How to get free games on Steam in 2 ways, including through the official Steam store

• You can get free Steam games in multiple ways, all of them perfectly legitimate.
• Many games on Steam are free to download and play, even if they also include in-game microtransactions that you can pay for.
• Some websites, like the Humble Bundle, occasionally give games away for free.
• Visit Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories.

Steam is the biggest platform for computer gaming, and sells thousands of games every day.

But among all the games that Steam offers, there are bound to a few free ones, right? Luckily, there aren’t just a few – there are many.

Here are a few ways to find free games on Steam, no matter whether you have a PC or Mac.

How to get free Steam games from the official Steam store

First, a quick note: When we talk about free games, they generally fall into a couple of different categories.

There are truly free games, which you download from Steam, and get immediate access to all of the content, no holds barred.

Most, however, are "Free to Play" games. Usually this just means that playing the game is free, but you can pay money for optional cosmetic items or downloadable content. Popular examples of this are "Warframe" and "Team Fortress 2."

Others, unfortunately, are basically glorified demos where you have to pay to unlock most of the content, but will eventually hit a paywall that you can't get past without paying.

You should also keep a lookout for games on sale. Steam holds sales dozens of times a year, and while most games will simply have their price reduced, it's not uncommon for games to become free for a limited time.

To check out the latest and greatest free games:

1. Open your Steam app on your computer and click "Store" at the top of the window, or go to http://store.steampowered.com.

2. Hover your mouse over the "Games" tab in the menu bar, and select "Free to Play" in the dropdown menu that opens. It should be the first option.

3. Scroll through the Free and Free to Play games, and add any of them to your library. You'll still need to download them like any other game before you start playing.

And here's a tip for navigating the free game market: many great games are free, but there's also a lot of low quality titles. When you click on a game to go to its page, check the reviews to get a sense of what it's like, and whether the game is worth your time.

How to get free Steam games from other websites

The other route to getting free Steam games is to subscribe to various websites that keep track of game giveaways.

These often come from indie studios looking for exposure, as well as developers either off-loading old games or beta testing new ones. 

Either way, these giveaways will often net you full games for free, without any microtransactions. 

A few sites you can bookmark and follow: 

1. Check out online retailers like the Humble Bundle. They sometimes have entirely free games on offer during certain promotions. The Humble Bundle also gives away games for free every month if you subscribe to their monthly bundles.

2. On Steam itself, check out the Steam Group FreeGameFinders.

3. Twitch offers free games occasionally through its Twitch Prime subscription service. The Prime rewards update monthly.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• How to update your Steam games manually or automatically, or update to a beta version of a game

• You can play many Steam games offline - here's how to turn on and use offline mode

• How to uninstall Steam games to save space on your computer, and reinstall them later

• You can refund games you buy on Steam, but there's a time limit - here's how to get your money back

• How to appear offline on Steam in 2 simple steps, so others can't see that you're playing online