18 Undiscovered Websites Every Gamer Should Know

The gaming niche is characterized by its haves and have-nots. You’ve seen Kotaku, IGN, GameSpot, Joystiq, 1UP and the others, but what about the great, lesser-known gaming sites?

This post introduces 18 great gaming sites you might not have seen before. Whether you’re looking for freebies, music, laughs or oddities, there’s something here for occasional and hardcore gamers alike.

1. Overclocked Remix is a community hub of users who painstakingly remix and arrange video game music. There are thousands of tracks available for download. If you like the soundtrack to your favorite game, you can bet it has been remixed and reworked here.

2. The Freeware Indie Games Database offers just under 1,000 play-tested freeware titles from independent game developers. The games here are innovative and unique. Some of them are bound to be re-developed as Wii titles.

3. POKE is a light-weight utility that allows you to cheat in almost any single player game, whether it’s already published or to be published in the future.

4. The Daedalus Project gets into the minds of MMORPG players. The website’s author has surveyed over 35,000 gamers and provides a detailed break-down of his findings in areas such as the player life-cycle, making friends and status reversal. It’s fascinating stuff.

5. Gaming Magazines of the Pre-Internet Era is a treasure trove for retro gamers. It links out to .PDF databases of old and out of print gaming magazines.

6. The Grand List of Role Playing Game Clichés is a list of 100+ painful clichés any RPG fan would have encountered before. My favorite? The No! My beloved peasant village cliché: “The hero’s home town, city, slum, or planet will usually be annihilated in a spectacular fashion before the end of the game, and often before the end of the opening scene.”

7. GameCakes is the website for people who love cake and video games. These game-themed cakes run the gamut, from the bizarre to the majestic. The scrumptious photos will have you baking your own cupcakes in no time.

8. CrazyPC is the hardcore gamer’s place for computer accessories. All the neon, case mods, plexiglass, tubes and coolant fluid you can poke a memory stick at.

9. VGMusic is host to 24,000+ midi versions of video game tracks from all your retro favorites: Megaman, Mario, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, et al.

10. Build Your Own Gaming Computers is a website dedicated to helping you… well, you can probably guess. Gaming rigs sell for thousands of dollars and learning to build your own can save you lots of cash. This website provides advice on the entire process, from choosing parts to installation.

11. Abandonia offers thousands of abandonware DOS downloads. Abandonware essentially means games which aren’t sold anymore, prompting their release into the public domain. They’re the games you might have owned and loved as a child or teenager. Chances are you’ll find some old favorites here.

12. Jay is Games sources out the best casual games and brings them directly to you. The blog’s authors sure know their stuff and their opinions are worth listening to. Subscribe to their feed for a daily stream of gorgeous, idle distractions.

13. Old Grandma Hardcore is the blog of a foul-mouthed, lovable gamer grandma (with the pictures to prove it!). No, we’re not talking Brain Training and The Sims — we’re talking games like Bioshock and The Darkness. This grandma really is hardcore!

14. Insert Credit is a multi-author Japanese games and culture blog specializing in breaking news from the land of the rising sun.

15. Replacementdocs is an online archive of .PDF game manuals for thousands of popular games. If you’ve experienced the frustration of losing the manual to your favorite title, replacementdocs should have a solution for you.

16. Wonderland is an odds-and-ends gaming blog mainly known for its cool gamecrafts. From Darth Vader backpacks to Quake coasters, this blog is proof that gamers are an arty bunch.

17. The Speed Demos Archive is host to hundreds of videos documenting the efforts of those dedicated individuals who’ve conquered games in the shortest time possible. Watch epic games like Half Life 2 and Icewind Dale beaten before your lunch-break is over.

18. The System Requirements Lab analyzes your computer, benchmarking it against the minimum requirements of a specific product. Ever wondered if your computer can handle that gorgeous new release? Now you’ll know.

