If you thought those invertebrates in Worms were vicious little blighters, then wait until you've checked out Hedgewars, in which armies of hedgehogs pit their wits against each other.

Hedgewars sees you take control of a team of hedgehogs and during the course of the game, control switches from one to the other. You must use whatever tools and weapons that are at your disposal in order to defeat the rival gang. There is a vast range of these available in Hedgewars, including stuff like parachutes, bazookas, cluster bombs, mines, pick axes, TNT, etc. Each provides a uniquely amusing way of dispatching your enemies.

Controlling Hedgewars is a little weird to start with, as there is no cursor displayed on screen. You can move around the playing area by moving the mouse, but the controls of the hedgehogs themselves are all based around the cursor keys. The only time the mouse is used in Hedgewars is to access the arsenal of weapons by right-clicking.

Hedgewars proves to be a fun and amusing diversion, which is great to look at with some hilarious sound effects and speech. Just like Worms, its beauty lies in the fact that no two games you play in Hedgewars will ever be the same, as terrains are randomly generated every time.

If you're tired of commanding worms and lemmings perhaps it's time to switch to Hedgewars.

Download Hedgewars 0.9.6 in Softonic

Free Orion is an open-source, platform-independent galactic conquest game in the tradition of the Master of Orion games. Its commercial competitors, just to give you an idea, are VGA planets, Galactic Civilizations and Space Empires. Free Orion instead is a collaborative promising project, a community effort that moves forward based on the motivation and contributions of users and it is currently in the alpha stage.

Although graphics can be interesting, the game is somewhat difficult to enjoy for new players. There is little in the way of guidance and at the beginning, FreeOrion appears rather boring. In theory, victory is achieved by eliminating all ships and planets belonging to other empires, that's fairly standard, but at this stage there isn't any combat yet.

You must read the 'quick' play guide, (which isn't that quick) in order to understand a bit what to do. The guide starts in a very step by step way: 'to start a game, run the freeorion executable, then click on the 'Single Player' button on the main menu, then 'OK' on the Galaxy Setup screen. You should then see a starmap which you can drag around with the mouse and zoom in/out with the scrollwheel. The triangle next to the star is a fleet. Clicking the fleet opens the fleet window. Try moving fleets around to explore, making a new colony or clicking on techs in the Research screen to read their descriptions.’

If you are patient enough, and you are really passionate about strictly strategic games you might want to try this project and maybe collaborate in the related forum for further, more exciting releases. As specified in the game's Wiki, the easiest way to contribute when new to the project is simply to join in brainstorming discussions on the forums.

Strictly for strategic games lovers, an intriguing, promising game.

Download FreeOrion 0.3.9 in Softonic

Freeciv is a free turn-based multiplayer strategy game, in which each player becomes the leader of a civilization, fighting to obtain the ultimate goal:To become the greatest civilization. Freeciv is maintained by an international team of coders and enthusiasts, and is easily one of the most fun and addictive network games out there! That also means it has very extensive multilanguage support, something rare in games.

The goal of Freeciv is to build cities, which in turn can build armies to attack the other players. You start with 2 settlers and 1 explorer. Using the numeric keypad, move the settlers to a good location and build a city by pressing b (for build). Freeciv is turn based; every unit can move once per turn.

Cities also produce units, which can be used for various purposes, from fighting wars to enhancing infrastructure. Different strategies depend on different focuses between things external and internal to a city.

The eventual goal of the game is to win either by using military units to conquer all opposing civilizations, or by using massive scientific knowledge and production to build a spaceship to send to Alpha Centauri before your rivals can do so.

Download Freeciv 2.1.4 in Softonic

Your aim in UFO: Alien Invasion is to fight the forces of evil in a world that has turned over a leaf in the next stage of it's evolution.

