71%

Lost Ark tells a tale of two halves. On the one hand, the action RPG's core gameplay is among the best in the free-to-play scene. The isometric game takes obvious inspiration from Diablo 3, a decision that results in stylish and satisfying real-time combat that is visually striking and mechanically deep. Presentation-wise, the MMO knocks most aspects out of the park, including a strong art style. The world is also unique, large, and fun to explore, serving as a fantastic setting for a fairly lengthy and enjoyable main campaign.

For all its positives, Lost Ark's monetization holds the game back from earning an unabashed recommendation. Simply put, they are rather invasive and lend themselves to a pay-to-win structure, which is a huge issue in a game that supports PvP. Obviously, this shortcoming is reduced if a player focuses solely on Lost Ark's PvE aspect. In some cases, this game might be best treated as a story-driven RPG with a definitive endpoint rather than an MMO built around its endgame.

The Elder Scrolls Arena & Daggerfall

Steam User Rating: 82% (Arena) & 88% (Daggerfall)

• 	The Elder Scrolls: Arena	The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall
  Released	1994-03-25	1996-09-20
  Developer(s)	Bethesda Softworks	Bethesda Softworks
  Genre(s)	Action RPG	RPG
  How Long To Beat	25 Hours	31 Hours

In the RPG sphere, The Elder Scrolls needs no introduction. Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim are royalty by this point, and The Elder Scrolls Online has blossomed into one of the most consistent MMORPGs on the market. As well-loved as the franchise is as a whole, Arena and Daggerfall do not seem to be held in as high esteem as their successors. Both of these were landmark releases that pushed the RPG genre forward, and their ambition is still evident when viewed through a modern lens. They are also free on Steam, so anyone can pick them up to see where The Elder Scrolls got its start.

Arena and Daggerfall are mainly fascinating from a historical perspective, and the former is especially difficult to revisit in this day and age. Daggerfall has aged better than its predecessor, and its dungeons are fantastic; nevertheless, a high tolerance for slow and frustrating gameplay is required. These games might not hit the mark with everyone, but they still deserve to be remembered and experienced. Also, mods are always an option.