Update: Here are some more great websites that you might not have seen before, suggested from our readers:

Skellie on January 23, 2008 Subscribe to our RSS Feed

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123 Responses to “18 Undiscovered Websites Every Gamer Should Know”

cwgreen on January 23rd, 2008 9:55 pm

A very nice collection of sites. I can’t wait to check out the collection of old magazines in *.pdf. I see hours at work being wasted
JoeTech.com on January 23rd, 2008 10:38 pm

Great list! I can see myself wasting most of my evening, now.
DaveUK on January 23rd, 2008 11:06 pm

gamespot? pleeeeeze.
avoid the gamespot scum please.
if you use firefox like me, try the customizegoogle plugin, it
allows you to auto remove desired websites from google
results. now i never have to see anything from crapspot.
Orin on January 23rd, 2008 11:07 pm

Were the hell is http://www.noobtoob.com
Dr. Acula on January 23rd, 2008 11:16 pm

http://www.gamenewshq.com should have made the list
Daniel on January 23rd, 2008 11:16 pm

DaveUK, we have not said Gamespot is good, just that you probably already crossed it .
Tim on January 23rd, 2008 11:17 pm

What about http://www.gameflood.com which is the best site for PC mods.
john on January 23rd, 2008 11:22 pm

http://tf.erzz.com is a great UNBIASED blog that just loves to rip the hyped games apart
Daniel on January 23rd, 2008 11:26 pm

Keep them coming and we’ll update the list soon.

Thanks for the input guys.
ross on January 23rd, 2008 11:30 pm

Taking notes :p
http://www.spymac.com/details/?2335841
Justin on January 23rd, 2008 11:35 pm

Just an FYI - I run http://www.modojo.com - a website focused on the handheld videogame space. DS, PSP, mobile, and iPod. We try to be professional and comprehensive, but we also don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Cheers for the list. A few of them are now bookmarked.
FrankieB on January 23rd, 2008 11:44 pm

C’mon, you forgot the best Guitar Hero/Rock Band related video game site in existence.

http://www.scorehero.com
Advocate on January 23rd, 2008 11:44 pm

I’d like to know what you think about this one.
Phi on January 23rd, 2008 11:45 pm

In during 80 million people spamming their websites for digg.
Vince on January 23rd, 2008 11:49 pm

Shame on you !
You forgot NoFrag !
http://www.nofrag.com
Nitzan Wilnai on January 23rd, 2008 11:50 pm

If we are already shamelessly spamming:

What about VGViews? http://www.vgviews.com

Its very new but it should definitely be on the list. Web 2.0 social networking site for gamers.
Justin on January 23rd, 2008 11:54 pm

At least in my case I was up front about it being MY website, instead of trying to pass myself off as just a fan :p
CFA on January 23rd, 2008 11:55 pm

Wow! What a list. Thanks for this great compilation.
jDon on January 24th, 2008 12:09 am

I’d add http://gorillagamer.com. it lets you bet on games you play against others. awesome.
DB on January 24th, 2008 12:10 am

Another one at http://www.toabase could be posted. AKA
The Outcast Alliance is a great source for news
Johnathan on January 24th, 2008 12:10 am

What about http://www.Gamervision.com?
PENIX on January 24th, 2008 12:11 am

Add http://www.antigamer.com to that list.
Daniel on January 24th, 2008 12:12 am

OK looks like we’ll be able to do a “101 Websites Every Gamer Should Know - The Ultimate List” hehe.
xyzzy on January 24th, 2008 12:13 am

I have to say that vgviews.com is pretty sweet!

It lets you review any game you have ever played and then people rate your review!

They even have contest for the best review where you can win a Wii!

They are giving away a Wii every month for the next 3 months!
Michael Price on January 24th, 2008 12:17 am

Shameless self-pimping but I would’ve liked to see Cyberscore: http://www.cyberscore.net/ on that list

As badly in need of a remake as it is, I think it’s yet to hit prime time in terms of traffic and would go quite nicely on your list
Toni "the money" Moni on January 24th, 2008 12:18 am

WTF you have not included the amazing multi platform gaming site http://www.ggmania.com/ check it for the proof !
Swizzle on January 24th, 2008 12:22 am

