This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
At some point in everyone’s life, money gets tight; whether it’s the economy, a baby on the way, a sudden layoff, or even just realizing your job isn’t as great as you thought there are points where "fun money" no longer exists. My mom used to call it “tightening our belts” – I just called it “the two years I had to wait before I got a Playstation”.
Regardless of the reasons why, a sudden lack of funding doesn’t mean you have to give up the fun in your life. Here are three easy ways to still enjoy gaming without having to sell plasma:
1 – Embrace the “Freemium”:
Yes, the word freemium kind of makes me sick to my stomach too. But, the completely made up word is a perfect term for the free games the internet has provided us. Whereas it used to consist of creepily animated (yet highly successful) farming and mobster simulators, the realm of the free-to-play game has wildly blown up in the past few years with a number of in-depth and fun games.
Want some strategy in your budgeted life? Riot Games has League of Legends – a character-based strategy/tower-defense game that has character development, a number of champions to choose from (all with various skills and play-styles) and a great group dynamic whether playing with friends or complete strangers.
Like hats? How about class-based first-person shooters? While the people who paid for the game might hate you, Team Fortress 2 went free-to-play recently and, even after having been out for years, is being constantly updated with new weapons, maps, and improvements – something you don’t see very often, even in newer titles. It’s fast-paced, highly competitive, and has that Valve flare that so many people religiously follow.
And those are just two of the big games that you don’t have to pay a dime to play – and if those aren’t you style? World of Warcraft allows you to experience the first twenty levels of their game for free, Civilization has a beta application on Facebook, and there’s always everything that Zynga puts out – from farming simulations to Vegas-style poker – that can easily satisfy your appetite for pushing buttons or interacting virtually with your friends and complete strangers.
2 – The Community Gamers
I know, having to put up with people in real life is a pain, but I would venture a guess that every town (or the nearby bigger city) has something like this — even the town I’m in has two of them!
If you’re willing to experiment in being a bit social, maybe even friendly towards your local compatriots, gaming communities are a great way to experience everything gaming has to offer without having to spend all the money yourself. Check out your local cyber cafes, universities, even Facebook – you’d be surprised to find that groups like this might already exist around your area.
If they don’t, then starting one is as simple as visiting these same places and getting the word out – chances are, there are a number of other gamers desperate to actually commune with like-minded people. Start a group on your favorite social media site and make it public, put up a couple of flyers, and I’m sure you’ll get more than a couple of piqued interests towards the idea. Sometimes, even become a part of a good message board will help you to find some local friends to meet up with — communities like Gamers With Jobs, Giant Bomb, and a few others are pretty well-known for its members hosting city-specific events.
Gaming communities allow people who like videogames, board games, anything really to share and interact with individuals who have a lot of the same interests as they do. With a couple of systems, a local blockbuster (or someone else who buys every game), and a place to play it’s easy to forge friendships and really stretch everyone’s gaming dollars that much further.
Just make sure that you play it safe and have the group meet in a public place before you move it to someone’s apartment – nothing ruins a community more than the guy who thinks it’s fun to drug everyone’s Mountain Dew.
3 – If all else fails? Embrace the trade.
As someone who recently stopped working at a popular retail chain that takes in used merchandise, I’m fearful of recommending this option. But sometimes, there’s no other way to sate your thirst for the newest and greatest titles. While this might be common sense for some, it always pained me when a kid came in and took four dollars in store credit for a title he bought three days ago.
While a lot of retail chains (Gamestop, Best Buy, and a number of others) work within the realm of trades, it’s up to you as the owner to realize what those games are really worth. Be patient; every company eventually has numerous deals that can really up the value of your games.
If it’s a new title that you beat too quickly or just didn’t like, consider Amazon or Ebay. Whether you trade it or sell it with either of these companies, you’ll usually get considerably more for newer games than you would from a physical retail chain. Playing it smart means you’ll have considerably more money or credit to spend than you normally would, and can certainly make buying your games much more of a possibility.
Buying those same used titles can also really help you save some money if you’re willing to wait a little while to play, but make sure you do your research first – a lot of titles now come with one-time use codes that you have to pay extra for. While some of them are little more than extras, others require it for online play, certain content, and a number of other things. Make sure you know what you’re buying before you shell out $50 for a month-old title – only to spend another $15 in order to play with your friends.
And these are just three ways you can still play games without having to peruse the black market for how much one of your lungs might be worth. Have any other tips? Leave them in the comments below!