The ‘Flight Simulator 2020’ has caused interest in flight simulation video games to increase a lot in recent months. However, not all of us have the money to afford the game or a computer capable of moving it. Therefore, today we bring you the nine best free flight simulators so you can take to the skies without paying for the game.
In the list, we will try to have everything, from some less demanding simulators that do not require a large computer to move them to others that may need a better machine. Regarding the list, they will all be arranged in alphabetical order. As we have told you many times in Xataka Basics, we invite you to suggest other free simulators you think should be mentioned in our comments section.
DCS World Steam Edition
In today’s list, we will see all kinds of games, total flight simulators, and even space, but we will start with an aerial combat simulator in case you prefer a slightly more arcade aspect. Here, you will have military aircraft to face off in realistic dogfights, tanks, ships, and other ground vehicles.
What you will download is not exactly a complete game but a fragment in which you can complete its missions of the Caucasus and Black Sea regions. You will also have planes like the Sukhoi Su-25T and the American TF-51D from World War II. In addition to this, you will also be able to make purchases of another 25 additional aircraft.
- Link: Steam
FlightGear
It is a completely free open-source flight simulator, possibly one of the most complete on the list, and thanks to the support of the community, it has more than 400 aircraft. In addition, the game features 20,000 real-world airports in its full version, which weighs in at over 80 GB. All this with precise mapping based on data from the international Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) project.
The game also strives to have a sky system that places the sun, moon, and stars in a precise place depending on the time and the area where you are. Its mapping includes lakes, rivers, roads, train lines, cities, towns, and more, as well as beautiful night lighting to make it as realistic as possible. They promise that everything will work on mid-range computers, between $500 and $1,000, and it works on Windows and macOS or GNU/Linux.
- Official website: flightgear.org
GEeoFS
This proposal is quite different since it is not a game you must download and install on your computer, taking up space. Instead, it is a free web-based game, so you can play it in any browser with any operating system. In addition, it has 20 different planes and support for playing with a joystick.
In addition, it has the bonus that the game is massively multiplayer online, meaning you can meet other pilots. It also has commercial traffic in real-time and even tries to make the weather real depending on the site you are on. With satellite mapping, all this can be in high definition in exchange for a paid subscription.
Official website: geo-fs.com
Google Earth
It’s not a well-known feature, but the Pro desktop version of Google Earth has a flight simulator. Yes, you can only choose two planes and leave from an airport or the point where you are, and it is not focused on realism either. However, the version might work for you if you want to poke around a bit.
You can run the simulator from the tools menu once you have opened the application, and it does not work in the web version. The controls are explained on this web page; as expected, it uses the entire Google Earth database for navigation.
- Official website: Google.com/earth
Orbiter Space Flight Simulator
And if flying by plane is too small for you, this flight simulator will take you to space. It is a freeware game that is completely free for all Windows users. Yes, the bad news is that it is only for the Microsoft operating system, although you only need 4 GB of RAM.
The game has everything. It allows you to launch a realistic ship and dock it to the International Space Station and recreate historical missions. It also offers a futuristic ship to explore the entire solar system, design your rockets, and even explore high-resolution models of many other celestial bodies.
- Official website: orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk
Rise of Flight
It is another war game, but in this case, it allows you to control the classic planes of the First World War, perfectly recreated down to the smallest detail. Of course, it is not a game to delight yourself in flying and looking at the landscape because everything revolves around the battles.
The game can be played with a mouse or joystick and has 150,000 square kilometers of historical mapping. It has several game modes, a campaign that recreates various historical battles, and multiplayer and custom maps.
- Official website: riseofflight.com
World of Warplanes
Another simulator focuses on warplanes, and it has five types of planes and more than 250 models. The game is not an open world since the battles occur in specific and closed locations. Most of them are original, although based on real types of landscapes. In total, it has just over 40 maps and locations.
But this game stands out for how much you’ll be able to customize each plane, adding various types of weapons, engines, equipment, and consumables. The game promises a minimum of 4635 different configurations to fly.
- Official website: Worldofwarplanes. eu
X-Plane (Demo)
And before we finish, let’s go with a free demo of a much older game. We have been considering whether to include this game in the list because it is paid (about 60 euros). But X-Plane being one of the best titles in the genre and having a free demo; we decided to include it because it has the same number of planes as in its full version, flight models, and technology as the paid product.
X-Plane stands out for its exclusive model of flight dynamics, which evaluates the forces supported by the different sections of the aircraft, making the experience as realistic as possible. Also, it is a cross-platform game available for Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.
- Official website: X-plane.com.
YSFlight
And we are going to finish with another classic within the free flight simulators, one that may not stand out so much due to its graphics, which on the other hand, allows it to work on computers with fewer specifications. It is cross-platform, with Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux versions. It offers around 70 different aircraft with easy-to-use controls and an addon system.
You can play alone or in multiplayer mode, being able to simply fly commercial planes or participate in aerial battles. It even has a mode to do aerial stunts. You also get a quest system, open-world freedom, and a vibrant community that has helped grow a project for over ten years.
- Official website: Ysflight.org
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