Begin shameless plug >

I’ve worked very hard to bring together a wide collection of DOS shareware/freeware games including descriptions and videos for each game. I think it’s a notable mention

http://www.dosmuseum.com/
GunAbort on January 24th, 2008 12:31 am

Hell, newspail has all the news and nobody’s even heard of them.
Slappie on January 24th, 2008 12:34 am

Videogamey.com is new(ish) but different. I like it.
bob on January 24th, 2008 12:57 am

http://www.multiplayergames.com

looks like it’s up and coming, some great blog articles so far about all aspects of online gaming
Johnny on January 24th, 2008 1:31 am

19. http://www.GamesForWork.com - 7000+ casual games ALL with embed code.
Chris W. on January 24th, 2008 1:38 am

This is a great video game review site with buit-in social networking. Users rate other users and determine for themselves which people’s reviews are most trustworthy!

http://www.vgviews.com
Nicholas on January 24th, 2008 2:08 am

http://www.sarcasticgamer.com

Pure hilarity.
Subsonic on January 24th, 2008 2:09 am

Nice list, thanks, but I must add my favorite:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/

“It’s about PC games, it’s written by four of Britain’s top games journalists, and it aims to cover everything from the latest breaking stories about the biggest games to esoterica from the format’s obscurest peninsulas.”
im a manatee on January 24th, 2008 2:25 am

Uh… where is consoleheroes.com?
Nephesh on January 24th, 2008 2:25 am

How about some free Open Source games?

http://fossgamer.110mb.com/index.html
Ralph on January 24th, 2008 2:50 am

What about gameSniped? Showcases rare video game auctions.

http://www.gamesniped.com
Adam on January 24th, 2008 3:09 am

Jay is Games is great, especially the flash game competitions they have every once in a while. There’s usually some really creative stuff there.
zeke on January 24th, 2008 4:31 am

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/

Import games

http://www.the-magicbox.com/index.html

http://www.siliconera.com/
Powerup1 on January 24th, 2008 4:55 am

I think ReplayGamez is a cool site to check out. This site is the Netflix of video game trading. Unlike other trading sites, they inspect all video game trades. No points scheme No hassle !!

http://www.replaygamez.com
Elliott on January 24th, 2008 6:53 am

HTTP://WWW.URBANTERROR.NET/ !!! Dont forget that!
Fizzle on January 24th, 2008 6:54 am

Great list you’ve got going here. I had heard of a few, but a few others were news to me (and great finds). Well played sirs. Well played.
Beer Baron on January 24th, 2008 6:56 am

A website about cakes but not my site? Cmon…

http://www.nextgenwalkthroughs.com

Instead of shitty text guides, we post videos of every stage of the game.

Or how about Twin Galaxies…
http://www.twingalaxies.com/

And I second SarcasticGamer.com
Moe on January 24th, 2008 7:28 am

http://www.vgmuseum.com
Scott on January 24th, 2008 8:07 am

You’ve got indie game sites and abadonware game sites but no game mod sites? What about all the gamers who want to play something which is a modification of a AAA game they already own?

Gameflood was already mentioned which is ok, but lacks a lot of content, http://www.moddb.com is a great resource for those looking for something different
nin on January 24th, 2008 8:09 am

If you’re into point and click games, than this one is definitely worth a visit:
http://www.bontegames.com
marcellizot on January 24th, 2008 8:23 am

I reckon http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk should make the cut. A great focus and great writing. Most of the staff are ex EDGE or PC Gamer and some of their weekly pieces are inspired.
Kristen Mallahan on January 24th, 2008 8:26 am

The System Requirements Lab was an interesting one but I found it wrong in a few cases. Either way, great list!
yeah on January 24th, 2008 8:34 am

High Voltage Sid Collection
SebeT on January 24th, 2008 9:42 am

Sort of a metacritic but more detailed and in portuguese. Soon to be in english.
SebeT on January 24th, 2008 9:43 am

…

http://www.gameslink.com.pt
Cinema Gamer on January 24th, 2008 12:18 pm

Hi,
you missed out on us - Cinema Gamer - a place for video game cinematics.
q3c on January 24th, 2008 1:44 pm

Build Your Own Gaming Computers is sadly filled with outdated infromation. It helps users decide between AGP and PCI-E! It talks about dual core computers as “becoming popular” while 64bit processing is supposedly the “latest trend”.

