Gaming used to be one expensive hobby.  Once upon a time you had to get your hands on a console, games, extra controllers and loads of other accessories like Guitar Hero controllers or memory cards that held less than a gig of space. Sure most gamers still pay a pretty penny on consoles, but lucky for all of us there’s plenty of great free games.

Whether it’s the ludicrously popular Fortnite, its rival Apex Legends or the surprisingly addicting Warframe. There’s a treasure trove of unique free games in today’s market making console and PC gaming a lot easier on your wallet. Here’s eight of our favorites for PS4.

8 Warframe (64)

Warframe is a polarizing game if you didn’t get that from its middle of the road Metacritic score. It’s a solid game, in fact one of the best of the free games on the PS4, but it has problems. For starters it’s pay-to-win, and in 2019, soon to be 2020 nobody wants to deal with that.

It also had a lot of bugs upon release which have more or less been patched. Other than those caveats it’s a really solid third-person shooter with really good graphics and a fun online experience. You’re either going to love it and sink hundreds of hours in or quit after a week, but it’s worth a shot nonetheless.

7 Let it Die (72)

Let It Die is a free-to-play PS4 game that is right up the alley of all the dungeon crawler fans. It features some thrilling beat-em-up combat that never feels to grindy despite there being 40 levels throughout. Sure there’s a lot of microtransactions in the game (which may be one of the key reasons as to why the game’s score is so low) but thankfully it never waves any of this in your face.

It’s a heavy download size, but you’ll see it pays off when you see how much detail is packed in. Definitely give this one a try if you have the space.

6 Fortnite (78)

Little surprise seeing Fortnite, the king of battle royales and free games pop-up on this list. That said, if you’ve held out on playing the game because you’re anti-hype or you’ve seen the Fortnite online community, we still implore you to give this game a shot.

At it’s core Fortnite is a really solid game, and as a free game it’s a no-brainer to at least try. You have nothing to lose, and even if you detest the fast pace combat or it’s Minecraft inspired building mechanics you’ll still be in for a good time.

5 Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (80)

If you’ve avoided Hearthstone, never could get into Magic and rolled your eyes when Valve and Bethesda announced card games then welcome to the club. BUT, there is one exception, a card game that absolutely anyone can get into and right up the alley of any Witcher fans – and that game is Gwent. 

It’s not common to here gamers talk about how Gwent occupied more time than they’d like to admit in the Witcher 3. It’s a simple premise, have a stronger army (hand) than you’re opponent and best them in a two of three bout. From there it gets so much more exciting. Unfortunately the game will not be up for much longer and many of the game’s features on PS4 have already been scrapped.

4 Paladins (83)

Yes, Paladins is a clone of Overwatch. And yes many, including you might hold that against the game as it doesn’t pull any punches in how similar it is all the way down to the character design. That said, it’s still a really fun multiplayer game and did we mention that it’s free.

While it does dangle microtransactions in your face at every opportunity it can squeeze in, Paladins should still be commended as not having a pay-to-win system that can be found in many of its contemporaries. It’s not better than Overwatch, but if you’re looking to save $40 dollars and still play a fun multiplayer game than look no further.

3 Hitman (84)

Sure you aren’t getting access to the full version of IO Interactive’s acclaimed Hitman (2016) but the amount of content available for no-cost will be enough to keep you entertained for hours on end. There’s two full contracts, more than 40 challenges 17 PlayStation Trophies and plenty of free missions that are still being released to this day.

Plus it’s a Hitman game, and if you haven’t played one before you should know that these games are infinitely repayable. You can complete missions in a myriad of ways, interact with every element of the world and do all this so while having a blast.

2 Path of Exile (84)

Mark Twain said there’s no truly original ideas, and it does seem like a lot of free-to-play games follow this motif. Paladins is like Overwatch, Brawlhalla is like Smash and Path of Exile is our Diablo clone.

It isn’t a shameful ripoff like Paladins, but it’s very easy to see where the inspiration came from. Like Diablo it’s a top-down action RPG that allows you to choose from a few different classes of character to explore and loot. The PS4 isn’t the best version of the game as it suffers from bugs, but it’s a really solid game nonetheless.

1 Apex Legends (88)

Apex Legends took the entire gaming world by surprise. Sure there was PUBG, but no one thought that Fornite could be challenged for its battle royale throne until Apex launched earlier this year. Respawn’s free-to-play opus is an amalgamation of many things including adding unique characters like Overwatch and adding their very own fast-paced combat from Titanfall.

 It’s one of the best multiplayer games of the year and shines as a moment when Respawn could make a great game and receive the popularity they so rightfully deserve. So let your wallet breathe a little this holiday season and pick up this modern FPS classic.

NEXT: EA: 10 Best Games Of The Last Decade, Ranked (According To Metacritic)