The Best Free to Play Battle Royale Games (2019)

Hey everyone, Colt here for MMOHuts.com and today we’re taking a look at the best free-to-play Battle Royale games! A quick note right at the start: this list is in no particular order. Rather than rank them, I’m going to be talking about the pros and cons of each and letting you decide which ones you like best. With that said, let’s dive right in with our first game, Cuisine Royale.

Cuisine Royale is a bit of a strange game, as entries on this list go. A lot of items in the game are, well, cuisine based. You’ll find a lot of things lying around like pots and pans in addition to the usual pistols and rifles. There are daily tasks to complete that let you unlock stuff, and the game guarantees the most honest system for Loot Boxes ever. Visually, the game looks decent. It’s far from the best-looking game in the batch we’ve picked, but it holds up admirably. Additionally, the directional audio in the game works well, but everything in the game is super loud by default, so do yourself a favor and adjust the in-game volume levels before you join a match. Speaking of matchmaking, it’s ultra-quick in this game. You won’t be waiting long in queues to play. On another positive note, the gunplay is super tight, even if I’m super bad at it– but finding guns at all was a little harder in this game in the first place. There just don’t seem to be as many weapons lying about as in other games. Cuisine Royale may have started as a joke, a parody of an exploding genre, but it’s evolved into something much more than that. Sure, you can still protect your body and murder people with various cookware, but underneath the layer of humor lies a competently built and frequently updated battle royale that’s perfect for those who like a little humor with their games.

Next up we have Realm Royale. Realm Royale is one of my two personal favorites on this list, and for good reason. Graphically Realm Royale oozes that signature Hi-Rez style. The game’s aesthetic takes a lot of inspiration from Hi-Rez’s other popular shooter, Paladins, and it shows. Everything drips with bright colors and lighting. Controls are snappy and responsive, and you can even switch from third to first person! Realm Royale also sets itself apart with its unique forge system. Players can earn shards for breaking down loot they don’t want and killing players. These shards can then be used at forges to craft weapons, potions, and even resurrect teammates who have been chickened and killed! That’s right, when you die in Realm Royale you become a chicken temporarily and if you can survive the countdown you get to pop back up with minimal health. If you don’t your team will have to resurrect you. The drawback is that this process is incredibly loud and is likely to draw other players to you. You can also collect abilities for your class that let you tackle your foes in unique ways, but this is one of the sticking points in the game; some of the abilities are way better than others in almost every way. Another drawback is that the game fills matches in with bots if there aren’t enough players, which can dampen the experience for some. On another positive note, Realm Royale features cross platform play for every platform except for the Playstation which is coming soon, so this should help alleviate the need for bots as the pool of players grows even larger. All in all, Realm Royale is an excellent battle royale that’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of Paladins or any of Hi-Rez’s other games.

Next on our list is Ring of Elysium. Ring of Elysium has a slightly different structure to most other entries on our list. Instead of jumping from a plane at the beginning of a match, you simply click an area on the map you’d like to spawn in, and it happens automatically. Instead of fighting to be the last person standing, you’re fighting to reach a rescue flight that will take you away from the island which is being consumed by deadly volcanic ash. Ring of Elysium is quite impressive visually, with diverse environments and solid art direction all around. It’s also worth noting that the map itself feels absolutely massive. Thankfully there are all kinds of vehicles to help you get around from gliders and BMX bikes to the newly added Battle Cars. The use of space in the game plays into the gameplay quite a bit too as you’re encouraged to take advantage of each of your weapon’s max ranges to stay alive. At least, that’s what all my opponents seemed to be doing. This focus on long range gameplay and the size of the game’s map made a lot of the experience feel empty, which was a drawback for me. Admittedly, this is partially because I’m bad at long range combat, so your mileage may vary.  Ring of Elysium is a battle royale that’s always trying to reinvent the wheel and most of the time, it’s worked. This one is definitely for people who want a realistic feeling shooter with just enough craziness to keep things interesting.

We all knew Fortnite had to be on this list, right? Fortnite has been the reigning king of the Battle Royale genre for some time and it’s not hard to see why. Smooth controls, fast-paced action, an iconic and memorable map that evolves over time, and the constant addition of new features and weapons means that Fortnite is a game that’s constantly evolving. Crossovers with properties like Marvel and special events that change the game’s map keep things feeling fresh in a way that few other games in the genre have managed. Plus, the game looks great. The cartoonish art style with all its bright colors and rounded shapes is really appealing. It also features cross platform play as well! Fortnite isn’t without its problems though. Frequently in squad mode my teammates would disconnect right as the battle bus took off, leaving me to fend for myself or stick it out with the one other person who stayed connected to the game. And while the game’s building system is a plus, learning to use it effectively and manage your resources can provide a steep learning curve for new players. Fortnite is another game that will use bots to fill out matches as well, but this is based on player skill level and is a new feature being added. Problems aside, Fortnite has helped to redefine a genre and become one of the biggest names in gaming. I recommend that anyone who is looking to try a Battle Royale game gives Fortnite a try at least once.

Finally, we’ve come to my absolute favorite of the bunch, Apex Legends. Apex Legends is Respawn’s take on the Battle Royale genre, who you may recognize from their other multiplayer shooters Titanfall and Titanfall 2. In fact, Apex Legends plays very similarly to the Titanfall series and that’s arguably one of its greatest strengths. Satisfying gunplay, fast ledge climbing and sliding around, using ziplines, just moving around in the game is a blast. The smaller map compared to its contemporaries means that you’ll be doing a great deal more fighting than in other Battle Royales as well. Apex Legends also uses a character system with each character having unique abilities that they can use, bringing just a touch of hero shooter to the battle royale formula. Unfortunately, some of the characters are walled off behind a payment or a grind, which is a huge negative. Still, there’s a lot of fun to be had with the characters that are available for free. A drawback to the character system is that some of them seem to lack much in the way of personality. They also lack in the skins department as well. There are skins, but most of them feel uninspired compared to offerings from other games. By far the game’s biggest advantage, however, is its ping system. This dynamic mechanic not only allows you to announce gear to your teammates and mark its location on the map for them to come and find, but allows you to alert them to enemy presence, direct them where you’d like to go next, and so much more. This system is so versatile that I’d argue it eliminates the need for in-game voice chat almost completely. You can also revive your fallen teammates by recovering their banners at the spot where they died and carrying them to a respawner which you’ll have to guard while they resurrect. They’ll come back unarmed as well, so you’ll have to help gear them up again once they’re back in the fray. Apex Legends came out of nowhere and surprised everyone with a fast, action packed battle royale that was just different enough to set itself apart from the crowd without forgetting what makes the genre special. If you’re looking for one of the best battle royales around, Apex Legends is for you.

Well, that’s all for today! Let us know what your favorite Battle Royale is down in the comments below, make sure you subscribe and ring the bell icon, and keep it locked on MMOHuts.com for all the latest gaming news and reviews!