Not a bad read, but could make an unexperienced computer builder commit some fatal judgement errors.
creaothceann on January 24th, 2008 1:58 pm

If you have speeddemosarchive.com you should also include tasvideos.org!
creaothceann on January 24th, 2008 2:24 pm

Another one: http://www.mirsoft.info
Dan on January 24th, 2008 2:28 pm

Don’t forget http://www.cgempire.com...
Daniel on January 24th, 2008 3:05 pm

Good point qc3. What do you use when getting advice for gaming machines?
Logan on January 24th, 2008 3:25 pm

Also add:

http://www.Gamerdeals.net/
marie-j on January 24th, 2008 4:18 pm

i don’t read the rest of the sites they’re with most of the time, but i really like ds fanboy (dsfanboy.com) because they can be really funny. their holiday stuff was a riot.

great list here! the only one i really read already was insert credit, but now i have a lot of new places to go!
casey cochran on January 24th, 2008 4:19 pm

you missed gamehuddle.com
blaa on January 24th, 2008 5:54 pm

yoyogames.com ftw!
Matt D. on January 24th, 2008 5:57 pm

Great list!
mrcoolz on January 24th, 2008 9:46 pm

hey guys, just wanted to add these guys at http://www.xboxnowonline.com . they do a pretty good job as well and their news column is top notch. great sites tho :-D.
Inane Rambler #1742 on January 24th, 2008 10:40 pm

the omission of http://www.dream17.co.uk/ is unforgivable
Giania on January 24th, 2008 11:26 pm

Can’t mention OCRemix without mentioning Ormgas!
It’s the streaming radio station for OCR.
It allows you to listen to tons of OCR remixes without having to hunt and grab, and allows for listener voting. They’ve got a pretty strong community going, with forums and IRC.
that’s http://oc.ormgas.com for those keeping score.
Absolver on January 24th, 2008 11:32 pm

I’m not sure what build-gaming-computers.com is doing on this list. It hasn’t been updated since early 2007, and certainly does not provide information that is in any way relevant these days. Might want to provide a more current site than this with regards to the art of box-building.
squirrel on January 25th, 2008 12:09 am

Another one to add to the list, especially if you liked the magazine site! A monthly free magazine just as good as print mags.

http://www.dpad-magazine.com
PWNED on January 25th, 2008 1:38 am

move over myspace

http://www.PWNED.com
Denny on January 25th, 2008 2:36 am

Just because a product is no longer available for purchase does not mean that it is public domain. Copyright still persists, regardless of availability. “Abandonware” is a lie — websites like http://www.liberatedgames.com/ are more accurate.
Mark Hurst on January 25th, 2008 3:38 am

What about Good Experience Games…
http://goodexperience.com/games

…which has a list of over 200 free online games?
Nick on January 26th, 2008 7:19 pm

How about GoNintendo? ^____^
Dan on January 27th, 2008 5:30 am

Heres a top site like newgrounds!

http://mostplays.com

Can get paid for uploading games aswel!
Rob Welkner on January 27th, 2008 7:30 pm

don’t forget about the coolest internet channel - http://www.thestream.tv featuring COIN-OP TV LIVE woot!
Jeremy on January 28th, 2008 2:48 am

You should also check out Gamerflicks at http://www.gamerflicks.com. They are a website that keeps track of video games being turned into movies and any kind of crossovers. They list an Assassin’s Creed movie on there.
Olu on January 28th, 2008 11:01 am

You should check out Vigster. its a social network for video games where users can create virtual game shelfs to show off their games, connect with friends, discover new and exciting video and computer games, rate and review games, voice their opinions, have their say, comment on games, share games, share gaming experiences, explore games and much more.
MarcoMR on January 29th, 2008 9:26 am

It’s almost shameless not pointing http://www.indiegames.com/blog , it’s awesome. Best Indie (both commercial and free) news site ever … or kinda …

And ggmania.com as well as evilavatar.com are great sites refering gaming news.
Larry "Liontamer" Oji on February 1st, 2008 5:42 pm

Thanks very much for including OC ReMix on this important list, Skellie. We always appreciate the word of mouth! Indeed, we’ve got over 100 hours’ worth of free video game ReMixes tributing over 500 games, so there’s something for everyone.

