Sick of shelling out $49.95 for the latest video games? Want to see what a game's actually like before you buy it? Then you need to start checking out game demos, my friend. Demos are simplified versions of computer games that companies put out as "free samples." There are thousands of them available for download on the Web, practically all of which are free, and many are almost as much fun to play as the games themselves. Here's where to find them.

Commercial Demos Only

Pretty much all of the online gaming publications have massive and excellent collections of commercial game demos. Some examples include GamePower's Demo Index, The Adrenaline Vault PC Release List, and GameSpot's Demos. Each of these sites has a searchable, alphabetical index of free demos to download -- as well as "bells and whistles" like cheat codes and patches. They're all well worth a look.

Patches

Most of the aforementioned sites offer top-notch collections of patches as well. Check out Gamepower's Patches, The Adrenaline Vault's Patch Collection, and GameCenter's Patches for starters.

Demos and Shareware

Other sites offer shareware games as well. These are games produced (usually) by amateur programmers that are free and easy to download if lacking in sophistication. Game Revolution's Downloads and Demos has an excellent, alphabetical collection of both commercial games and shareware, as does Happy Puppy's Demo Games and Shareware. File Mine's Games Channel is another great collection, which tosses in other goodies such as game editors. Jumbo.com's Games Channel boasts more than 20,000 PC and Mac games (as well as a special section devoted entirely to Quake); Download.com has separate sections for PC games and Mac games.

Shareware, Only Shareware

Other sites (mostly fan-produced) focus on shareware games only. Some top-notch examples are Alan's Homepage, which offers 10 or so shoot-em-ups; Retro Land, which features original versions of '80s games; and Cheesy Software, which has hilarious shareware games including "Tamagotchi Invaders," "Megapede" and "Mortal Pong."