20 best free games for Windows 8

At first, there were only a few games for Windows 8, but half a year later, things are very different. Whether you’re looking for shooter, platformer, or realtime strategy game, there are lots on offer and among the (unfortunately) large number of bad games, you can find some real gems. Below is a list of games for Windows 8 that are just waiting to be played.

Windows 8 Games

Jetpack Joyride

In Jetpack Joyride, you use your jetpack to run and fly nonstop through a never ending landscape. Just like other endless runner games, the only difference is in the obstacles and gold coins you find along the way. Great graphics and a catchy soundtrack make for a light-hearted game that’s not too difficult.

Jetpack Joyride on Windows 8

Judge Dredd vs. Zombies

In Judge Dredd vs. Zombies, you have to defend Mega-City One from a zombie attack. Using different weapons, you clean out zombies from different areas over the various levels of the game.

Judge Dredd vs Zombies on Windows 8

Roman Empire

In Roman Empire, you take on the role of power-hungry Caesar. Your goal? To conquer Europe. You’ll have to vanquish neighboring villages, create alliances and make spur of the moment decisions.

Roman Empire on Windows 8

Monkey Flight

Fans of Angry Birds will enjoy Monkey Flight. Helped by special objects, the aim is to launch the monkeys so that they pick up the floating fruit.

Monkey Flight on Windows 8

Mortar Melon

In Mortar Melon, the aim is to throw watermelons from the left edge of the screen into a randomly positioned basket. This becomes more difficult when obstacles like rotating blades are added to the mix and the difficulty increases with each level.

Mortar Melon in Windows 8

My Country

In this copy of SimCity, your mission is to build a bustling metropolis. You’ll have to build and place various buildings, roads, and other utilities to create the necessary infrastructure. If the people are happy, revenues will increase and your building plans will be safe, but if you don’t manage to organize the construction well, you’ll find that building flies out of control.

My Country on Windows 8

3D Boat Race

3D Boat Race lets you compete on the water in high speed boats. Arch-shaped goals show you the route to the finish.

3D Boat Race on Windows 8

Paper Dash

This game is a remake of the classic, Paperboy. The main character is a paperboy and you need to steer him around the obstacles that he’ll find on his route.

Paperdash on Windows 8

Parking Mania

The noble art of parking is recreated in Parking Mania. The aim is to park your car in a particular space. Just as in real life, however, this isn’t always easy – there’s little room to maneuver and the best spots are already occupied by other cars. Along the way, you pick up coins and other bonuses.

Parking Mania on Windows 8

Radiant Defense

This is a colorful tower defense game. In your role as commander of a space station, you have to defend it against external attacks. Slow down your opponents by positioning defensive towers and walls.

Radiant Defense on Windows 8

3D Marble Tracks

3D Marble Tracks is an interesting mix of mini golf, bobsled racing, and billiards. You’re going to need a lot of patience and a steady hand to get to the end!

3D Marble Tracks on Windows 8

Shuriken Ninja

In this puzzle, you play the part of a ninja. Use your shuriken stars and throw them to create chain reactions so that they hit several targets at once.

Shuriken Ninja on Windows 8

SoulCraft

This time we have an action-packed role-playing game full of sinister characters. In Soulcraft, you fight your way through a colorful fantasy world as an angel, demon, or human being, building up your character by gaining experience in combat, weapons, and objects.

SoulCraft on Windows 8

Trick Shot Bowling

Trick Shot Bowling is a classic bowling game where you can choose to play against the computer or real opponents. Decide for yourself where to aim and how hard to bowl the ball so that you can create a particular effect.

Trick Shot Bowling on Windows 8

3D Paperball

Throwing a screwed up ball of paper helps to release tension. In 3D Paperball, these paper balls are virtual ones and you can show off your basketball skills by hitting the trash can in various different scenarios.

3D Paperball on Windows 8

Agent P Strikes Back

This fun adventure stars Perry the Platypus, a character from the animated series Phineas and Ferb. The idea of the game is simply to jump between platforms and defend yourself against a series of animals that Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz has released to wreak havoc.

Agent P Strikes Back on Windows 8

AirHockey

A good game for two people, AirHockey is classic game room entertainment. In Windows 8, the floating discs you play with become touch-sensitive controls.

Airhockey on Windows 8

Drift Mania Championship 2

Drift Mania Championship 2 is a fun racing game with good graphics and a catchy soundtrack that makes full use of the motion sensors built into your tablet.

Drift Mania Championship 2 on Windows 8

Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek

The idea behind this game is a mystery and your job is to find the hidden objects and clues in the scene. The graphics are very good and full of details. The soundtrack also helps create an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek on Windows 8

Guns 4 Hire

In this fast-paced action shooting game, characters are armed to the teeth. The control system is similar to that of Command & Conquer.