We definitely encourage any gamer or music fan to stop by and see what we have to offer. Analogous to how there are so many other good websites most don’t know about, we have tons of ReMixes from many game soundtracks that you probably haven’t heard of yet. Don’t let that stop you from downloading our music & album torrents (http://bt.ocremix.org/) and discovering tons of enjoyable music!

Larry “Liontamer” Oji
Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix
Creator, VG Frequency
http://www.ocremix.org
http://www.vgfrequency.com
Chan on February 5th, 2008 7:33 am

I really appreciate for the list. Thanks very much for including OC ReMix on this important list.
GamerMan on February 6th, 2008 5:02 pm

Don’t forget VideoGamer.Com! One of the best upcoming sites with great quality video reviews, etc
GamerMan on February 6th, 2008 5:02 pm

http://www.videogamer.com
jared on February 7th, 2008 3:41 pm

love these sites
looking forward to the game soundtracks

and crazy pc is really crazy
Liam on February 11th, 2008 11:54 am

Why isn’t http://www.fragmental.co.uk on that list? its one of the best gaming site out there, with loads of tournaments, news, and game reviews. Check it out.
Outside-in on February 18th, 2008 12:33 am

I want a PS3 cake for my birthday… yummy
Mark Avey on February 26th, 2008 4:39 pm

And http://www.flightsimx.co.uk - the only place for flight simmers
Forsythe on February 27th, 2008 1:40 am

Surprised noone’s mentioned The Underdogs… ( http://www.the-underdogs.info - some folks sniped and tried to blackmail their original .com domain, back in the more unregulated days, so they switched to .info )
Krinn DNZ on March 4th, 2008 5:50 pm

I have to echo #54: speeddemos.com is neat, but the sine qua non of the genre is TASVideos.org and the epic, game-breaking stunts that their speedrunners pull off. One recent example: how many stars do you need to beat Mario64? 20? 17? They did it in 16. Then in 10. Then 1. Then with zero. They astonish.
Games on March 6th, 2008 12:05 pm

Your forgetting about listing your Used Games at http://GorillaSwap.com The Free Trading Network for Games and DVD’s
Dan on March 7th, 2008 5:55 am

C’mon, man - a lot of those undiscovered websites (OCR, Insert Credit, RPS) have been popular for ages. Eegra.com, on the other hand, is totally undiscovered - which is probably why you haven’t put us on your list. But now you can! Because we are pretty cool, and also, undiscovered! So hooray!
Phil on March 9th, 2008 9:54 pm

You might want to list http://www.gamedujour.com a Woot-like site for indie and casual games.
alirio on March 11th, 2008 8:07 pm

OC remix is one of my favorites sights. And since we’re adding sites.

http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/index.html
alirio on March 11th, 2008 8:10 pm

*Site
Bob on March 30th, 2008 8:58 pm

Well, since everyone is posting their own sites, I’d like to include mine:

http://www.flashninjaclan.com — Thousands of games and over 70 exclusive games either made or sponsored by the site

http://www.java-gaming.com — Over 2500 games
bones on April 12th, 2008 7:05 pm

ok a lot of the comments that have links to other site….they suck. they’re just like ign or 1up or blogs.
blogs are boring.

the sites listed up here actually give us something.
i don’t want reviews.
or trailers.
TelevisionCensored on April 16th, 2008 5:18 am

Try http://www.cinegamr.uni.cc (cutscene cinematic community documenting ooodles of video game cutscenes and movies).
jeremey on May 11th, 2008 12:58 am

http://www.purepwnage.com

uber pwnage here.
YWS on May 29th, 2008 4:39 pm

This list truly sucks
RVG Admin on June 23rd, 2008 12:56 am

A new one that just launched is http://www.rarevideogames.net
Good up and coming site for rare video game collectors