While war and famine have been virtually eradicated, one major threat remains hanging over mankind - the threat of alien invasion. UFO: Alien Invasion is a free game rich in background history and strategy. You have to lead a crack commando team to destroy and investigate the increasingly dangerous extraterrestrial technology which threatens to wipe out the human race. The game takes the shape of a strategy/shoot-em-up action based thriller which requires a certain amount of guile and map reading ability as well as a quick trigger finger. The missions are incredibly well thought out and rich in detail and although the graphics aren't exactly stunning, there are some excellent special effects. It's easy enough however to pick up pretty quickly although to get the most out of the game, you'll have to consult the Wiki which has extensive details of the how to play.

A very well designed and thought-out game that, considering it's completely free, will thrill any UFO enthusiast or strategy game fan.

Download UFO: Alien Invasion 2.2 in Softonic

Scorched 3D is a game based on the classic DOS game Scorched Earth "The Mother Of All Games". You can pick up the game and begin playing very quickly. Then, you can delve in to the dimmer recesses of the game and get into the strategy.

At its lowest level, Scorched 3D is an artillery game with two or more tanks taking turns to destroy opponents in an arena. Choose the angle, direction and power of each shot, launch your weapon, and try to blow up other tanks.

But Scorched 3D can be a lot more complex than that, if you want it to be. You can earn money from successful battles and use it to invest in additional weapons and accessories. You can play with up to twenty four other players at a time, mixing computer players with humans. There's a variety of changing environmental conditions and terrains to be dealt with. After the end of each round (which ends when everybody dies or there's only one person left), you get to buy stuff using the prize money you won from previous matches.

Download Scorched 3D 41.3 in Softonic

The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme.

Build up a great army, gradually turning raw recruits into hardened veterans. In later games, recall your toughest warriors and form a deadly host against whom none can stand! Choose units from a large pool of specialists, and hand-pick a force with the right strengths to fight well on different terrains against all manner of opposition.

Wesnoth has many different sagas waiting to be played out. Fight to regain the throne of Wesnoth, of which you are the legitimate heir... step into the boots of a young officer sent to guard a not-so-sleepy frontier outpost... vanquish a horde of undead warriors unleashed by a foul necromancer, who also happens to have taken your brother hostage... guide a band of elvish survivors in an epic quest to find a new home.

200+ unit types. 16 races. 6 major factions. Hundreds of years of history. The world of Wesnoth is absolutely huge and limited only by your creativity - make your own custom units, compose your own maps, and write your own scenarios or even full-blown campaigns. You can also challenge up to 8 friends - or strangers - and fight in epic multi-player fantasy battles.

Download Battle for Wesnoth 1.2.5 in Softonic

You are manager of Grandpa's Mickey DeeDees, a popular fast food restaurant with a drive through. Take an order by clicking on the appropriate buttons (burger, fries, etc.). If the customer changes his mind, you can reduce the quantity of an item by clicking on the small button to the left of the item's quantity. When all items have been entered, click on the "Total" button and 5% tax will be added. If you want to have a sale, click on the "Yes" button under the 20% Sale label and prices will be adjusted. Enter the amount paid by the customer by clicking on the cash buttons at the bottom left and click on the "OK" button. The change will be calculated for you.

Download Mickey DeeDees 2.0.1 in Softonic

We invite you to the world of Gunbound, which takes place in Planet "Lond" and its 8 moons. Gunbound means "The infinite war between each unique mobile and its riders." In Lond 16 unique mobiles are available.

Each of these different environments has its own unique character and you'll soon find yourself in the middle of some intense gun battles. The surrounding environment set in Gunbound dynamically changes according to the "Moon Disk." Pay attention to the Moon Disk as it changes every other turn.

Players will participate in battle after wearing their own avatars and choosing the mobile they want. Winners will receive their reward at the end of each battle and with the reward, the players will purchase an avatar item(s) of their choice to use in future battles.

The overall objective is to excite the audiences that are watching the battle with your amazing skills and beautiful avatars. The player will receive special rewards if the audiences are pleased but bad performances means you will be booed off by the crowd.

Download GunBound World Champion 551 in Softonic