Guns for Hire on Windows 8

What do you think are the best games for Windows 8?

Original article by José María López on Softonic ES.

How to: use SpeedFan to control PC’s fan speeds

speed-fan-icon SpeedFan is a powerful and useful program, but its interface can be intimidating and confusing to use. In this post, we’ll guide you through the basics of SpeedFan.

The first thing you want to do is see if your motherboard is compatible with SpeedFan’s fan control feature. A master list of supported motherboards can be found here. If your motherboard isn’t supported, you can still use SpeedFan as a monitoring or troubleshooting program. Continue reading “How to: use SpeedFan to control PC’s fan speeds”

How to open Excel files without Excel

If you need to open an Excel document but don’t have Microsoft Office installed, then don’t fear – you can open them with Microsoft Excel Viewer.

Microsoft Excel Viewer is a simple application which allows you to open Excel sheets without Excel. Once installed, just double-click on the file you want to open and Microsoft Excel Viewer does the rest:

It’s just like using the real thing but obviously, there’s no editing of any kind allowed but it’s ideal for just browsing or viewing Excel documents if you don’t have Office or your Excel isn’t working.

If you need to edit Excel, you can opt for OpenOffice which is completely free to use and allows you to both open and edit Excel, PowerPoint, Word and many other formats although it’s much heavier and requires a longer installation process than Microsoft Excel Viewer. There’s also LibreOffice which you can read more about here.

Download Microsoft Excel Viewer.

How to: Create a photo slideshow in PowerPoint

You’ve probably had a few PowerPoint photo slideshows in your email already. They seem to be a popular topic for messages coming from friends and relatives with too much spare time on their hands. But have you ever tried creating one? It’s easier than you think, and it might actually be a good way to share pictures – just don’t abuse the slideshows with cute kitty images!

1. Open up PowerPoint, click the Insert tab and then the Photo Album button. Select New Photo Album to open the Photo Album settings menu.

2. In this new window, click the File/Disk button to select the photos you want to use in your slideshow. Remember you can select multiple files simultaneously by holding the Ctrl key while selecting them with your mouse.


Continue reading “How to: Create a photo slideshow in PowerPoint”

8 Things You Must Do Before Reformatting Your PC

Your PC is slow. Really slow. You’ve used CCleaner to get rid of the garbage, you’ve lightened the load by uninstalling bloatware with Revo, you’ve checked inside, outside, upside down and backwards for a virus, and you still have time to make a coffee by the time it takes your computer to start up. Is it time to reformat your hard drives?

Luckily for you, reformatting your computer is really simple. Go to My Computer, find the offending hard drive (in all likelihood, C:) and right click. You’ll see Format… under the context menu options, and find all the information you need when you click.

What takes a little more effort, however, is preparing for the reformat. As it will erase absolutely everything on the disk, if you don’t make the right preparations, you could find yourself with a faster computer, but absolutely nothing to do on it. Follow the steps laid out in our list first to make reformatting your hard drive as easy and safe as possible!

Continue reading “8 Things You Must Do Before Reformatting Your PC”

Three ways to open DOC files without Word

Whether you like it or not, DOC files are a standard for sharing documents online these days. The problem comes when someone emails you a DOC file and you don’t have Microsoft Office installed on that computer. Don’t worry: even if you don’t have Word on your system, there are other ways to open DOC files without Word – and all three of them for free:

1. Google Docs

Google’s online suite not only creates and saves documents as DOC, but also works with DOC files imported from your hard drive. So if you ever find yourself with a DOC file on a Word-less computer, head to Google Docs in a web browser and click the Upload button. You’ll be able to import files from your hard drive, up to 1024 MB – 500 KB per DOC file.

Three ways to open DOC files without Word

Continue reading “Three ways to open DOC files without Word”

3 free ways to open Word documents without Office

Yesterday my father rang me wanting some help with opening a Microsoft Word document. He didn’t have Microsoft Office installed, there was no way he was going to pay up to $229 to buy it and to cap it all, he’d never even used a word processor before. I shuddered at the challenge that lay ahead of me but to my pleasant surprise, within 10 minutes I’d taught him how to open, edit, save and even send the document by e-mail – and all without having to have Microsoft Office or Word installed on his computer. If my dad can do it, anyone can and so here’s 3 ways that you can do the same:

1. Google Docs

If you’ve received the document by e-mail, download it, go to Google Docs and upload it. Note that you’ll need to sign-up for a Google Account first.

google-docs-upload.png

Simply browse to the file you want to upload and it will open automatically in Google Docs.

google-docs-upload-2.png

From there you can edit it in much the same way as you can in Word and send it by e-mail directly from your Gmail account. Continue reading “3 free ways to open Word documents without Office”